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Correcting Remote Sensing System Detector Error

Ideally, the radiance recorded by a remote sensing system in various bands is an

accurate representation of the radiance actually leaving the feature of interest
(e.g., soil, vegetation, water, or urban land cover) on the Earth’s surface.
Unfortunately, noise (error) can enter the data-collection system at several
points. For example, radiometric error in remotely sensed data may be
introduced by the sensor system itself when the individual detectors do not
function properly or are improperly calibrated. Several of the more common
remote sensing system–induced radiometric errors are:

• random bad pixels (shot noise),

• line-start/stop problems,
• line or column drop-outs,
• line or column striping,
• Smile and Artifact
• Adjacency correction

Random Bad Pixels (Shot Noise)

Sometimes an individual detector does not record spectral data for an individual
pixel. When this occurs randomly, it is called a bad pixel. When there are
numerous random bad pixels found within the scene, it is called shot noise
because it appears that the image was shot by a shotgun. Normally these bad
pixels contain values of 0 or 255 (in 8-bit data) in one or more of the bands.
Shot noise is identified and repaired using the following methodology. It is first
necessary to locate each bad pixel in the band k dataset. A simple thresholding
algorithm makes a pass through the dataset and flags any pixel (BVi,j,k) having a
brightness value of zero (assuming values of 0 represent shot noise and not a real
land cover such as water).
Once identified, it is then possible to evaluate the eight pixels surrounding the
flagged pixel, as shown below:

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Random Bad Pixels (Shot Noise)

The mean of the eight surrounding

pixels is computed using the equation
and the value substituted for BVi,j,k in
the corrected image:

Line or Column Drop-outs

An entire line containing no spectral information may be produced if an

individual detector in a scanning system (e.g., Landsat MSS or Landsat 7 ETM+)
fails to function properly. If a detector in a linear array (e.g., SPOT XS, IRS-1C,
QuickBird) fails to function, this can result in an entire column of data with no
spectral information. The bad line or column is commonly called a line or column
drop-out and contains brightness values equal to zero. For example, if one of the
16 detectors in the Landsat Thematic Mapper sensor system fails to function
during scanning, this can result in a brightness value of zero for every pixel, j, in
a particular line, i. This line drop-out would appear as a completely black line in
the band, k, of imagery.

This is a serious condition because there is no way to restore data that were never
acquired. However, it is possible to improve the visual interpretability of the data
by introducing estimated brightness values for each bad scan line.

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Line or Column Drop-outs

It is first necessary to locate each bad line in the dataset. A simple thresholding
algorithm makes a pass through the dataset and flags any scan line having a mean
brightness value at or near zero. Once identified, it is then possible to evaluate the
output for a pixel in the preceding line (BVi – 1,j,k) and succeeding line (BVi + 1,j,k)
and assign the output pixel (BVi,j,k) in the drop-out line the average of these two
brightness values:

This is performed for every pixel in a bad scan line. The result is an image
consisting of interpolated data every nth line that is more visually interpretable
than one with horizontal black lines running systematically throughout the entire
image. This same cosmetic digital image processing procedure can be applied to
column drop-outs produced by a linear array remote sensing system.

Line-start Problems
Occasionally, scanning systems fail to collect data at the beginning of a scan
line, or they place the pixel data at inappropriate locations along the scan line.
For example, all of the pixels in a scan line might be systematically shifted just
one pixel to the right. This is called a line-start problem.
Also, a detector may abruptly stop collecting data somewhere along a scan and
produce results similar to the line or column drop-out previously discussed.
Ideally, when data are not collected, the sensor system would be programmed to
remember what was not collected and place any good data in their proper
geometric locations along the scan. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
For example, the first pixel (column 1) in band k on line i (i.e., BVi,1,k) might be
improperly located at column 50 (i.e., BVi,50,k). If the line-start problem is always
associated with a horizontal bias of 50 columns, it can be corrected using a
simple horizontal adjustment. However, if the amount of the line-start
displacement is random, it is difficult to restore the data without extensive
human interaction on a line-by-line basis. A considerable amount of MSS data
collected by Landsats 2 and 3 exhibit line-start problems.

