ISVR: An improved synthetic variable ratio method for image fusion

An Improved Synthetic Variable Ratio (ISVR) fusion method is proposed to merge high spatial resolution panchromatic (Pan) images and multispectral (MS) images based on a simulation of the panchromatic image from the multispectral bands. Compared to the existing SVR (Synthetic Variable Ratio) family methods, the ISVR method manifests two major improvements: a simplified and physically meaningful scheme to derive the parameters necessary as required by SVR, and less computing power. Two sets of IKONOS Pan and MS images: one in urban area and another one in a forest area, were used to evaluate the effectiveness of classification-oriented ISVR method in comparison to the Principal Component Substitution (PCS), Synthetic Variable Ratio (SVR) and Gram-Schmidt Spectral Sharpening (GS) methods that are available in the ENVI software package. Results indicate the ISVR method achieves the best spectral fidelity to facilitate classification compared to PCS, SVR, and GS methods.