Remote sensing digital image analysis : an introduction /

Richards (Centre for Remote Sensing, University of New South Wales) has packed a tremendous amount of information into this book. His stated aim-to fill the gap between the detailed treatment of image processing in engineering literature and the limited description of the same in remote sensing books-has been attained in admirable fashion. Following an introductory chapter on sources of image data, Richards presents ten applied chapters devoted to error correction, interpretation of digital image data, radiometric enhancement techniques, image domain techniques, multispectral treatments, Fourier transformation, supervised and unsupervised classification, feature reduction, and image classification methodologies. Each chapter includes selective references and problems. The many figures are clearly reproduced and are well integrated with the text. Six highly useful mathematical appendixes definitely supplement the main body. Clearly for advanced users-a solid background in mathematics is an absolute prerequisite. Some potential users should consult preliminary treatments of the subject in books such as F.F. Sabins's Remote Sensing (2nd ed., 1987) or P.J. Curran's Principles of Remote Sensing (1985). Richards's fine successor to P.H. Swain's Remote Sensing (1978) should be added to any serious academic remote sensing collection.-C. Padick, California State University, Los Angeles