Common Definitions and Terms
used during data gathering activities of the
Ten-Year Industry Forecast

• 3D modeling Development of digital elevation models (DEM), development of stereo models, and use of these in 3D modeling such as flythroughs.
• 3D Viewing Viewing data in three dimensions.
• Aero Triangulation The process for the extension of horizontal and/or vertical control whereby the measurements of angles and/or distances on overlapping photographs are related into a spatial solution using the perspective principles of photography.
• Area Coverage/Theme size The amount of landmass covered by an image usually measured in square miles or square kilometers.
• Band-to-band registration  To register one image band to another.
• Bathymetry The art or science of sounding, or measuring the depth of bodies of water.
• Break Line Extraction The extraction of data where the terrain changes abruptly.
• Cadastral Of or pertaining to landed property. Cadastral Surveying is surveying having to do with determining and defining land ownership and boundaries.
• Camera Self-Calibration The calibration of a camera system to assess its focal length, principle points and radial distortions
• Certified Data parameters compared against standards in the laboratory or field by an independent sanctioning agency.
• Change detection The comparison of two images over a specific period of time to detect changes.
• Characterized Data parameters compared against standards in the laboratory or field.
• Civil Government Includes applications such as urban planning, taxation, redistricting, water management, etc.
• Classification The process of sorting or arranging image data into different classes, groups or categories.
• Color/Spectral/Radiometric Quality Color/spectral band/radiometric quality refers to the recording of the targets brightness or intensity by the sensor. Color refers to an image of more than one channel segmenting the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum into bands (i.e. RGB (red-green-blue) or IRRG (infrared-red-green)). Spectral band is a descriptor denoting a segment of the EM spectrum. Radiometric quality is the quantification of the systems ability to accurately record the brightness of the target despite atmospheric, sensor and target unknowns.
• Community Growth Focuses on land use, transportation, infrastructure, cultural and recreational resource and issues of quality of life in our communities, i.e., business and business demographics.
• Contour Generation Mapping of lines of equal parametric value, usually of common elevation or height.
• Contrast The difference in brightness between the light and dark areas of an image.
• Convolution A technique used to enhance an image. Can be used to sharpen, smooth, or detect edges in an input image.
• Cost Amount of money that a purchaser pays for remote sensing (data)(information).
• Create / Edit tabular data To create or edit descriptive information, including locations, that is stored in rows and columns and can be linked to map features.
• Create / Edit thematic layers To create or edit layers of related geographic features, such as streets, parcels, or rivers, and the attributes (characteristics) of those features.
• Crop To subset the extents of an image.
• Currentness of data How recently the data was collected.
• DATA The analog and/or digital raster imagery collected by active and/or passive remote sensors. The vector content is manually or automatically digitized or in analog form. Includes textual content as well.
• Data Format Common formats such as .tif, .jpg, .bil, and .hdf. Data format is particularly significant when considering the compatibility of software and the format of data products.
• Data Licensing Contractual rights outlining who can possess or use a product, as well as how that product can be distributed.
• Data Provider A vendor who provides RS/GIS data, or the analog and/or digital imagery collected by active and/or passive remote sensors. The data is in relatively raw form with minor geometric and/or radiometric corrections.
• Data Source/Heritage Is the provider of the data and its associated metadata. Heritage specifically refers to what checks are preformed by the data provider prior to and during collection (calibrations in example prior, Photogrammetry or radiometric control during collection during. It should also refer to what has been done to the data prior to receipt by the client.
• Delivery Media Format The configuration of or the way data is written upon a medium (CD, zip disk, magnetic tape, etc).
• DEM Extraction Using software techniques to extract DEM's (digital elevation models) from imagery using stereo photogrammetry techniques.
• Disaster Management Encompasses natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, severe weather and floods, as well as ecological issues related to the health of human, plant and animal communities.
• Display themes The displaying of a set of related geographic features, such as streets, parcels, or rivers, and the attributes (characteristics) of those features.
• Dynamic Range The ratio of the maximum to minimum signal levels that introduce no more than acceptable levels of signal amplitude distortions.
• Edge Matching The process of eliminating locational and content discrepancies in the representation of features at the edges of adjacent map sheets or tiles when joining them into one coverage.
• Elevation The height of the terrain or man-made feature above the Earth's surface.
• END-USER A person whose job would entail working with remote sensing data, information and/or software.
• Enhancement tools Tools used to enhance features in an image to make it more readable.
• Environmental Quality Covers both air and water quality, and the effect of natural and man-made changes in the landscape on the environment.
• Error Quantification Determination of sum total of errors in a data set.
• Feather The brightness and spatial smoothing of features associated with the gradual transition boundary between two images.
• Flythrough creation Using data (i.e. terrain and image data) to create a virtual 3D flyover.
• Geocoding The process of assigning (x, y) coordinates to data that is not in a spatial data format.
• Geodetic Control The control with which geographic position and elevation of features on the Earth's surface are mapped. This control incorporates information in which the size and shape of the Earth has been taken into account. The control points are often those whose geographic coordinates are known to significant accuracy.
