Most existing remote sensing image retrieval systems allow only simple queries based on sensor, location,
and date of image capture. This approach does not permit the efficient retrieval of useful information from
large image databases. This chapter presents an integrated approach to retrieving spectral and spatial
patterns from remotely sensed multi- and hyperspectral images using state-of-the-art data mining and
advanced database technologies. Land cover information corresponding to spectral characteristics is
identified by supervised classification based on support vector machines (SVM) with automatic model
selection, while textural features characterizing spatial information are extracted using Gabor wavelet
coefficients. Within identified land cover categories, textural features are clustered to acquire search
efficient space in an object-oriented database (OODB) with associated images stored in an image database.
Interesting patterns are then retrieved using a query-by-example (QBE) approach. The evaluation of the
study results using coverage and novelty measures validates the effectiveness of the information mining
and image retrieval framework, which is potentially useful for applications such as agricultural and
environmental monitoring