Review of the pansharpening methods for remote sensing images based on the idea of meta-analysis: Practical discussion and challenges

In this paper, the development of pansharpening methods from traditional understanding to the current understanding is comprehensively reviewed. Furthermore, the performance of the different categories of pansharpening methods developed between 2000 and 2016 is evaluated based on the idea of meta-analysis. This is innovatively performed by making a statistical analysis of the studies ever published. In the proposed scheme, based on strict selection criteria, 48 representative articles, which were selected from more than 1000 articles, were applied for the statistical analysis. This paper aims to provide a holistic review of the pansharpening methods, and highlights the development process from the traditional understanding to the current understanding. In addition, the experiments were implemented from a new perspective based on the idea of meta-analysis.