Active Vs.

Passive Sensors
Active sensors, provide their own source of energy to illuminate the objects they observe. An active sensor emits
radiation in the direction of the target to be investigated. The sensor then detects and measures the radiation that is
reflected or backscattered from the target. An X-Ray is an active sensor as it is actively sending energy to your body
and reading the values reflected.

Passive sensors, on the other hand, detect natural energy (radiation) that is emitted or reflected by the object or
scene being observed. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive sensors.
Examples of this would be our eyes or our phone’s camera. Both get light from 3rd party sources such as light bulbs
or the sun.

Optical and Infrared Imagers

Couldn’t find a good source about both so just researched separately and put pieces together.

Imager - An electronic or other device which records images of something.

Optical - Operating in or employing the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Infrared - Infrared radiation, that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that extends from the long wavelength, or
red, end of the visible-light range to the microwave range.

Optical Imagers are just sensors that utilize the visible spectrum to measure and output images. Meanwhile Infrared
Imagers are again just sensors that utilize colors past the visible spectrum, starting from “the end of the visible-light
range” to the “microwave range.”

Radiometers
A radiometer or roentgenometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux (power) of electromagnetic
radiation. Generally, a radiometer is an infrared radiation detector or an ultraviolet detector. Microwave radiometers
operate in the microwave wavelengths. When light rays hit the vanes of a radiometer, the black sides of the vanes
absorb the rays better than the white sides. This causes the black side to become hotter than the white side (thermal
energy). When molecules in the air hit the vanes heat energy is transferred to them. The molecules that hit the black

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side gain more energy and hence recoil with greater force than those that hit the white side, causing the vanes to spin
(kinetic energy). In simple terms, the difference in energy causes it to spin and the rate that it spins gives us an idea
into the magnitude of the radiant flux.

LiDAR
Lidar stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It works by sending a beam of light or laser and measuring the amount
of distance. This is used in modern handheld devices to make 3D representations of the real world. Personally, I think
of it as echolocation but in terms of light rather than sound. *It is used to measure elevation in the case of remote
sensing.

Radar Altimetry
Works very similarly to LiDAR, sending radar waves rather than light waves. It then times the amount of time it takes
in order for the waves to reach the surface and reflect back. The radio waves travel at the speed of light (299,792,458
m/s). This naturally requires an impeccable amount of precision in order to properly record data. They also use Laser
ranging stations at beacons in order to locate satellites in the geospace. It is commonly used to measure water
surface levels and understand sea-level rise.

Diagrams on how Radar Altimetry works ↓

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Precipitation Radar
A Precipitation Radar was initially just a regular radar. Troops noticed that the radar could not only detect enemy
spacecraft but also rain. It was then developed to specifically track weather events such as hurricanes or Monsoons.
It falls under the topic of Radar Altimetry.
Precipitation Radar Data ↓

Blackbody Radiation: All objects with a temperature above absolute zero (0 K, -273.15 oC) emit energy in the form
of electromagnetic radiation. A blackbody is a theoretical or model body that absorbs all radiation falling on it,
reflecting or transmitting none. It is a hypothetical object which is a “perfect” absorber and a “perfect” emitter of
radiation over all wavelengths. Many of the formulas we need to know for the test help define it including Planck’s
Law, Wien’s Displacement Law, and Stefan–Boltzmann Law. The blackbody radiation curves have quite a complex
shape (described by Planck’s Law). The spectral profile (or curve) at a specific temperature corresponds to a specific
peak wavelength, and vice versa. As the temperature of the blackbody increases, the peak wavelength decreases
(Wien’s Law). The intensity (or flux) at all wavelengths increases as the temperature of the blackbody increases. The
total energy being radiated (the area under the curve) increases rapidly as the temperature increases
(Stefan–Boltzmann Law). Although the intensity may be very low at very short or long wavelengths, at any
temperature above absolute zero energy is theoretically emitted at all wavelengths (the blackbody radiation curves
never reach zero).

