ERDAS Imagine

ERDAS Imagine is a remote sensing application with raster graphics editor abilities designed by ERDAS for geospatial applications. The latest version is 2015. Imagine is aimed mainly at geospatial raster data processing and allows users to prepare, display and enhance digital images for mapping use in geographic information system (GIS) and computer-aided design (CAD) software. It is a toolbox allowing the user to perform numerous operations on an image and generate an answer to specific geographical questions.

By manipulating imagery data values and positions, it is possible to see features that would not normally be visible and to locate geo-positions of features that would otherwise be graphical. The level of brightness, or reflectance of light from the surfaces in the image can be helpful with vegetation analysis, prospecting for minerals etc. Other usage examples include linear feature extraction, generation of processing work flows (spatial models in Imagine), import/export of data for a wide variety of formats, orthorectification, mosaicking of imagery, stereo and automatic feature extraction of map data from imagery.

Before the ERDAS Imagine Suite, ERDAS, Inc. developed various products to process satellite imagery from AVHRR, Landsat MSS and TM, and Spot Image into land cover, land use maps, map deforestation, and assist in locating oil reserves under the product name ERDAS. These older ERDAS applications were rewritten from Fortran to C and C++ and exist today within the Imagine Suite, which has grown to support most optical and radar mapping satellites, airborne mapping cameras and digital sensors used for mapping.

The first version of ERDAS was launched in 1978 on Cromemco microcomputers based on the 8-bit Z80 CPU running the CDOS operating system. The system was built into a desk and was configured with one color monitor (256 x 256 resolution), one B&W monitor, two 8" floppy drives (one for software and one for data). Later, other options were added, such as a large digitizing tablet, and a hard drive (hard drives usually did not exist on computers this size). The hard drive was a Control Data Corporation model about the size of a small washing machine. It had 80 MB fixed disks and a very large 16 MB removable platter. When the hard disk was installed, ERDAS engineers had to cut out the back of the computer furniture to make room for the cables