Presentation by Tony Kimmet, USDA-NRCS-National Geospatial Center of Excellence (NGCE)

1. Hawaiian Islands Orthoimagery Update
HIGICC, Data Discovery
March 14th, 2014
Anthony J. Kimmet
Acting National Imagery Leader
USDA-NRCS-National Geospatial Center of Excellence
501 Felix, Bldg. 23
Fort Worth, Texas 76115
(817)-509-3434 (Office)

2. HIGICC Topics
• Hawaii Orthoimagery
• Future Acquisitions
• Special Acquisitions
Pacific Basin Orthoimagery information was presented at the PRiMO
conference on Wednesday, March 12th. If you would like a copy of this
presentation please contact Tony Kimmet (tony.kimmet@ftw.usda.gov)

3. Hawaii Orthoimagery Availability
1997 - 2014
Camera/Sensor Resolution Islands Covered Years Special Project Areas
- Aerial 1 Meter All / 70% 1997-2002 No
- Aerial 1 Ft GSD Oahu 2005, 2008 No
- Satellite/DG-QB2 .6 Meter All / 100% 2003-2008 No
- Satellite/DG-WV2 .5 Meter All / 100% 2009-2012 Yes: Molokai, Maui, Lanai

4. • Version 2 of Orthoimagery for Hawaii is complete
• Data distribution is via two portable discs, 3 TB each disc
• Hawaii Island and Kahoolawe were updated and released as
“Version 2, Release 2”.
Hawaiian Islands
Status of DG-WV2
March, 2014
Version 2, Disc 1
Version 2, Disc 2

5. Hawaii Island Orthoimagery Mosaics
Release 1 (March, 2013) Release 2 (July, 2013)

6. •USDA-NRCS-National Geospatial Center of Excellence (NGCE) updated the Hawaii
Island DigitalGlobe WorldView-2 (DG-WV2) Release 1 mosaic which was distributed in
March, 2013.
•Hawaii Island Orthoimagery Mosaic , Release 2 corrects some issues with Imagery
distortion in northwest area of Hawaii Island near the city area of Waimea along with a few
other noticeable anomalies.
•After distribution of Release 1 mosaic, imagery distortion was discovered in the Waimea
area if the scale of Imagery was viewed at 1:3,000 scale or less. The NGCE decided to
correct this issue and a few other correctable issues in the northwest area.
•Hawaii Island, Release 2 does not contain any new imagery but the existing scenes were
enhanced and corrected. The following shows some of the corrections that were applied.
Hawaii Island, Orthoimagery Mosaic, November 2013, Release 2

7. DG-WV2 Imagery outlined in
red were reprocessed to
correct known anomalies.
The following shows what the
corrections are for the areas
listed in the map.
Release 2
2

8. Hawaii Island, Orthoimagery Mosaic, March 2013, Release 1
Notice that the imagery at a
scale of 1:8,000 looks relatively
clear of any distortion
Waimea, Hawaii

9. Hawaii Island, Orthoimagery Mosaic, March 2013, Release 1
Imagery at a scale of 1:2,000 or
less shows most objects twice
with a slight displacement.
Waimea, Hawaii

10. Hawaii Island Orthoimagery Mosaics
Waimea Area
Release 1 (March, 2013) Release 2 (July, 2013)

11. Hawaii Island Orthoimagery Mosaics
Waikoloa Area (NW Hawaii)
Release 1 (March, 2013) Release 2 (July, 2013)
Three different DG-WV2
scenes converged in
the city area.
#1
#2
#3

12. Hawaii Island Orthoimagery Mosaics
Halaula Area (NW Hawaii)
Version 1 (March, 2013) Version 2 (July, 2013)
Cloud Patch Window
Eliminated
Scene cutline moved
from this orchard

13. Hawaii Island Orthoimagery Mosaic, Release 2
PDF Files Created for Hawaii GIS Community

14. Hawaii Orthoimagery, Release 2, November 2013
After researching this issue, the NGCE discovered the following on the Imagery distortion
issue for the Waimea area.
•The NGCE completed a mosaic of Hawaii Island utilizing one version, or the best available
DG-WV2 data for most areas of Hawaii Island.
•The NGCE re-processed the Hawaii Mosaic many times to correct the distortion issue.
Other know ammonias were also cleared up in this reprocessing.
•Release 2 was distributed to a few sites in Hawaii for evaluation in August, 2013.

