REMOTE SENSING

(GLS612)

LECTURE 3:
SPECTRAL RESPONSE PATTERN
(EMR AND ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS)
Remote Sensing Process

2. Radiation and the Atmosphere

(B) - as the energy travels from
its source to the target, it will
come in contact with and
interact with the atmosphere it
passes through. This interaction
may take place a second time as
the energy travels from the
target to the sensor.
 INTRODUCTION
Exosphere (400km)
the last layer before space

Thermosphere (300km)
space ships fly in this layer
Principal layers of atmosphere
Mesosphere (50km)
where rocks burn so that they 0 -7 %
Water
•There can be
1 % Argon
do not hit the earth more water in
the atmosphere
Oxygen
21 % near the ocean,
Stratosphere (40km) or after it rains.
where planes fly (ozone layer 78 %
Nitrogen
is inside the stratosphere)

Troposphere (10km) Percentages of gas and molecules

where the weather is made in atmosphere
 Interaction of EMR with Earth’s
atmospheric
Before radiation used for
remote sensing reaches the
Earth's surface it has to 3
1 travel through some
distance of the Earth's
atmosphere.
Modulate the 2
2 characteristics of the
emerging radiation.
1

This modulation serves as

the signal that is used for
3 remote sensing of the 1
target’s characteristics
 Atmospheric effects
1. Before radiation used for
remote sensing reaches the
Earth's surface:
Atmospheric
• It has to travel through some gases and
distance of the Earth's aerosols layer
atmosphere. Scattering,
2. The atmospheric gases Absorbing
and aerosols (particulate
matter) as well as clouds:
• Scatter and absorb solar
Clouds
radiation
= Therefore modulate the
radiation reflected from
the target.
 How does the modulation occurs?
Modulation occurs from sunlight scattered in the
atmosphere. Introduce
Change its into the
MODULATIO
N Attenuate spatial field of
distribution view
radiation

Scattering sunlight in atmosphere

Target
As a result, the atmosphere can affect the
apparent image of the target (the image Sensor
that is observed by the sensor) in several characteristics
ways, which depending on the: Remote sensing
application
 Scattering and
absorption reduce the
amount of radiation
returning to the sensor
from the Earth's
surface.
The resulting effect of
scattering is to add a
degree of haze to the
image.

The wavelength dependence of the atmospheric effect can

modulate the brightness differently for each spectral band 
affect target classification
 If the classification based on the it can affect the
‘color’ of the target discrimination between
(the wavelength dependence of its stressed and unstressed
reflection coefficient) vegetation

Example…
Atmospheric effects can cause a delay 2-3 days in
detection of the presence of drought stress on wheat.
 The atmosphere may change the
1 apparent brightness of the target,
Scattering
affecting its reflectance effect by
atmosphere

2 A certain amount of radiation that is

reflected from the neighbourhood of 2
each target may also be recorded by
the sensor as originating from the 1
target.

Neighbour Target Neighbour

ADJACENCY EFFECT
Is scattering deflects the path taken
by electromagnetic radiation as it
travels through the atmosphere .
How to handle with atmospheric effects?
Correction of the atmospheric effect can be useful for
improving the quality of remotely sensed data.
i) Optical characteristics of the
atmosphere are estimated by using
special features of the target and the
atmosphere.
In atmospheric Alternatively, the atmospheric
correction characteristic may be measured or
algorithms modeled example radiative trasfer
basically require 2 algorithm.
steps ii) The image can be corrected by
inversion techniques that derive the
target optical characteristic (e.g,
reflectance ) from the measured
radiance.
 Mechanisms of Atmospheric effect

Mechanism
s
Definition of mechanisms

Absorption

Is when the
radiation is
absorbed by the
atmosphere and
results in an
effective loss of
energy
 Refraction

The speed of EMR changes as it passes through media of

different densities.
This change in speed changes the trajectory of incident
radiation or bends light.