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Line-start Problems

N-line Striping

Sometimes a detector does not fail completely,

but simply goes out of radiometric adjustment.
For example, a detector might record spectral
measurements over a dark, deep body of water
that are almost uniformly 20 brightness values
greater than the other detectors for the same
band. The result would be an image with
systematic, noticeable lines that are brighter
than adjacent lines. This is referred to as n-line
striping.

The maladjusted line contains valuable

information, but should be corrected to have
approximately the same radiometric scale as the
data collected by the properly calibrated
detectors associated with the same band

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To repair systematic n-line striping, it is first necessary to identify the

miscalibrated scan lines in the scene. This is usually accomplished by computing
a histogram of the values for each of the n detectors that collected data over the
entire scene (ideally, this would take place over a homogeneous area, such as a
body of water). If one detector’s mean or median is significantly different from
the others, it is probable that this detector is out of adjustment. Consequently,
every line and pixel in the scene recorded by the maladjusted detector may
require a bias (additive or subtractive) correction or a more severe gain
(multiplicative) correction. This type of n-line striping correction a) adjusts all
the bad scan lines so that they have approximately the same radiometric scale as
the correctly collected data and b) improves the visual interpretability of the
data. It looks better.

N-line Striping

a) Original band 10 radiance

(W m-2 sr-1) data from a
GER DAIS 3715
hyperspectral dataset. The
radiance values along the
horizontal (X) and vertical
(Y) profiles are summarized
in the next figure.
b) Enlargement of band 10
data.
c) Band 10 data after
destriping.
d) An enlargement of the
destriped data

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Image Geometric Correction

MAP PROJECTIONS & COORDINATE SYSTEMS

Earth as an Ellipsoid

•Spherical earth models represent the shape of the earth with a sphere of a
specified radius. Spherical earth models are often used for short range
navigation (VOR-DME) and for global distance approximations. May be used
for small scale maps 1:5,000,000.

•Ellipsoidal earth models are required for accurate range and bearing
calculations over long distances. Loran-C, and GPS navigation receivers use
ellipsoidal earth models to compute position and waypoint information.

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Geodetic Datum
• Geodetic datums define the size and shape of the earth and the origin and
orientation of the coordinate systems used to map the earth.
• Minimum set of parameters required to define location and orientation of
local system w.r.to global reference system.

•A cartesian datum will have X, Y, Z, ,,, scale factor ().

•An ellipsoidal datum will have in addition a, f.

• Referencing geodetic coordinates to the wrong datum can result in position

errors of hundreds of meters. Different nations and agencies use different
datums as the basis for coordinate systems used to identify positions in
geographic information systems, precise positioning systems, and navigation
systems.

Earth centered datum Local datum

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GEIOD
•The equipotential surface of the earth’s gravity field which would coincide with
the ocean surface, if the earth were undisturbed and without topography.

•Geoid models attempt to represent the surface of the entire earth over both land
and ocean as though the surface resulted from gravity alone.

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Map Projection
•Map projections are systematic transformations that allow the orderly
representation of the Earth's spherical graticule on a flat map. Some distortions
of conformality, distance, direction, scale, and area always result from this
process.
•Conformality
A conformal map is a function that locally preserves angles, but
not necessarily lengths. The scale of a map at any point on the map is the
same in any direction. Shape is preserved locally on conformal maps.

•Distance
The azimuthal equidistant projection preserves both distance and direction
from the central point.. A map is equidistant when it portrays distances from
the center of the projection to any other place on the map.

•Direction
A map preserves direction when azimuths (angles from a point on a line to
another point) are portrayed correctly in all directions.

•Area
When a map portrays areas over the entire map so that all mapped areas have
the same proportional relationship to the areas on the Earth that they
represent, the map is an equal-area / Equivalent map.