15. Majority of WV2 Orthoimagery
Smears are located in this area

16. Know issues with Hawaii DG-WV2 Orthoimagery Mosaic, Release 2
- Waipio Valley in North West Hawaii Island has several Orthoimagery anomalies or smears/stretched at
or near the coastline.
- Selective areas of Waipio Valley has extreme terrain relief. A picture from the following website
illustrates the issue.
http://www.gohawaii.com/big-island/regions-neighborhoods/hamakua-coast/waipio-valley-lookout
Terrain with high relief is difficult for a satellite to capture successfully

17. Example of Imagery Smear in Waipio Valley

18. 2002
- 3 Bands, 1 Meter GSD
- Collected 1997- 2002
- 80% of Island collected
USDA-NRCS-NGCE
Hawaii Island
High Priority Areas
New Orthoimagery
2009
- 4 Bands, .6 Meter GSD
- Collected 2003-20008
- 100% of Island collected
Issues:
- Clouds
- Imagery Smears
- Age of Imagery
- Hawaii Mosaic will likely
receive incremental
changes every 6-12 months.

19. Hawaii Island – Potential Upgrade Areas

20. DigitalGlobe WV2
Hilo, Hawaii
March 7th, 2014

21. Kahoolawe, DG-WV2 Release 1
The original DigitalGlobe WorldView-2 (DG-WV2) data received for Kahoolawe, Hawaii in 2010 was found
not to overlay well with the previous USDA-NRCS-NGCE released QB-2 dataset (2005).

22. Kahoolawe, DG-WV2 Release 2
• The NRCS-NGCE in 2013 acquired several new versions of DG-WV2 for
Kahoolawe.
• After testing 3 new versions of WV-2, the NGCE determined that none of the
new versions aligned well with the previously released QB-2 datasets. After
reviewing the accuracy test results, the NGCE decided to test rectify a version
of WV-2 called Kahoolawe, WV-2, Version 4.
• Version 4 appears to be the most viable version because of the following.
- Relatively low off-NADIR Angle (12.99)
- High Sun Angle for the majority of the island (72.12’)
- Relatively low clouds for the majority of the island
- Steep cliff areas in the south and east ends of the island were
viewable since the NADIR and sun angle were favorable.

23. Kahoolawe, DG-WV2 Release 2 (Version 4)
After processing the Imagery in ArcMap, the
NGCE was able to reduce the error to below
10 meters for all areas.

24. Hawaii Orthoimagery DG-WV2 Acquisition Dates
Kauai: 2010
Niihau: 2010
Oahu: 2010-2011
Maui: 2009-2010
Lanai: 2010-11
Molokai: 2009-2011
Kahoolawe, R1: 2010
Kahoolawe, R2: 2011-2012
Hawaii: 2009-2012
Alternate Versions of West Maui, West Molokai and Lanai are available

25. Sedimentation Studies
WV-2, 2/24/2011
Coral Reef Inventory
WV-2, 10/14/2011
USDA-NRCS-NGCE and USGS-Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Working together to collect best available satellite imagery for scientific use
Lanai, Hawaii
Different Uses for Satellite Imagery?

26. Tentative Launch in Late 2014
• USDA-NRCS released complete coverage of Hawaii and some of the Pacific Basin in WorldView-2 with 8
Multi-Spectral Bands
• What is the PRiMO community reaction to this type of Orthoimagery?
• WorldView-3 will collect 16 Multi-Spectral Bands. Can we justify the extra cost for the extra MS bands?
Federal Government license is for 50 cm (.5 Meter)
GSD.
DG has applied for a 30 cm license (~ 1 feet) !

