Based on analyzing the present situation and developing trend of remote sensing, considering the demandof economic and social sustainable development for mineral resources, energy and geological information, and integrating and constructing three RS-based application technology systems and two information service systems under the guidance of geological theory, earth system theory and complexity sciences theory, the author suggests the strategic orientations of geological remote sensing technological development, which include the application technology system for geological exploration and mineral resources assessment, the technological and operational system for monitoring geological disasters and geological environment, the technological and operational system for monitoring mining activities and mine environment, the service system of satellite data acquirement and geological application, and the entirely digitized comprehensive aerial remote sensing system. The objective lies in promoting the transformation from qualitative to quantitative in geological analysis, from single to integrative in technique application, and from data-based to informational in service. The major research fields and their research situation, the existent problems and the key techniques are also discussed in this paper.

Vegetation coverage is a very important ecological environment parameter, and remote sensing imagery can

provide the vegetation coverage information and variation trend on different spatial scales. Remote sensing is an

important means in obtaining vegetation coverage, and vegetation indices are indirect indices which can reflect

vegetation cover and biomass. The methods for estimating vegetation coverage based on vegetation indices include

experiential models, vegetation indices, pixel unmixing analysis and FCD (forest canopy density) mapping model, and

the methods for estimating vegetation coverage based on decision tree classification and artificial neural network

have made some progress as well. This paper has analyzed and discussed the present methods for estimating vegetation

coverage based on remote sensing imagery as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The future trend of

vegetation cover study based on remote sensing technology is also discussed in this paper.

 Of all the methods for geometric rectification of remote sensing imagery, the Collinearity Equation Model

is usually considered to have the best accuracy. Nevertheless, when the Collinearity Equation Model based on GCPs

(ground control points) is used to compute the elements of inner and exterior orientation, the coefficient matrix

condition of the normal equation often becomes deteriorative, which greatly affects the accuracy of the orientation

elements. In this paper, a new method for geometric rectification based on neural network is proposed. Experiments

show that, under the precondition that a certain number of GCPs serve as the training data, the neural network of BP

and RBF can perform well in geometric rectification of remote sensing imagery and reach higher accuracy than the

Collinearity Equation Model. Besides, the neural network can eliminate the influence of GCPs with gross error, and

hence can better improve the efficiency.

 Characteristics of the main sensors used for the retrieval of the atmosphere and humidity profiles are

briefly discussed in this paper, with emphasis placed upon sensor characteristics and retrieval methods of ATOVS,

MODIS and AIRS. Advantages and disadvantages of these methods are analyzed, and the development trend of the

retrieval methods for atmosphere and humidity profiles is also discussed.

Topographic factors such as hypsography and earth curvature are greatly responsible for remote sensing

image distortion. Nevertheless, the earth curvature is often neglected by traditional aerial photogrammetry in

processing the films. With the Multi-mode Aerial Digital Camera System (MADC) developed and produced by IRSA as the

object, this paper analyzed the topographic influences on aerial array CCD imaging. On the basis of the imaging

model and geometric configuration of MADC, the distortion models of hypsography and earth curvature were derived

respectively for estimating topographic influences by simulating data. It is concluded that the earth curvature

distortion must be rectified in precise processing of aerial array CCD images.

This paper deals with the methods for haze removal based on SPOT5 remote sensing image by using haze-

clear areas reflectance matching. The procedure is as follows: First, the haze area is recognized by using band

statistic values; second, the remote sensing image is classified by using unsupervised classification, then the

aerosol optical depth distribution is calculated by comparing the radiation values in haze and clear areas and,

finally, the image can be atmospherically corrected by using MODTRAN model. The panchromatic image can be

atmospherically corrected in a similar way by using the resample aerosol optical depth distribution. It is concluded

that the haze-clear area reflectance matching is an effective haze removal method. In addition, the image can be

transformed to reflectance and compared with different remote sensing images.

Based on traditional cloud detection methods, the authors developed a new algorithm for detecting night

cloud according to characteristics of MODIS sensors which have high spectral resolution and time resolution. The

algorithm includes the single-scene cloud detection method and the combined multi-scene cloud detection method. The

test of night cloud detection on the N-S seismotectonic zone in China shows that this algorithm is effective in

detecting night cloud on the MODIS image, and thus it can provide a basis for the effective application of night

MODIS image.

