Intro To Remote Sensing

ADVANCED GIS AND REMOTE SENSING
(IRGN 490)
Ran Goldblatt
Lecture 6:
GEE & Intro to Remote Sensing
Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

Ran Goldblatt
Recommended reading:
Introduction to Remote Sensing
J.B. Campbell & R.H. Wynne
Chapter 6:
Land observation satellites
Chapter 11:
Preprocessing (TOA, DN)(!)
Chapter 12:
Image classification
Chapter 14:
Accuracy assessment
Chapter 16:
Change detection
Ran Goldblatt https://roger.ucsd.edu/
What is Remote Sensing?
• The science of IDENTIFYING, OBSERVING, COLLECTING and MEASURING objects

without coming into direct contact with them.
• Accomplished by humans and animals with the aid of eyes, or other senses
(smell, hearing)
• Satellites record the electromagnetic energy reflected or emitted

from objects on Earth.

Ran Goldblatt
Extracting data using Remote sensing:
• Topographic data (e.g. LiDAR)

• Agriculture, vegetation health (chlorophyll)
• Temperature (sea, surface)
• Urban planning
• Mineral exploration
• Ice cover
• Burned areas
• Atmospheric content (including cloud cover)
• Change detection

Ran Goldblatt
Remote sensing devices can be ACTIVE or PASSIVE
Passive sensors: Natural energy
• Record the natural energy that is (naturally)

reflected or emitted from the Earth's surface.
• The most common source of radiation:

reflected sunlight
• Can only detect energy when the naturally

occurring energy is available!
grindgis.com

Ran Goldblatt
Active sensors: Internal stimuli
• Use internal stimuli to collect data
• Provide their own energy source

for illumination.
LiDAR: Light Detection And Ranging
Example:
A laser is projected onto the Earth`s
surface and measures the time that it
takes for the laser to reflect back to its
sensor.

Ran Goldblatt
Energy from the sun is composed
of many kinds of radiation:
7% UV
• Visible range (R,G,B)
• Outside the range of the
human vision (e.g. IR,UV)
This energy is absorbed or scattered through

the atmosphere before it reaches earth.
Which gas absorbs most of the harmful UV radiation
of the sun?
Ran Goldblatt
Energy can be:
• Transmitted: Pass through the material

• Absorbed: Absorbed and converted into other forms of energy
• Scattered: Deflected in many directions
• Reflected: Returned in a given angle
• Emitted: Usually in longer wavelengths
absorbed
Transmitted
Ran Goldblatt
Some of the energy that
reaches earth is absorbed
and some is reflected back
The reflected radiation is also

absorbed or scattered on its
way to the sensor.

Ran Goldblatt
Electromagnetic Radiation
• Wavelength: the distance from one wave crest to the next one
(measured in length units - meters, nanometers etc.)
• Frequency: the number of crests passing a fixed point in a given period of time
(often measured in hertz units)
• Amplitude: the height of each peak (measured in energy levels).
The greater the amplitude of a wave the more energy it is carrying
What will the light dimmer change?
High frequency, short wavelength
Low frequency, long wavelength

Ran Goldblatt
Ran Goldblatt
Electromagnetic waves
Red: long wavelength Blue: short wavelength

Ran Goldblatt
• RS: Learn about objects by studying the radiation reflected and/or emitted
by them.
• Spectral Signature: the unique distribution of reflected, emitted and absorbed

radiation of an object.
500 700 Percent reflectance

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 | of different features
Ran Goldblatt
Spectral profiles for seven classes of land cover in Denpasar (Bali, Indonesia)
B G R
As-syakur et al. (2012). Enhanced Built-Up and Bareness Index (EBBI) for Mapping Built-Up and Bare Land in an Urban Area,
Remote Sensing 2012, 4(10), 2957-2970

Ran Goldblatt
Examples:
• Vegetation has a high reflection in the near

infrared channel (Band 4) and a low reflection
in the visible red channel (Band 3).
• Water mostly reflects in the visible light range.
Will look dark in NIR.
• Vegetation reflect more than soil in the NIR and
less than soil in the RED.
Xu, 2007 RED NIR MIR

