This document proposes a method for automatically constructing coverage catalogues of ASTER satellite images for urban areas around the world. It describes needing high-resolution global urban maps and how ready catalogues of satellite images for cities could promote urban studies. The method uses ASTER satellite metadata to develop catalogues for 3372 cities, combining images through automated algorithms. While accurate, pixel-level cloud assessment could improve results by allowing consolidation of segmented images into complete coverage.

1. Automated Construction of Coverage
Catalogues of ASTER Satellite Image for
Urban Areas of the World
Hiroyuki Miyazaki a
,*
, Koki Iwao b
, Ryosuke Shibasaki a
a
Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan
b
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan
Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 1

2. Needs on Coverage Catalogue
• Needs on global urban area map with
resolution of tens of meter (e.g. ASTER,
Landsat etc).
– Analysis on urban form of 120 cities by using
Landsat data (Angel et al., 2005)
• Ready-to-use collection of satellite images for
every city will promote comprehensive studies
of urban area using satellite images.
Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 2

3. Proposed Method
Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 3

4. Examples of Catalogue Constructed Automatically (1)
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Tokyo (Japan) Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Cape Town (South Africa) Najaf (Iraq)

5. Examples of Catalogue Constructed Automatically (2)
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Yamoussoukro (Republic
of Cote d'Ivoire)
La Romana (Dominican
Republic) Koln (Germany)
Rockford (United States of America) Gagnoa (Republic of Cote d'Ivoire)

6. Examples of Catalogue with Manual Adjustments
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La Romana
(Dominican Republic) Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Gagnoa
(Republic of Cote d'Ivoire)
Yamoussoukro
(Republic of Cote d'Ivoire) Koln (Germany) Rockford (United States of America)

7. Current Status
Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 7
For details, please come and see my demonstration.

8. Concluding remarks
• Catalogues of ASTER satellite images were
developed for 3372 cities of the world from
metadata database of ASTER satellite data.
• Accurate assessment of cloud contamination
would improve quality of combination with
automated algorithm.
• Pixel-by-pixel assessment of cloud contamination
would allow consolidating segmented satellite
images to acquire complete coverage.
Commission VIII, WG VIII/8 8