QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Remote sensing with open source tools (including QGIS)

Dr Samantha Lavender

Pixalytics Ltd

www.pixalytics.com@pixalytics

slavender@pixalytics.com@Samlvndr

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Remote sensing is broadly defined as the collection of information about an object without being in physical contact

with it (inspired by Sabins 1978), and commonly uses the electromagnetic spectrum.

Earth Observation (EO) is generally used where remote sensing is mapping and / or monitoring the Earth at regional to global

scales.

designua © 123RF.com

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Copernicus Sentinel data

Sentinel-1A (microwave) multi-

polarisation composite of Sampit,

Indonesia

Sentinel-2A optical multi-

band composite of Mexico

city, Mexico

Imagery courtesy of ESA

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP)

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Displaying a pseudo-true colour composite

Landsat-8 data courtesy of USGS/NASA

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Zoomed in to show Plymouth

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Within QGIS

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Classifying land cover in the USA: Landsat using Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Aswan Dam: TerraSAR-X, Landsat-8 and SRTM elevation contours

TerraSAR-X data courtesy of AIRBUS DS

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

TerraSAR-X data courtesy of AIRBUS DS

Aswan Dam: TerraSAR-X, Landsat-8 and SRTM elevation contours

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Conclusion• There’s currently a wealth of freely available data

alongside open source packages

• However, many people

– Don’t know its available

– Don’t know how to access it

– Don’t have the skills / infrastructure to use it

• The ‘remote sensing community’ needs to be better at promoting this

– Source of data as to those who want to develop their own applications

– Information to the wider community who want answers to questions

QGIS South West user group meeting Nov 2015

Weblinks• Sentinel Data Hub: https://scihub.esa.int/

• SNAP download: http://step.esa.int/main/download/

• Landsat data: http://landsat.usgs.gov/Landsat_Search_and_Download.php

• SRTM: https://lta.cr.usgs.gov/SRTM

• TerraSAR-X: http://www.geo-airbusds.com/en/23-sample-imagery

• Practical Handbook of Remote Sensing: https://www.crcpress.com/Practical-Handbook-of-Remote-Sensing/Lavender-Lavender/9781498704335