•Different map projections result in different spatial relationships between

regions.

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Map projections fall into three general classes.

Cylindrical

Conical

Planar

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Conical

Cylindrical

Planar

•Cylindrical projections result from projecting a spherical surface onto a

cylinder.

•When the cylinder is tangent to the sphere, contact is along a great circle (the
circle formed on the surface of the Earth by a plane passing through the center
of the Earth)..

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Meridians of longitude are straight lines, equally spaced along, and perpendicular
to the Equator. Parallels of latitude are represented as straight line parallel to and
having the same length as the Equator. In the tangent case, the Equator is true to
scale and distortion increases with distance from the Equator. In the secant case,
the standard parallels which lie equidistant north and south of the Equator are true
to scale and distortion increases with distance from the standard lines

Gnomonic
The cylindrical gnomonic projection illustrates the basic pattern of normal
cylindrical projections. The principles are the same as for the azimuthal
gnomonic projection. A light source positioned at the centre of the globe casts
shadows of the graticule on the projection surface, which in this instance, is a
cylinder placed tangent to the globe along the Equator. The Equator is shown
as true to scale on the map, and as is typical of cylindrical projections, there
is a narrow band along the Equator in which distortion of all geometric
characteristics is minimal. The spacing of parallels increases rapidly toward
the poles. The polar regions cannot be represented since the poles would be
located an infinite distance from the Equator.

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In India
For defense
Datum : Everest
Projection : Polyconic

For civilian
Datum : WGS84
Projection: UTM

Image Geometric Correction

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Geometric Correction

It is usually necessary to preprocess remotely sensed data and remove

geometric distortion so that individual picture elements (pixels) are in their
proper planimetric (x, y) map locations. This allows remote sensing–
derived information to be related to other thematic information in
geographic information systems (GIS) or spatial decision support systems
(SDSS). Geometrically corrected imagery can be used to extract accurate
distance, polygon area, and direction (bearing) information.

Why Geometric Correction ???

• For making Maps.

• To prepare a mosaic of images.
• To register multi-temporal data.
• To bring the images of different spatial resolutions to the
same scale.

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Internal and External Geometric Error

Remotely sensed imagery typically exhibits internal and

external geometric error. It is important to recognize the
source of the internal and external error and whether it is
systematic (predictable) or nonsystematic (random).
Systematic geometric error is generally easier to identify
and correct than random geometric error.

Internal Geometric Error

Internal geometric errors are introduced by the remote sensing
system itself or in combination with Earth rotation or curvature
characteristics. These distortions are often systematic (predictable)
and may be identified and corrected using pre-launch or in-flight
platform ephemeris (i.e., information about the geometric
characteristics of the sensor system and the Earth at the time of
data acquisition). Geometric distortions in imagery that can
sometimes be corrected through analysis of sensor characteristics
and ephemeris data include:
• skew caused by Earth rotation effects,
• scanning system–induced variation in ground resolution cell
size,
• scanning system one-dimensional relief displacement, and
• scanning system tangential scale distortion.

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Image Offset (skew) caused

by Earth Rotation Effects
Earth-observing Sun-synchronous
satellites are normally in fixed orbits
that collect a path (or swath) of imagery
as the satellite makes its way from the
north to the south in descending mode.
Meanwhile, the Earth below rotates on
its axis from west to east making one
complete revolution every 24 hours.
This interaction between the fixed
orbital path of the remote sensing
system and the Earth’s rotation on its
axis skews the geometry of the imagery
collected.

The ground resolution cell size

along a single across-track
scan is a function of
a) the distance from the aircraft
to the observation where H is
the altitude of the aircraft
above ground level (AGL) at
nadir and H sec f off-nadir;
b) the instantaneous-field-of-
view of the sensor,β,
measured in radians; and c)
the scan angle off-nadir, Φ.
Pixels off-nadir have semi-
major and semi-minor axes
(diameters) that define the
resolution cell size.
d) The total field of view of one scan line is θ. One-dimensional relief displacement
and tangential scale distortion occur in the direction perpendicular to the line of
flight and parallel with a line scan.

