1.

PRINCIPLES OF REMOTE SENSING

1.1. Definition of Remote sensing(RS)

 Remote sensing is 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
representations of energy patterns derived
from non-contact sensor systems”.
 According to India’s National Remote Sensing
Agency- “Remote Sensing is the technique of
acquiring information about objects on the
earth’s surface without physically coming into
contact with them”.
 Cont’d…
Remote sensing is a method of
obtaining information from distant
objects without direct contact.
It is the science of acquiring
information about the Earth's 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."
 1.2. History of Remote Sensing

1858 - first photo from a balloon

1903-4 -B/W infrared film
1908 - First photos from an airplane
WW I and WW II 1960 – space
1903 - The Bavarian Pigeon Corps
The development of IGARSS 20133
1.2. History of Remote Sensing
 1.3. Principles of Remote sensing
 Detecting and recording of radiant
energy reflected or emitted by
objects or surface.
 Different objects return different
amount of energy in different bands
of the electromagnetic spectrum,
incident upon it.
 Depend upon the property of material,
surface roughness, angle of incidence,
intensity & wavelength of the radiant
energy.
 Components of Remote sensing

1. Energy Source or Illumination (A)

2. Radiation and the Atmosphere (B)
3. Interaction with the Target (C)
4. Recording of Energy by the Sensor(D)
5.Transmission,Reception & Processing(E)
6. Interpretation and Analysis (F)
7. Application (G)
Components of Remote sensing
 1. Energy Source or Illumination (A)
 The first requirement for remote sensing is to
have an energy source to illuminate the target.
 This energy is in the form of electromagnetic
radiation.
 Cont’d…
 Electromagnetic radiation is the
energy source to illuminate the target.
 Electromagnetic wave consists of two
fluctuating fields, they are an
electrical field (E) & a magnetic field
(M).
 These two fluctuate at right angle to
one another, and both are perpendicular
to the direction of propagation.
 Cont’d…
 Relation b/n Wavelength & Frequency
 Wavelength and frequency are related
by the following formula:
 Electromagnetic Spectrum(EMS)
 The EMS is the
continuum of energy
ranging from kms to
nanometers in
wavelength.
 This continuum is
commonly divided into the
following ranges, called
spectral bands.
 2.Energy Interaction with 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.
 These effects are caused by the
mechanisms of scattering & absorption.
1. Scattering:-occurs when particles or
large gas molecules present in the
atmosphere interact with and cause
the electromagnetic radiation to be
redirected from its original path.
 Cont’d…
 How much scattering takes place depends on
several factors including the wavelength of
the radiation, the abundance of particles or
gases, and the distance the radiation travels
through the atmosphere.
 There are three (3) types of scattering.
I.Rayleigh scattering: occurs when
particles are very small compared to the
wavelength of the radiation.
 Cont’d…

