ERDAS Imagine and Digital Image Processing

 

This week focused on the the introduction of a new digital image processing software, ERDAS Imagine. The goal was to take a raster dataset and process the data so that it could be uploaded to ArcGIS Pro and to learn the basic tools for ERDAS Imagine. 

An Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) image was used to create a multispectral land cover image of a mountain range within Washington State. Using the newly introduced tools and menus within ERDAS Imagine, this image was processed to show pseudo color thematic symbology, or when each land cover class is assigned a different color. The attribute table was also modified to calculate the area of each land cover class. Then, a subset image was chosen from the original image. I chose this particular area of the image because of its visible mountain ridges and valleys, seen as the different colored NW vegetation and the SE vegetation layers. In addition, water or riparian areas are also clearly visible running in the valleys of these ridges. This final image is shown above with the land cover class names and area calculations within the legend. This type of image data would be useful in determining watershed areas for erosion studies, land development planning, or for stream/river delineations.