Introduction to Geospatial (Mapping) Analysis using MATLAB

This session provides an overview of using MATLAB for geospatial image and data analysis. Using imagery acquired from USGS Web Services, we will demonstrate the development and application of an algorithm to quantify from aerial imagery the portion of land under irrigation.

This session is intended for anyone interested in using MATLAB to analyze geospatially-oriented data.

Highlights include:

• Accessing aerial NAIP (National Agriculture Imagery Program) imagery from a web map server;
• Developing an algorithm to detect and differentiate irrigation crop circles
• Automating the algorithm over a range of sub-images
• Displaying results on a map axis
• Generating reports on the results

Additionally, we will demonstrate the registration of aerial images and the positioning of cellular towers to optimize coverage.

Highlights include:

• Downloading digital elevation model and aerial imagery using WMS
• Annotating terrain data with contour lines, colormaps, and more
• Calculating line-of-sight visibility, and viewshed

About the Presenter: Brett holds a B.A. degree in anthropology from the University of Florida, a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Mercer University (Macon, GA), and an M.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Tulane University. Following his doctoral work, he did post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School, and spent five years doing research at the National Institutes of Health. The 13 years prior to his employment at The MathWorks were spent focused on process automation with MATLAB (with a strong focus on medical image processing) in the biomedical arena. He started working for MathWorks in 2005.