Proceedings Article | 13 June 2014
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Atmospheric modeling, Reflectivity, Target detection, Signal to noise ratio, RGB color model, Image sensors, Scene simulation, Point spread functions, Image classification
This paper presents a methodology and results for the comparison of simulated imagery to real imagery acquired with
multiple sensors hosted on an airborne platform. The dataset includes aerial multi- and hyperspectral imagery with
spatial resolutions of one meter or less. The multispectral imagery includes data from an airborne sensor with three-band
visible color and calibrated radiance imagery in the long-, mid-, and short-wave infrared. The airborne hyperspectral
imagery includes 360 bands of calibrated radiance and reflectance data spanning 400 to 2450 nm in wavelength.
Collected in September 2012, the imagery is of a park in Avon, NY, and includes a dirt track and areas of grass, gravel,
forest, and agricultural fields. A number of artificial targets were deployed in the scene prior to collection for purposes of
target detection, subpixel detection, spectral unmixing, and 3D object recognition. A synthetic reconstruction of the
collection site was created in DIRSIG, an image generation and modeling tool developed by the Rochester Institute of
Technology, based on ground-measured reflectance data, ground photography, and previous airborne imagery.
Simulated airborne images were generated using the scene model, time of observation, estimates of the atmospheric
conditions, and approximations of the sensor characteristics. The paper provides a comparison between the empirical and
simulated images, including a comparison of achieved performance for classification, detection and unmixing
applications. It was found that several differences exist due to the way the image is generated, including finite sampling
and incomplete knowledge of the scene, atmospheric conditions and sensor characteristics. The lessons learned from this
effort can be used in constructing future simulated scenes and further comparisons between real and simulated imagery.