 Example: small specks of dust or

nitrogen and oxygen molecules.
 Rayleigh scattering causes shorter
wavelengths of energy to be scattered
much more than longer wavelengths.
 This is the dominant scattering
mechanism in the upper atmosphere.
 Cont’d…
II. Mie scattering:  Miescattering
 occurs when the occurs mostly in
particles are just the lower portions
about the same of the atmosphere
size as the where larger
wavelength of the particles are more
radiation. abundant.
 Dust, pollen, smoke
& water vapour are
common causes of
Mie scattering.
 Cont’d…
III. Nonselective Scattering
 This occurs when the particles are much
larger than the wavelength of the
radiation.
 Water droplets and large dust particles
can cause this type of scattering.
 Nonselective scattering gets its name
from the fact that all wavelengths are
scattered about equally.
 Cont’d…
This type of scattering causes fog and
clouds to appear white to our eyes b/c
blue, green & red light are all scattered
in approximately equal quantities:
(blue + green + red light = white light)
 Cont’d…
2. Absorption
 Absorption is the other main
mechanism at work when
electromagnetic radiation interacts
with the atmosphere.
 This phenomenon causes molecules in
the atmosphere to absorb energy at
various wavelengths.
 Ozone, carbon dioxide, and water
vapour are the three main atmospheric
constituents which absorb radiation.
 Atmosphere Window
 Atmosphere window is an areas of the
frequency spectrum which are not
severely influenced by atmospheric
absorption and thus, are useful to
remote sensors.
 Cont’d…
One important practical consequence of the
interaction of electromagnetic radiation with
matter and of the detailed composition of our
atmosphere is that only light in certain
wavelength regions can penetrate the
atmosphere well.
Because gases absorb
electromagnetic energy in
very specific regions of the
spectrum, they influence
where (in the spectrum) we
can "look" for remote sensing
purposes .
 3. Radiation -Target interaction(C)
Radiation that is not absorbed or
scattered in the atmosphere can reach
and interact with the Earth's surface.
There are three forms of interaction
that can take place when energy
strikes or is incident (I) upon the
surface:
 Radiation- Target Interaction: (Absorption,
Transmission and Reflection)
 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.
 Specular and Diffuse
When a surface is smooth, we get specular or
mirror-like reflection where all (or almost all)
of the energy is directed away from the
surface in a single direction.
Diffuse reflection occurs when the surface
is rough and the energy is reflected almost
uniformly in all directions.
 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.
5.Transmission, Reception and Processing (E)
 Theenergy 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.
 7. Application of Remote Sensing(G)
 Geology: geological mapping;
 Hydrology: monitoring wetlands and
snow cover;
 Agriculture: crop type identification,
crop condition monitoring, soil moisture
measurement, and soil tillage and crop
residue identification;
 Forestry: clear-cuts and linear
features mapping, biomass estimation,
species identification and fire scar
mapping;
 Cont’d…
 Oceanography: sea ice identification,
coastal wind field measurement, and
wave slope measurement.
 Shipping: for ship detection and
classification.
 Coastal Zone: for shoreline detection,
substrate mapping, slick detection and
general vegetation mapping.
 Military/Security Applications:
detecting or locating metal objects.
 Land cover and Land use Application
 Natural resource management
 Urban expansion / encroachment
 Routing and logistics planning for
resource extraction
 Damage delineation (tornadoes,
flooding, volcanic, seismic, fire)
 Legal boundaries for tax and property
evaluation.
 Target detection - identification of
landing strips, roads, clearings, bridges,
 Land/water interface
 1.4 Blackbody Radiation
A blackbody is a hypothetical, ideal radiator.
 It absorbs and reemits the entire energy
incident upon it.
 Total energy emitted by a black body varies
with temperature as given in below figure.
 The total energy is distributed over different
wavelengths, which is called the spectral
distribution or spectral curve.
 Area under the spectral curve gives the total
radiant existence.
 In addition to the total energy, the spectral
distribution also varies with the temperature.
 Cont’d…
 The figure bellow shows the spectral
distribution of the energy radiated from
black bodies at different temperatures.
 As the
temperature
increases, area
under the curve
and the total
radiant existence
increases.
 Cont’d…
 The figure shows that the peak of the
radiant existence varies with Wavelength.
 As the temperature increases, the peak
shifts towards the left. This is explained by
the Wien‘s displacement law.
 It states that the dominant wavelength at
which a black body radiates (λm) is inversely
proportional to the absolute temperature of
the black body (in K)
 UNIT 2
Platforms,Orbit,Sensors & Concept of
Resolution
A) Sensor Platform
 Platform It is the vehicle carrying the
remote sensing.
 Device Sensor: the remote sensing device
recording wavelengths of energy.
 e.g. Aerial photography - the plane and the
camera.
 Satellite image example:
 Platform: Landsat (1, 5, 7 etc..)
 Sensor: Multispectral Sensor (MSS) or
Thematic Mapper (TM) etc...
 Cont’d…
 As the platform height increases the spatial
resolution and observational area increases.
Type of Platforms:
 Three types of platforms are used to mount
the remote sensors.
1) Ground based Platforms:
 Are used to record detailed information
about the objects or features of the earth’s
surface.
 These are developed for the scientific
understanding on the signal-object and
signal-sensor interactions.
 Cont’d…

Ground based Platforms:

 Cont’d…
 Example: Handheld platform, cherry picker,
towers, portable masts and vehicles etc.
2) Air-borne based Platforms:
 Is called Aerial platforms are primarily
stable wing aircraft.
 At present, airplanes are the most common
airborne platform, although helicopters are
occasionally used.
 Aircraft remote sensing system may also be
referred to as sub-orbital or airborne, or
aerial remote sensing system.
 Air born Observation platforms include
balloons, drones and rockets.
 Cont’d…
 Aircraft are often used to collect very
detailed images and facilitate the collection
of data over virtually any portion of the
Earth's surface at any time.
 Air born observations are possible from 100m
up to 30-40km height.
 At Low altitude aerial photography results in
large scale images providing detailed
information on the terrain while at high
altitude smaller scale images offer advantage
to cover a larger study area with low spatial
resolution.
 3) Space-borne based Platforms:

