Sensor and data fusion contest: test imagery to compare and combine airborne SAR and optical sensors for mapping

Presently, a data fusion contest is conducted to compare the potential of airborne SAR with optical sensors for mapping applications. The goal of the test is to answer two questions: (1) Can state-of-the-art airborne SAR compete with optical sensors in the mapping domain? (2) What can be gained when SAR and optical images are used in combination, i.e., when methods for information fusion are applied? The test is organized in the framework of the IEEE GRSS data fusion technical committee (DFC), ISPRS working group III/6 "Multi-Source Vision", which both have strong relations with scientists, active in research on sensor fusion and automation in mapping, and - as the provider of the main organizational framework - the European Organization for Experimental Photogrammetric Research (OEEPE), which is the European research platform of national mapping agencies and other institutions, regarding technology developments to optimize the use of core data in a geoinformation infrastructure context. In the preparatory phase of the test, which has been started on the occasion of IGARSS 2001, test data has been collected and the scope of object extraction for mapping has been defined. The outcome of this phase, i.e. the test imagery to be used in the contest and its potential for mapping is presented in this paper.