Based on the fractal theory and using GIS and RS technologies, this paper interpreted the TM images of

1986 and 2002 and obtained the spatial information of the Minjiang River weltand resources in different time

intervals. The fractal dimensions and stability indices reveal that the Minjiang River wetland resources have

changed dynamically and that a lot of wetalnds have become non-wetlands in the Minjiang River estuary.  On the

whole, the patches of various wetland types are complicated in shape, lack stability, and tend to become

increasingly worse. It is believed that the instability of the Minjiang River estuary wetlands is mainly attributed

to the neglect of wetland resource protection during the urban development in Fuzhou. In future, much more

importance should be attached to the protection of wetland ecology and sustainable development in the exploitation

of the Minjiang River harbors.

Remote sensing, as an earth-observing tool, is a cost-effective technique for field investigation of

geological hazards. The study area and the reservoir area of a hydropower station located on the upstream of the

Jinshajiang River are characterized by high relief and inaccessibility, and hence ETM+ and SPOT-5 Pan were used as

the remote sensing data source, and Brovey, IHS and PCA transformation methods were adopted for image fusion. It is

concluded that PCA is the best image-fusing method for geological hazard interpretation, and that the fused image

can provide abundant textural and spectral information for easy interpretation of such geological hazards as

landslides, rock falls and debris flows.

 Adopting theories and methods of geomorphology and tectonic mechanics and utilizing remote sensing

information, this paper has analyzed the direction and size of the neotectonic stress field in the mining field. The

results are of great significance in such aspects as the development and planning of the mining area, the

arrangement of the main adits and the stability evaluation of the wall rocks.

 Based on the multi-resolution wavelet transform, this paper proposes a new wavelet transform fusion

algorithm on the basis of steerable filters to measure the area energy for the fusion of the pan and multi-spectral

image. A comparison with the HIS and traditional wavelet fusion algorithm shows that the new algorithm is superior

to HIS and the traditional wavelet fusion algorithm in that its results are much more effective.

 With the remote sensing data as the main information source and the geographic information system (GIS)

as the strut, the authors used experience modeling to determine relations between vegetation index and vegetation

coverage degree. In combination with the slope map derived from the topographic map and the pure carbonate, half-

carbonate and non-carbonate areas derived from the regional geologic map and in consideration of the amount of

precipitation as well as the rainfall intensity, a quantitative analytical model based on the expert classifier was

established. With this model, a map of desertification intensity grade of the Nanchuan City was drawn. Field

inspection shows that the Kappa index exceeds the lowest permission distinction precision requirement of 0.7, and

thus a highly effective and practical method is provided for acquiring desertification information.

In recent years, many researchers have been involved in the study of Tibet plateau. The development of

the remote sensing technology and more and more sophisticated DEM-based analytical methods has provided researchers

with a new means for studying Tibet plateau. This paper has briefly reviewed the history of applying DEM data to the

study of Tibet plateau. Based on studying several stages in using DEM data, the authors analyzed the methods for

data fusion of multi-sensor and the application of DEM data in many fields. It is pointed out that the

systematization of the research method, the deep extraction of information and the acquiring of high-precise data

seem to be the main tasks in future researches of this field. The problems that should be solved in future are also

discussed.

Since the 1990s, climate has changed rather greatly in areas around Beijing. Of all the changes, the most

prominent is the increasing sandstorm days in winter and spring. As has been pointed out by many experts, resources

and environment are main factors responsible for forming a special kind of climate. In order to study

characteristics of land use in areas around Beijing, a special research project was set up to investigate

information on land use change and land degradation. This research was based on 3S (GIS, RS, GPS) technology. The

regularity and characteristics of land use change and land degradation in areas around Beijing are also analyzed in

this paper.

 As an important ecotype resource, geothermal resource is extremely useful and has good market potential.