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Ground Swath Width

The ground swath width (gsw) is the length of the terrain

strip remotely sensed by the system during one complete
across-track sweep of the scanning mirror. It is a function of
the total angular field of view of the sensor system, q, and
the altitude of the sensor system above ground level, H. It is
computed as:

Scanning System One-Dimensional

Relief Displacement
In effect, the ground-resolution element at nadir functions like a
principal point for each scan line. At nadir, the scanning system looks
directly down on a tank, and it appears as a perfect circle. The greater
the height of the object above the local terrain and the greater the
distance of the top of the object from nadir (i.e., the line of flight), the
greater the amount of one-dimensional relief displacement present.
One-dimensional relief displacement is introduced in both directions
away from nadir for each sweep of the across-track mirror.

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Scanning System Tangential Scale Distortion

Compression of features along an axis that is perpendicular to the line of

flight. The greater the distance of the ground-resolution cell from nadir, the
greater the image scale compression. This is called tangential scale
distortion. Objects near nadir exhibit their proper shape. Objects near the
edge of the flight line become compressed and their shape distorted. For
example, consider the tangential geometric distortion and compression of the
circular swimming pools and one hectare of land the farther they are from
nadir in the hypothetical diagram.

a) Hypothetical perspective geometry of a vertical aerial photograph obtained over level terrain. Four
50-ft-tall tanks are distributed throughout the landscape and experience varying degrees of radial relief
displacement the farther they are from the principal point (PP). b) Across-track scanning system
introduces one-dimensional relief displacement perpendicular to the line of flight and tangential scale
distortion and compression the farther the object is from nadir. Linear features trending across the
terrain are often recorded with s-shaped or sigmoid curvature characteristics due to tangential scale
distortion and image compression.

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Original Image Restored image

External Geometric Error

External geometric errors are usually introduced by

phenomena that vary in nature through space and time. The
most important external variables that can cause geometric
error in remote sensor data are random movements by the
aircraft (or spacecraft) at the exact time of data collection,
which usually involve:

• altitude changes, and/or

• attitude changes (roll, pitch, and yaw).

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Attitude Changes
Remote sensing systems flown at a constant altitude above ground level
(AGL) result in imagery with a uniform scale all along the flightline. For
example, a camera with a 12-in. focal length lens flown at 20,000 ft. AGL will
yield 1:20,000-scale imagery. If the aircraft or spacecraft gradually changes
its altitude along a flightline, then the scale of the imagery will change.
Increasing the altitude will result in smaller-scale imagery (e.g., 1:25,000-
scale). Decreasing the altitude of the sensor system will result in larger-scale
imagery (e.g, 1:15,000). The same relationship holds true for digital remote
sensing systems collecting imagery on a pixel by pixel basis.

The diameter of the spot size on the ground (D; the nominal spatial
resolution) is a function of the instantaneous-field-of-view (b) and the
altitude above ground level (H) of the sensor system, i.e.,

a) Geometric modification in imagery may

be introduced by changes in the aircraft or
satellte platform altitude above ground level
(AGL) at the time of data collection.
Increasing altitude results in smaller-scale
imagery while decreasing altitude results in
larger-scale imagery.
b) Geometric modification may also be
introduced by aircraft or spacecraft changes
in attitude, including roll, pitch, and yaw. An
aircraft flies in the x-direction. Roll occurs
when the aircraft or spacecraft fuselage
maintains directional stability but the wings
move up or down, i.e. they rotate about the
x-axis angle (omega: w). Pitch occurs when
the wings are stable but the fuselage nose or
tail moves up or down, i.e., they rotate about
the y-axis angle (phi: f). Yaw occurs when
the wings remain parallel but the fuselage is
forced by wind to be oriented some angle to
the left or right of the intended line of flight,
i.e., it rotates about the z-axis angle (kappa:
k). Thus, the plane flies straight but all
remote sensor data are displaced by k.
Remote sensing data often are distorted due
to a combination of changes in altitude and
attitude (roll, pitch, and yaw).