Ran Goldblatt
NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) (first used: 1973)
Used to detect and map live green vegetation.
We know that:
1. plants absorb the visible light (chlorophyll)
2. The cell structure of the leaves strongly reflects near-infrared light
(close to the visible spectrum)
3. The red satellite band is more sensitive to vegetation information
NDVI = (NIR — RED)/(NIR + RED)

H L Index ranges from (-1) to (+1); however, no
Much Much green leaves gives a value close to (0).
is is A zero means no vegetation and close to
reflected absorbed (+1) (0.8 - 0.9) indicates the highest
possible density of green leaves
earthobservatory,nasa
The bigger the difference between the near-infrared and
the red reflectance, the more live vegetation there is.
Ran Goldblatt
Land observation

Ran Goldblatt
• 1858 First known aerial photograph (hot-air balloon, 80m above ground).
• 1909: First aerial photography taken from an airplane by Wilbur Wright.
• World War I: aerial photography replaced sketching and drawing by the aerial
observers. Battle maps were produced from aerial photographs. Cameras were
used in airplanes, including thermal infra-red detectors
Taken by French photographer and balloonist,

Gaspar Felix Tournachon ("Nadar“).
Ran Goldblatt
• 1946: First image of earth taken from space
(by a German V-2 missile) (New Mexico) (65 miles above surface).
• 1958: First successfully launched U. S. spacecraft (explorer 1).

Carried science instruments. Orbited Earth once every 114 minutes.

Ran Goldblatt
Mid 1960s:
US effort to develop and launch the first civilian Earth observation satellite.
The Earth Resources Technology Satellite – Landsat
1972: Launch of Landsat 1

1999: Launch of Landsat 7 (still operating)
2013: Launch of Landsat 8 (operating)
Source: US department
of theAdvanced
Interior,
GISUSGS
and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |
Ran Goldblatt
• Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 orbit the Earth at 705 kilometers (438 miles) altitude
• They cross every point on Earth once every 16 days
• In 2013 the archive included nearly 3.7 million Landsat scenes for the U.S. archive

Ran Goldblatt
Type of sensors:
• Landsat 1,2,3 – Multispectral Scanner (MSS)
• Image resolution: 80m
• Spectral resolution: 4 bands (Green, Red, NIR(1), NIR(2)
• Landsat 4,5 – Thematic Mapper (TM)

• 7 bands
• Spatial resolution of visible, NIR and SWIR (Short wave infrared): 30m
• Landsat 7- Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)

• 8 bands
• Spatial resolution of visible, NIR & SWIR: 30m
• Landsat 8 – addition of Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)

• 11 bands
• Including a band for Coastal aerosol measurements
Ran Goldblatt
Landsat 7 ETM+ —Scan Line Corrector Failure
a zigzag pattern along the satellite ground track
May 31, 2003:

Failure of the Scan Line Corrector (SLC) on Landsat 7.
The SLC compensates on the satellite are used to align forward and reverse scans
during the motion of the satellite (necessary to create a “clean” image).
Ran Goldblatt
RESOLUTIONS in remote sensing:
Spatial resolution
Level of details
• The size of the smallest area that can be separately recorded

as an entity on an image.
• The distance between patterns or objects in an image
that can be separated from each other.
• Usually expressed in meters.
“30 m resolution”: Two adjacent

objects, 30 meters long or wide, can be
separated on a Landsat image (and
distinguished by the human eye)
Ran Goldblatt
Temporal resolution
Revisit period
• The `revisit period`

• The length of time for a satellite to complete an entire orbit cycle.
• The time it takes for a satellite to return to (approximately) the same location in
space (e.g. 16 days for Landsat)
Why should you care about the temporal resolution?

