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Multi-Source Remote Sensing: History
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Subjects: Remote Sensing

Multi-source remote sensing refers to the acquisition and integrated use of remotely sensed information originating from different sensors, platforms, observation modalities, or data sources to provide complementary information about the same geographic phenomenon [1][2]. The sources may differ in sensing modality, spatial or spectral characteristics, acquisition platform, or observation time, resulting in datasets that contain heterogeneous but potentially complementary information [2][3]. The central characteristic of multi-source remote sensing is therefore the combination of information that cannot be fully represented by a single observation source. Integration may involve optical, multispectral or hyperspectral imagery, synthetic aperture radar, LiDAR, thermal observations, and other remotely sensed or ancillary data [1][3]. Such integration is commonly implemented through data fusion, which can operate at the data or pixel level, feature level, or decision level, depending on the stage at which information from different sources is combined [1][4]. Effective multi-source integration requires consideration of differences in spatial resolution, spectral characteristics, acquisition geometry, temporal coverage, and data registration [2][3]. Multi-source remote sensing thus provides a framework for combining heterogeneous observations into a more comprehensive representation of geographic or environmental phenomena.

  • remote sensing
  • multisource data
  • data fusion
  • sensor fusion
  • multi-sensor integration
  • multimodal remote sensing

Remote Sensing and Land Use • Atmospheric Science • Earth and Planetary Sciences • Physical Sciences

References

  1. Jixian Zhang; Multi-source remote sensing data fusion: status and trends. Int. J. Image Data Fusion 2010, 1, 5-24, 10.1080/19479830903561035.
  2. Pedram Ghamisi; Richard Gloaguen; Peter M. Atkinson; Jon Atli Benediktsson; Behnood Rasti; Naoto Yokoya; Qunming Wang; Bernhard Hofle; Lorenzo Bruzzone; Francesca Bovolo; et al. Multisource and Multitemporal Data Fusion in Remote Sensing: A Comprehensive Review of the State of the Art. IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Mag. 2019, 7, 6-39, 10.1109/mgrs.2018.2890023.
  3. Farhad Samadzadegan; Ahmad Toosi; Farzaneh Dadrass Javan; A critical review on multi-sensor and multi-platform remote sensing data fusion approaches: current status and prospects. Int. J. Remote Sens. 2025, 46, 1327-1402, 10.1080/01431161.2024.2429784.
  4. Michael Schmitt; Xiao Xiang Zhu; Data Fusion and Remote Sensing: An ever-growing relationship. IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Mag. 2016, 4, 6-23, 10.1109/mgrs.2016.2561021.
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