Application of IKONOS imagery on geographic information systems

An IKONOS one meter high-resolution pansharpen image has been integrated into Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS needs same as or higher spatial resolution than one meter, so traditional satellite data such as SPOT XS imagery (20 meter resolution) is not sufficient for various GIS applications. An affine transformation has been carried out to integrate an IKONOS image into GIS. Ground Control Points (GCP) for transformation are selected for 30 points over the image. It is quite difficult to select GCP from a digital map, compared with satellite images, because elements of map features are modified and symbolized. Then, GCP in the map are mainly obtained on a crossing of roads. After several trials, the RMS error of 30 GCP in the transformation is finally reduced to 0.61 pixels, which are comparatively good. It is found that there are many differences between the Digital Map and the IKONOS image. The reason is that dates of two data to have been updated are different. And also, 50 meters meshed Digital Elevation Model (DEM) by the Geological Survey of Japan is integrated into the same Digital Map. 3D image of IKONOS on GIS is obtained.