Ran Goldblatt
Spectral resolution
Sensitivity of the sensors
• The sensitivity of a sensor to distinguish a range of frequency

• The ability of a sensor to define wavelength intervals.
• The number of spectral bands (e.g. R,G,B)
 Panchromatic – 1 band (B&W);

 Color – 3 bands (RGB);
 Multispectral – 4+ bands (e.g. RGBNIR);
 Hyperspectral – hundreds of bands

Ran Goldblatt
Bands of Landsat 4-7
Spectral Wavelength Resolution

bands (micrometers) (meters)
Band 1–blue 0.45–0.52 30
Band 2–green 0.52–0.61 30
Band 3–red 0.63–0.69 30
Band 4–reflected IR 0.76–0.90 30
Band 6–thermal 10.40–12.50 120
Band 8–panchromatic (Landsat 7) 0.52–0.90 15
Each band represents a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum

Ran Goldblatt
Bands of Landsat 8
Wavelength Resolution
Band
(micrometers) (meters)
Band 1 – Ultra blue 0.43 - 0.45 30
Band 2 - Blue 0.45 - 0.51 30
Band 3 - Green 0.53 - 0.59 30
Band 4 - Red 0.64 - 0.67 30
Band 5 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.85 - 0.88 30
Band 6 - SWIR 1 1.57 - 1.65 30
Band 7 - SWIR 2 2.11 - 2.29 30
Band 8 - Panchromatic 0.50 - 0.68 15
Band 9 – Cirrus (cirrus cloud detection) 1.36 - 1.38 30
Band 10 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 1 10.60 - 11.19 100 (resampled to 30)
Band 11 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 2 11.50 - 12.51 100 (resampled to 30)

Ran Goldblatt
Each band represents a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
Band 3 (Red) (0.63-0.69 μm)
From 0 (black) to 255 (white)

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017
Xu, |2007 RED NIR MIR
Ran Goldblatt
Band 3 (Red) Band 4 (NIR)
(0.63-0.69 μm) (0.76-0.90 μm)
From 0 (black) to 255 (white)

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017
Xu, |2007 RED NIR MIR
Ran Goldblatt
Which (one)
Advanced band
GIS and would
Remote Sensingyou use2017
| Winter to |identify this body of water?
Ran Goldblatt
Band 1 (Blue)

Ran Goldblatt
Band 4 (NIR)
(0.76-0.90 μm)

Ran Goldblatt
How would you develop an index for identifying Water bodies?
Normalized difference water index (NDWI)

NDWI = (GREEN – NIR) / (GREEN + NIR)
GREEN NIR

Ran Goldblatt
Band 6 (L7)
(10.40-12.50 μm, thermal infrared)
used to measure surface temperature
What will this band show us?

From 0 (black) to 255 (white) Ran Goldblatt
Ran Goldblatt
How would you develop an index for identifying built-up areas?
NDBI
Normalized Difference Built-up Index
MIR and NIR bands
NDBI expresses the relation between the medium infra-
red and the near infra-red wavelengths
(MIR-NIR) / (MIR+NIR)
Xu, 2007 RED NIR MIR

Ran Goldblatt
Band Combination
Red Green
0-255 0-255
Blue
8-bit
0-255Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |
Ran Goldblatt 28 (256) possible values
Red (B3) Green (B2) Blue (B1)
44
+ 72
+ 50
Red=44, Green=72, Blue=50

Ran Goldblatt
3,2,1 RGB
This color composite is the "natural color" band combination.
Ground features appear in colors similar to their appearance to the human

visual system.

Ran Goldblatt
4,3,2 RGB
NIR, B, G
This is the standard
"false color" composite
water bodies are clearer

and different types of
vegetation are more
apparent.

Ran Goldblatt
7,4,2 RGB
IR, NIR, G
Good visualization of open green
spaces and urban parks

Ran Goldblatt
5,4,3 RGB
Used in agriculture studies

Ran Goldblatt
Find more band combinations here:
http://web.pdx.edu/~emch/ip1/bandcombinations.html

Ran Goldblatt
All Landsat data held in the USGS archives are available for download:
EarthExplorer (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov); GloVis (http://glovis.usgs.gov)

Ran Goldblatt
Ran Goldblatt
all images are referenced to specific Row (N-S) and Path (E-W) grid system
LC80410352015283LGN00
Path: 41, Row: 35

Ran Goldblatt
Another option:
Google Earth Engine

Ran Goldblatt
• Google Earth Engine is an online environment platform updated with data daily.
• Stores petabytes (1,000,000 gigabytes ) of satellite data
• A platform for image analysis
• Used as an environment to collaboratively share data, algorithms, and
visualizations using URLS’s.
• Google scanned 909 terabytes of data and images dating from 1984 to present
and extracted “clean” images
• EE also offers the ability to perform analysis on large scale datasets, including to
detect, measure, identify, characterize and interpret geospatial conditions.
• The majority of the dataset analysis is raster-format oriented.
Data catalog: A complete archive of pre-processed, georeferenced scenes, including:

