Integration of COSMO-SkyMed and GeoEye-1 Data With Object-Based Image Analysis

This paper describes the potentialities of data integration of high spatial resolution multispectral (MS) and single-polarization X-band radar for object-based image analysis (OBIA) using already available algorithms and techniques. GeoEye-1 (GE1) MS images (0.5/2.0 m) and COSMO-SkyMed (CSK®) stripmap images (3.0 m) were collected over a complex test site in the Venetian Lagoon, made up of an intricate mixture of settlements, cultivations, channels, roads, and marshes. The validation confirmed that the integration of optical and radar data substantially increased the thematic accuracy [about 20%-30% for overall accuracy (OA) and about 25%-35% for k coefficient] of MS data, and unlike the outcomes of some new researches, also confirmed that, with appropriate preprocessing, traditional OBIA could also be applied to X-band radar data without the need of developing ad hoc algorithms.