Comparison of RADARSAT-1 and IKONOS satellite images for urban features detection

The visual appearance of man-made objects in IKONOS and RADARSAT-1 satellite images is compared. Results show that for many mapping applications, the 9 m resolution RADARSAT-1 images add very limited information to the 1 m IKONOS panchromatic image. Despite these matters, it is shown that RADARSAT-1 may in some cases uniquely detect certain man-made objects or structures and thereby give additional knowledge to the interpretation of an IKONOS image. Multi-temporal RADARSAT-1 acquisitions can also be used to detect man-made changes at times when weather conditions hamper optical image acquisitions. It is expected that the forthcoming SAR satellites with resolution down towards 1 m, will work much better as a complementary, all-weather information source to the high-resolution optical ones.