What Is Digital Image Processing (DIP)??

Digital image processing focuses on two major tasks

• Improvement of pictorial information for human interpretation
• Processing of image data for storage, transmission and representation for autonomous machine perception

Some argument about where image processing ends and fields such as image analysis and computer vision start.

The continuum from image processing to computer vision can be broken up into low-, mid- and high-level processes

History of DIP

1960s: Improvements in computing technology and the onset of the space race led to a surge of work in digital image processing

1964: Computers used to improve the quality of images of the moon taken by the Ranger 7 probe

Such techniques were used in other space missions  including the Apollo landings

One of the most common uses of DIP techniques: improve quality, remove noise etc

Example OF DIP USE IN GIS:

Geographic Information Systems

• Digital image processing techniques are used extensively to manipulate satellite imagery
• Terrain classification
• Meteorology

Night-Time Lights of the World data set

• Global inventory of human settlement
• Not hard to imagine the kind of analysis that might be done using this data

Check out this link below to know more About Digital Image Processing And Digital Image Processing  using ERDAS Imagine
http://gisknowledge.net/topic/imagine_training/erdas_imagine_information_extraction.pdf