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Ground Control Points

Geometric distortions introduced by sensor system attitude (roll, pitch, and yaw) and/or
altitude changes can be corrected using ground control points and appropriate
mathematical models. A ground control point (GCP) is a location on the surface of
the Earth (e.g., a road intersection) that can be identified on the imagery and
located accurately on a map. The image analyst must be able to obtain two distinct
sets of coordinates associated with each GCP:

• image coordinates specified in i rows and j columns, and

• map coordinates (e.g., x, y measured in degrees of latitude and longitude, feet in
a state plane coordinate system, or meters in a Universal Transverse Mercator
projection).

The paired coordinates (i, j and x, y) from many GCPs (e.g., 20) can be modeled to
derive geometric transformation coefficients. These coefficients may be used to
geometrically rectify the remote sensor data to a standard datum and map projection.

Ground Control Points

Several alternatives to obtaining accurate ground control point (GCP) map
coordinate information for image-to-map rectification include:
• hard-copy planimetric maps (e.g., SOI 1:50,000-scale topographic
maps)

• digital planimetric maps

• global positioning system (GPS) instruments that may be taken into the
field to obtain the coordinates of objects to within +20 cm if the GPS
data are differentially corrected.

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Types of Geometric Correction

Commercially remote sensor data (e.g., SPOT Image, DigitalGlobe,
Space Imaging) already have much of the systematic error removed.

Unless otherwise processed, however, unsystematic random error

remains in the image, making it non-planimetric (i.e., the pixels are not
in their correct x, y planimetric map position). Two common geometric
correction procedures are often used by scientists to make the digital
remote sensor data of value:
• image-to-map rectification, and
• image-to-image registration.
The general rule of thumb is to rectify remotely sensed data to a
standard map projection whereby it may be used in conjunction with
other spatial information in a GIS to solve problems. Therefore, most
of the discussion will focus on image-to-map rectification.

Image to Image Registration

Image-to-image registration is the translation and rotation
alignment process by which two images of like geometry
and of the same geographic area are positioned coincident
with respect to one another so that corresponding elements
of the same ground area appear in the same place on the
registered images. This type of geometric correction is used
when it is not necessary to have each pixel assigned a unique
x, y coordinate in a map projection. For example, we might
want to make a cursory examination of two images obtained
on different dates to see if any change has taken place.

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Image to Map Rectification

Image-to-map rectification is the process by which the

geometry of an image is made planimetric.
Whenever accurate area, direction, and distance measurements
are required, image-to-map geometric rectification should be
performed.
It may not, however, remove all the distortion caused by
topographic relief displacement in images.
The image-to-map rectification process normally involves
selecting GCP image pixel coordinates (row and column) with
their map coordinate counterparts (e.g., meters northing and
easting in a Universal Transverse Mercator map projection).

Image to Map Geometric Rectification Logic

Two basic operations must be performed to geometrically

rectify a remotely sensed image to a map coordinate
system:

• Spatial interpolation, and

• Intensity interpolation.

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Spatial Interpolation
The geometric relationship between the input pixel
coordinates (column and row; referred to as x, y ) and the
associated map coordinates of this same point (x, y) must be
identified. A number of GCP pairs are used to establish the
nature of the geometric coordinate transformation that must be
applied to rectify or fill every pixel in the output image (x, y)
with a value from a pixel in the unrectified input image
(x, y ). This process is called spatial interpolation.

Intensity Interpolation
Pixel brightness values must be determined. Unfortunately,
there is no direct one-to-one relationship between the
movement of input pixel values to output pixel locations. It
will be shown that a pixel in the rectified output image often
requires a value from the input pixel grid that does not fall
neatly on a row-and-column coordinate. When this occurs,
there must be some mechanism for determining the brightness
value (BV ) to be assigned to the output rectified pixel. This
process is called intensity interpolation.

