Tutorial for using the NASA gap filling software

Introduction
This exercise goes through the steps to fill gaps in Landsat ETM+ imagery acquired after
the sensors scan line corrector (SLC) mechanism failed on May !" #$$ using free%are
that is distri&uted &y '(S() This exercise is designed for use %ith a *indo% +, #-&it
computer &ut the fundamental flo% is that same for other operating systems) The '(S(
gap filling soft%are can &e do%nloaded from the Source.orge %e& site/
http/00l1gapfill)sourceforge)net) The file to do%nload for a #-&it *indo%s computer is/
frame2and2fill2%in#)3ip)
This application %or4s %ith the standard Le5el ! terrain corrected (L!T) 6eoT7.. format
images distri&uted &y the 8nited States 6eological Sur5ey (8S6S)) These images" as
%ell and the entire Landsat MSS) TM" and ETM+ archi5e can &e ordered and
do%nloaded at no cost through the 8S6S 6lo&al 9isuali3ation 9ie%er (6L:97S) %e&
site/ http/00glo5is)usgs)go5) .or more information a&out the SLC-:ff product go to/
http/00landsat)usgs)go50products2slcoff&ac4ground)php)
The processing occurs in t%o steps) The first step" re-framing" processes all of the input
imagery to create images that ha5e the same dimensions in line length and num&er of
lines) The second step uses image data from fill images to replace the no-data (3ero-
5alue) pixels in the anchor image (the image to &e filled)) ;uring the re-framing &and <
data are re-sampled from <$m to $m resolution) This gap filling process %ill not fill in
all of the gaps &ut the more fill images that are used the smaller the gaps %ill &e in the
gap-filled image)
The processing requires a good deal of dis4 space since all of the images (anchor and fill)
are resi3ed during the re-framing process and a gap filled image is also produced)
Installation
(fter the =3ip> file is do%nloaded you %ill need to uncompress it) The open source
soft%are 1-?ip (http/00%%%)1-3ip)org) can &e do%nloaded and installed if other soft%are
such as *in?ip or *in@(@ is not a5aila&le to you) *hen you un3ip the file a directory
la&eled =frame2and2fill2%in#> %ill &e created %hich contains all of the files required to
run the gap filling process)
Data preparation
Aefore starting the processing it is necessary to place the anchor and fill images in
directories (folders) that are at the same directory le5el) (t this time it is necessary to
process Landsat ETM+ &ands ! through 1) The program %ill stop processing if a
su&sequent &and cannot &e found) .or example" if &and < is not included in the directory
then the soft%are %ill process &ands ! through B and then the processing %ith stop) Each
of the anchor and fill directories must &e la&eled using the follo%ing naming con5ention/
anchor C name of the directory holding the &ands for the anchor image
fill2scene2! C name of the directory holding the &ands for the first fill image
fill2scene2# C name of the directory holding the &ands for the second fill image
Dou can ha5e as many fill images as you %ant as long as you follo% the directory naming
sequence listed a&o5e) The processing priority of the fill images is dictated the directory
order) The image in the directory fill2scene2! %ill &e the first image used to fill gaps in
the anchor image) The image in the directory fill2scene2# (if a second fill image is
a5aila&le) %ill &e used to fill in remaining gaps and so on)
Starting the application
To start the .rame and .ill program you can dou&le-clic4 on the file
=frame2and2fill2%in#)exe>) This %ill open a %indo% %ith # &uttons at the &ottom)
Clic4 on the =frame2and2fill2%in#> &utton %hich %ill open an 7;L %elcome screen)
Clic4 any%here in this %indo% to open the
=.rame and .ill> processing %indo%)
Running the re-frame function
Clic4 on the =@E2.@(ME SLC2:..> &utton to open the =@eframe2L!T ,arameters>
%indo%) 7n the ='8MAE@ :. .7LL SCE'ESE> text &ox enter the num&er of fill scenes
that %ill &e used) 7n the =;7@ECT:@D ,(TF T: SCE'E .:L;E@SE> text &ox type in
the directory path to the directory that contains the anchor and fill directories)
*hen the num&er of fill scenes and directory path is entered clic4 on the =S8AM7T>
&utton and processing %ill start) This step %ill ta4e se5eral minutes and progress can &e
monitored in the =@eframe2L!T ,arameters> %indo%) *hen completed the anchor and
fill image directories %ill contain the respecti5e reframed images %hich ha5e =2reg>
added to the end of the file name) .or example" if the original file name is/
=L1!!<G$<H2$<H#$$1$I$H2A!$)T7.> then the file name of the reframed image %ill &e
=L1!!<G$<H2$<H#$$1$I$H2A!$2reg)T7.>)
( log file sho%ing the details of %hich images %ere processed as part of the re-framing is
created in the =anchor> directory) (n example file name for the log file is/
L1!!<G$<H2$<H#$$1$I$H2reframe)txt)
;o not close the =@eframe2L!T ,arameters> %indo% if you %ant to immediately fill the
image gaps)
Filling the gaps
Clic4 on the =6(, .7LL SLC-:..> &utton on the =.rame and .ill> processing %indo%)
This %ill open the =6ap .ill ,arameters> %indo%) The num&er of fill scenes and
directory path %ill &e copied from the =@eframe2L!T ,arameters> %indo% as long as the
=@eframe2L!T ,arameters> %indo% %as not closed) 7f this information is not
automatically entered you %ill need to enter it manually using the process mentioned in
the pre5ious step (note that a final =J> is needed at the end of the directory path)) Clic4 on
the &uttons la&eled %ith the specific &ands you %ant process or clic4 on =(ll Aands> to
process all of the &ands)
Clic4 on the =S8AM7T> &utton and the gap filling process %ill &egin) This step is quite
time consuming and can ta4e a fe% hours depending on ho% many fill scenes there are
and ho% fast your computer is) ,rocessing progress is noted at the &ottom of the =6ap
.ill ,arameters> %indo%) *hen processing is finished the gap filled image &ands are
created in the =anchor> directory and =2filled> is added to the end of the file name) .or
example" if the original file name %as =L1!!<G$<H2$<H#$$1$I$H2A!$)T7.> the name of
the gap-filled file %ill &e =L1!!<G$<H2$<H#$$1$I$H2A!$2reg2filled)T7.>)
( log file sho%ing the details of %hich images %ere processed as part of the gap filling is
created in the =anchor> directory) The file name for the gap filling log file is/
gapfill2output)txt)
Clic4 on the =;:'E> &utton in the =.rame and .ill> %indo% to close all of the %indo%s)