SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF AVIRIS DATA FOR SNOW GRAIN SIZE MAPPING

IN
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S

HYPERSPECTRAL ­ ASSIGNMENT

Mehreen khan (FTPG180535) | M.tech Geomatics | Cept University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

 ABSTRACT
The climate change is
impacting the snow cover to
recede every year due to
increment in Green-house gas
emissions in atmosphere. The
extent of snow cover on earth
is considered an important
parameter for numerous
climatological and
hydrological applications.
Snow cover dynamics in
mountainous regions is a vital
input for energy balance,
glacier mass balance, climate
change and snowmelt runoff
modelling. The important
wavelengths for snow
applications are 440, 550,
590, 660, 860, 1050, 1240
and 1650nm. By monitoring
and mapping the snow cover
in regions can help to assess
the impact of Climate Change
in world. In this study, the
snow cover is classified based
on the grain size present in
the study area using
Hyperspectral data.
Hyperspectral Remote
Sensing is a power tool that
offers the ability to
quantitatively examine the
physical properties of snow in
inaccessible areas during
snowfall itself.
Key Terms — facing cirques. Lyell Glacier
AVIRIS(Airborne
Visible/Infrared Imaging
Spectrometer), QUAC(Quick
Atmospheric Correction),PPI
(Pixel Purity Index), SAM
(Spectral Angle Mapper),
Spectral Reflectance Profiles,
Spectral Libraries.
1. INTRODUCTION
Hyperspectral remote sensing
is an advancement in field of
remote sensing. In this,
imaging and spectroscopy is
combined into a single system
which is called as Imaging
Spectroscopy. Hyperspectral
Remote Sensing is able to
provide a high level of
performance in spectral &
radiometric calibration
accuracy in the data sets.
These high performing
sensors data can be utilized
for extracting information in
various quantitative and
qualitative applications. With
many bands, ample spectral
information provided which
is able to identify &
distinguish various grounds
in detail.
Principle of Imaging
Spectroscopy :
(i) Conventional
Mapping
(ii) Spectroscopy
(iii) Radiometry
Above three methods are used
to produce images for which
a spectral signal is associated
with each pixel.
Hyperspectral sensors
measures energy for
numerous narrow bands as
compare to multispectral
sensors. The data contained
in a Hyperspectral image is
much more than images from
multispectral sensors & has
capability of detecting clear
differences among various
natural and man-made
features.
figure 1 Imaging
Spectroscopy
2. DATA USED
Hyperspectral Data Sets
( Freely Available) :
1. AVIRIS ( Bands –
224, Resolution
-7.5m)
2. Hyperion (Bands –
220, Resolution-
30m)
3. HYSi ( Bands – 64,
Resolution- 1km)
For this study , AVIRIS Data
is used having 224 bands and
pixel size of 13.9m. The
flight was dated 6/7/2017
over Yosemite National Park,
U.S.
3. STUDY AREA
The study area taken is
Yosemite National Park
located in Central California
having area of 3,028.81 km2.
The park has is
internationally recognized to
have high biological diversity
of both flora and fauna. All
Figure3.1 - Yosemite
glaciers in the park are
National Park, U.S
relatively small glaciers that
occupy areas that are in
Coordinates : 37.8651° N,
almost permanent shade,
119.5383° W
such as north- and northeast-
Established : 1 October ,1980
Location : Centered in
is the largest glacier in
Tuolumne and Mariposa,
Yosemite (the Palisades
extending north and east to
Glaciers are the largest in the
Mono and south to Madera
Sierra Nevada) and covers
County
160 acres (65 ha).