27. • USDA-FSA-APFO has issued contracts for Orthoimagery for Hawaii and Maui
Counties with DigitalGlobe (WV2, 8 Bands, 8 Bits). Contract ended last fall.
Waiting for results.
• Oldest Orthoimagery is on Kauai, Maui and Eastern Hawaii Island. These
islands/areas may be the highest priority for new acquisitions?
• Correct smearing Orthoimagery issues in Northwest Hawaii Island?
• HIGICC members need new Orthoimagery for a special project?
• Funding exists to update some Orthoimagery in Hawaii. Emphasis may be
where the best new Imagery is available.
Future Hawaii Orthoimagery Updates?

28. USDA-NRCS/DOD-NGA need user feedback from the HIGICC on how
satellite Imagery is benefitting your programs. Any maps, documentation
would be appreciated!
Any research on the usefulness of the WV-2 8 Multi-Spectral bands on
Remote Sensing applications (i.e.. Vegetation Analysis, Coral Reef Inventory
etc…)
Imagery Information Requested by USDA-NRCS

29. tony.kimmet@ftw.usda.gov
(817)-509-3434
End of Presentation
Thank You for your time!

30. R4_R5 – Merged with scene from R4
Hawaii Island, East Kona Area
Original Data Received
Imagery Date 12/16/2012
Scenes: R4W_R5W
Used Alternate Scene
Imagery Date 01/15/2012
Scenes: R4
From Final WV-2 Mosaic for Hawaii

31. What new Pacific Basin areas will be available in 2014
Version 2 Status
Available Now: 4 TB Total, All DG-WV2, Most is WV-2, 8 Multi-Spectral Bands
- Marshall Islands: 300 GB Compressed Files (MrSID, ECW) 4 TB Complete Dataset
Available in May/June 2014, 4 TB Total, All DG-WV2 is 8 Multi-Spectral Bands
- Guam (DG-WV2/Astrium) and High-Resolution Aerial
- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
- American Samoa (High Resolution Aerial, DG-WV2)
- US Outlining Territories (DG-WV2)
Palau and Federated States of Micronesia are tasking! Please contact USDA-NRCS for
what is available.
Files Available
- MrSID Compressed Mosaic
- GeoTIFF Original Files
- Erdas Imagine Mosaics ( Natural Color, Pan Sharpen 4/8 Multi-Spectral)
- Shapefiles and Metadata

32. Differences in local weather can affect
what Satellite scenes are best for a given purpose
12/11/2011
12/30/2012
NW Lanai, Hawaii
Trade Winds Started by 10:30am Local Time on this Image
NRCS is working when possible with local land
owners to use conservation practices to prevent soil
runoff.

33. Optimum Satellite Scenes for Coral Reef Inventory
Lanai, Hawaii
DG-WV2
Desired Imagery Characteristics
- Low winds
- Minimum Sun Glint
- No precipitation in previous
12-24 hours

34. Optimum Satellite Scenes for Soil Sedimentation Studies
Lanai, Hawaii
DG-WV2
Weather reports listed 1.33
inches of rain on Lanai on
2/23/11-2/24/11.

35. Hawaii DG-WV2
Orthoimagery Acquisition Dates
Imagery:
.5 meter Resolution
8 Multi-Spectral Bands
Niihau
2010
Oahu
2010-11
Kauai
2010
Kahoolawe
Release 1
2010
Hawaii
2009-2012
Kahoolawe
Release 2
2011-12

36. Hawaii DG-WV2
Orthoimagery Acquisition Dates
Imagery:
.5 meter Resolution
8 Multi-Spectral Bands
Niihau
2010
Kahoolawe
Release 1
2010
Kahoolawe
Release 2
2011-12
Maui
2009-10
West Maui
2010-11
Molokai 2009-11
Lanai
2011
West Molokai 2010-11

38. Kahoolawe, DG-WV2 Release 2