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Spatial Interpolation Using Coordinate Transformations

Image-to-map rectification requires that polynomial equations be fit to

the GCP data using least-squares criteria to model the corrections
directly in the image domain without explicitly identifying the source of
the distortion. Depending on the distortion in the imagery, the number of
GCPs used, and the degree of topographic relief displacement in the
area, higher-order polynomial equations may be required to
geometrically correct the data. The order of the rectification is simply
the highest exponent used in the polynomial.

Concept of how different-order

transformations fit a
hypothetical surface illustrated
in cross-section.
a) Original observations.
b) First-order linear
transformation fits a
plane to the data.
c) Second-order quadratic
fit.
d) Third-order cubic fit.

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Spatial Interpolation Using Coordinate Transformations

Generally, for moderate distortions in a relatively small area of an image

(e.g., a quarter of a Landsat TM scene), a first-order, six-parameter, affine
(linear) transformation is sufficient to rectify the imagery to a geographic
frame of reference.

This type of transformation can model six kinds of distortion in the

remote sensor data, including:

• translation in x and y,
• scale changes in x and y,
• skew, and
• rotation.

Translation

Translation: X’=X+4, Y’=Y+3

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Rotation

Rotation: X’=X cos(θ)-Y sin(θ), Y’=X sin(θ) + Y cos(θ)

Scale

Scale: X’= X *Sx, Y’=Y *Sy

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Skew

X axis transformation different than Y axis

Spatial Interpolation Using CoordinateTransformations:

When all six operations are combined into a single expression it

becomes:

x’ = a0 + a1x+a2y+ a3x2 + a4xy + a5y2

y’ = b0 + b1x + b2y + b3x2 + b4xy + b5y2 2nd order polynomial

where x and y are positions in the output-rectified image or map, and x

and y represent corresponding positions in the original input image.
These two equations can be used to perform what is commonly referred
to as input-to-output, or forward-mapping. In this example, each pixel in
the input grid (e.g., value 15 at x , y = 2, 3) is sent to an x,y location in
the output image according to the six coefficients shown.

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x’ y’ x y
23 31 4123 4567
20 30 4100 4500
40 50 5100 5200

x = ax’ + by’ + c y = dx’ + ey’ + f

4123 = 23a + 31b + c 4567 = 23d + 31e + f

4100 = 20a + 30b + c 4500 = 20d + 30e + f
5100 = 40a + 50b + c 5200 = 40d + 50e + f

Accuracy of polynomial Model / No. of GCP required

N = ( P + 1) * (P + 2) * 0.5
Where P is the order of the polynomial
N is the No. of GCPs

Coefficient Matrix of Matrix of known

Matrix - A unknowns - x Vectors - L

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Solution contd…

• x = (Inverse of A) * L

0.5 -0.475 -0.025 • a = -13.5 d = 16

4123
• b = 63.5 e = 19
-0.5 0.425 0.075 4100

5100
• c = 2465 f = 3610
5 -2.25 -1.75

x = -13.5 x 23 + 63.5 x 31 + 2465

= 4123
y = 16 x 23 + 19 x 31 + 3610
= 4567

Compute the Root-Mean-Squared Error of the

Inverse Mapping Function
Using the six coordinate transform coefficients that model distortions in
the original scene, it is possible to use the output-to-input (inverse)
mapping logic to transfer (relocate) pixel values from the original
distorted image x, y to the grid of the rectified output image, x, y.
However, before applying the coefficients to create the rectified output
image, it is important to determine how well the six coefficients derived
from the least-squares regression of the initial GCPs account for the
geometric distortion in the input image. The method used most often
involves the computation of the root-mean-square error (RMSerror) for
each of the ground control points.