Landsat 4, 5, 7, and 8; MODIS; terrain, land cover, atmospheric, climate and weather data,
demographic and epidemiology data…
Ran Goldblatt
Understanding Landsat data types

Ran Goldblatt
Raw Composites
Level L1T orthorectified scenes:
Orthorectified corrected image data (stretched and matched)
(using ground control points).
Per-pixel “raw” DNs values (Digital Numbers) - pixel values that have not yet been
calibrated into physically meaningful units.
e.g. The DN number of (the delivered) Landsat 8 ranges between 0 and 55,000
(55,000 potential grey levels) (16-bit).
• Landsat X 8-day Raw Composite

• Landsat X 32-day Raw Composite
• Landsat X Annual Raw Composite
Ran Goldblatt
Example: Landsat 8 32-day Raw Composite
• Composite created from all scenes in each 32-day period.

• All images from each 32-day period are included in the composite.
• The value of each pixel for each 32-day period is the value of the most recent
pixel in this period.
1.1.2014 – 2.1.2014
2.2.2014 – 3.6.2014
3.7.2014 – 4.7.2014
4.7.2014 – 5.9.2014
Ran Goldblatt
DO NOT conduct statistics on raw images!!
The Digital number of the image does not mean anything.
We need to correct these images before doing any analysis.
1. The angle of the sun with respect to earth, distance between sun and earth
(changes during the year).
2. wavelength-dependent scattering in the atmosphere.
3. Converting the DNs to reflectance
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏ℎ𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡
Reflectance =
𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼
Ranges between 0 and 1 Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |
Ran Goldblatt
Top of Atmosphere Reflectance (%)
The ratio of the at-sensor radiance with the incoming radiance from the sun.
Also considers the distance and angle of the sensor to the target are considered.
Ran Goldblatt
Surface Reflectance
An atmospheric model can be used to account for the effects of scattering

and absorption in the atmosphere, including:
• Atmospheric Profile
• Aerosol Profile + Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)
Landsat processed products in GEE only include TOA reflectance corrections.

Ran Goldblatt
• Landsat X 8-Day TOA Reflectance Composite
• Landsat X 32-Day TOA Reflectance Composite
• Landsat X Annual TOA Reflectance Composite
These Landsat composites are using a computed

Top-Of-Atmosphere reflectance correction.

Ran Goldblatt
Landsat X annual TOA percentile composites
Landsat X 5-year TOA percentile composites
Landsat X 3-year TOA percentile composites
Created from all Landsat images in a specified composite period
1. A subset of scenes are selected at each location (e.g. by date)

2. Converted to TOA reflectance
3. A cloud score algorithm is applied
4. The values are the median of the least cloudy pixels.
5. The numbers are rescaled to 8-bits

Ran Goldblatt
Raw composite TOA reflectance composite
TOA percentile composite

Ran Goldblatt
Other Landsat derived layers:
NDVI Composite
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(Annual, 8-Days, 32-Days)
generated from the Near-IR and Red bands of each
scene, and ranges in value from -1.0 to 1.0.
Landsat 7 Annual Greenest-Pixel TOA Reflectance Composite

All the images from each year are included
The greenest pixel is the composite value
Greenest pixel is the pixel with the greatest NDVI value

Ran Goldblatt
NDWI Composite
Normalized Difference Water Index
Sensitive to changes in liquid water
content of vegetation canopies.
BAI Composite
Burn Area Index
Generated from the Red and Near-IR bands.
Measures the spectral distance of each pixel from a
reference spectral point (reflectance of charcoal).
Used to emphasize the charcoal signal in post-fire images.

Ran Goldblatt
EVI Composite
Enhanced Vegetation Index
Generated from the Near-IR, Red and Blue bands

Ranges in value from -1.0 to 1.0.
NDSI Composite
Normalized Difference Snow Index
Used to identify snow.

Based on the difference between the visible portion
of the spectrum and the mid-IR.

