A new pansharpen method based on guided image filtering: A case study over Gaofen-2 imagery

Gaofen-2 is a Chinese satellite launched in August 2014, which provides high-resolution imagery for Earth observation. In this paper, we propose a novel remote sensing pansharpening method based on the guided image filtering. A lower resolution panchromatic (PAN) is simulated, then the multispectral (MS) image is employed as a guidance image to the filtering process of this synthesized image to extract the spatial information. Finally, the spatial details are further modulated and injected into each band of resampled MS image. The feasibility of this method is demonstrated by a case study of Gaofen-2 imagery. Four evaluation metrics assessing spatial and spectral qualities of pansharpened image are considered for quantitative assessment. When compared to principal component analysis (PCA), Gram Schmidt (GS) and University of New Brunswick (UNB) Pansharpen methods, this algorithm can preserve the edge of original PAN band and show good capability in spectral fidelity.