2.

0 INRODUCTION TO REMOTE SENSING

Remote sensing is the science and art of obtaining information about an object or in general, the
Earth's surface, without actually being in physical contact with it. This is done by sensing and
recording reflected or emitted energy and processing, analysing, and applying that information.

Remote sensing uses sophisticated sensor to measure the amount of electromagnetic energy
existing in objects or geographical area from a distance and extracts valuable information from
the data using mathematical and statistical algorithms. It functions with other geographic
information sciences, such as, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Cartography, Surveying,
etc.

2.1 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

The electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) is the continuous range of electromagnetic radiation. This
extends from gamma rays, i.e., with the highest frequency and shortest wavelength, to radio
waves, i.e., with the lowest frequency and longest wavelength and visible light.
The EM spectrum is divided into seven different regions or intervals of different wavelengths
called bands, as shown in figure 1. These are: gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible light,
infrared, microwaves and radio waves. Figure 2 shows the visible portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum.

Figure 1a: The Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS)

Figure 1b: Electromagnetic Spectrum

Figure 2. Visible portion of the EMS

The bands that are most commonly used in satellite remote sensing include the visible (VIS,
wavelength 0.4–0.7μm), infrared (IR, wavelength 0.7–100μm) and the microwave regions
(wavelength 0.1–100cm).

2.2 PRINCIPLES OF REMOTE SENSING

Different objects reflect or emit different amounts of energy in different bands of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The amount of energy reflected or emitted depends on the properties
of both the material and the incident energy (angle of incidence, intensity and wavelength).
Detection and discrimination of objects or surface features is done through the uniqueness of the
reflected or emitted electromagnetic radiation from the object. This is known as the spectral
signature of the material. All Earth surface features, including minerals, vegetation, dry soil,
water, etc, have unique spectral reflectance signatures.
2.3 REMOTE SENSING SENSORS AND PLATFORMS
2.3.1 Sensors
A device to detect this reflected or emitted electromagnetic radiation from an object is called a
“sensor” (e.g., cameras and scanners). These sensors used in remote sensing studies can be
broadly classified into two groups, i.e., the active and passive sensors.

a. Active Sensors
Active sensors have their own source of energy; thereby do not depend on varying illumination
conditions. Active sensors can be used to image the surface at any time, day or night, and in any
season. Active sensors can also be used for examining wavelengths that are not sufficiently
provided by the sun, such as microwaves, or to better control the way a target is illuminated. The
active sensors send pulses of electromagnetic radiation (specifically, microwave radiations) and
record the energy reflected or scattered back. Characteristic of the reflected energy received at
the sensor antenna depends on the target properties, its distance from the antenna, and the
wavelength of the signals. Examples are a laser fluorosensor and synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

Figure 3: Active Sensor

b. Passive Sensors
Passive sensors, on the other hand, depend on an external source of energy, usually the sun. The
most common passive sensor is the photographic camera. They only record the energy reflected
or emitted by the targets. It can be achieved by using the VIS and IR bands, thermal bands or the
microwave bands of the EMR spectrum. Some of the sensors that operate in the VIS and IR
spectral ranges are Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced
Thematic Mapper (ETM), etc.

Figure 4: Passive Sensors

Regardless of passive or active remote sensing systems, all sensing systems detect and record
energy “signals” from the earth’s surface features and/or from the atmosphere. Data collected by
these remote sensing systems can be either in analogue format, for example, hard-copy aerial
photography or video data, or in digital format, such as a matrix of “brightness values”
corresponded to the average radiance measured within an image pixel.

2.3.2 Platforms
The special vehicle used to carry the sensor is called a “platform”. In order for a sensor to collect
and record energy reflected or emitted from a target or surface, it must reside on a stable
platform removed from the target or surface being observed. Platforms for remote sensors may
be situated on the ground, on an aircraft or balloon (or some other platform within the Earth's
atmosphere), or on a spacecraft or satellite outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Depending upon
the elevation of the sensors from the earth surface, remote sensing may be termed as ground-
based remote sensing, if sensors are hand-held or mounted on a moving platform, low-altitude or
high-altitude areal remote sensing, for sensors on-board aircraft, or remote sensing from the
space, for sensors on-board polar orbiting or geo-stationary satellites.
Most remote sensing instruments record electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that travels at a
velocity of from the source directly through the vacuum of space or indirectly by
reflection or radiation to the sensor. Other type of force of fields used in place of EMR is
acoustic (sonar) waves.

2.4 STAGES IN REMOTE SENSING(CONCEPT OF REMOTE SENSING)

Main stages in remote sensing as shown in Figure 5 are:
a. Emission of electromagnetic radiation, i.e., from the Sun or an EMR source located on
the platform
b. Transmission of energy from the source to the object, i.e., the absorption and scattering of
the EMR while transmission
c. Interaction of EMR with the object and subsequent reflection and emission
d. Transmission of energy from the object to the sensor
e. Recording of energy by the sensor. This may be photographic or non-photographic
sensors
f. Transmission of the recorded information to the ground station
g. Processing of the data into digital or hard copy image
h. Analysis of data

Figure 5: Stages in Remote Sensing