Remote Sensing Change Detection Study of the Grand Canal and Environs ---a Case Study in the Yangzhou Section, Jiangsu, China

The Grand Canal of China is the longest ancient canal in the world. In terms of improving communications between the north and south, promoting economic and cultural exchanges and strengthening the unification of the country, the canal is an astonishingly huge project in the history of Chinese civilization. However, at present, some sections of the Grand Canal have already dried up. We are faced with difficult challenges posed by the modernization of the urban areas, and the urbanization of the countryside. Remote sensing survey provides chance for us to know more about the past and present of canal. The aero photographs and satellite images from different date were true reaction of upper sight at that phase, which recorded the Grand Canal’s distribution and circumjacent environment. In this study, we employ aero photographs taken in 1954 and SPOT5 images taken on 18 November 2002 as data resources. We integrates Wallis filter, data fusion, visual interpret, buffer analysis and other GIS technologies involved with the shape information. In this way, we get the change information about canal and its environs, which reflects that there is great correlation between the canal and environs.