Trimble Navigation Limited, the owners and developers of geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) software eCognition Developer, eCognition Essentials and eCognition Server, has appointed the Centre for Geographical Analysis (CGA) of Stellenbosch University (SU) as an innovation partner in their Trimble Imaging Innovation Program.
The first agreement of this type in South Africa, the Trimble Imaging Program promotes the application of and training and research in GEOBIA using eCognition software at SU. The collaboration between the users and developers of the product is thereby strengthened, and a wider range of young geomatics practitioners are exposed to the capabilities of eCognition as a remote sensing tool.
Though object-based image analysis is a relatively new image technique in remote sensing (circa 2000), the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at SU has used GEOBIA in research since 2006. GEOBIA training (using eCognition) has been offered at a post-graduate level since 2010, and a third-year course, called Introduction to GEOBIA, was introduced in 2013. Since then, more than 24 post-graduate theses and dissertations, and 24 peer-reviewed articles have utilised eCognition software in their research. In 2015, the CGA also developed and implemented an Introduction to GEOBIA short course, tailored to Earth Observation practitioners who wish to familiarise themselves with eCognition software.
The CGA and SU are excited about the opportunities that this agreement with Trimble presents, and look forward to continued collaboration in the future. For more information on Trimble and eCognition, Geomatics at SU, or the CGA, please click on the links below.
http://www.ecognition.com/
http://www0.sun.ac.za/geography/blog/
http://www.sun.ac.za/cga/