With the availability of multisensor, multitemporal, multiresolution and multifrequency image data from operational Earth observation satellites the fusion of digital image data has become a valuable tool in remote sensing image evaluation. Digital image fusion is a relatively new research field at the leading edge of available technology. It forms a rapidly developing area of research in remote sensing. This review paper describes and explains mainly pixel based image fusion of Earth observation satellite data as a contribution to multisensor integration oriented data processing.

Oil palm becomes an increasingly important source of vegetable oil for its production exceeds soybean, sunflower, and rapeseed. The growth of the oil palm industry causes degradation to the environment, especially when the expansion of plantations goes uncontrolled. Remote sensing is a useful tool to monitor the development of oil palm plantations. In order to promote the use of remote sensing in the oil palm industry to support their drive for sustainability, this paper provides an understanding toward the use of remote sensing and its applications to oil palm plantation monitoring. In addition, the existing knowledge gaps are identified and recommendations for further research are given.

Remote sensing image fusion has come a long way from research experiments to an operational image processing technology. Having established a framework for image fusion at the end of the 90s, we now provide an overview on the advances in image fusion during the past 15 years. Assembling information about new remote sensing image fusion techniques, recent technical developments and their influence on image fusion, international societies and working groups, and new journals and publications, we provide insight into new trends. It becomes clear that image fusion facilitates remote sensing image exploitation. It aims at achieving better and more reliable information to better understand complex Earth systems. The numerous publications during the last decade show that remote sensing image fusion is a well-established research field. The experiences gained foster other technological developments in terms of sensor configuration and data exploitation. Multi-modal data usage enables the implementation of the concept of Digital Earth. In order to advance in this respect, we recommend that updated guidelines and a set of commonly accepted quality assessment criteria are needed in image fusion.

The role of education and training in the aerospace sector for establishing sufficient levels of absorptive capacity in newly industrialized countries is substantial and forms a fundamental part of a nation’s ability to establish and cultivate absorptive capacity on a national or organization-specific level. Successful international technology transfer as well as absorption of aerospace technology and knowledge into recipient organizations, depends prodigiously on the types of policy adopted in education and training of all groups and individuals specifically outlined in this paper. The conducted literature review revealed surprisingly few papers that translate these vital issues from theoretical scrutiny into representations that have practical policy value. Through exploration of the seven key aspects of education and training, this paper provides a practical template for policy-makers and practitioners in Asian newly industrialized countries, which may be utilized as a prototype to coordinate relevant policy aspects of education and training in international technology transfer projects across a wide variety of actors and stakeholders in the aerospace realm. A pragmatic approach through tailored practical training for the identified groups and individuals identified in this paper may lead to an enhanced ability to establish and strengthen absorptive capacity in newly industrialized countries through the development of appropriate policy guidelines. The actual coordination between education and training efforts deserves increased research and subsequent translation into policies with practical content in the aerospace sector

The exploitation of multi-sensor images at pixel level is a widely implemented research field in Earth observation. In this context, image fusion plays an important role since it effectively combines complementary image content to enhance information contained in the individual datasets. This article presents an overview of the existing fusion techniques and their achievements for Earth scientists. This research started off with the compilation of a database on remote sensing image fusion journal publications. Research results were exploited, grouping the literature into different aspects of relevance. Six categories of information have been built according to the journal, the application, sensors that provided the images used in the case study, applied fusion techniques, areas of achievement, and on-going research highlighting unresolved questions and current science. This resulted in an overview on the categorisation of image fusion techniques, explanation of the various approaches used within a certain category, and description of particularities when dealing with the fusion of optical and radar imagery. Even though many researchers intend to find the best algorithm, there is a greater need to define an appropriate workflow prior to processing the imagery with the knowledge in all related fields, that is, remote sensing image fusion and the desired application to address the different aspects of error propagation.