 In space, remote sensing is sometimes

conducted from the space shuttle or more
commonly from satellites.
 Satellites are objects which revolve around
another object– i.e. the Earth.
 For example, man-made satellites include
those platforms launched for remote sensing,
communication & navigation purposes.
 Cont’d…
 Satellite can cover much more land
space than planes and can monitor
areas on a regular basis.
 Generally, Space-borne remote sensing
provides the following advantages.

 Cont’d…
 Satellites are launched into space with
rockets.
 Satellites for earth observation are
positioned in between 150-36,000km.

 B) Orbits: Geostationary satellites
and polar-orbiting
 The path followed by a satellite is referred
to as orbit.
 Satellite orbits are matched to the capability
and objective of the sensor(s) they carry.
 Orbit selection can vary in terms of altitude
and their orientation and rotation relative to
the Earth.
 There are two different types of satellite
orbits that are important for remote sensing
observation of the Earth:
 The geostationary orbit and the polar (near-
polar) orbit.
 1) Geostationary Orbit
 Is called Geosynchronous orbit.
 It is located at an altitude of about 36,000
km above the equator and used for weather
forecasting, satellite TV & communications.
 Weather satellites such as Meteosat and
GOES are normally positioned in this orbit.
 It enables the sensor on board to take a
picture of the weather conditions over the
same locations every 30 minutes.
 2) Polar (Near-polar) Orbit.
 Polar orbiting satellites fly several hundred
km over the earth's surface with a rotation
period of about 110 minutes. They cycle the
Earth from North Pole to South Pole.
 The polar orbits have an inclination of
approximately 99 degrees with the equator
to maintain a sun-synchronous overpass.
 For this reason they are also called near-
polar orbit satellites.
 Cont’d…
 Polar orbit often maintain a constant
equatorial crossing time, hence it is named as
sun-synchronous.
 The altitude of the polar orbits varies from
approximately 450 to 900 km above the
earth.
 As a satellite revolves around the Earth, the
sensor "sees" a certain portion of the
Earth's surface.
 Cont’d…
 The area imaged on the surface, is referred
to as the swath.
 C) Sensors
* Sensors, or instruments, aboard satellites and
aircraft use the Sun as a source of
illumination or provide their own source of
illumination, measuring the energy that is
reflected back.
* Sensors that use natural energy from the Sun
are called passive sensors; those that
provide their own source of energy are called
active sensors.
 Cont’d…
* As a simple analogy, passive remote
sensing is similar to taking a picture
with an ordinary camera where as active
remote sensing is analogous to taking a
picture with camera having built-in
flash.
 Active Sensor Vs. Passive Sensor
 Active sensors include different types of
radio detection and ranging (radar) sensors,
altimeters, and scatterometers.
 The majority of active sensors operate in the
microwave band of the electromagnetic
spectrum, which gives them the ability to
penetrate the atmosphere under most
conditions.
 These types of sensors are useful for
measuring the vertical profiles of aerosols,
forest structure, precipitation and winds, sea
surface topography, and ice, among others.
 Cont’d…

Passive sensors include different types

of radiometers (instruments that
quantitatively measure the intensity of
electromagnetic radiation in select
bands) and spectrometers (devices
that are designed to detect, measure
and analyze the spectral content of
reflected electromagnetic radiation).
 Cont’d…
 Most passive systems used by remote
sensing applications operate in the visible,
infrared, thermal infrared, and microwave
portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
 These sensors measure land and sea surface
temperature, vegetation properties, cloud
and aerosol properties, and other physical
properties.
 Sensors: MSS & TM scanner in Landsat

