Sven Nussbaum, Gunter Menz. Object-Based Image Analysis and Treaty Verification. New Approaches in Remote Sensing – Applied to Nuclear Facilities in Iran.

With the launch of very high-resolution satellite sensors at the beginning of this decade (e.g. IKONOS, OrbView, QUICKBIRD) many important new remote sensing applications have been developed. Major progress has been demonstrated in the accurate detection, identification and analysis of small-scale, site-specific features, including critical commercial and industrial facilities such as nuclear power plants. According to IAEA Director-General and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the provision of the necessary information and guarantees for monitoring the Iranian nuclear programme is an urgent priority for the future. Today, satellite imagery analysis is an integral part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safeguards and verifications efforts and high-resolution commercial satellite imagery is an important component of this process.
Several international studies have proven the usefulness and documented the applicability of remotely sensed data for site verification purposes. Recent important developments in satellite sensor capabilities and innovations in analytic techniques make it clear that this “hardware-software-complex” is changing and improving rapidly. This book documents the latest developments in satellite data analysis and comprehensively describes the process of extracting information from space-borne sensor data for site verification purposes.
New image analysis methods are required if analysts and decision-makers are to derive the maximum information contained within the newly available very high-resolution satellite data. Traditional pixel-oriented algorithms and analytic techniques cannot take full advantage of the increased spatial coherence of very high-resolution imagery. In particular, object-based procedures are much more appropriate for the detection and the classification of man-made structures. Employing object features such as scale, compactness, orientation and texture, in addition to spectral characteristics, significantly extends the applicability of remote sensing satellite image analysis.
This book describes recent progress in object-based image analysis and also presents new results in applying this type of analysis to site verification for nuclear non-proliferation.A comprehensiveworkflow – including innovative algorithms for object-based very high-resolution image pre-processing, feature extraction, change detection, classification and interpretation – is developed, applied and evaluated. The entire object-based analytic flow is demonstrated, using several case studies of Iranian nuclear facilities. This book is aimed at professionals and experts in the field of remote sensing and image processing, as well as political leaders and decision makers.
The authors clearly demonstrate that the new object-based image analysis approach has great potential for site evaluation in general, as well as specific applicability to the process of nuclear verification. The technologies of object-based remote sensing and remotely based nuclear verification are undergoing continual development and improvement. This book documents that while both technologies are already utilized as powerful tools for solving today’s nuclear verification problems, they also have great long-range potential for the future. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all those who contributed towards the success of this book. Special thanks go to the Research Center J¨ ulich, the University of Bonn, the Freiberg University ofMining and Technology, the GMOSS (Global Monitoring for Security and Stability) Network of Excellence andProf. Dr. D. Klaus.
We would also like to thank the GMOSS Network for financial assistance in the Production of this book.

Contents

1. Introduction.
2. Satellite Imagery and Methods of Remote Sensing.
3. Cognition Image Analysis Software.
4. Change Detection.
5. SEaTH – A New Tool for Feature Analysis.
6. Preprocessing of Very-High-Resolution RS Data
7. Object-Based Analysis of Iranian Nuclear Facilities.