1
CHARACTERIZING, MEASURING,
ANALYZING, AND MODELING SCALE
IN REMOTE SENSING: AN OVERVIEW
QIHAO WENG
1.1 SCALE ISSUES IN REMOTE SENSING
Scale is a fundamental and crucial issue in remote sensing studies and image analysis.
The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) identified it
as a main research priority area (1996). Scale influences the examination of landscape
patterns in a region. The change of scale is relevant to the issues of data aggregation,
information transfer, and the identification of appropriate scales for analysis (Krönert
et al., 2001; Wu and Hobbs, 2002). Extrapolation of information across spatial scales
is a needed research task (Turner, 1990). It is suggested that spatial characteristics
could be transferred across scales under specific conditions (Allen et al., 1987).
Therefore, we need to know how the information is transferred from a fine scale to a
broad scale (Krönert et al., 2001). In remote sensing studies, use of data from various
satellite sensors may result in different research results, since they usually have
different spatial resolutions. Therefore, it is significant to examine changes in spatial
configuration of any landscape pattern as a result of using different spatial resolutions
of satellite imagery. Moreover, it is always necessary to find the optimal scale for a
study in which the environmental processes operate. Theories, methods, and models
for multiscaling are crucial to understand the heterogeneity of landscapes (Wu and Qi,
2000; Wu and Hobbs, 2002). Methods and techniques are important for the
examination of spatial arrangements at a wide range of spatial scales. Regionalization
3
Scale Issues in Remote Sensing, First Edition. Edited by Qihao Weng.
Ó 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CHARACTERIZING, MEASURING,
ANALYZING, AND MODELING SCALE
IN REMOTE SENSING: AN OVERVIEW
QIHAO WENG
1.1 SCALE ISSUES IN REMOTE SENSING
Scale is a fundamental and crucial issue in remote sensing studies and image analysis.
The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) identified it
as a main research priority area (1996). Scale influences the examination of landscape
patterns in a region. The change of scale is relevant to the issues of data aggregation,
information transfer, and the identification of appropriate scales for analysis (Krönert
et al., 2001; Wu and Hobbs, 2002). Extrapolation of information across spatial scales
is a needed research task (Turner, 1990). It is suggested that spatial characteristics
could be transferred across scales under specific conditions (Allen et al., 1987).
Therefore, we need to know how the information is transferred from a fine scale to a
broad scale (Krönert et al., 2001). In remote sensing studies, use of data from various
satellite sensors may result in different research results, since they usually have
different spatial resolutions. Therefore, it is significant to examine changes in spatial
configuration of any landscape pattern as a result of using different spatial resolutions
of satellite imagery. Moreover, it is always necessary to find the optimal scale for a
study in which the environmental processes operate. Theories, methods, and models
for multiscaling are crucial to understand the heterogeneity of landscapes (Wu and Qi,
2000; Wu and Hobbs, 2002). Methods and techniques are important for the
examination of spatial arrangements at a wide range of spatial scales. Regionalization
3
Scale Issues in Remote Sensing, First Edition. Edited by Qihao Weng.
Ó 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.