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Spatial Interpolation Using Coordinate Transformation

A way to measure the accuracy of a geometric rectification algorithm

(actually, its coefficients) is to compute the Root Mean Squared Error
(RMSerror) for each ground control point using the equation:

where:
xorig and yorig are are the original row and column coordinates of the GCP in
the image and x’ and y’ are the computed or estimated coordinates in the
original image when we utilize the six coefficients. Basically, the closer these
paired values are to one another, the more accurate the algorithm (and its
coefficients). The square root of the squared deviations represents a measure
of the accuracy of each GCP. By computing RMSerror for all GCPs, it is
possible to (1) see which GCPs contribute the greatest error, and 2) sum all the
RMSerror.

Spatial Interpolation Using Coordinate Transformation

All of the original GCPs selected are usually not used to compute the final six-parameter
coefficients and constants used to rectify the input image. There is an iterative process
that takes place. First, all of the original GCPs (e.g., 20 GCPs) are used to compute an
initial set of six coefficients and constants. The root mean squared error (RMSE)
associated with each of these initial 20 GCPs is computed and summed. Then, the
individual GCPs that contributed the greatest amount of error are determined and
deleted. After the first iteration, this might only leave 16 of 20 GCPs. A new set of
coefficients is then computed using the16 GCPs. The process continues until the RMSE
reaches a user-specified threshold (e.g., <1 pixel error in the x-direction and <1 pixel
error in the y-direction). The goal is to remove the GCPs that introduce the most error
into the multiple-regression coefficient computation. When the acceptable threshold is
reached, the final coefficients and constants are used to rectify the input image to an
output image in a standard map projection as previously discussed.

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Characteristics of Ground Control Points

Point Order of Easting on Northing on X’ pixel Y’ Pixel Total RMS
Number Points Map Map error after
Deleted x y this point
deleted
1 12 597120 3,627,050 150 185 0.501

2 9 597,680 3,627,800 166 165 0.663

…..

If we delete
20 1 601,700 3,632,580 283 12 8.542 GCP #20,
the RMSE
will be
8.452
Total RMS error with all 20 GCPs used: 11.016

Intensity Interpolation
Intensity interpolation involves the extraction of a brightness value from an x, y
location in the original (distorted) input image and its relocation to the appropriate x, y
coordinate location in the rectified output image. This pixel-filling logic is used to
produce the output image line by line, column by column. Most of the time the x and y
coordinates to be sampled in the input image are floating point numbers (i.e., they are not
integers). For example, in the Figure we see that pixel 5, 4 (x, y) in the output image is to
be filled with the value from coordinates 2.4, 2.7 (x, y ) in the original input image.
When this occurs, there are several methods of brightness value (BV) intensity
interpolation that can be applied, including:

• nearest neighbor,
• bilinear interpolation, and
• cubic convolution.

The practice is commonly referred to as resampling.

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Nearest-Neighbor Resampling
The brightness value closest to the predicted x’, y’ coordinate
is assigned to the output x, y coordinate.

Bilinear Interpolation
Assigns output pixel values by interpolating brightness values in two
orthogonal direction in the input image. It basically fits a plane to the 4
pixel values nearest to the desired position (x’, y’) and then computes a new
brightness value based on the weighted distances to these points. For
example, the distances from the requested (x’, y’) position at 2.4, 2.7 in the
input image to the closest four input pixel coordinates (2,2; 3,2; 2,3;3,3) are
computed . Also, the closer a pixel is to the desired x’,y’ location, the more
weight it will have in the final computation of the average.

where Zk are the surrounding four data point values,

and D2k are the distances squared from the point in
question (x, y) to the these data points.

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Bilinear Interpolation

Cubic Convolution
Assigns values to output pixels in much the same manner as bilinear
interpolation, except that the weighted values of 16 pixels surrounding
the location of the desired x’, y’ pixel are used to determine the value
of the output pixel.

where Zk are the surrounding four data point

values, and D2k are the distances squared from
the point in question (x’, y’) to the these data
points.

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Cubic Convolution

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