ELEMENTS OF IMAGE INTERPRETATION

Source: Ch.5 Campbel and

Carolina Distinguished Professor

Department of Geography
University of South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina 29208

jrjensen@sc.edu

Size

Tone

Shape

Elements of
Image
Interpretation
Pattern

Shadow

Height
and
Depth

Texture

Size: Relative and Absolute size of objects

on image

Shape: Gives ideals clues of features identity

Shadow: Helps to identify both natural and man made features

Tone : Denotes lightness or darkness of a region within an image

Tone and Color

Texture: refers to the apparent roughness or smoothness of a region.

Pattern: Arrangement of individual objects into distinctive recurring

forms that facilitates the recognition on aerial imageries

Height and Depth

Elements of Image Interpretation Site, Situation and Association

IMAGE INTERPRETATION STRATEGIES

Field
Observation

Deterministic
Interpretation

Probabilistic
Interpretation

Direct
Recognition

Interpretation
by inference