WaveMerg: a multiresolution software for merging SPOT panchromatic and SPOT multispectral data

Several techniques have been developed to merge SPOT-10 m resolution panchromatic data (SPOT P) with simultaneously-acquired 20-m resolution multispectral data (SPOT XS). Normally, the objective of these procedures is to create a composite image of enhanced interpretability. The current merging methods may not be satisfying; they can distort the spectral characteristics of the XS images and, as a result, the analysis becomes difficult. The software “WaveMerg” is presented in this paper. It allows simulation at 10-m resolution of XS-data while conserving the spectral properties of the original 20-m data. In this software we use a multiresolution analysis procedure based upon the wavelets transform; it is applied to a remotely sensed image SPOT P and SPOT XS of the river junction “Arc-Isère” (France) in the framework of environmental mapping in Landscape Ecology.