Automating the Recognition of Changes in Satellite Images

Satellites are great at gathering images. At the moment, only human beings can understand the differences among those images and what they might mean. Is a building larger or a different color than it was last week? Are the tanks on a battlefield in the same position? With funding from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Professors Kate Beard and Peggy Agouris are leading a research team at the University of Maine that is attempting to make it possible for computers to "notice" changes in images over time and to bring those changes to the attention of human analysts, or, perhaps, to even interpret the changes automatically. Potential applications range from providing real time battlefield intelligence to tracking zoning changes and their effects on surrounding habitat.

UMaine is the flagship university
of the seven-member University System.