Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s
The Corona satellite program was a historic reconnaissance mission which provided high spatial resolution panchromatic images during the Cold War era. Nevertheless, and despite the historic uniqueness and importance of the dataset, efforts to extract tangible information from this dataset have prima...
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doaj-328c27856d344f0a84b12c17bdd4b54e2021-04-01T23:04:06ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-04-01212423242310.3390/s21072423Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960sDimitris Stratoulias0George Grekousis1Informetrics Research Group, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamDepartment of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaThe Corona satellite program was a historic reconnaissance mission which provided high spatial resolution panchromatic images during the Cold War era. Nevertheless, and despite the historic uniqueness and importance of the dataset, efforts to extract tangible information from this dataset have primarily focused on visual interpretation. More sophisticated approaches have been either hampered or unrealized, often justified by the primitive quality of this early satellite product. In the current study we attempt to showcase the usability of Corona imagery outside the context of visual interpretation. Using a 1968 Corona image acquired over the city municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, we reconstruct a panchromatic 1.8 m spatial resolution georegistered image with a relative displacement Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 6.616 (for x dimension) and 1.886 (for y dimension) and employ segmentation and texture analysis to discern agricultural parcels and settlements’ footprints. Population statistics of this past era are retrieved from national census and related to settlements’ footprints. An exponential relationship between the two variables was identified by applying a semi-log regression. The high adjusted R<sup>2</sup> value found (76.54%) indicates that Corona images offer a unique opportunity for population data analysis of the past. Overall, we showcase that the Corona images’ usability extends beyond the visual interpretation, and features of interest extracted through image analysis can be subsequently used for further geographical and historical research.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2423Corona missionremote sensinghistorical GISfeature extractionsegmentationtexture |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Dimitris Stratoulias George Grekousis |
spellingShingle |
Dimitris Stratoulias George Grekousis Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s Sensors Corona mission remote sensing historical GIS feature extraction segmentation texture |
author_facet |
Dimitris Stratoulias George Grekousis |
author_sort |
Dimitris Stratoulias |
title |
Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s |
title_short |
Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s |
title_full |
Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s |
title_fullStr |
Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s |
title_full_unstemmed |
Information Extraction and Population Estimates of Settlements from Historic Corona Satellite Imagery in the 1960s |
title_sort |
information extraction and population estimates of settlements from historic corona satellite imagery in the 1960s |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sensors |
issn |
1424-8220 |
publishDate |
2021-04-01 |
description |
The Corona satellite program was a historic reconnaissance mission which provided high spatial resolution panchromatic images during the Cold War era. Nevertheless, and despite the historic uniqueness and importance of the dataset, efforts to extract tangible information from this dataset have primarily focused on visual interpretation. More sophisticated approaches have been either hampered or unrealized, often justified by the primitive quality of this early satellite product. In the current study we attempt to showcase the usability of Corona imagery outside the context of visual interpretation. Using a 1968 Corona image acquired over the city municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, we reconstruct a panchromatic 1.8 m spatial resolution georegistered image with a relative displacement Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 6.616 (for x dimension) and 1.886 (for y dimension) and employ segmentation and texture analysis to discern agricultural parcels and settlements’ footprints. Population statistics of this past era are retrieved from national census and related to settlements’ footprints. An exponential relationship between the two variables was identified by applying a semi-log regression. The high adjusted R<sup>2</sup> value found (76.54%) indicates that Corona images offer a unique opportunity for population data analysis of the past. Overall, we showcase that the Corona images’ usability extends beyond the visual interpretation, and features of interest extracted through image analysis can be subsequently used for further geographical and historical research. |
topic |
Corona mission remote sensing historical GIS feature extraction segmentation texture |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2423 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT dimitrisstratoulias informationextractionandpopulationestimatesofsettlementsfromhistoriccoronasatelliteimageryinthe1960s AT georgegrekousis informationextractionandpopulationestimatesofsettlementsfromhistoriccoronasatelliteimageryinthe1960s |
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