ALPMON FINAL REPORT - ARC systems research

Contract ENV4-CT96-0359 ALPMON
� Sealed surfaces cannot be separated from rock, gravel, and soil based only on the spectral
characteristics of these classes, as the spectral signatures are too similar. Additional information
has to be introduced to classify this category with higher accuracy, or the information must be
taken from GIS data.
On the other hand, most categories required by the customers could be classified with sufficient
accuracy. In general no problems occurred with the classification of the forest type in those areas,
where pure coniferous or broad-leaved stands are common. Forest age could be classified at least in
some test sites, where pure age stands occur. In the Dachstein test site it was possible to separate
pure larch stands from spruce and other coniferous stands. In the Dachstein and Mangfall test sites
even dwarf mountain pine could be classified by means of winter satellite data. Furthermore, some
classes could be divided into subclasses (e.g. pasture and meadow, carbonate and silicate rocks)
giving more detailed information. Problems with the classification of water bodies or sealed surfaces
could be overcome by introducing auxiliary data into the classification process. In general, it can be
stated that the outcome of classification was satisfactory with respect to the local as well as the
European wide applications.
3.3.8 Data integration into ALPMON
The integration of data into ALPMON worked well due to the efforts made in WP3. Nevertheless the
database for storage of the parameters of the training areas was not used by all partners because
some partners already had established extensive data bases for their test sites. As these included
additional, test site specific parameters, it was not possible to include these data into the MSAccess
data base.
3.3.9 Feasibility studies
3.3.9.1 Tourism
For the tourism application the fusion image has been of central importance. The known methods like
Brovey- and IHS transformation give a possibility to fuse images, but they are not able to dissolve the
pixels from the multi-spectral image. So the result is an image with the higher resolution of the
panchromatic image and much bigger coloured tiles of the multi-spectral scene. For visualisation tasks
this kind of image is not always satisfactory.
The AIF method of STEINOCHER (1999) has been a very good pre-processing to the mentioned
transformations. Visually the colour information of the multi-spectral scene is fitted to the objects of the
panchromatic scene. This fact is decisive for the visual impression of an image. The fusion image is
the background image of the tourism information system that has been developed during ALPMON.
The tourist is able to zoom into the image, therefore the resolution is of importance. The AIF method
allows to give the tourist the impression that he looks at a normal colour aerial photograph.
The tourist information system has been developed to give some ideas and possibilities to the local
administrations. It has been shown how GIS technology could be used for more than analysis. A hiker
information system has been programmed. Such an information system can be used in a variety of
ways and places: It can of course be made available at the Tourist Office in the region itself; it could be
used via Internet or in travel agencies. The presentation in the Internet or travel agency would demand
different software. These would have to be "stand alone" solutions because it would be too expensive
to bye the GIS software for every travel agency.
For the monitoring of landscape changes visual interpretation has been necessary, because aerial
photos from 1954 and the fusion image of 1992 have been compared. In the future classification
results could be used instead of visual interpretation. But for monitoring alpine pastures high resolution
multi-spectral scenes are demanded.
The classification results have been used for several purposes. It could be shown that classification
results are not only of interest for landscape related administrations but also for the hiking tourist. But
there has been the problem that the classification of shaded areas has not been succeeded. So for the
shaded part of the test site no classification information could be gained.
JR, RSDE, ALU, LMU, Seibersdorf, WSL 80