{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]],"date-time":"2026-04-18T03:05:13Z","timestamp":1776481513891,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]],"date-time":"2021-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618876800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Developing reliable methodologies of data quality assessment is of paramount importance for maximizing the exploitation of Earth observation (EO) products. Among the different factors influencing EO optical image quality, sharpness has a relevant role. When implementing on-orbit approaches of sharpness assessment, such as the edge method, a crucial step that strongly affects the final results is the selection of suitable edges to use for the analysis. Within this context, this paper aims at proposing a semi-automatic, statistically-based edge method (SaSbEM) that exploits edges extracted from natural targets easily and largely available on Earth: agricultural fields. For each image that is analyzed, SaSbEM detects numerous suitable edges (e.g., dozens-hundreds) characterized by specific geometrical and statistical criteria. This guarantees the repeatability and reliability of the analysis. Then, it implements a standard edge method to assess the sharpness level of each edge. Finally, it performs a statistical analysis of the results to have a robust characterization of the image sharpness level and its uncertainty. The method was validated by using Landsat 8 L1T products. Results proved that: SaSbEM is capable of performing a reliable and repeatable sharpness assessment; Landsat 8 L1T data are characterized by very good sharpness performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13081593","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]],"date-time":"2021-04-20T13:58:04Z","timestamp":1618927084000},"page":"1593","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Presenting a Semi-Automatic, Statistically-Based Approach to Assess the Sharpness Level of Optical Images from Natural Targets via the Edge Method. Case Study: The Landsat 8 OLI\u2013L1T Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5192-1526","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Cenci","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Serco Italia SpA, 00044 Frascati, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9946-1303","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valerio","family":"Pampanoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica, Sapienza University of Rome, 00138 Rome, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6108-9764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanni","family":"Laneve","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Sapienza University of Rome, 00138 Rome, Italy"}]},{"given":"Carla","family":"Santella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Serco Italia SpA, 00044 Frascati, Italy"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Boccia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Space Agency (ESA), 00044 Frascati, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Schowengerdt, R.A. 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