Batch Methods for Resolution Enhancement of TIR Image Sequences

Thermal infrared (TIR) time series are exploited by many methods based on Earth observation (EO), for such applications as agriculture, forest management, and meteorology. However, due to physical limitations, data acquired by a single sensor are often unsatisfactory in terms of spatial or temporal resolution. This issue can be tackled by using remotely sensed data acquired by multiple sensors with complementary features. When nonreal-time functioning or at least near real-time functioning is admitted, the measurements can be profitably fed to a sequential Bayesian algorithm, which allows to account for the correlation embedded in the successive acquisitions. In this work, we focus on applications that allow the batch processing of the whole data sequences acquired in a fixed time interval. In this case, multiple options for improving the final product are offered by the Bayesian framework, based on both sequential and smoothing techniques. We consider several such Bayesian strategies and comparatively assess their performances in practical applications and through real thermal data acquired by the SEVIRI and MODIS sensors, encompassing the presence of multiple disturbance source, e.g., the cloud coverage of the illuminated scene.