Automation technology with IKONOS satellite imagery

The worldwide demand for accurate, up-to-date cartographic information has never been greater than it is today. Driven by applications as diverse as telecommunications siting, in-car navigation, and environmental assessment of change, this is an area of rapid growth for commercial remote sensing technology. As new sensor systems, both satellite and airborne, come online, they will address the demand with a range of new types of data. One factor limiting our ability to meet this demand is the lack of automation in extracting information and building datasets. We now have the first of a generation of commercial high resolution multispectral satellites. This contemporaneous, closely co-registered, multispectral and panchromatic imagery will provide a rich source for the development of automation. Imagery with a high degree of radiometric and geometric accuracy and consistency, previously available only in limited areas, will be available worldwide. In this paper, we discuss properties of the new satellite imagery that support the development of automated processes. We look at two examples using imagery from the IKONOS satellite for GIS applications, building large image mosaics and automated road vector updating.