Aerial photographic and satelliet image interpretation

is “the act of examining  for the purpose of identifying objects and judging their significance” (Colwell, ) This mainly refers to its usage in militar using photographs taken from .

Principles of image interpretation have been developed empirically for more than 150 years. The most basic of these principles are the elements of image interpretation. They are: location, size, shape, shadow, tone/color, texture, pattern, height/depth and site/situation/association. These are routinely used when interpreting an aerial photo or analyzing a photo-like image. A well-trained image interpreter uses many of these elements during his or her analysis without really thinking about them. However, a beginner may not only have to force himself or herself to consciously evaluate an unknown object with respect to these elements, but also analyze its significance in relation to the other objects or phenomena in the photo or image.