# Image Interpretability of nSight-1 Nanosatellite Imagery for Remote Sensing Applications
## 4 Results and Discussion
Images of Bear Lake, USA and Brandvlei, South Africa show that nSight-1 image could be applied to monitor dam locations and their surface areal extends, dam inventory and water licencing. Regular monitoring of the surface areal extends of dams is vital in analysing the receding water levels in drought situations and expanded water extends during flood situations. The image for Bolivia Salar de Uyuni vividly shows evidence of soil erosion. Soil erosion degrades farmlands and negatively impacts agricultural productivity. The strong geological expressions depicted in some of the nSight-1 images suggest that the nanosatellite can be used for mapping of structural geology features to support mineral exploration, groundwater studies, and general geological mapping. The image for the Okavango Delta clearly outlines the swampy delta. Swamps perform an important ecological function and their preservation is therefore critical. Data from satellites such as nSight-1 is therefore vital in supporting the frequent monitoring of swamps. Using the image for Mecca in Saudi Arabia we also deduced that nSight-1 can be used to demarcate urbanized areas and subsequently assess urban growth rates. Vegetation cover was identified in most of the images. This entails that nSight-1 has some potential value in the classification of vegetation cover. As shown by the image for the Kithnos island in Greece, nSight-1 images could be used for monitoring ships along coastlines, a function often performed by high spatial resolution optical and radar satellites. While our visual analysis demonstrates that nSight-1 imagery has a wide range of potential cartographic and land cover applications, the images analyzed exhibited a strong expression of geological structures, geomorphological features, and topography. This finding suggests that the nSight-1 imagery has the potential to contribute substantially to mapping studies linked to structural geology and associated mineralization, geomorphology, and photoclinometry. Given that geological and geomorphological mapping applications are not very time-sensitive, preservations of the captured satellite imagery are required to support future studies. The features discernible from nSight-1 imagery are consistent with level 1 rating described in the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS). Table 5 illustrates the nSight-1 images examined in this study and some potential applications for the data. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**nSight-1 Image**} & **Location** & **Discernible Features** & **Application** \\ \hline Bear Lake, Utah, USA & Dam; vegetation patches; bare areas & Water resources management; vegetation mapping; analysis of geological structures \\ \hline Okavango, Botswana & Swampy wetland; river systems & Wetlands monitoring; water resources monitoring \\ \hline Hermanus, South Africa & Coastline; water bodies; forest patches; ocean; mountainous topography with steep slopes & Coastline mapping; maritime monitoring; forest mapping; water resources management; structural geology mapping \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: \(Cont.\) \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**nSight-1 Image** & **Location** & **Discernible Features** & **Application** \\ \hline  & Kithnos, Greece & Ships; island; ocean; & Maritime \\  & & drainage pattern & surveillance and \\  & & morphology & ship detection; \\  & & structural geology \\  & & & mapping \\ \hline Brandvlei, South & Dam; concentric & Water resources \\ Africa & cropped fields; & management, \\  & geological structures; & agriculture, \\  & forest patches; & forest paths, \\  & open grasslands; & geological \\  & drainage & mapping \\  & morphological & \\  & patterns & \\ \hline Gariep, South & Fluvial systems; & Analysis of fluvial \\ Africa & small water bodies; & systems; \\  & open grasslandss; & drainage \\  & concentric cropped & morphometric \\  & and fallow & analysis; \\  & agriculture & agriculture \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: \(Cont.\)