Funded by: CASUS Open Projects

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

 

Remotely sensed hyperspectral data are rapidly becoming available at all scales (ground-based, airborne, spaceborne, etc.). Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly, bridge a critical scale gap between ground measurements and low spatial resolution, broad-coverage airborne or satellite data. However, methods for integrating high-resolution UAV surveys with broader scale datasets and extrapolating this high-resolution information across regions covered only by satellite or airborne data, are yet to be established. This project specifically focuses on the development of methods to seamlessly integrate and bridge this critical gap between the ground and the air-borne / space-borne hyperspectral platforms with a hyperspectral sensing system on-board a UAV. Moreover, the project incorporates twin disciplines for applied use of the developed methods in the areas of mineralogical and raw material exploration as well as environmental and ecological parameter estimation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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GOALS

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1. From an analytical perspective

   • to characterize spectral variations between different scales and acquisition methods to understand sensor response to selected targets (geological and ecological).

   • to quantify the linear and non-linear mixing processes that occur as ground sampling distance increases along with the mode of acquisition.

   • explore the variation in information content captured by specific spectral derivatives at each resolution. 

2. On the development side, the project aims to develop methods for upscaling and extrapolating data across scales, including e.g., super-resolution and generative resolution enhancement.

              

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

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1. How do remotely sensed spectra vary between ground, UAV, airborne and satellite scales, and how can results derived from different platforms and scales be quantitatively compared?
                          

2. What influence do scaling effects have on spectral derivatives (e.g. vegetation and geological indices, classifications) that are used to quantify and monitor earth systems? Are these scaling effects comparable for geological and ecological applications? Or do specific systems exhibit characteristic scaling behavior?
                          

3. Which methods supported by UAV data coverage can best synthesize and translate information between scales for large geographical areas that are only covered by satellite?                 

                                 

PARTNERS / COLLABORATORS

 

• Center for Advanced Systems Understanding @ HZDR

• Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology @ HZDR

• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