Overview

• Course overview
• What is remote sensing?
• History of remote sensing
• Remote sensing organizations / web sites
• Remote sensing literature
• Remote sensing basic processes
• Advantages of remote sensing
• Remote sensing applications
 Course overview

• The objective of this course is to introduce

students to:
– The principles of Aerial photography
– The principles of Remote Sensing
– Visual Image Interpretation
– Digital Image classification
– Usage of aerial photography and satellite
imagery in Environmental Applications
 What is remote sensing?
The International Society for Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing (ISPRS) defined Remote Sensing
(RS) as:
“The art, science, and technology of obtaining reliable
information about physical objects and the
environment, through the process of recording,
measuring, and interpreting imagery and digital
representation of energy patterns derived from non
contact sensor system " . This definition considered
photogrammetry as sub-field of remote sensing
–via cameras recording on film, which may then be scanned (aerial photos)
–via sensors, which directly output digital data (satellite imagery)
 Remote sensing
Satellite
Aero-plane
 History of remote sensing

• 1783: The Marquis d’Arlandes and Pilatre made a voyage near Paris using a balloon.
• Photography using balloon, pigeon
• 1860: Aerial photos in Russia and the USA
• 1914-19: The first World War and the second World War (1939-45) had seen
tremendous development in photography
• 1927: Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket.
• 1955: Work began on the Baikonur launch site in central Asia.
• 1957: Sputnik 1 launched from Baikonur (first satellite)
• 1961: Yuri Gagarin launched in the Vostok 1 capsule, becoming the first human in space.
• 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon.
• 1971: The first Space Station in history, the Russian Salyut 1
• 1972: (US Landsat1) the concept of imaging from satellites is introduced
• 1986: France launched the first stereo-image satellite (SPOT1)
• 1992: The space year (the maturity of remote sensing - 20 years of operation)
• 1995 The Shuttle-Mir Program (1st phase of the International Space Station (ISS).
• 2000 The first 3 astronauts (2 Russian and one American) start to live in the ISS
 Remote Sensing Organizations
• ISPRS- International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
• IGARSS- International Geosciences And Remote Sensing Symposium
• NASA -National Aeronautic and Space Administration (USA)
• ESA- European Space Agency (Europe)
• NASDA- National Space Development Agency (Japan)
• CNES- Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (France )
• DARA- German Space Agency
• CSA - Canadian Space Agency
• NRSA- National Remote Sensing Agency of India
 Remote sensing web sites
• http://ftp.geog.ucl.ac.be/~patrick/geogr/Eteledetec.html - remote sensing
index
• http:// www.esrin.esa.it - Eurpopean Space Agency
• http://geo.arc.nasa.gov - NASA program http://www.spot.com -
French satellite SPOT
• http://www.nasda.go.jp/ - Japan space agency
• http://www.rka.ru./ Russian Space Agency (RSA)
• http://www.coresw.com - Russian imagery source
• http://www.space.gc.ca/ Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
• http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/ccrs/ -Canada Center for Remote Sensing
• http://www.inpe.br/ National Institute for Space Research (Brazil)
• http://www.asprs.org - American Society
• http://www.man.ac.uk - Manshester Univ.
• http://www.idrisi.clarku.edu - Idrisi site
• http://www.amazon.com - Bookstore
• http://www.brevard.cc.fl.us/BTR_Labs/bober/martin/rs/overview.htm
Dr. Martin McClinton, (*.ppt) format (V. Good)
 Remote sensing literature-Journal/Conferences

• Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote

sensing (PE & RS)
• Photogrammetric Record
• International Journal of Remote Sensing
• ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing
• ISPRS conference proceedings
• IGARSS conference proceedings
 Remote sensing literature -Books
• Askne, J. (1995). Sensors and Environmental applications
of remote sensing, Balkema, Rotterdam, NL
• Campbell, J. B. , 1996. Introduction to Remote Sensing.
2nd ed.,Taylor and Francis, London
• Dengre, J. (1994). Thematic Mapping from satellite
imagery: Guide book, Elsevier ltd, Boulevard
• Lillesand, T. M. and R. W. Kiefer, 2000. Remote Sensing
and Image Interpretation. 4th ed., John Wiley and Sons,
Inc. New York
• Simonette, D. S. (ed) (1983) Manual of remote sensing, the
Sheridan Press, Falls church
 Remote sensing basic processes

• Data acquisition (energy propagation, platforms)

• Processing (conversion of energy pattern to
images)
• Analysis (quantitative and qualitative analysis)
• Accuracy assessment (radiometric and geometric
correction)
• Information distribution to users (hard copy, CCT,
CD-ROM, X-BYTE)
 11

Distribution

Receiving station
processing Archiving
Remote sensing basic processes
 Advantages of remote sensing
• Provides a regional view (large areas)
• Provides repetitive looks at the same area
• Remote sensors "see" over a broader portion of the
spectrum than the human eye
• Sensors can focus in on a very specific bandwidth in
an image or a number of bandwidths simultaneously

• Provides geo-referenced, digital, data

• Some remote sensors operate in all seasons, at night,
and in bad weather
 Remote sensing applications
• Land-use mapping
• Forest and agriculture applications
• Telecommunication planning
• Environmental applications
• Hydrology and coastal mapping
• Urban planning
• Emergencies and Hazards
• Global change and Meteorology
Applications