 The Landsat, which was originally named

as Earth Resources Technology
Satellite (ERTS) and launched by
NASA, is by far the most important
satellite for earth resource
observations today.
 So far it has 6 series which are named
as Landsat-1 to Landsat-5, and 7.
 Each of these satellites has provided
several images that have been widely
used for Earth resources surveys.
 Cont’d…
 The Landsat has near-circular, sun-
synchronous orbit and images are illuminated
by its equatorial crossing time w/c is about
09:30 - 10:00 a.m. local time at relatively low
elevation (about 900 Km for Landsat-1, -2, and
3, and about 705 Km for 4, 5 and 7).
 Landsat imaging systems cover a 185km swath
width (strip of land) during a single pass
over a given area.
 Cont’d…
Data and images from the Landsat system
have been available since 1972.
The repeated or multi-temporal coverage is
one of the important advantages of the
system as it will permit early detection and
monitoring of environmental hazards and
changes, season dependent changes in
farming, natural vegetation, etc.
 Cont’d…

Landsat 4-5 and its orbital parameters

 Cont’d…

Summary of the Orbital chxs of the Landsat Family

 Cont’d…
 Landsat 1, 2, and 3 each carried two remote
sensing systems:
1. a three-channel, or three-band, Return
Beam Videocon (RBV) and
2. a four channel Multi-Spectral Scanner
(MSS) system.
 The RBV consisted of three television-like
cameras aimed at the same ground area
(185x185 km, with a ground resolution of
about 82 m), the channels calibrated to
roughly approximate the red-green-blue
spectral characteristics of color infrared
film.
 Cont’d…

 The MSS system consisted of sensors that

recorded two bands of reflected light in the
visible spectrum (green and red) and two in
the near infrared spectrum.
 This sensor scanned a continuous 185 km wide
swath with a ground resolution of 79m.
 An additional, thermal band was included on
Landsat 3 but it failed shortly after the
satellite was placed into orbit.
 Landsat 1, 2, and 3 were decommissioned by
1983.
 Cont’d…

 Landsat 4 was launched on 16 July 1982

while Landsat 5 was launched on 1
March 1984.
 They were launched into similar orbital
geometries as 1, 2, and 3 (repetitive,
circular, sun synchronous and near
polar), although the orbit altitude was
lowered from 900 to 705 km.
 Cont’d…
 This improved ground resolution of the
images obtained by the new sensor called
Thematic Mapper (TM) because the altitude
of the satellite sensors was almost 200 km
closer to earth's surface, and brought the
satellites within range of the space shuttle
for maintenance or retrieval.
 Landsat 4 and 5 were launched in 1982 and
1984, respectively, and Landsat 4 was
decommissioned (Withdraw from active
service) in 1993. Landsat 6 was launched in
1994 but failed shortly after.
 Cont’d…
 Six years after the failure of Landsat 6
immediately after launch, Landsat-7 was
successfully launched on April 15, 1999
equipped with higher resolution instruments.
 This satellite carries the Enhanced Thermal
Mapper Plus (ETM+) which is an eight-band,
Multispectral scanning radiometer.
 The ETM+ is capable of resolving distances of
15 meters in the panchromatic band; 30
meters in the visible, near and short-wave
infrared band; and 60 meters in the thermal
infrared band.
 The Landsat-MSS

The oscillating mirror scans the ground

along lines, receiving light from areas
roughly 80 x 80m2 on the ground.
 The light is directed in sensors recording the
intensity of the radiation for four bands.
 These registered spectral bands correspond
to what our eyes see as RGB and to near
infrared radiation, which is "invisible" to our
eyes.
 Cont’d…
 Each scanning line contains several thousand
80x80 m2 areas called picture elements or
pixels.
 Each pixel can be located geographically and
shows the light intensity for each of the four
separate spectral bands.
 The pixel-mass recorded from any part of the
complete registration (185 x 185 km2 = 34
225 km2) can be presented as an image to a
desired scale in black and white or in colors
that enhance the terrain objects of special
interest most effectively.
 Cont’d…

 Schematic representation of the Landsat

MSS system
 Cont’d…
Thefour bands of MSS record energy in the
above regions of the EMS.
 Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and
Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+)
 Since 1982 Landsat 4 and 5 have carried an
additional sensor system besides the MSS,
the highly sophisticated TM-system.
 TM is one of the most widely used remote
sensing systems for Earth resources survey.
 The Landsat-TM is a highly advanced sensor
incorporating a number of spectral
radiometric and geometrical design
improvements relative to the MSS.
 Cont’d…

 It records energy at seven distinct

wavelength regions spanning from the
Blue band of the visible spectrum up to
the thermal band
 This means that it has an improved
spectral resolution over the Landsat
MSS.
Cont’d…
 Cont’d…

 SpectralCurves of Vegetation, clear water

and dry soil
Cont’d…