Innovative use of change detection in large numbers of satellite scenes, with geological applications

The large number of remote sensing datasets available necessitates the development of efficient methods when assessing change between such data. A series of techniques, optimising the analysis of change detection, specifically on large remote sensing dataset collections, is demonstrated. Iterative (online) statistical measures for mean and standard deviation give the ability to gain a measure of change over potentially hundreds of datasets without excessive computing power being needed. From this, the coefficient of variation can be used to provide further insight. Using such measures, seasonal change can be detected on outcrop (as opposed to vegetation), illustrating that change detection can be used to further extend a spectral signature for rocks. Twelve Sentinel-2 scenes over a three-year period were used in this study.Thematic collection: This article is part of the Remote sensing for site investigations on Earth and other planets collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/remote-sensing-for-site-investigations-on-earth-and-other-planets