Figure 3.2 AVIRIS
Hyperspectral Ortho-
rectified Image
4. METHODOLOGY
The data acquired needs to be
processed before starting the
actual study of identifying
end-members of features. In
pre-processing, radiometric
correction is deployed
followed by bad band removal
ensuring no issue in further
processes.
Atmospheric correction is
important : For establishing
relation of radiance to surface
property, visual analysis, for
getting accuracy. After this,
spectral band profiles van be
checked to see the difference
in both the images. Roi’s are
taken which are classified
based on different spectral
libraries in-built in the system
of ENVI. Spectral Angle
Mapper (SAM) is used for
identifying the end-members
based on roi’s. Then,
confusion matrix can be made
based on spectral angle
parameters. Lastly, processes
like MNF (Minimum Noise
Fraction) and PPI(Purity
Pixel Index) can be generated
for reduction of noise and
finding “spectrally pure” or
extreme pixel in the
atmospheric corrected image.
Accuracy and Kappa
Cofficient can be computed
directly after SAM (Spectral Figure : Spectral Profile
Angle Mapper). before Bad Band Removal
5. PRE-PROCESSING OF
HYPERSPECTRAL DATA
The AVIRIS dataset consists
of 224 bands. The dataset is
corrected for atmospheric
correction and bad band
removal using Quick
Atmospheric Correction
(QUAC) technique. This
process converts the radiance
values to reflectance. Further Figure 5.1 : Pre-processed
unwanted bad bands were Image
removed using the edit ENVI
header. In the study area 175
bands were finally retained
out of 224. The bad bands for
AVIRIS include bands 98-
107,113 to 128,148 to 154
and bands 167-170. The
dataset was then loaded in Figure5.2 : Spectral Profile
true colour, CIR and RGB after Bad Band Removal
facilitate interpretation. The
image when viewed in a true As, seen through the spectral
colour format and RGB profiles, there are gaps seen
format helps with a visual after removal of bands clearly
interpretation of class 1 in the second image. Bad
classification of the image. Band hampers the overall
The pixels belonging to process of identifying and
vegetation, built-up area and classifying the features in the
barren land can be segregated area and therefore, should be
for further detailed analysis. removed after radiometric
correction (FLAASH, QUAC
etc).
6. FEATURE
IDENTIFICATION BY
ROI’S
Feature classes does get
identified and classified by
creating ROI’s (Region of
Interests). The roi’s are made
and there spectral profiles are
matched with the ones
embedded in ENVI software’s
system which precisely helps
in classifying the different
classes rightly.
The snow grain spectral
library had : Fine, Medium
and Coarse Grained snow.
The ROI’s created were taken
based on these three classes
in the image.
Figure 6.1 : Spectral
Profiles for Snow Grain
in Spectral Library.
Figure 6.2: Mean of
ROI’s
The Roi’s taken matched
most with fine and medium
snow and least with coarse
snow spectral library. It
means that the distribution of
snow isn’t very dense in
terms of snow grains. The
snow cover therefore will
melt soon enough. As, the
flight was in July, the snow
grains in the area should be
less coarse and more of fine
grained. Thin snow in
influence the visible
reflectance mostly. Other
particles like soot, dust and
dirt can affect the snow cover
drastically.
7. SAM
CLASSIFICATION
SAM is an
automated
classification method
for comparing
spectra to known
spectra. Reflectance
spectra, or training
classes can come
from any of the
following sources :
1. Spectral
Libraries
2. ASCII files
3. Region of
Interest (ROIs)
For effective SAM
Classification, input image
should be converted to an
apparent reflectance so that
data units remain same as
library units.
Figure 7.1 Spectral Angle
Mapper
8. CONFUSION MATRIX
& ACCURACY
In ENVI, confusion matrix
represents accuracy based on
the roi’s taken. The columns
represent the true classes,
while row represents the
classifier’s prediction. The
matrix is square, with all
correct classifications along
the upper-left to lower-right
diagonal. The confusion
matrix is based on no. of
pixels.
The overall accuracy is
calculated by summing up the
correctly classified values and
dividing it by no. of total
values.
Kappa coefficient measures
the agreement between
classification and truth. A
kappa value of 1 represent
perfect agreement (which is
impossible to achieve), while
0 represents no agreement.
Figure 7.2 : SAM Classified
Image
Figure 8.1 : overall accuracy
and kappa coefficient
As the overall accuracy is
22%, it shows that the no. of
pixels taken should be taken
more correctly with more no.
of roi’s. Also, ground truth
survey is necessary in
calculating efficiency
measures as it certifies the
results. The kappa coefficient
is 0.102.
8. CONCLUSIONS
Hyperspectral remote sensing
can effectively identify the
snow cover with good
accuracy as compare to
optical data sets. The amount
of information in the bands
cater into the classification of
feature classes precisely.
Snow surface grain size can
aid in identifying the onset of
snow melt as well as
providing the major variable
needed for estimating albedo
of snow-covered terrain. The
high spectral resolution of
imaging spectrometer is
crucial for making studies
like these possible. Snow
modelling can be done easily
using hyperspectral data.

9. REFERENCES

 Vedas by SAC, ISRO

 Snow and glacier
investigation using
hyperspectral data by
H.S Negi, S.K Singh,
Chandar Shekhar.
 Hyperspectral Tutorial
by Vinay Kumar.
 A Hyperspectral
Method for Remotely
Sensing the Grain size
of snow by Anne W.
Nolin and Jeff Dozier.