Planck’s Law Wien’s Displacement Law Stefan–Boltzmann Law

Blackbody radiation curves at several different temperatures. ↓

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Planck Function: Definition: Planck's law is used to calculate the energy of photons when their frequency is known.

Formula:

Definition of variables:
● B = Spectral radiance is the radiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether
the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. These are directional quantities. In
radiometry, radiance is the radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received by a given surface, per unit
solid angle per unit projected area. ... Radiance is used to characterize diffuse emission and reflection of
electromagnetic radiation, or to quantify emission of neutrinos and other particles.
● v = the frequency of the photons
● T = a temperature measured from absolute zero in kelvins. Thermodynamic temperature is the measure of
absolute temperature and is one of the principal parameters of thermodynamics. ... Absolute zero, which is a
temperature of zero kelvins (0 K), is precisely equal to −273.15 °C and −459.67 °F.
● kB =
Boltzmann's constant, also called the Boltzmann constant and symbolized k or k B , defines the relation
between absolute temperature and the kinetic energy contained in each molecule of an ideal gas. The
−23
actual value of it is 1. 3807 𝑥 10 Joules per Kelvin

● Planck Constant =

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 A photon's energy is equal to its frequency multiplied by the Planck constant. Due to mass-energy
equivalence, the Planck constant also relates mass to frequency.

−34 2 −34
6. 62607004 × 10 𝑚 𝑘𝑔 / 𝑠 or 6. 62607015×10 𝐽·𝑠
● Speed of light in the medium = 186000 miles per second idk what else to put

Wein’s Law:

Formula =

Use Case = useful for determining the temperatures of hot radiant objects such as stars, and indeed for a
determination of the temperature of any radiant object whose temperature is far above that of its surroundings.

Stefan-Boltzmann Law:

Law explanation = The Stefan-Boltzmann Law explains how much power the Sun gives off given its temperature (or
allows scientists to figure out how hot the sun is based on how much power strikes the Earth in a square metre). The
law also predicts how much heat the Earth radiates into space.

−8
Stefan–Boltzmann constant σ = 5. 670374419𝑥10
Black Body radiation = Page 5

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Beam Attenuation:

In short, beam attenuation is the reduction in intensity within an x-ray beam as it travels through matter. It can be
done through reflection or absorption etc. but that energy has to transform in some way.

You can see in the images above that the photons are deflected by particles.

Absorption and Scattering by Aerosols:

Aerosol Particles can scatter and/or absorb electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.

Scattering: A process that conserves the total amount of energy but the direction in
which the radiation propagates may be altered.

Absorption: A process that removes energy from the electromagnetic radiation field
and converts it to another form.

Extinction (or attenuation): The sum of scattering and absorption so it represents

the total effect of medium on radiation passing the medium.

3 Paramenters to remember in scattering and absorption:

1. Wavelength: (λ =heat conductivity of a material) of the incident radiation
π𝐷
2. Size of particles: 𝑥 λ
where “D” is the Particle Diameter
3. Complex refractive index (or optical constant) of a particle: m = n + i k where n is the real part of the
refractive index, k is the imaginary part of the refractive index. Both n and k depend on the wavelength.

real part n is responsible for scattering. imaginary part k is responsible for absorption. If k is equal to 0 at a given
wavelength thus a particle does not absorb radiation at this wavelength.

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Refraction and Refractive Indices:
Refractive index, also called the index of refraction, measures the bending of a ray of light when passing from one
medium into another.

Scattering and Gravity:

