Analysis of Settlement Structure by Means of High Resolution Satellite Imagery

State of the art for the investigation of the settlements' extension and their temporal change is either conventional mapping (field work, cadastral maps, topographic and thematic maps) or aerial photo interpretation. As these are very time and cost intensive methods and, additionally, the information need for regional and local information systems increases continuously, quicker and cheaper methods are required. The paper demonstrates, to what extend high resolution satellite data like KWR-1000, KFA-1000, KFA-3000, and (historic) CORONA data are suitable for detecting the settlement structures and their changes by means of different evaluation methods. Visual interpretation and computer aided classification are performed independently and their results compared afterwards. As not all features are detectable by means of the computer aided evaluation, hybrid methods are developed which combine the advantages of both the visual interpretation (more precise, contextual interpretation) and the computer aided classification (quick, cheap and interpreter independent). Finally an assessment of the results is given with respect to their suitability for the needs of regional planning and the integration into the Styrian geographical information system. This assessment comprises the first results of a study currently undertaken for the Styrian government.