The index of refraction (n) is the ratio of:

(n = cv/ci)
speed of light in a vacuum (cv)
divided by the speed of light in
some other media (ci)
Earth’s atmosphere: n = 1.0002926
Water n = 1.33
Refraction (cont.)

Refraction of light in the atmosphere

 Scattering

Scattering occurs because of particulate matter or

large gas molecules present in the atmosphere interact
with and cause the EMR to be redirected from its
original path.
 How much scattering
takes place depends on
several factors :

Wavelength Abundance Distance the

of the of particles radiation
radiation or gases travels through
the atmosphere

i-Rayleigh scattering

3 ii-Mie scattering
Types:
iii-Non selective scattering
 Scattering (cont.)
The process of
atmospheric
scattering causes rays
of sunlight to be
redirected to a new
direction after hitting
a particle in the
atmosphere.
In this illustration, we see how three particles send light rays off into
three different directions.
 Scattering properties
Rayleigh Mie scattering Non selective
scattering scattering
Definition Occur when light is Occurs when the Occurs when the
scattered by particles particles are just particles are much
when the size of the about the same size larger than the
particles is smaller as the wavelength of wavelength of the
than the the radiation. radiation.
wavelength of light.
Sources Small specks of dust Dust, pollen, smoke Water droplets and
or nitrogen and and water vapour large dust particles
oxygen molecules.
Effect Shorter Which tends to affect All wavelengths are
wavelengths of longer wavelengths scattered about
energy to be than those affected by equally.
scattered much more Rayleigh scattering.
than longer
wavelengths.
 i. Rayleight scattering
Rayleigh scattering is :
the dominant scattering mechanism in the upper
• As sunlight passes through the
atmosphere.
atmosphere, the shorter wavelengths (i.e.
blue) of the visible spectrum are scattered
more than the other (longer) visible
1 wavelengths.

• The fact that the sky appears "blue"

during the day is because of this

2 phenomenon.
Cont’

Made up of short Made up of longer

wavelengths wavelengths

Air molecules scatter the shorter wavelengths more

efficiently, and that is why the sky is blue!
 Dust or aerosols
scatter the longer wavelengths (red light) more efficiently.

Sunlight traveling through a long path of dirty atmosphere

at sunrise or sunset is made up of primarily the reddish
wavelengths when it reaches the observer
 ii. Mie scattering
Mie scattering occurs mostly in the lower portions of
the atmosphere where larger particles are more
abundant, and dominates when cloud conditions are
overcast.
The Rayleigh and Mie
scattering are not
different mechanisms.
They are simply
models approximating
the scattering
mechanism applicable
at different
Model of the effect of Mie scattering in the urban skies that shows
light scattering within clouds.
 iii. Non Selective Scattering
Non selective Scattering is
the most problematic of
the scattering processes
and is found only in the
lowest portions of the
atmosphere.
This type of scattering causes fog and clouds to
appear white to our eyes

White
light

All scattered in approximately equal What we

quantities can see
 Absorption

Absorption is the other main mechanism at work when

electromagnetic radiation interacts with the atmosphere.
In contrast to scattering, this phenomenon causes
molecules in the atmosphere to absorb energy at
various wavelengths.

3 main Ozone
atmospheri
c Carbon
constituents dioxide
which
absorb Water
radiation. vapour
 Absorption (cont.)

Absorption occurs when solar radiation is received by

a gas or particular object but not released directly by
that object.  
By far the highest absorption in our atmosphere comes
from gasses.
 1Ozone is an effective absorber
of UV energy
1

2 Without Ozone, UV is
transmitted directly to the
Earth's surface, which can
cause severe health problems
for people.  

Carbon dioxide in the Earth's lower atmosphere absorbs radiation at

wavelengths between 13 µm and 17.5 µm.  
In the high layers of the
atmosphere, Ozone acts as a
protective sunscreen that shields
us from the high levels of UV
radiation coming from the sun.
At ground-level, however, it can
be harmful to plants, animals, and
humans.

How it relates
with green
house concept?
THANK YOU
GLS612/SUG656/SUG556: REMOTE
SENSING