Scattering:
● Basic Definition
○ Scattering in terms of remote sensing is what occurs when, for example, a LiDAR Senson sends a
beam of light, but that beam itself is changed due to atmospheric factors. It basically redirects those
rays to a different area than intended
● 3 Types of Scattering
○ Rayleigh Scattering
■ Rayleigh scattering mainly consists of scattering from atmospheric gases. This occurs
when the particles causing the scattering are smaller in size than the wavelengths of
radiation in contact with them. This type of scattering is therefore wavelength dependent.
As the wavelength decreases, the amount of scattering increases. Because of Rayleigh
scattering, the sky appears blue. This is because blue light is scattered around four times
as much as red light, and UV light is scattered about 16 times as much as red light.
○ Mie Scattering
■ Mie scattering is caused by pollen, dust, smoke, water droplets, and other particles in the
lower portion of the atmosphere. It occurs when the particles causing the scattering are
larger than the wavelengths of radiation in contact with them. Mie scattering is responsible
for the white appearance of the clouds.The effects are also wavelength dependent.
○ Non-Selective Scattering
■ The last type of scattering is non-selective scattering. It occurs in the lower portion of the
atmosphere when the particles are much larger than the incident radiation. This type of
scattering is not wavelength dependent and is the primary cause of haze.

Gravity:
● Basic Definiton LOL

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 ○ The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body
having mass.
● Gravity in terms of Remote Sensing
○ Sent into orbit to monitor Earth's atmosphere and water systems, NASA's Aqua satellite must
maintain a very precise orbit. Gravity pulls at the satellite, gradually tugging it towards the equator
and making it necessary for engineers in mission control to correct the orbit.
○ By tracking gravitational orbital disturbances of low and medium satellites, e.g. the current
three-satellite constellation Swarm, by satellite-to-satellite tracking between low-flying Earth
satellites like. at present the GRACE Follow-On mission, with satellite gradiometry like the GOCE
mission (2009-2013).
○ The GRACE mission detects changes in Earth's gravity field by monitoring the changes in distance
between the two satellites as they orbit Earth. The drawing is not to scale; the trailing spacecraft
would actually be about 220 kilometers behind the lead spacecraft.

SATELLITES:
● Atmospheric and sea-surface temperature (GOES-16, ATMS and CrIS on NPP)
○ GOES-16
■ Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
■ GOES-16 was the first spacecraft to carry a lightning mapper in geostationary orbit. The GLM can detect both cloud-to-cloud and
cloud-to-ground lightning during daytime and nighttime, complementing land-based lightning detection.
○ ATMS
■ Advance Technology Microwave Sounder
■ ATMS is a key instrument that collects microwave radiation from the Earth's atmosphere and surface all day and all night, even through
clouds. ATMS currently flies on the Suomi NPP satellite mission and will fly on the JPSS-1 and JPSS-2 satellite missions.
■ Seems to assess surface temperature
○ CrIS
■ Cross-track Infrared Sounder
■ Aids in creating weather predictions
○ NPP
■ It collects radiometric imagery in visible and infrared wavelengths of the
land, atmosphere, ice, and ocean.
■ National Polar-orbiting Partnership
■ Collects data on long-term climate change and short-term weather conditions.
● Global Mean Temperature
○ The global temperature record represents an average over the entire surface of the planet. The temperatures we experience locally and in short
periods can fluctuate significantly due to predictable cyclical events (night and day, summer and winter) and hard-to-predict wind and precipitation
patterns. But the global temperature mainly depends on how much energy the planet receives from the Sun and how much it radiates back into
space—quantities that change very little.
○ In earth science, global surface temperature (GST; sometimes referred to as global mean surface temperature, GMST) is calculated by averaging the
temperature at the surface of the sea and air temperature over land.
● Energy Flux (CERES on NPP)
○ Energy flux is the rate of transfer of energy through a surface. The quantity is defined in two different ways, depending on the context
○ Energy Flux Rate:
−1
■ Total rate of energy transfer: 𝑊 = 𝐽 * 𝑠
−2 −2 −1
■ Specific Rate of Energy Transfer: 𝑊 * 𝑚 = 𝐽 *𝑚 *𝑠
■ Variable Meaning: J = Current Density, SI = International Unit of Measurement, W = Joule, s = displacement or arc length, m = mass
○ CERES
■ CERES (Capacité de Renseignement Électromagnétique Spatiale or Space Signal Intelligence Capacity) is a French ELINT satellite
system, consisting of three closely positioned satellites that are designed to detect and locate ground signals, along with ground control
and user ground segments.
● Optical infrared and Doppler radar imagery of clouds and precipitation (MODIS, CALIPSO, CloudSat)