The Multi-Concept in Image Interpretation (Multi-Station, Multi-Band, Multi-Spectral, Multi-Date, Multi-Stage, Multi-Direction, Multi-Disciplinary)

Multi-Station: The successive overlapping of images taken along a given flight line as being flown by aircraft or by a satellite along an orbit path. Think of it like “multi-position”. Not to be confused with multi-stage.

Multi-Band: Multi-band indicates individual spectral bands within a given region of the EM spectrum (e. g. the red green and blue bands of the visible portion of the EM spectrum).

Multi-Spectral: The use of images from various regions of the EM spectrum (e. g. ultraviolet, visible, infrared, thermal and microwave).

Multi-Date: The use of multiple aerial photographs or remotely sensed images taken over time of a given area.

Multi-Stage: This typically means using ground-based photos, oblique low altitude photos and vertical photographs or remotely sensed images from platforms flying at different altitudes. Multi-stage has also been applied to sampling strategies; A multi-stage sampling scheme as used in statistics is one where progressively more information is obtained for progressively smaller sub-samples of the area being studied.

Multi-Direction: There are times when more information can be obtained using viewing angles other than vertical.

Multi-Disciplinary: Basically, no one interpreter can know everything about a system in question. By using teams of interpreters and experts with expertise in different disciplines more information may be gained for a given application. In the legal system, this s most similar to the “convergence of evidence” idea; having different viewpoints and different information sources to prove a point adds validity.

Multi-Thematic: Remote sensing images are one-time write, many times read. Many different themes (e. g. hydrology, vegetation, transportation, urban areas, etc.) can be extracted from a single set of images.

Multi-Use: Many potential users from environmental planners to resource managers to public policy decision-makers can use outputs derived from image analysis and interpretation.