• Geo-Location Accuracy The degree to which the coordinates of points determined from a geospatially referenced image or dataset agree with the coordinates determined by ground survey or other independent higher-accuracy means.
• Geometric correction The process of tying an image to ground coordinates.
• GIS analysis tools For example, the importing of GIS layers and overlaying onto registered imagery. Also, the use of GIS data layers for resolving solutions from analysis of matrices of the layers.
• Governmental Units Political Boundaries
• Grab To select an area of an image for manipulation.
• Ground Sample Distance (GSD) The representation of a pixel as projected on the ground.
• Histories Undo / Redo The ability to retract or protract processes that have been run during data manipulation.
• Hydrography The scientific description and analysis of the physical conditions, boundaries, flow, and related characteristics of the earth's surface waters. The mapping of bodies of water.
• Hyperspectral Remote sensing imagery defined as the collection of reflected, emitted, or backscattered energy from an object or area of interest in hundreds of bands (regions) of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Image Filters Filters used to obtain image information or to reduce noise.
• Image reprojection Changing the projection of an image.
• Image-based GIS A system for capturing, storing, checking, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying raster, textual and vector data which are spatially referenced to the Earth.
• Imaging Working with data in a raster format, typically produced by an optical or electronic device. Satellite data, scanned data, and photographs are common forms of image data.
• INFORMATION Textual, vector or imagery-based data that has been fully processed, combined, analyzed and interpreted into a geospatial product such as a GIS.
• Interior Orientation The relative spatial position and orientation properties of the lens and camera/sensor systems used in acquiring data.
• Layer manipulation  Analyzing layers of data to obtain information.
• Legal Issues Issues of liability, privacy, etc….
• MANAGER/SUPERVISOR A person who can (influence) (spend) (allocate) (authorize) dollars to purchase/acquire remote sensing data, information and/or software.
• MANAGER/USER A person who can (influence)(spend)(allocate)(authorize) dollars to purchase/acquire remote sensing data, information and/or software and works with said data, information and/or software.
• Map composition Generation of hard copy output from virtual composition including imagery, annotation, legends, charts, scale bars, and logos. The putting together of information into a map format for printing.
• Miscellaneous Land Use - Land Cover (Polygonal), Map Reference, Biological, Cultural, Environmental, Economic, Geophysical, Infrastructure (Points & Lines).
• Mosaicing The process of creating a large image by merging several smaller images. Involves blending the seam lines in the geometric sense (warping to eliminate discontinuities) as well as in the radiometric sense (to eliminate sudden shifts in brightness) (i.e. edge matching, feather).
• National/Global Security/Defense Covers security and defense issues on a national and global scale.
• Online internet processing Capability of image analysis using distant processing tools on the Internet.
• Orthoimagery Units Every pixel is made to appear as if nadir (directly beneath) from the camera. It is made by the development and integration of a detailed camera, sensor and target model.
• Other geo-spatial (Georegistered: Vector, Textual)
• Outline The determination of specific edges within an image (i.e. a coastline).
• Pan To move the view of the image back and forth across the image.
• Photogrammetry The uses of image data sets, vector layers, and sensor models to make measurements of the size, height and location of objects or landforms. As such it included the science of mapping the topography of the Earth's surface and of locating and measuring the dimensions of objects on the surface.
• Querying / analyzing thematic layers (proximity analysis) To use a question or request to select geographic features or records, and to study these features and the relationships between them.
• RADAR An active microwave remote sensing system used for Earth resource observations. It is based on the transmission of long-wavelength (e.g. 3-25 cm) microwaves through the atmosphere and then recording the amount of energy backscattered from the terrain.
• Raster Input The input process for raster based data.
• Remote Sensing Remote Sensing is associated with the extraction of information about an object without coming into physical contact with it. For the purposes of this forecast we are restricting the definition to overhead observation of the Earth with a major emphasis on aerospace based data acquisition.
• Resize Sample To increase or decrease the size of an image.
• Resource Management Includes natural resources as well as renewable economic resources such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
• Revisit Rate How often sensor passes over the same target.
• Routing The creation of themes using routes, or linear features with a user-defined measurement system.
• Software Utility Compatibility The ability of a software package to be easily shared.
• Spatial modeling Image processing algorithms used to extract specific information from image data (i.e. principle component analysis, filtering, Fourier Transforms, and so forth).
• Spatial Resolution The level of detailed information you can gather from an image. Ground Sample Distance (GSD) or modulation transfer function (MTF) are measurements to characterize resolution.
• Temporal resolution The frequency with which an imaging system can capture repeat imagery of a particular target area.
• Textual Input The input process for adding text to a project.
• Timeliness of data delivery How much time it takes you to get your data from order to delivery.
• Transportation Roads, Airports, Railroads, Navigation.
• Vector Input The input process for vector based data.
• Views Multiple, usually simultaneous instances of looking at data from varying angles or using varying combinations of parameters.
• Windows Common Tools Basic Windows interface functionality such as file management, subset or crop, grab, copy/paste, pan, zoom, undo, redo, etc.
• Zoom To move the view of the image into and out of the image.