Remote Sensing

Basic Concepts of Remote Sensing

What is "remote sensing"?

Remote sensing is the process of collecting data about objects or landscape features without coming into direct physical
contact with them.  Most remote sensing is performed from aircraft or satellites using instruments, which measure
electromagnetic radiation  (EMR) that is reflected or emitted from the terrain. In other words, Remote Sensing is the
detection and measurment of electromagnetic energy emanating from distant objects made of various materials. This is
done so that we can identify and categorize these objects by class or type, substance, and spatial distribution.

Every entity on the face of the earth has varying energy levels and remote sensing systems, simply measure these
different levels. These energy levels are portrayed by way of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  

Generally, when we refer to the electromagnetic spectrum in remote sensing, we are referring to measures of reflected
energy or spectral signatures. Each entity has unique spectral signatures and they differ with each band of information.
As humans, the colors we see are made up of combinations of reflected wavelengths throughout the visible portion of
the electromagnetic spectrum. Each feature that we see has its own unique spectral reflectance curve (i.e. grass, water,
cement, etc). These curves are defined by the varying percent of reflectance. The color we see comes from the
wavelengths, which are, reflected the most. For example, a green object will reflect high in the green portion of the
spectrum, but low in blue and red. In remote sensing, one must understand the reflectance nature of an object if it is
going to be identified on an image.Graphs of spectral reflectance curves help us better understand the reflectance nature
of an object.

Remote Sensing can be thought of as the science of

 Acquiring – technology employed (Satellites, aircraft)

 Processing – converting raw data into images
 Interpreting – interpreting or giving meaning to the processed data

How do we acquire digital data?

Scan photographs or purchase digital data from agencies such as NASA, USGS, BLM, Forest Service or a private
company such as SpaceImaging. The data used to come on high density digital tapes (similar to the reel to reel tapes)
that had to be read by a tape drive, usually 1 band per tape. Now most data is available on CD's. Small images can be
transferred via ftp.
Spatial Resolution

Defining your project and selecting appropriate imagery.

When defining your project, you first decide what you want the imagery for. If it is just for a backdrop, then you could
go with aerial photography or panchromatic satellite imagery. If you want multispectral data, then you should be
familiar with the different satellites, their spatial resolution and the number of bands each has. The most common are
the following:
  

In general, resolution can be defined as the area on the ground represented by each pixel in the image, ie: 20 meters on
the ground are represented by a 20 meter pixel of SPOT data. If you recall, the smallest units in raster data are known as
cells or pixels.

Note: high resolution refers to rasters with small cell dimensions - high resolution means lots of detail, lots of cells.

Raster and Vector Data

Remember our discussion of the difference between raster and vector GIS?

Raster GIS

Rasterized data divides the entire study area into a regular grid of cells in a specific sequence, the conventional
sequence is row by row from the top left corner each cell contains a single value and is space filling.

Cell Values  - each pixel or cell is assumed to have only one value. This is often inaccurate because the boundary of
two soil types or vegetation and concrete may run across the middle of a pixel. This is called a mixed pixel.

Vector GIS
This model uses discrete line segments or points to identify locations discrete objects (boundaries, streams, cities) are
formed by connecting line segments. Vector objects do not necessarily fill space; not all locations in space need to be
referenced in the model

Raster GIS

You can either create your own raster data, rasterize vector data, or access digital data in raster format that has already
been archived. The latter is the most common way to acquire and use raster data.

When would you rasterize vector data?

To use the data to build a model or perform mathematical calculations. For instance, multiple vector layers could be
rasterized to generate values for input into multivariate analysis such as principal components.

However, there are many problems inherent to vector to raster conversions and vice versa, so you must be very careful
when deciding to do this. For ex: By forcing real world features into a fixed raster grid, feature boundaries will shift by
as much as half the dimension of the grid cells. Small cells create less error but require more storage space.

Or: The typical conversion rule of assigning values using that class which occupies the greatest proportion of the grid
cell may result in the deletion of features which are smaller than a grid cell in either the X or Y dimension.

The main strength of raster data is the ability to perform mathematical calculations on the data. There are many
mathematical algorithms that can be applied to raster images to pull out the information one is looking for. These  can
be supervised or unsupervised procedures and are referred to as classifications.

Supervised classifications means that the interpreter selects training site information and the computer algorithm
classifies the image based on those sites. Unsupervised classification is where the computer assigns pixels to categories
without instructions from the interpreter or operator.

Ex: nearest neighbor. This algorithm looks at adjacent pixels and groups them together based on like pixel values. The
operator sets specific parameters as to thresholding and the computer does the rest. Once the classes have been
determined, then the operator can go back and make adjustments based on knowledge of the area.
 
  

False Color Composite

One thing that you may have noticed on the images is that the vegetation comes out in red. That is what we refer to as a
False Color Composite, where we have combined bands 4 (near IR), 3(red) and 2(green). Healthy vegetation has a high
reflectance in the near (photographic) IR region.

Using GIS and Remote Sensing Data Interactively

As we have mentioned before, the true strength of GIS is in its ability to perform overlay operations between map
layers. In cases where map features represent discrete categories, overlay operations can determine the intersection or
union of features from different map sources. Maps representing numerical values may also be combined using
mathematical relationships. As an example, a GIS may be used to find a good site for a power plant by recoding map
layers for soils, slope, and proximity to cooling water and markets into suitability scores or cost estimates. These
suitability maps could then be combined mathematically to create a derived map indicating the relative costs and
suitabilities for building a facility throughout an entire region.

How could you use remote sensing in Civil Engineering?

1. Erosion prediction – streambank and shoreline erosion management

2. Transportation modeling
3. Dam and reservoir location and planning
4. Geomorphology – channel and watershed characterization
5. Characterizing soil dynamics
6. Geotechnical and environmental engineers
7. Earthquake engineering 
8. Construction planning and siting
9. Agricultural engineering