Abstract:

This paper presents theoretical basis, and practical experiment of Intensity-Hue-Saturation (IHS) transformation technique in integrating Radar images, and optical satellite images. This procedure helps enhancing interpretation processes of objects on Radar images in term of visualization discipline. A flowchart of this procedure is shown in the theory section. For approaching the final results, two types of images are selected, a Radar image- the ALOS PALSAR, and an optical image- the Landsat 7 ETM captured an urban area in the center of Hanoi, Vietnam. Although, spatial resolution of the ALOS PALSAR is higher than the Landsat, it is hard to clarify objects on the PALSAR due to the fact of its color visualization (black and white in particular). Thus, by applying IHS for fusing the PALSAR and the Landsat, we can not only keep the PALSAR spatial resolution, but also utilize the ability of band combination of Landsat data to enhance the readability of the Radar image for identifying specific objects on the surface. For example, some of land types are clearly obvious characterizing by color on the fused image, such as trying with the 4-3-radar combination, the urban area appears in blue color, while the vegetation is in red color. Generally, the IHS method can help to decipher objects more precisely, which is one of the most important steps in mapping.