Abstract
This paper examines the applicability of high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery in hydrological and agricultural areas. The applicability was investigated via three QuickBird multispectral images of Osaka, which were acquired during summer and winter 2005-2006. In a supervised classification, shadows of ground obstacles were occasionally misclassified as surface water. This problem could be avoided using summer images and a filter. Vegetations were easily separated from non-vegetation, but separation of agricultural crops from forests was somewhat difficult. NDVI from QuickBird image well described the vegetation conditions in small plot-size fields in Japan. Thus, high-resolution NDVI should be a valuable source for agricultural land and water managements. A sensitivity analysis indicated that atmospheric correction is recommended if absolute value of NDVI is important, although atmospherically uncorrected NDVI is sufficient for relative analysis within a single image.
