
ORI at 1.25m over Tawau, Sabah.
ORI, as the name implies, is an accurate image which is orthorectified! Having an accuracy of RMSE 2m, it can be used in many applications. 2D and 3D feature extraction is one application that may interest many. Another area of interest will be in the use of ORI as a reference data to geometrically correct other images of lesser accuracy, thus avoiding the need to collect Ground Control Points (GCP) in the field.
Pan-sharpening is an image processing technique where a high-resolution panchromatic (Black and White image, in this case, the ORI) is "combined" with a low-resolution multispectral image (for example, SPOT 10m XS), to produce a multispectral high-resolution image. Some other common terms used for this process are resolution merge and image fusion.

Commercial software ERDAS Imagine 9.1 was used, and the resolution merge with the multiplicative option was utilized. The result was quite impressive. Since this research was carried out mainly to make the ORI more visually appealing, not much effort was put to maintain the accuracy of the spectral value.
Pan-sharpened ORI, 1.25m - zoom in
With the Pan-sharpened ORI showing more promising potential in distinguishing features such as empty land versus grassland, roads versus traffic islands and median of roads, it has definitely improve the interpretation. Such a product not only provides an option to extract features, but also as a complementary product to be used in patching up cloudy areas of optical data given its cloud-free nature. This particular property of IFSAR ORI will definitely serve the market appropriately as cloud coverage is a constant "hindrance" to optical system operators working in this region.
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