Basic Raster and Vector Operations with PCI Geomatics

Understanding and using the appropriate coordinate system and projection for your satellite imagery is extremely important. In this first step we will begin by using Focus within Geomatica to view the coordinate system and projection of our image, then learn how to assign a projection, and complete the lesson by reprojecting our image. In addition, we will examine the different available methods for reprojecting data. 

The use of both vector and raster data for image analysis and processing is not uncommon. Both data types are complimentary to each other, and allows users to better perform a number of different tasks. In this lesson, an overview of vector handling in Focus will be provided, and vector tools will be applied to draw a mask for a future application in the course. 

One of the most commonly used operations for manipulating vector and raster data is clipping. Clipping generates a copy of your data where the spatial extents are defined by a clipping boundary that was previously set. In this lesson, an overview of the different approaches to data clipping will be provided, and the Landsat 8 imagery will be clipped using the vector mask created in the previous step. 

In Remote Sensing, image processing functions are extensively applied to generate new raster layers or parameters related to the image. In the following lesson, an overview will be provided of the algorithm librarian tool that stores all the available image processing functions. Afterwards, an image fusion function will be applied to pansharpen the Landsat 8 image. 

Raster arithmetic allows you to apply mathematical expressions on raster layers to compute valuable new raster layers or information, such as: spectral indices, topographical derivatives, and many more. This lesson provides an overview of the different tools available in Focus to perform raster arithmetic, and demonstrates how to calculate a vegetation index. 

Image filters are often used to enhance or suppress different elements found in satellite imagery. The following lesson provides on overview of image filtering, and concludes by demonstrating how to apply image filters in Focus.  

Transferring data between files and converting between different file formats are common tasks when conducting satellite image processing. This last lesson demonstrates how to perform those two tasks using Focus.