A simplified method of accurate geometric correction for NOAA AVHRR 1B data

There are different methods for geometric correction of NOAA AVHRR data, but these methods either pay less attention to the accuracy, or are technically complex, almost unsuitable for most users. To combine AVHRR data with other high spatial resolution satellite data, or with ancillary data in GIS, it is necessary to develop an accurate geometric correction method, which should be easy to use even for non-professional users. After analysing the pixel shape and size of AVHRR 1B data along scan line and evaluating the quality of geographical data of NOAA AVHRR 1B data set, we found that the geographical data was adequately accurate for identifying the pixel size and shape and the method was developed accordingly. The proposed method has two steps. The first step is to correct pixel distortion. The separate program performs the distortion correction, applying the geographical data of AVHRR 1B data set to assigning the value of each pixel of the desired output geographical area with given pixel size, and making logical judgment for unassigned pixel. The second step is to perform conventional polynomial transformation on the results of the first step. An application of this method is presented in the paper. To examine the precision, SAVI images derived from the geometrically corrected NOAA AVHRR band image were used to perform overlay with each other and also with a 1:50000 river system map. A half-pixel accuracy was achieved.