Assembly of a remote sensed reference image database of Europe at 25m resolution

ABSTRACT: This paper is about an initiative to produce an INSPIRE compliant pan-European image data set of known spatial accuracy. Two major motivations are behind developing this product. One is to have a trusted reference for any other rasterised data which is already orthorectified or requires orthorectification. The other is to have a gap-free and seamless image data repository which allows a highly automated land cover analysis or change detection. To achieve these goals a cartographic reference system has to be defined and a suitable set of images must be identified. This paper describes the cartographic frame and how it is based on the proposals of the INSPIRE initiative. Furthermore the repositories for Landsat ETMþimagery mainly acquired in or around the year 2000 which were considered for this work are introduced. Both data sets had to undergo a number of preparatory steps in order to be compatible and consistent. Once properly prepared the data sets can now easily be composited or compared. Some examples are given for ongoing and future applications.