Initial Publication Date: July 20, 2011

Day 4—Analysis Techniques in NEO and ImageJ

co-AOT-select area and launch analysis

So far you have primarily used NEO as a portal for downloading images. Today you will explore the relationship between two variables using the Image Composite Explorer (ICE), NEO's buit-in java program for image analysis. ICE analyzes remotely-sensed observations of various Earth variables, provides the exact value of those variables at a given place in an image, and plots the results of analyses using a variety of graphing techniques.

Most research conducted with digital images involves four phases: preprocessing, data collection, data analysis, and publication. Today in ImageJ, you'll get familiar with the data and prepare for the data collection workflow. You will apply many of the skills you've learned throughout this course and will learn new tools to help relieve you of some of the tedium of data collection.

As you work through both parts of today's assignments, compare and contrast the analysis capabilities of ICE and ImageJ and consider their appropriate application to investigating research questions.


Day 4 Goals

  • Load images into the Image Composite Editor (ICE) of NEO for image analysis.
  • Configure images for analysis in ICE.
  • Conduct basic analysis techniques using the tools of ICE.
  • Recognize the strengths and weakness of using ICE vs. ImageJ to analyze images.
  • Import raw images into ImageJ.
  • Filter images to remove unwanted features.
  • Use thresholding and the ROI manager to define areas to be measured.

Day 4 Tasks

  1. Compare two datasets in ICE to explore the relationship between the data values.
  2. Import raw data into ImageJ.
  3. Define regions of study.
  4. Preprocess a study image to prepare it for analysis.

Sources

1Adapted from Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter instructions under Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0.
2Adapted from Eyes in the Sky II online course materials, Copyright 2010, TERC. All rights reserved.
3New material developed for Earth Analysis Techniques, Copyright 2011, TERC. All rights reserved
4From Remote Sensing Math: A Brief Mathematical Guide by Dr. Sten Odenwald, NASA 2011.