RS Education

Part 1

Definition
Remote Sensing is the science and art of acquiring information about the Earths surface without actually being in contact with it.
This is done by sensing and recording reflected or emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and applying that information.

The Remote Sensing Process

A) Energy Source or Illumination B) Radiation And The Atmosphere C) Interaction With the Target D) Recording of Energy by Sensor E) Transmission, Reception & Processing

F) Interpretation and Analysis

G) Application

A) Electromagnetic Radiation
Source of Energy Electrical Field and Magnetic field of EM Radiation

Frequency and Wavelength of EM Radiation

The shorter the Wavelength The greater the Frequency

Electromagnetic Spectrum

B) Radiation and the Atmosphere

Particles and gases in the Atmosphere can affect the incoming light and radiation. These affects are scattering and Absorption.
Rayleigh Scattering

Mie Scattering
nonselective Scattering Blue+Green+Red=White

Why the Sky is Blue during day and Red at sunset & sunrise? The Shorter the Wavelength, The Greater the Scattering

Why the clouds are present in optical images &

absent in Radar images?

B) Radiation and the Atmosphere

Absorption Ozone, Carbon dioxide, and Water Vapor are main radiation absorbers. Ozone absorbs the ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Carbon dioxide also referred to as greenhouse gas which absorbs radiation in the far IR (area associated with thermal heating).
Water Vapor absorbs long wave IR & shortwave microwave radiation (between 22m and 1m). Atmospheric Windows Most of the sensors dont work in UV and Blue portions because of high scattering and absorption. Scattering of Blue is 4 times more than Red

C) Interaction with the Target

Absorption, Transmission and Reflection
Why do we see Vegetables Green? Specular and Diffuse Surfaces Spectral Reflectance Curve Affects by : Target Type, Time (e.g. Greenness of Leaves), Location By comparing the response patterns of different features we may be able to distinguish between them (but not by only 1 wavelength).

C) Interaction with the Target

So the Spectral Reflectance can be used to distinguish objects on the images.

Indices Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

IR R NDVI IR R

D) Recording of Energy by Sensor

Until now we have spoken about 3 first components of Remote Sensing Process called: Energy source, interaction with atmosphere, interaction with surface. Ground Based Sensors Air Based Sensor (aircraft, occasionally Helicopters, ) Space Based Sensors (Satellites, )

Satellite Characteristics: orbits & Swaths

The Path followed by a satellite is referred to as its Orbit. Geostationary Orbits (altitude of 36000km, Stationary, Weather & communication) Sun-Synchronous Orbits near-polar orbits cover each area of the world at a constant local time of day Cause consistent illumination conditions

Satellite Characteristics: orbits & Swaths

Sun-Synchronous Orbits ascending and descending passes the ascending pass is most likely on the shadowed side of the Earth while the descending pass is on the sunlit side Sensors recording reflected solar energy only image the surface on a descending pass, when solar illumination is available.

Active sensors which provide their own illumination or passive sensors that record emitted (e.g. thermal) radiation can also image the surface on ascending passes.
Swath (Earth Rotation & new area with each consecutive

pass,
Different Overlap in adjacent swaths)

Some Terms
Aerial Images Space Images Sensor Platform (Satellite, airplane, ) Each Satellite can carry some sensors Imaging Band or Channel Passive Sensors (Optical sensors, ) Active Sensors (Lasers, SAR, ) Analog Photographs

Digital Images
Nadir Pixel Digital Number (DN)

Digital Images
As we said before, our eye is only able to see a narrow electromagnetic visible Band, while sensors can provide data in a very larger extent of EM spectrum.
By showing various wavelength bands in different main colors (Blue, Green, Red), We can see various color images: Black and White Images True Color Composite Images False Color Composite Images

Any Questions?

Work on Erdas Software

Familiarizing with Erdas Software Interface, showing Images, speaking about Image Formats Showing imaging Bands, black and White image views, True Color and False Color view Viewing image digital numbers Displaying of spectral reflectance curve for various areas of the images Notice to How to Use Erdas Help