When the high resolution is not so high...

In this podcast I discuss the wrong use of the term Resolution in scientific articles or in the general media. Resolution in Remote Sensing can be used to describe several aspects of images, such as:

• temporal resolution: the time difference between two images of the same place


• spectral resolution: related to the number of bands and wavelengths, such as in Panchromatic, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, or Ultraspectral


• radiometric resolution: the number of bits needed to store a pixel value (e.g. 8 bits in Landsat 7 or 11 bits in WorldView-2)


• spatial resolution: the focus of this podcast, relating the area represented by a single pixel in an image

I provide an interesting reference with an easy to use table, to understand what can be considered High Spatial Resolution, or Low Spatial Resolution:

Taxonomy of Remote Sensing Systems - Spatial Ground Resolution

• Ultra High: < 1m


• Very High: [1m, 4m]


• High: [4m, 10m]


• Medium: [10m, 50m]


• Low: [50m, 250m]


• Very Low: > 250m

The reference is:

Ehlers, M., Janowsky, R., Gähler, M., 2001. New remote sensing concepts for environmental monitoring. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.

The original paper is available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252130745_New_remote_sensing_concepts_for_environmental_monitoring

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The intro and the final sounds were recorded at my home, using an old clock that belonged to my grandmother.

Thanks for listening