GIS4035 - Remote Sensing and Photo Interpretation - Module 8

I began this exercise by contemplating the image that would be used for the final section of the project. I decided to use the previously created ETMcomposite image, due to its easy to see variation in land. I right-clicked on the layer in the table of contents, and selected “Properties.” There, I clicked on the Stretched tab and projected the image using a green-red spectrum. This gave me a clear vision of the most energy-radiating features on the map by highlighting them in red, where the deep green color would represent vegetation and low-energy areas.

 I took notice of a red area to the south-west of the main downtown area (at the center of the above image.) Judging by the amount of radiance projected by this area, it seems to be man-made. The surrounding deep-green area could be a hill-side. I went back into the properties and decided to view the image through the near infrared lens by setting the color bands to Red: 4, Green: 2 and Blue: 6. This projection told me pretty much the same thing; the surrounding red area would be natural vegetation, and area to the south would be farm fields. The feature in question, however remains the same high-radiance color of the downtown (blue.)

Once more I went back into properties and selected the following combo: red – 6, green – 4, blue – 7. This made the vegetation appear bright green, and heat bumps in red. It did not really tell me anything new. I decided (for the purpose of aesthetics) to select the Stretched tab and go with the initial spectrum-style color scheme. I selected layer 3 instead of 1, and the contrast between red and green became sharper.

To finalize the project, I went into map view and added the essential map elements. I also added a description and location of my feature, and created a grid. I exported my image as a .jpg, and exited arcmap.