The CATALYST Enterprise Satellite workflow

The following figure shows the main tasks typically required to produce a final color-balanced mosaic from raw satellite imagery:

Preparing data
Ingesting data and collecting ground control points (GCP)
Collecting tie points (TP) and refining the math model
Orthorectifying images
Correcting clouds and haze (optional)
Generating a natural color image (optional)
Pansharpening images
Preparing data for mosaicking
Generating the mosaic

Figure 1. Typical CATALYST Enterprise Satellite workflow

CATALYST Enterprise Satellite workflow

At any step, you can perform quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) by using CATALYST Professional OrthoEngine, CATALYST Professional Focus, the PCI Geomatics Mosaic Tool, or any other GIS tool. You can restart the workflow at any step.

Outside the typical workflow, how you use the modules may vary. You need not process all of your data by using all of the modules, and you can vary the order of data processing. For example, you can pansharpen some IKONOS data before orthorectification. You can also skip the automatic GCP collection process during data ingestion and use the native math model contained in the imagery as imported by the ingesting module.

Note, however, that you should import all of your input imagery by using the Data Ingest and GCP Collection module before attempting to process your data any further. Also, you must always run the Mosaic Preparation module before running the Mosaic Generation module.