Ran Goldblatt
MODIS
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
• Aboard two satellites: Terra (EOS AM-1) Aqua (EOS PM-1).
Terra orbits Earth from north to south across the equator in the morning
Aqua orbits Earth from south to north across the equator in the afternoon.
• Terra and Aqua MODIS

• view the entire Earth's surface every 1 to 2 days
• Acquire data in 36 spectral bands.
• Spatial resolution: 250m – 500m – 1000m

Ran Goldblatt
MODIS
Landsat
Ran Goldblatt
Different MODIS products:
16-Day Global vegetation indices, 500m, 250m (use NDVI and EVI);
masked for water, clouds, heavy aerosols, and cloud shadows.
NDVI
EVI
NDWI
Snow cover
BAI (Burn Area Index)
Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Daily
Burned Area (monthly)

Ran Goldblatt
Land cover classifications
(MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12Q1)), res: 500m
Five global land cover classification system classification schemes,

derived through a supervised decision-tree classification method
1. IGBP (international Geosphere-Biosphere Programe)

2. UMD (University of Marylan)
3. LAI/fPAR (MODIS-derived LAI/fPAR scheme)
4. NPP (MODIS-derived Net Primary Production (NPP) scheme)
5. PFT (Plant Functional Type (PFT) scheme)

Ran Goldblatt
Example of MOD12C1 Land_ Cover_ Type_2 (UMD)
Land Cover Class
Fill Value 255
Water 0
Evergreen Needleleaf Forest 1
Evergreen Broadleaf Forest 2
Deciduous Needleleaf Forest 3
Deciduous Broadleaf Forest 4
Mixed Forest 5
Closed Shrubland 6
Open Shrubland 7
Woody Savannas 8
Savannas 9
Grasslands 10
Croplands 12
Urban and Built-Up 13
Barren or Sparsely Vegetated 16
Unclassified 254
Ran Goldblatt
The resolution of each pixel is
~500m

Ran Goldblatt
Google Earth Engine
Google Earth Engine Explorer

https://explorer.earthengine.google.com
Google Earth Engine Code Editor

https://code.earthengine.google.com/
We will start with the Explorer.

Ran Goldblatt

Intro To Remote Sensing

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ADVANCED GIS AND REMOTE SENSING

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• The science of IDENTIFYING, OBSERVING, COLLECTING and MEASURING objects

• Satellites record the electromagnetic energy reflected or emitted

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• Topographic data (e.g. LiDAR)

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

Passive sensors: Natural energy

• Record the natural energy that is (naturally)

• The most common source of radiation:

• Can only detect energy when the naturally

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• Use internal stimuli to collect data

• Provide their own energy source

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

This energy is absorbed or scattered through

• Transmitted: Pass through the material

The reflected radiation is also

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

What will the light dimmer change?

High frequency, short wavelength

Low frequency, long wavelength

Red: long wavelength Blue: short wavelength

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• Spectral Signature: the unique distribution of reflected, emitted and absorbed

500 700 Percent reflectance

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• Vegetation has a high reflection in the near

Xu, 2007 RED NIR MIR

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

NDVI = (NIR — RED)/(NIR + RED)

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• 1909: First aerial photography taken from an airplane by Wilbur Wright.

Taken by French photographer and balloonist,

• 1958: First successfully launched U. S. spacecraft (explorer 1).

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

1972: Launch of Landsat 1

• They cross every point on Earth once every 16 days

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• Landsat 4,5 – Thematic Mapper (TM)

• Landsat 7- Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)

• Landsat 8 – addition of Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)

a zigzag pattern along the satellite ground track

May 31, 2003:

• The size of the smallest area that can be separately recorded

“30 m resolution”: Two adjacent

• The `revisit period`

Why should you care about the temporal resolution?

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

• The sensitivity of a sensor to distinguish a range of frequency

 Panchromatic – 1 band (B&W);

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

Spectral Wavelength Resolution

Each band represents a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

Band 10 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 1 10.60 - 11.19 100 (resampled to 30)

Band 11 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 2 11.50 - 12.51 100 (resampled to 30)

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

Band 3 (Red) (0.63-0.69 μm)

From 0 (black) to 255 (white)

From 0 (black) to 255 (white)

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |

Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing | Winter 2017 |