Deriving a Standard Map Base From Space Imagery of Desert Regions

Abstract

The authors, remote sensing researchers in one of the former Soviet Union's newly independent Central Asian republics, describe efforts independently to develop a base for a variety of environmental maps using remote sensing imagery. Particular attention is devoted to an analysis of the spectral characteristics of natural and cultural features visible on remote sensing imagery of desert areas and the extent to which spectral regularities provide a reliable basis for automated feature recognition. The authors argue that various aspects of terrain (e.g., landforms, unconsolidated and consolidated surface materials, and the hydrographic network) provide the most distinct photoimage elements (in terms of image pattedtexture, and only secondarily, tone) upon which an informative and replicable map base of desert areas can be compiled. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA