Geography & Environmental

Studies

Fundamentals of Remote Sensing(GeES3081)

By : Baye T. (MSc. In GIS and Remote Sensing) August ,2022

Injibara, ETHIOPIA
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 1. Introduction: Definitions and Concepts of Remote Sensing

• Remote sensing

• is the science and to some extent, art

• of acquiring information about an object, area or phenomenon
• through the analysis of data acquired by a device that is not in
contact with the object, area or phenomenon under
investigation.

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 Cont…

• Data acquisition is done by:

• sensing and recording

• reflected or emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and applying
that information.

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Cont..

• The human visual system is an example of a remote sensing system in the

general sense.

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Cont.…

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Human Visual System

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 Cont.…
• Remote sensing process involves an interaction between incident
radiation and the targets of interest.

• The process Includes seven elements:

1.Energy Source or Illumination (A) – the first requirement for remote

sensing is to have an energy source which illuminates or provides
electromagnetic energy to the target of interest.

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.

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 Cont…

3. Interaction with the Target (C) - energy interacts

with the target depending on the properties of both
the target and the radiation.

4. Recording of Energy by the Sensor (D) - after the

energy has been scattered by, or emitted from the
target, we require a sensor (remote - not in contact
with the target) to collect and record the
electromagnetic radiation.
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 Cont.…
5. Transmission, Reception, and Processing (E) - the
energy recorded by the sensor has to be transmitted, often in
electronic form, to a receiving and processing station where
the data are processed into an image (hardcopy and/or
digital).

6. Interpretation and Analysis (F) - the processed image is

interpreted, visually and/or digitally or electronically, to
extract information about the target which was
illuminated.

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Cont..

7. Application (G) - the final element of the remote

sensing process is achieved when we apply the
information we have been able to extract from the
imagery about the target in order to better
understand it, reveal some new information, or
assist in solving a particular problem.

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Figure 1: Elements of Remote Sensing Process

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 Cont.…
• To sum up, remote sensing refers to the activities of recording/observing/perceiving (sensing)
objects or events at far away (remote) places.

• In remote sensing, the sensors are not in direct contact with the objects or events being observed.

• The information needs a physical carrier to travel from the objects/events to the sensors through
an intervening medium.

• The electromagnetic radiation is normally used as an information carrier in remote sensing.

• The output of a remote sensing system is usually an image representing the scene being observed.

• A further step of image analysis and interpretation is required in order to extract useful
information from the image.
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1.2. Spatial data acquisition

• In principle, there are two main categories of spatial data acquisition:

i. Ground-based methods
• making field observations

• taking in situ measurements

• performing land surveying

• Using ground-based methods, you operate in the real world

environment.
Figure 1.3: The principle of a ground-based method: measurements and observations are performed in the real world.

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 Cont.…
II. Remote sensing methods: –

• are based on the use of image data acquired by a sensor such as:

• aerial cameras
• scanners or radar
• Taking a remote sensing approach means that information is derived from the image data, which
form a (limited) representation of the real world (Figure 1.4).

• However, that the increasingly remote sensing devices are used in the field that can acquire data in a
fashion similar to air or space borne sensors.

• Thus, the strict division between ground based and remote sensing methods is blurring.

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Remote sensing

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1.3. Uses and Application of Remote Sensing

1. Agriculture
• Crop Type Mapping
• Crop Monitoring
2. Forestry
• Clear cut Mapping
• Species identification
• Burn Mapping
3. Geology and mineral exploration
• Structural Mapping
• Geologic Units

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Cont…

4. Hydrology
• Flood Delineation
• Watershed delineation
• stream network

5. Urban planning ( aerial photograph)

- Road network mapping

- Land use planning

7. Environmental change detection and impact assessment

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UNIT TWO:2. ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY AND REMOTE SENSING

After you have learned this chapter, you will be able to:
• Define electromagnetic energy;
• Identify how energy interacts with the atmosphere;
• Identify how energy interacts with the earth’s surface;
• Identify the spectral signature (reflectance curve ) of natural features
( water, soil, vegetation).

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Cont.….
• the first requirement for remote sensing is to have an energy source to
illuminate the target (unless the sensed energy is being emitted by the target).

• This energy is in the form of electromagnetic energy.

• The most important source of electromagnetic energy at the Earth’s surface is

the sun.

• Many sensors used in remote sensing measure reflected sun light.

• Some sensors, however, detect energy emitted by the earth itself or provide
their own energy(Figure 4).
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con

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 Cont.…
• Electromagnetic energy can be modeled in two ways:

1. Waves

2. Energy bearing particles called photons- A quantum (the smallest discrete

quantity) of electromagnetic radiation

• All electromagnetic radiation has fundamental properties and behaves in predictable

ways according to the basics of wave theory.

1. Wave Model: In the wave model, electromagnetic energy is considered to

propagate(radiate) through space in the form of sine(perpendicular) waves.

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 Cont.…..

• Waves are characterized by electrical (E) and magnetic (M) fields which are
perpendicular to each other.

• For this reason, the term Electromagnetic energy is used.

• The vibration of both fields is perpendicular to the direction of travel of the

wave.

• Both fields propagate through space at the speed of light (c), which is
approximately 3x108 m/s.
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Figure 5: Electromagnetic wave

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Cont.….
• Two characteristics of electromagnetic radiation are particularly important
to understand remote sensing.

• These are the wavelength and frequency.

• Wavelength - the length of one wave cycle, which can be measured as the
distance between successive wave crests or trough (Figure 6 & 7).

• Wavelength is usually represented by the Greek letter lambda (λ).

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Cont.….

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Figure 6: Wave Morphology

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• Frequency (v):- refers to the number of cycles of a wave passing a fixed
point per unit of time.

• Frequency is normally measured in hertz (Hz), equivalent to one cycle per

second (Figure 1.6).

• the speed of light is constant, wavelength and frequency are inversely

related to each other.

Figure 7:Frequency (v)

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 Cont.…

• Wavelength and frequency are related by the following formula:

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 Cont .…
• Therefore, the two are inversely related to each other.

• The shorter the wavelength is, the higher the frequency.

• On the contrary, the longer the wavelength is, the lower

the frequency .

• Understanding the characteristics of electromagnetic

radiation in terms of their wavelength and frequency is
crucial to understand the information to be extracted from
remote sensing data.

• Figure 8:Relationship between wavelength, frequency and energy

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Cont.….

2. Particle Model (Quantum Model):

• EM energy is composed of discrete units called ‘photon’ or ‘quanta’.

• This approach is taken when quantifying the amount of energy measured by

a multi spectral sensor.

• The energy released from a radiating body in the form of a vibrating

photon traveling at the speed of light can be quantified by relating the
energy's wavelength with its frequency.

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Cont.…

The following equation shows the relationship between wavelength,

frequency, and amount of energy in units of joules

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 Cont.…
• We can relate the wave and quantum models of electromagnetic radiation behavior by the
following equation:

• Because c = λ ν, Q also equals

Q= h × c/ λ

• The equation for energy indicates that, for long wavelengths, the amount of energy will be low,
and for short wavelengths, the amount of energy will be high.

• Thus, the energy of quantum is inversely proportional to its wavelength.

• Gamma rays (around 10-9 m) are the most energetic, and radio waves (> 1m) the least energetic.

• The relationship between energy and the wavelengths has implications for remote sensing.

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 2.1. Sources of Electromagnetic Energy

• The sun is the most obvious source of electromagnetic radiation for remote sensing.

• However, all matter with temperatures above absolute zero kelvin (0 K) radiates
EM energy due to molecular agitation.

• Agitation - the movement of the molecules.

• terrestrial objects are also sources of radiation, though it is of considerably

different magnitude and spectral composition than that of the sun.

• The amount of energy radiated by an object depends on its absolute

temperature, its emissivity is a function of the wavelength.

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 Stefan—Boltzmann Law

• Emissivity principle is defined by Stefan- Boltzmann’s Law.

• The Stefan—Boltzmann Law: states that the total energy radiated by a blackbody per
volume of time is proportional to the fourth power of temperature.

• This can be represented by the following equation:

Where M = radiant surface energy in watts (w)

- Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.6697 x 10-8 W/m2K4 )
T = temperature in Kelvin emitted from the object.

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Cont.…
• Black body (idealized object) is used to model and approximate the electromagnetic
energy emitted by an object.

• A black body completely absorbs and re-emits all radiation incidents (striking) to its
surface.

• Material’s emissivity - emitting ability of a real material compared to that of the

blackbody.

• In reality, blackbodies are hardly found in nature; most natural objects have
emissivity(E) less than one, This means that only part, usually between 80-98%, of the
received energy is re-emitted. Consequently, part of the energy is absorbed.
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Cont .….

• This physical property is relevant in, for example, the modelling of global
warming processes.

• A black body emits electromagnetic radiation at all wavelengths if its

temperature is above 0 Kelvin.

• the total energy emitted from an object rapidly increases with only slight
increases in temperature.

• Therefore, a hotter black body emits more radiation at each wavelength than a
cooler one.
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Constant…
Emissivity:

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 2.2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum

• All matter with a temperature above absolute zero (K) radiates electromagnetic waves
of various wavelengths.

• Electromagnetic spectrum - the total range of wavelengths.

• The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from the shorter wavelengths (including gamma
and x-rays) to the longer wavelengths (including microwaves and broadcast radio
waves).

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 Cont.…
• There are several regions of the electromagnetic spectrum which are useful for remote sensing.

• The categories of the electromagnetic spectrum represent groups of electromagnetic spectrum

with similar wavelength and frequency.

• Remote sensors are engineered to detect specific spectrum wavelength and frequency

ranges.

• Most sensors operate in:-

1. Visible spectrum
2. infrared spectrum
3. Micro wave regions of the spectrum (Figure 2.6).

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Cont..

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Cont.…

Figure 9:Electromagnetic Spectrums which are useful for remote sensing

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 Cont.…
I. Ultraviolet (UV) Region: Violet:- intermediate color between red and blue

• UV is just beyond the violet portion of the visible wavelengths, hence its name.

• the ultraviolet or UV portion of the spectrum has the shortest wavelengths (0.300 to 0.446μm)
and high frequency which are practical for remote sensing.

• Earth surface materials, primarily rocks and minerals, fluoresce or emit visible light when
illuminated by UV radiation.

• The florescence associated with natural hydrocarbon seeps is useful in monitoring oil fields at
sea.

• In the upper atmosphere, UV light is greatly absorbed by ozone (O3) and becomes an
important tool in tracking changes in the ozone layer.
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Cont.…

II. Visible spectrum: The light which our eyes - our "remote sensors" - can detect is

part of the visible spectrum.

• It is important to recognize how small the visible portion is relative to the rest of the

spectrum.

• There is a lot of radiation around us which is "invisible" to our eyes, but can be

detected by other remote sensing instruments and used to our advantage.

• The visible wavelengths cover a range from approximately 0.4 to 0.7 μm .

• The longest visible wavelength is red and the shortest is violet.

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 Cont.…

• Visible spectrum is important to note that this is the only portion of the

spectrum we can associate with the concept of colours.

• Blue, green, and red are the primary colours or wavelengths of the visible

spectrum.

• because no single primary colour can be created from the other two, but all

other colours can be formed by combining blue, green, and red in various

proportions.
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Table 1: Visible portion of the spectrum

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Cont.…
• Sunlight that we see it as uniform or homogeneous color is composed of
various wavelengths of radiation:-
• the ultraviolet

• visible

• infrared portions of the spectrum

• The visible portion of this radiation can be shown in its component colors
when sunlight is passed through a prism, which bends the light in differing
amounts according to wavelength (Figure 10).
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Figure 10: Sunlight passes through the prism

Prism : Optical device having a triangular shape and made of glass or quartz; used to deviate
a beam or invert an image
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Visible light detected by sensors depends greatly on the surface reflection
characteristics of objects.

applications • Urban feature identification

that use the • soil/vegetation discrimination
visible range of
the
• ocean productivity
electromagnetic • cloud cover, precipitation
spectrum are:- • snow and ice cover are only a few…

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Cont.…
III. Infrared (IR) region:

• covers the wavelength range from 0.7 μm to 100 μm

• This region is more than 100 times as wide as the visible portion.

• Based on their radiation properties infrared region can be divided into two:-

1. Reflected IR
2. Emitted or thermal IR
• Reflected IR region is used for remote sensing purposes in ways very similar to radiation in the visible
portion.

• The reflected IR covers wavelengths from approximately 0.7 μm to 3.0 μm.

• It is valuable for delineating healthy verses unhealthy or fallow vegetation, and for distinguishing
among vegetation, soil and rocks.
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Cont.….

• The thermal IR region is quite different than the visible and reflected.

• It is the energy essentially the radiation that is emitted from the Earth's
surface in the form of heat.

• The thermal IR covers wavelengths from approximately 3.0 μm to 100 μm.

• These wavelengths are useful for monitoring temperature variations in land,

water and ice.

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 IV. Microwave region:

• it is applicable to remote sensing (recent interest is increasing).

• the microwave region ranges from about 1 mm to 1 m.

• It covers the longest wavelengths used for remote sensing.

• shorter wavelengths of microwave region- have properties

similar to the thermal infrared region

• longer wavelengths of microwave region- approach the

wavelengths used for radio broadcasts.
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Cont.…

• Meteorology
• Hydrology
Microwave
• Oceans
remote sensing is • Geology agriculture
used in: • Forestry, ice and topographic
Mapping

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 2.3. Energy Interaction in the Atmosphere
• Remote sensing requires that electromagnetic radiation travel some distance through the
Earth’s atmosphere from the source to the sensor.

• Radiation from the sun or an active sensor will initially travel through the atmosphere,
strike the ground target, and pass through the atmosphere a second time before it reaches a
sensor.

• Path length:- the total distance that the radiation travel in the atmosphere .
• There are three possible fundamental interactions in the atmosphere:-
1. Absorption

2. transmission

3. scattering (Figure 11).

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Cont..

• the atmospheric conditions

The change in • path length
• composition of the particle
the radiation is a • the wavelength measurement
function of:- relative to the diameter of the
particle.

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Cont.…

Figure 11:Energy interaction in the atmosphere and at the surface

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 2.4. Energy Absorption and Transmission

• Electromagnetic energy traveling through the atmosphere is partly absorbed by various

molecules.

• Ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), and water vapor (H2O) are the three main

atmospheric constituents which absorb radiation.

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Cont.…
• Atmospheric windows with wavelength in the x-axis and percent transmission measured in

hertz on the y-axis.

• High transmission corresponds to an atmospheric window, which allows radiation to penetrate

the earth’s atmosphere.

• Each gas absorbs radiation at particular wavelength.

• Ozone serves to absorb the harmful (to most living things) ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

• Without this protective layer in the atmosphere our skin would burn when exposed to sunlight.

• You may have heard carbon dioxide referred to as a greenhouse gas.

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Cont.…

• This is because it tends to absorb radiation strongly in the far infrared portion of the
spectrum - that area associated with thermal heating - which serves to trap this heat inside the atmosphere.

• Water vapor in the atmosphere absorbs much of the incoming long wave infrared and shortwave

microwave radiation (between 22μm and 1m).

• The presence of water vapor in the lower atmosphere varies greatly:

a) from location to location

b) different times of the year.

• desert - very little water vapor to absorb energy

• the tropics -- high concentrations of water vapor (i.e. high humidity).

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Cont.….
• Because these gases absorb electromagnetic energy in very specific regions of the spectrum,
they influence where (in the spectrum) we can "look" for remote sensing purposes.

• the engineering /design of spectral sensors are developed to collect wavelength data not
influenced by absorption.

• atmospheric windows include:

1. A window in the visible and reflected infrared region, between 0.4-2μm.

• This is the window where the optical remote sensors operate

2. Three windows in the thermal infrared region, namely two narrow windows around 3 and
5 μm, and a third, relatively broad, window extending from approximately 8 to 14 μm

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 Figure 13 : Atmospheric windows related to the emitted energy supplied by the sun and
the Earth.

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 Cont.….

• The sun’s peak energy level and its atmospheric window is in the visible

range of the spectrum.

• This phenomenon is important in optical remote sensing.

• By comparing the characteristics of the sun and the earth atmospheric

windows we can define those wavelengths that we can use most

effectively for remote sensing.

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Cont.….

• Heat energy emitted by the Earth corresponds to a window around 10 μm in the

thermal IR portion of the spectrum

• the large window at wavelengths beyond 1 mm is associated with the microwave

region.

• radiation curve of the sun measured outside the influence of the Earth‟s

atmosphere is different from as measured at the Earth‟s surface.

• The difference in curve indicate the absorption by different gases in the

atmosphere.

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 2.5. Atmospheric Scattering

• Atmospheric Scattering occurs when particles or large gas molecules present in the
atmosphere interact and redirect its original path.

• How much scattering takes place depends on several factors:

a) wavelength of the radiation

b) the abundance of particles or gases

c) the distance the radiation travels through the atmosphere.

There are three (3) types of scattering:

1. Rayleigh scattering
2. Mie scattering
3. Non-selective scattering.
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 Cont.…
1) Raleigh scattering

• occurs when particles are very smaller compared to the wavelength of the radiation.

• particles could be :

• small specks(spot) of dust or nitrogen (NO2)

• oxygen (O2) molecules.

• The effect of Rayleigh scattering is inversely proportional to the 4th power of the
wavelength: causes shorter wavelengths of energy to be scattered much more than longer
wavelengths (Figure 1.13).

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 Cont.…

• Rayleigh scattering is the dominant scattering mechanism in the upper atmosphere.

• The fact that the sky appears "blue" during the day is because of this phenomenon.

• As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the shorter wavelengths (i.e. blue) of the

visible spectrum are scattered more than the other (longer) visible wavelengths.

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Cont..

• At sunrise and sunset the light has to travel farther through the
atmosphere than at midday and the scattering of the shorter wavelengths
is more complete; this leaves a greater proportion of the longer
wavelengths to penetrate the atmosphere.

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 Cont.….
• In contrast, our moon has no atmosphere; subsequently, there is no Rayleigh scatter.

• This explains why the moon’s sky appears black.

• Rayleigh scattering is the most important type of scattering./ remote sensing

• It causes a distribution of spectral characteristics of the reflected light when

compared to measurements taken on the ground; due to the Rayleigh effect the short
wavelengths are overestimated.

• In color photos the Rayleigh scattering diminishes the contrast(optical density),

thus has a negative effect on the possibilities for interpretation.

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 2) Mie scattering

• occurs when atmospheric particles are the same size as the wavelength of the
radiation

• common causes are: Dust, pollen, smoke and water vapour

• affects longer wavelengths.

• Occurs mostly in the lower portions of the atmosphere where larger particles are
more abundant, and dominates when cloud conditions are overcast.

• MS..explains the reddish hues of the sky following a forest fire or volcanic eruption.

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3) Non-selective scattering
• occurs when the particles are much larger than the wavelength of the radiation.

• Caused by :
• Water droplets

• large dust particles

• gets its name from the fact that all wavelengths are scattered about equally.

• causes fog and clouds to appear white to our eyes because blue, green, and red light are all
scattered in approximately equal quantities (blue + green + red light = white light).

• Optical remote sensing can not penetrate clouds.

• Clouds also have a secondary effect: shadowed regions on the Earth’s surface.
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Figure 15: Non-Selective scattering

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Cont.…
Selection of sensors to be used in remote sensing is
based on:

2. the presence 3. the source,

or absence of magnitude, and
1. the spectral atmospheric spectral
sensitivity of the windows in the composition of
sensors available spectral range the energy
in which one available in
wishes to sense these ranges.
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2.6. Energy Interactions with the Earth’s Surface

• Radiation that is not absorbed or scattered in the atmosphere can reach and interact with the
Earth's surface.

• three forms of interaction that can take place when energy strikes, or is incident (I) upon the
surface:
1. absorption (A)

2. transmission (T)

3. reflection (R)

• The total incident energy will interact with the surface in one or more of these three ways.

• The proportions of each will depend on the wavelength of the energy and the material and
condition of the feature.
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Figure 16: Radiation striking a target is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through the medium.

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Cont.…

Absorption, transmission,
and reflection are related
to one another by:

EI= EA + ET + ER

• EI = incident energy striking an object

• EA = absorbed radiation
Where: • ET = transmitted energy
• ER = reflected energy

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Cont.….

• Absorption (A) occurs when radiation (energy) is absorbed into the target

• transmission (T) occurs when radiation passes through a target

• Reflection (R) occurs when radiation "bounces" off the target and is
redirected.

• In remote sensing, we are most interested in measuring the radiation

reflected from targets.

• the reflected energy balance relationship expressed in the form:

ER = EI -EA + ET
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 Cont.….
• There are two types of reflection, reflected from a target

1. specular reflection

2. Diffuse reflection

1. Specular reflection( mirror-like reflection)

• occurs when a surface is smooth and all (or almost all) of the energy is directed away from the
surface in a single direction.

• occurs when the sun is high in the sky./high angle of the sun/

• Specular reflection can be caused by: examples a water surface or a glasshouse roof.

• It results in a very bright spot (also called hot spot‟) in the image.
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 Cont.…

2. Diffuse reflection

• occurs when the surface is rough and the energy is reflected almost uniformly in all directions.

• Most earth surface features are neither perfectly specular nor diffuse reflector.(between the two
extremes).

• Reflection depends on the surface roughness of the feature in comparison to the wavelength of the
incoming radiation.

• If the wavelengths are much smaller than the surface variations or the particle sizes that make up
the surface, diffuse reflection will dominate.

• For example, fine grained sand would appear fairly smooth to long wavelength microwaves but
would appear quite rough to the visible wavelengths.
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 Figure 17: Specular reflection or mirror-like reflection (left) and diffuse reflection
(right).

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 Cont.…

• Diffused reflection contains spectral information on the “color” of the

reflecting surface, whereas specular reflections do not.

• Hence, in remote sensing, we are most often interested in measuring the

diffuse reflectance properties of terrain features.

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2.7. Spectral Reflectance Curves

• The energy reaches the surface is called irradiance.

• The energy reflected by the surface is called radiance.

• specific reflectance curve show the fraction of the incident

radiation that is reflected as a function of wavelength.

• Remote sensing consists of making spectral measurements over

space: how much of what “color” of light is coming from what place on the
ground.
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 Cont.…
• Surface features have different colors so they are distinct in remote sensing

data (not always true).

• A surface feature’s color can be characterized by reflectance per each

wavelength across the electromagnetic spectrum.

• This is its “spectral reflectance curve” or “spectral signature”; it is an

unchanging property of the material.

• Spectral signatures are often represented as plots or graphs, with wavelength on

the horizontal axis, and the reflected on the vertical axis.

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 Cont…

• Remote sensing instruments do not record reflectance directly, rather

radiance, which is the amount (not the percent) of electromagnetic energy

received in selected wavelength bands.

• A change in illumination, more or less intense sun for instance, will change

the radiance.

• Reflectance measurements can be carried out in laboratory or in the field using

a field spectrometer.
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I. Spectral Reflectance of vegetation

• the properties of the leaves including

the orientation
Reflectance • the structure of the leaf canopy
characteristic • leaf pigmentation* Indicating
s of dryness- color.
vegetation • leaf thickness and composition (cell
structure).
depend on: • the amount of water in the leaf
tissue.

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 Cont.….
• Reflectance of green vegetation is:

• low in the visible portion of the spectrum owing to chlorophyll absorption for photosynthesis

• high in the near Infrared due to the cell structure of the plant

• lower again in the short wave Infrared due to water in the cells

• Within the visible portion of the spectrum there is a local reflectance peak in the green (0.55μm)

• between the blue (0.45μm) and red (0.68μm) chlorophyll absorption valleys (often called the
chlorophyll absorption bands).

• As a result, leaves appear "green" to us in the summer, when chlorophyll content is at its maximum.

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 Cont.…
• in autumn, there is less chlorophyll in the leaves, so there is less absorption and
proportionately more reflection of the red wavelengths, making the leaves appear red or
yellow (yellow is a combination of red and green wavelengths).

• The internal structure of healthy leaves act as excellent diffuse reflectors of near-infrared
wavelengths.

• If our eyes were sensitive to near-infrared, trees would appear extremely bright to us at these
wavelengths.

• In fact, measuring and monitoring the near- Infrared reflectance using optical remote sensing
is one way that scientists can determine how healthy (or unhealthy) vegetation may be.

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Figure 18 : Spectral reflectance curve of healthy vegetation

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Cont.….
• Beyond 1.3 μm, energy incident upon vegetation is essentially absorbed
or reflected, with little to no transmittance of energy.

• Dips(decrease) in reflectance curve occur at 1.4, 1.9 and 2.7 μm

because water in the leaf strongly absorbs at these wavelengths.

• Accordingly, wavelengths in these spectral regions are referred to as

water absorption bands.

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 II. Spectral Reflectance of Water

• Spectral reflectance of clear water is low in all portion of the spectrum.

• Longer visible wavelength and near infrared radiation is absorbed more by water than
shorter visible wavelengths.

• Thus water typically looks blue or blue-green due to stronger reflectance at these
shorter wavelengths, and darker if viewed at red or near infrared wavelengths.

• suspended sediment present in the upper layers of the water body- this will allow
better reflectivity and a brighter appearance of the water.

• The apparent color of the water will show a slight shift to longer wavelengths-due
to sediment.
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 Cont.…

• Suspended sediment (S) can be easily confused with shallow (but clear) water,
since these two phenomena appear very similar.

• Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more of the blue wavelengths and reflects the
green, making the water appear green in color when algae is present.

• The topography of the water surface (rough, smooth, floating materials, etc.)
can also lead to complications for water-related interpretation due to potential
problems of specular reflection and other influences on color and brightness.

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Cont.…

•c

Figure 19: Typical effects of chlorophyll and sediments on water reflectance: (a) ocean
water, (b) turbid{sediment) water, (c) water with chlorophyll

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Soil , vegetation and water

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Cont..

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 UNIT THREE : Aerial imagery, Satellite imagery, and Platforms

3. SENSORS AND PLATFORMS

• A sensor is a device that measures and records electromagnetic energy.

• Sensors can be divided into two groups.

I. Passive Sensors: depend on an external source of energy, usually the sun, and sometimes the Earth

itself (Figure 3.1).

• The sun's energy is either reflected, as it is for visible wavelengths, or absorbed and then reemitted, as it

is for thermal infrared wavelengths.

• Remote sensing systems which measure energy that is naturally available are called passive sensors.

• Passive sensors can only be used to detect energy when the naturally occurring energy is available.
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 Cont…

• For all reflected energy, this can only take place during the time when the sun is

illuminating the Earth.

• There is no reflected energy available from the sun at night.

• Energy that is naturally emitted (such as thermal infrared) can be detected day or night, as

long as the amount of energy is large enough to be recorded.

• Current, operational passive sensors cover the electromagnetic spectrum in the wavelength

ranges from 1 picometer (gamma rays) to larger than 1 meter (microwaves).

• The oldest and most common type of passive sensor is the photographic camera.
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 Figure 3.1: Passive Sensor

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 Cont..

II. Active sensors: on the other hand, provide their own energy source for illumination.

• The sensor emits radiation which is directed toward the target to be investigated (Figure 3.2).

• The radiation reflected from that target is detected and measured by the sensor.

• Advantages for active sensors include the ability to obtain measurements anytime, regardless of the time of day or
season.

• Active sensors can 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.

• However, active systems require the generation of a fairly large amount of energy to adequately illuminate targets.

• Some examples of active sensors are radar (radio detecting and ranging, lidar (light detection and ranging), sonar
(sound navigation ranging) and a laser fluorosensor.

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