Review of change detection techniques from remotely sensed images

Abstract

The increasing need for real-time data on the various land surface form phenomena led to the rising research interest in the area. Among the applications making use of such data are national, regional and global monitoring systems resource monitoring platforms, changes in land use and land cover monitoring and various studies on environmental issues. One of the techniques used for affording such real-time data is remote sensing. Remote sensing satellite platforms capture environmental data at different resolutions, which are extensively utilized today for detecting changes occurring in the environment. The real-time detection of precise changes occurring on the surface of the earth constitutes a vital component in understanding the interrelation between the interactions of humans with nature, which is important for suitable decision-making. In real life scenarios, change detection is a complex phenomenon which includes different procedures such as identifying the specific change detection problem, image preprocessing and variables and algorithm selection for the computations. Over the years, quite a wide range of techniques have been developed for analyzing remote sensing data and yet newer methods are still being developed. As such, this study seeks to provide a comprehensive review of the fundamental processes required for change detection. The study also seeks to provide a concise summary of the main techniques of change detection and to discuss the need for development of new, enhanced change detection methods.