What's New in ENVI 5.6.3

This release includes the following new and improved features.

Highlights

• Additional support for data types
• Spectral indices added for minerals and vegetation
• New and updated ENVI Toolbox tools, plus new save and restore feature for tool settings
• New ENVITasks

• Added style sheet keys
• New ENVIPseudoSpatialRasterRef property
• New ENVISecureString object
• NorthIsUpAngle/UpIsUpAngle methods added
• New NITF methods
• Removed the classification framework
• Added the Range Ring annotation type
• New features in the Xtreme Viewer
• Performance enhancements for the JP2 file format

Supported Data Types

• Support for EnMAP hyperspectral imagery from the German DLR Space Agency has been added.
• Additional format support for PlanetScope data to include these formats: *_metadata.xml, *_metadata_clip.xml, *_metadata.json. The image data can be in either a TIFF or NITF (license required) file.

Spectral Indices

• Indices have been added for 27 mineral features

• These vegetation indices have been added:

• Disease Water Stress Index
• Leaf Chlorophyll Index
• Leaf Water Vegetation Index 1
• Leaf Water Vegetation Index 2
• Normalized Pigment Chlorophyll Index
• Structure Independent Pigment Index

New and Updated Tools

The following new tools have been added to the ENVI Toolbox:

• Anomaly Detection Workflow: Identifies the spectral or color differences between a test region and its neighboring pixels, or the entire dataset.

• Automatic Image Registration Workflow: Geometrically aligns two images with different viewing geometry and/or different terrain distortions into the same coordinate system.

• Build Temporal Cube: Build a temporal cube, which is a multiband raster where each band represents a different date/time of the same geographic area. You can use the temporal cube as you would any other raster with ENVI's tools - such as supervised or unsupervised classification - to perform time-series analysis.

• Download Digital Elevation Model: Downloads Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) raster Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data based on the result of a query.

• Preprocessing Workflow: Prepares spectral image data for analysis.

• Point Cloud Feature Extraction Tool: Performs feature extraction on point cloud data.

• Upload Raster to ENVI Connect: Uploads a raster from ENVI to ENVI Connect.

• Vegetation Analysis Workflow: Enables you to perform classifications for Agricultural Stress, Fire Fuel, Forest Health, Vegetation Delineation.

The following tools in the ENVI Toolbox have been updated to use ENVITasks:

• Agricultural Stress Tool: Creates a spatial map showing the distribution of crop stress.

• Fire Fuel Tool: Creates a spatial map showing the distribution of fire fuels and burn hazards for a region.

• Forest Health Tool: Creates a spatial map showing the overall health and vigor of a forested region.

• Log Residuals Correction Tool: Removes solar irradiance, atmospheric transmittance, instrument gain, topographic effects, and albedo effects from radiance data.

Access to the Upload Vector to ArcGIS Portal tool has been moved from the ENVI Toolbox to the main menu under File > Publish.

The following tools have been removed from the ENVI Toolbox; their functions have been replaced by the workflows listed above:

• Anomaly Detection

• Destripe Raster Data

• SPEAR Anomaly Detection

• SPEAR Image to Map Registration

• SPEAR Independent Components Analysis

• SPEAR Metadata Browser

• SPEAR Vegetation Delineation

• SPEAR Vertical Stripe Removal

• THOR Anomaly Detection

• THOR De-Striping

• THOR Spectral Binning

• THOR Spectral Smoothing

• THOR Stressed Vegetation

Save Toolbox Parameters

You can now save the parameter values you set in a Toolbox tool, to reuse those settings in other ENVI sessions. How to save and restore parameter values is described in the Help for each tool.

New ENVITasks

You can use these new ENVITasks to perform data-processing operations in your own ENVI+IDL programs:

• AgriculturalStressClassification: Performs raster classification based on Agricultural Stress Estimate.

• BuildRasterPyramids: Creates pyramid files for rasters.

• BuildTemporalCube: Creates a multiband raster where each band represents a different date/time. The task can build such a raster from an array of single-band rasters, or it will calculate the same spectral index for each input raster, then merge all the spectral index rasters into the temporal cube.

