Michigan Aerial Imagery Partnership Background
Recent Imagery Selection Process (2004-2005)
Excerpt from the Draft Report: Imagery for Creating/Updating Land Cover/Land Use Data in Michigan. Submitted to the Michigan State University Land Policy Program under the Special Projects Grant: Methodology for Land Use and Land Cover Mapping: Techniques and Data Deliverables for a Statewide Approach (2004). Authors: Ms. Jessica Moy, Dr. W. Dennis Hudson, Mr. Robert Goodwin, and Ms. Sarah AcMoody, MSU Remote Sensing and GIS Research and Outreach Services (RS&GIS)
RS&GIS has completed a controlled comparison of several image types designed to evaluate film types (or satellite band selection), scale/resolution, level of interpretability, and acquisition cost for updating land cover/land use maps. Several imagery sets were tested - black and white, natural color, and color infrared high resolution aerial imagery, and 1 to 4 meter resolution satellite imagery. While the low resolution satellite imagery was deemed too coarse to provide the needed level of interpretability, the remaining image sets produced similar results. A detailed description of the procedures and results are available in the final report (Goodwin and Hudson, 2002, Comparison of Air Photo and Satellite Image Sources for Updating Land Cover and Land Use Maps. Center for Remote Sensing and GIS, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan).
Through the Special Projects Grant, awarded by the Michigan State University Land Policy Program, this imagery research has been furthered to include new satellite resources. Preliminary results are found in the table below.
| Issue | Aerial Imagery | High Resolution Satellite (Quickbird or IKONOS) |
Coarse Resolution Satellite (SPOT) |
| Resolution | Varies Recommend 1-meter or better |
2.44 - 4.0 meter Multi-spectral; 0.61- 1.0 meter B&W |
5.0 m Multi-spectral; 2.5 meter B&W |
| Color | Varies Recommend CIR |
Varies Recommended CIR |
Varies Recommended CIR |
| Acquisition | Statewide, Cloud-free coverage - 1 yr Statewide, Cloud-free, single season - 2 yr |
Estimated figures: Statewide, Cloud-free coverage - 3 + years; Statewide, Cloud-free, single season - 8 + yrs |
Estimated figures: Statewide, Cloud-free coverage - 1 + years; Statewide, Cloud-free, single season - 2 + yrs |
| Ownership | Generally owned by the client | Restrictive Licensing based on organization (limited # of users or limited # of organizations), 30 - 35 % uplift for multiple organizations | Restrictive Licensing based on organization (limited # of users or limited # of organizations) |
| Pros | Quick turnaround, High Resolution, Short collection time (1-2 years), Relatively inexpensive, Date continuity. | Good Resolution, digital geo-referenced deliverables, multiple products (pan, multi-spectral) | Relatively inexpensive, digital geo-referenced deliverables, multiple products (pan, multi-spectral) |
| Cons | Must be converted to digital and geo-referenced | Expensive (3 - 5 X aerial photography with standard tasking), Long collection time for large areas (8 + years for entire state of Michigan), no date continuity, allows 10 % cloud cover | Poor resolution limits interpretability, allows cloud cover |
Imagery Recommendations:
Based upon the experience and research performed by RS&GIS staff, the following is a list of recommended criteria for imagery used to update/create land cover/land use data:
| Issue | Recommendation | Rationale/Discussion |
| Type | Air Photo | High resolution satellite imagery is appropriate for the project, however, cost and acquisition time are prohibitive |
| Color | Color Infrared or Natural Color | CIR would be best choice, especially if using Leaf-On (Summer) imagery |
| Resolution | 1-Meter or finer pixel resolution | Coarser resolutions prohibit detailed interpretability |
| Format | Digital, Ortho-rectified imagery mosaics |
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| Season |
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Given the needs, outlined above, it is the recommendation of RS&GIS that the state of Michigan consider a partnership with the US Farm Services Agency (FSA) National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP). This program began as a pilot in 2001, with an objective to possibly replace the 35mm Compliance Imagery Program. In addition to being used in the Compliance Program, on a 3 to 5 year cycle, the NAIP imagery will become the FSA GIS replacement image base. This imagery is used to monitor agricultural lands in the US. NAIP imagery is typically flown mid-growing season for Farm Service Agency counties only (i.e. counties containing agricultural lands). State partnership opportunities exist. Such partnerships offer considerable cost-savings and allow for local discretion on project scope (e.g. statewide coverage), resolution (e.g. 1 vs. 2 meter), and film-type (e.g. natural color vs. color infrared). Website: http://www.apfo.usda.gov/
Page 3 of 3 of MAIP Background
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