Optical flow registration of panchromatic/multi-spectral image pairs

A system for processing remotely acquired imagery data, comprising:

• a mass storage for receiving a first set of imagery data defining a first image of a panchromatic image type having a first spatial resolution and a second set of imagery data defining a second image of a multispectral image type, said second image having a second spatial resolution lower than said first spatial resolution;
• and
• a processing element configured for:
• obtaining a mapping function specifying a position of pixels in said first image with respect to pixels in said second image,
• adapting said mapping function to a high common spatial resolution higher than said second spatial resolution,
• generating a third set of imagery data defining a third image of a panchromatic type based on said first set of imagery data and said adapted mapping function and having said second spatial resolution, and
• adjusting said mapping function based on a first difference between said first and said third images at said high common spatial resolution.

A computer-readable storage device, having stored thereon a computer program for processing remotely acquired imagery, the computer program having a plurality of code sections, the code sections executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the steps of:

• obtaining a first set of imagery data defining a first image of a panchromatic image type, said first image having a first spatial resolution;
• obtaining a second set of imagery data defining a second image of a multi-spectral image type, said second image having a second spatial resolution lower than said first spatial resolution;
• obtaining a mapping function specifying a position of pixels in said first image with respect to pixels in said second image;
• adapting said mapping function to a high common spatial resolution higher than said second spatial resolution;
• generating a third set of imagery data defining a third image of a panchromatic type based on said first set of imagery data and said adapted mapping function and having said high common spatial resolution;
• and
• adjusting said mapping function based on a first difference between said first and said third images at said high common spatial resolution.