Improving Geometric resolution of NDVI results with panchromatic and multispectral data fusion

The NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) requires red and infrared remotely sensed images to assess whether the vegetation is present or not. Data collected by red and infrared bands sensors can be substituted by synthetic images, with higher geometric resolution, that are obtained using pan-sharpening techniques: pixel dimensions of panchromatic data are transferred to multispectral ones, so more detailed information is available for NDVI application. In this paper Landsat 7 ETM+ and IKONOS imageries are considered in reference to Campania Region. Geometric resolution of NDVI results is improved using Zhang method, an example of modulation-based fusion techniques. The derived red and infrared images present pixels 14.25 m x 14.25 m in the case of Landsat 7 ETM+, 1 m x 1 m for IKONOS