Using ERDAS Imagine

This guide covers a few of the

essential techniques for navigating
around ERDAS Imagine
 ERDAS Toolbar
• Loading ERDAS Imagine brings up the
main ERDAS toolbar
• The commonly used modules can then be
accessed from this toolbar

• This document covers some of the

modules
 Viewer

• Used to view image files and perform image editing /

correcting tasks
• Navigating around images:
– Roaming mode is enabled by selecting the hand shaped cursor
– Zooming. Use the + and - zoom functions
– Rotating. Holding down control while in roam mode enables the
image to be rotated by left clicking and dragging the mouse
• Hints
– Adjusting the resampling method from nearest neighbour to
bilenear interpolation may increase the visibility of features in
aerial photographs
Import / Export

• Used to import to, or export from

the ERDAS .img image format
• To import a file - click the input
button, select the format you are
importing in the ‘type’ box and
navigate to the input file location,
the output location and a proved a
file name
• Occasionally files may not be
imported directly into .img, but
may have to be imported into
another format first
 Data Prep

• The data preparation

function may be used for
a host of GIS tasks
 Data Prep – create surface

• A method of reading ascii files (in .dat format) in order to convert

to .img (File Æ Read, then Choose ASCII file). The point data is
then surfaced by using the Surface menu
• Also useful for converting .img files to xyz ascii format. (File Æ
Read, then choose Image file. The point coordinates can then be
exported by selecting the x, y & z columns and right clicking on the
column header).
– NOTE: Utility Æ Convert pixels to ascii may also be used
Data Prep – subset image
• Used to extract a workable chunk from
a larger .img file
• Three methods are available:
– Coordinates. Define the coordinates of
upper left and lower right corners of a
box
– Enquire box. Open the image to subset
in viewer. Select the area to subset
using an enquire box (Utility Æ Enquire
box) then click on enquire box
– AOI (Area Of Interest). More complex
shapes to be selected by using the AOI
option at the base of the window once
an input file has been defined
– To create an AOI open the image to
subset in viewer, and draw a closed loop
AOI (AOI Æ Tools) using the create
rectangle or polygon AOI tool. Save the
AOI as an AOI layer.
 Data Prep – Mosaic images

• Allows images with a defined coordinate

projection scheme (i.e., Georeferenced) to be
stitched together
• Methodology follows
 Data Prep – Mosaic images
• Load images
– Images do not need to be loaded in any specific order (Edit Æ add images)
• Correct images
– Not always necessary, but some DEM tiles may stitch together to produce
blocks of different height. If this is the case, select histogram matching to apply
a correction over the mosaic project (Edit Æ colour corrections)
• Set overlap functions
– Used to define how ERDAS joins the images (Edit Æ set overlap function).
Generally feather or average work best
• Generate / load cutlines
– Bounding cutlines may be defined further (or loaded from an AOI) when the
‘select mode for intersections’ button is
Intersection mode
– The four options allow for cutlines to be
Delete cutlines generated by ERDAS, loaded from AOIs,
toggled to decide which side forms the upper
part of the overlap, or to be deleted
Auto generate cutlines Use AOI cutlines

• Mosaic
– Define a file location and start the process (Process Æ Run Mosaic)
 EXTRAS
• Further useful tools are found in the
utilities menu
– Coordinate calculator enables point xyx
coordinates to be translated from one
projection system to another. E.g., British
National Grid to Latitude-Longitude