Remote Sensing Data Fusion

a limitation of conventional single-sensor satellite missions is their limited capacity to observe land surface dynamics at the very high spatial and temporal resolutions demanded by a wide range of applications. One solution to this spatio-temporal divide is an observation strategy based on the CubeSat standard, which facilitates constellations of small, inexpensive satellites. Repeatable near-daily image capture in RGB and near-infrared (NIR) bands at 3–4 m resolution has recently become available via a constellation of >130 CubeSats operated commercially by Planet. While the observing capacity afforded by this system is unprecedented, the relatively low radiometric quality and cross-sensor inconsistencies represent key challenges in the realization of their full potential as a game changer in Earth observation. Rasmus et al (2018) developed a Cubesat Enabled Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method (CESTEM) that uses a multi-scale machine-learning technique to correct for radiometric inconsistencies between CubeSat acquisitions. The CESTEM produces Landsat 8 consistent atmospherically corrected surface reflectances in blue, green, red, and NIR bands, but at the spatial scale and temporal frequency of the CubeSat observations.

Houborg, Rasmus, McCabe, Matthew F. A Cubesat enabled Spatio-Temporal Enhancement Method (CESTEM) utilizing Planet, Landsat and MODIS data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2018