• DownloadSRTMRasterDEM: Downloads SRTM raster Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data based on the result of a query.

• EmpiricalLineCalibration: Spectrally calibrates a raster using the empirical line method.

• FireFuelClassification: Performs raster classification based on Fire Fuel Estimate.

• ForestHealthClassification: Performs raster classification based on Forest Health Estimate.

• LogResidualsCorrection: Performs Log Residuals Correction to remove solar irradiance, atmospheric transmittance, instrument gain, topographic effects, and albedo effects from radiance data.

• RasterThresholdToVector: Vectorizes the result of thresholding a raster.

• RemoveScanLineStriping: Removes horizontally or vertically periodic scan line striping in image data.

• SpectralBinning: Divides spectral bands into bins, thus collecting the input band energy into the specified number of bins.

• SpectralSmoothing: Applies the Savitsky-Golay smoothing filter to smooth noisy spectral signatures.

• UploadRasterToENVIConnect: Uploads a raster from ENVI to the ENVI Connect application.

• VegetationDelineation: Performs raster classification based on Vegetation Delineation.

Programming

Style Sheet Keys

The Style Sheet Keys have been updated with a new tab_groups key that is used to create key/value pairs. The key is the label of the tab and the value is an array of parameter names to be included in each tab.

ENVIPseudoSpatialRasterRef Property

Added the PIXEL_SIZE property.

ENVISecureString Object

The new ENVISecureString object contains a cryptographically encrypted string. Encryption and decryption are performed using the RSA asymmetric cryptosystem and requires use of a public and private key pair. .

NorthIsUpAngle/UpIsUpAngle Method

The NorthIsUpAngle method returns the rotation angle in degrees, so that North is at the top of the display. It has been added to the following methods:

• ENVIGLTRasterSpatialRef

• ENVINITFCSMRasterSpatialRef

• ENVIPseudoRasterSpatialRef

• ENVIRPCRasterSpatialRef

• ENVIStandardRasterSpatialRef

The UpIsUpAngle method returns the rotation angle, in degrees, so that objects (especially buildings) are oriented vertically with your monitor. This method has been added to the following objects:

• ENVINITFCSMRasterSpatialRef

• ENVIRPCRasterSpatialRef

New ENVINITF Methods

The following methods have been added to ENVINITF this release:

• GetBandFields: Retrieves band segment fields from selected NITF or MIE4NITF image segments.

• GetBandValue: Retrieves the value of band fields from selected NITF or MIE4NITF image segments.

• GetBandValues: Retrieves an array of values for the field from the band segments from selected NITF or MIE4NITF image segments.

• GetDESUserDefinedDataFields: The method retrieves user-defined data field names of selected Data Extension Segments (DESes) in a NITF file.

• GetDESUserDefinedDataValue: This method retrieves the value of selected Data Extension Segment (DES) user-defined data fields in a NITF file.

The following NITF methods have been obsoleted:

• GetDESUserDefinedSubheaderFields

• GetDESUserDefinedSubheaderValue

Classification Framework Removed

The API for the classification framework has been removed from ENVI. See the new Machine Learning feature included in Deep Learning. Machine Learning for classification. Machine Learning is installed with the Deep Learning add-on and it does not require the Deep Learning license to use.

Xtreme Viewer

These new features have been added to the Xtreme Viewer:

• Highlight changes in the image during streaming with the Motion Change Analyzer feature.
• Rotate the view
• Choose between North Up or Up is Up orientation

Range Ring Annotations

Range ring annotations are new in this release. These annotations allow you to create an annotation of a single circle, or multiple concentric circles, that are centered over an area you clicked. See Range Ring Annotations for details on how to use them.

Profiles

• The Temporal Profile has been for added for use with temporal cubes. It plots data values for all bands to show how the selected pixel has changed over time.

• Added a Plot Stats tab to plot properties.

Performance Enhancements

This release includes JP2 file format performance improvements, as follows:

• Panning and zooming on a JP2 image is 40% faster

• Display time is 20% faster

• Processing speed in some cases is up to 60% faster