Lecture 2

Electromagnetic Radiation (EM)

• Defined as energy propagated through space or
material media in the form of an advancing
interaction between electric and magnetic field;
• Objects with temperature above zero on the
Kelvin scale reflect and radiate electromagnetic
radiation;
• The source of all signals collected by most
remote sensing instruments;
• The source of this energy varies depending on
the sensor characteristics;

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- passive sensors : Makes use of sensors that
detect the reflected or emitted electro-magnetic
radiation from natural sources
- active sensors: Makes use of sensors that detect
reflected responses from objects that are
irradiated from artificially-generated energy
sources, such as radar.
• All types of land cover—rock types, water bodies,
etc. absorb a portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum, giving a distinguishable “signature”

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 Colour Discrimination based on Wavelengths of
Spectral Reflectances.
(IRS-IA/IB LISS I and LISSII*)
wavelength Principal
Band (µm)

1 0.45-0.52 Sensitive to sedimentation, deciduous/coniferous

forest cover discrimination, soil vegetation
differentiation

2 0.52-0.59 Green reflectance by healthy vegetation, vegetation

vigour, rock-soil discrimination, turbidity and
bathymetry in shallow waters

3 0.62-0.68 Sensitive to chlorophyll absorption: plant species

discrimination, differentiation of soil and geological
boundary

4 0.77-0.86 Sensitive to green biomass and moisture in

vegetation, land and water contrast,
landform/geomorphic studies.

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• The knowledge of which wavelengths are
absorbed by certain features and the intensity of
the reflectance, allows for fairly accurate
assumptions about the scene. (Suits 1983; Star
and Estes 1990).
• Short wave infrared region (SWIR) - near-
infrared and middle-infrared regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum
• Long wave infrared region (LWIR) - area from
the thermal or far infrared region;
• The SWIR is characterized by reflected radiation,
whereas the LWIR is characterized by emitted
radiation.
• The basis of photointerpretation
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 Electromagnetic Spectrum:
 Solar radiation is either reflected upward from the
earth surface or absorbed at the earth surface
then reradiated as thermal energy;
 Electromagnetic radiation consist of:
1) an electric field (E) that varies in magnitude in
a direction perpendicular to its source;
2) a magnetic field (H) oriented at right angles to
the electric field;

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 Properties of Electromagnetic Energy:
 Wavelength (λ) - (lambda) is the distance between
crests;
 Frequency (f) - measures the number of crest
passing a fixed point – measured in hertz, each unit
equivalent to one cycle per second;
 Amplitude – the height of each peak, Measured as
spectral irradiance (watts per square meter per
micrometer) or (energy level per wavelength
interval);

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 Travels at the speed of light (c)
c = 300,000 km/sec or 186,000 miles/sec
c = λV v = frequency
λ = wavelength
• Frequency and wavelength are directly proportional to
velocity (c);
• Wavelength and frequency have an inverse relationship

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 Major Divisions of the Electromagnetic
Spectrum:

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 The Ultraviolet spectrum:
• A zone of short-wavelength radiation between
the X-ray region and the limits of human vision;
 Near ultraviolet - UV-A; 0.32 to 0.40 µm;
 Far ultraviolet - UV-B; 0.32 to 0.28 µm;
 Extreme ultraviolet - UV-A; below 0.28 µm;
• UV radiation is easily scattered by the earth’s
atmosphere thus not generally used for remote
sensing;

Cond here

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 Visible Spectrum:
 This is the small portion of the EM spectrum that
humans are sensitive to;
- BLUE (0.4 - 0.5 µm)
- GREEN (0.5 - 0.6 µm)
- RED (0.6 - 0.7 µm)
• The color of an object is defined by the color of
the light reflected;

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 Infrared Spectrum:
• Wavelengths longer than the red portion of the
visible spectrum;
• Extends from 0 .72 - 15 µm – more than 40 times
as wide as the visible spectrum;
• There are three logical zones in the IR spectrum:
 NEAR INFRARED - reflected, can be
recorded on film emulsions; behaves similar to
radiation in the visible spectrum;
 MID INFRARED - reflected, can be detected
using electro-optical sensors;
 THERMAL INFRARED or Far Infrared-
emitted, can only be detected using electro-
optical sensors;

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 Microwave Energy:
• The longest wavelength commonly used in RS;
• Wavelengths range from 1mm to 1m;
• The shortest wavelength similar to the thermal
energy in the far infrared; the longest merge into
radio waves;

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Global sea surface temperatures and vegetation
distribution
 

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 Radiation Laws:
• Electromagnetic radiation is composed of many
discrete units called photons or quanta;
• The size of each unit is directly proportional to
the frequency of the energy’s radiation;
- longer wavelengths, less energy
- shorter wavelengths, more energy;
• Radiant flux – rate at which photons (quanta)
strikes a surface measured in watts (W) i.e.
energy delivered to a surface in a unit time;
• Radiant exitance – the rate at which radiation
i.e. emitted from a unit area (W/m2);

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 Blackbody:
• A hypothetical source of energy that absorbs then
emits 100% of it’s energy – absorb all incident
radiation none is reflected;
- as temperature of an object increases, the total
amount of energy emitted also increases, and the
wavelength of maximum (peak) emission becomes
shorter;
- In nature all objects reflect at lease a small
portion of the radiation that strikes it and is not a
perfect reradiator;

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 Stefan-Boltzmann Law:
• Defines the relationship between total emitted
radiation (W) (expressed as W/cm-2) and temperature
(T);
W = σT4
• Emitted radiation from a blackbody is proportional to
the fourth power of its absorbed temperature;
• Energy emitted from an object is therefore primarily a
function of it’s temperature;

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 Wien’s Displacement Law:
• Relationship between the wavelength of radiation
emitted and temperature of the object;

λ = 2,897.8/T
λ is the wavelength of maximum spectral radiant
emittance, T = temperature
• Hotter objects have maximum emittance at shorter
wavelengths;

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