With the temperature field of land surface as the object, thermal infrared remote sensing has accumulated abundant

successful experience in geothermal resource survey. In previous geothermal resource survey, land surface

temperature was frequently replaced by thermal infrared spectral radiance or brightness temperature to interpret the

geothermal abnormal area. This replacement, however, is unreasonable in fact. This paper has forecasted favorable

geothermal areas by retrieving land surface temperature with the temperature and emissivity separation algorithm and

interpreting geological structure based on ASTER data as well as analyzing hot water activity and deep gas

characteristics of the earth in Changbaishan volcanic area. The results show that the Tianchi section of Liudaogou-

ChangbaishanTianchi-Zengfenshan fault and the Changbai-Julong section of Changbaishan volcanic ring fault make up

favorable areas for geothermal resource exploration and volcanic monitoring.

The Great Wall is the symbol of China and is also one of the greatest structures in human history. The application of remote sensing technology to studying Great Wall is a new research field, which is obviously superior to traditional field investigation. The Great Wall is somewhat different in different areas in such aspects as building materials, spatial distribution and environment, and these differences are likely to be reflected in remote sensing images. In this paper, the Great Wall in Beijing and Yulin is comparatively studied by using high spatial resolution satellite images, and the causes for their differences are analyzed.

Aimed at tackling the difficulty of achieving the prior probabilities of class samples in using the traditional Maximum-Likelihood (ML) and solving the problem of remote sensing image classification, the authors put forward a novel and improved ML method. This method can automatically obtain the optimal prior probability of class samples, thus overcoming the main defect in the traditional ML method. In the experiments the authors used six scenes of Radarsat-1 Fine mode SAR images, and the results demonstrate that good classification can be achieved by using the method proposed in this paper. In the case of single-band and single-polarization SAR data, the classification precision can be expected to reach 80%.

This paper deals with the utilization of the object-oriented method to extract wetland information from the Landsat ETM image. The test area is located in the source area of the Yellow River, and the wetland information extracted includes that of swamps and lakes. The object-oriented method consists of four steps, i.e., image segmentation, class hierarchy building, feature choice and classification, and precision evaluation. The test results show that the object-oriented method can effectively extract wetland information with smooth borders and avoid the pepper shape effect. With some adjustment the method can be widely applied to other areas. It can raise the automation degree of information extraction, reduce artificial workload and improve working efficiency.

In protecting the digital image as well as video and audio data from non-authorized use, the digital watermarking technology has played an increasingly important role in the field of multimedia in recent years. A review of the development of watermark techniques is given in this paper, followed by a discussion of the potential application of spatial domain and transform domain watermark techniques in remote sensing images copyright protection and verification in different forms of processed images.

The Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model was developed to estimate land surface fluxes using remote sensing data and available meteorological observations. Its most important advantage lies in its inclusion of a physical model for the estimation of the roughness height for heat transfer which is the most critical parameter in the parameterization of the heat fluxes of land surface. In this paper, SEBS was utilized to estimate the surface fluxes over Hebei plain in North China by using MODIS|TERRA images, in combination of meteorological data collected in meteorological stations distributed over the study area. The estimated daily evapotranspiration by SEBS are first compared with measurements by a large weighing lysimeter in Luancheng Agro-Ecosystem Station (LAES) located near Shijiazhuang City. Comparison shows that the estimated evapotranspiration from SEBS has a good agreement with the ground real data. Based on the validation of the model, this paper has analyzed the spatial distribution of actual evapotranspiration in combination of the up-to-date land cover map in Hebei plain.

Supported by GIS and RS technology and combined with field investigation and other accessory data, the authors evaluated the ecological environment quality of Beijing by using remote sense images of TM, SPOT4, QUICKBIRD and the Ecological Environment Quality Evaluation Criteria. The monitored variations of Beijing’s ecological environment from 2000 to 2006 were also analyzed. The results show that the ecological environment quality evaluation index of 2006 was 59.707, remaining in the rank of “fine”. From 2000 to 2006, the ecological environment was steadily in the rank of “fine”. Nevertheless, the area of plantation was decreased by 339.09 km2, the area of town building was increased by 285.24km2 and the area of water was declined by 118.98 km2, which may be attributed to such factors as reduction of rainfall, urbanization and human activity.

Google Earth browser and ArcGIS 9.2 software were applied to the integration, publishing and spatial representation of water environmental pollution and Cyanophyta algal bloom monitoring data from the Taihu Lake, which provided strong support to geographical landscape demonstration and spatial pattern analysis of water quality and algal bloom in the Taihu Lake.