2009 Student Airborne Research Mission

Airborne Remote Sensing

Patterns and Processes of Land and Water

Professor Susan Ustin: slustin@ucdavis.edu

Graduate Student Assistant:

Shawn Kefauver sckefauver@ucdavis.edu

NASA-UND National Suborbital

Education and Research Center
Remote Sensing Principles
Electromagnetic Spectrum

Visible
Thermal IR Reflected Solar IR
Remote Sensing Principles

Solar Spectral Radiance

Top of Atmosphere Solar Irradiance

Surface Spectral Radiance
How does light interact with matter to create
the measurement?
Plant Functions

Pigment absorption is the dominant process in visible;

Scattering is the dominant process in near-infrared;
Water absorption is increasingly important with wavelength in the mid-infrared.
Plant Functions
MASTER Instrument Characteristics
MASTER Spectral Band Positions (Vis-MWIR)
0.01 to 6 μm

Band Centers vs. Atmospheric Features

 Radiation Budget Equation
Φ iλ = Φ reflected + Φ transmitted + Φ absorbed
Where Φ iλ = total flux incident on surface, in watts or J/s

Hemispherical
reflectance rλ = Φ reflected / Φ iλ
Hemispherical
transmittance
τ λ= Φ transmitted / Φ iλ
Hemispherical α λ = Φ absorbed / Φ iλ
absorptance

Fate of Photons Interacting with a Surface

rλ + τ λ +α λ = 1
Summary of Light Interactions with Matter

Refraction

rλ = reflection
τλ = transmission
r λ + τ λ + ελ + α λ = 1
ελ = emission 10

α = absorption
The Law of Specular Reflectance Scattering:

Incidence angle = Exitance angle

Specular Scattering

Forward scatter
direction (specular
direction)
Specular reflection from water
Leaf biochemistry: A typical leaf cell contains:
• Photosynthetic pigments (chloroplasts)
• chlorophyll a and b
•carotenoids: β-carotene, xanthophylls

• Other pigments (cytoplasm)

• anthocyanins, flavons
• brown pigments
• etc.
• water (vacuole): 90-95%
• dry matter (cell walls): 5-10%
• cellulose: 15-30%
• hemicellulose: 10-30%
• proteins: 10-20%
• lignin: 5-15%
• starch: 0.2-2.7%
• sugar
• etc.
 Chlorophyll α and b
Absorption by foliar pigments
b a

β-carotene

chlorophyll a chlorophyll b

β-carotene Anthocyanin

Chemical
Structures of
Pigments are
Known anthocyanin + glucose
http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/research/leaves/
Plant Functions

■ ■ ■
453

430
662

410 652

16
Senescence sequence of a leaf
Optical Properties
Reflectance Changes as Water Content Declines 

Water Volume: Equivalent water thickness Dry matter content

Wf = Fresh weight
 g  Wf − Wd  g  Wd
EWT  2  = DM  2 
= Wd = Dry weight
 cm  A  cm  A A = Leaf Area
 Soil Texture
100

90 10
• Proportion of sand,

)
(%
y 
80 20
silt and clay in a soil

Cla
70 30 read
(or horizon); usually 60
Clay
40
calculated as % of 50 50
read silty  
soil by weight for 40 sandy   clay 60
clay 
each type of particle 30 clay loam silty clay 
70

Silt
sandy clay  loam

 (
%)
20 loam 80
Loam silt loam
10 sandy  90
• Different fractions are loamy loam
Silt
Sand sand 100
identified as different 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
soil-texture classes. Sand (%)
read
 Basic Dry Soil Spectra
100
50
Percent Reflectance 

90
80
70 Silt
Sand
60
30
% Reflectance

50
Silt
40 Sand

1030

20
10
0
0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5
Wavelength (µm)
Reflectance ~increases with wavelength from the visible, to the mid- infrared
portion of the spectrum
 Soil Moisture and Texture
Clays hold water
60
Sand
Sand
Sand 0 – 4% moisture content more ‘tightly’ than
50 sand.
40
5 – 12%
30
Thus, water
20 22 – 32%
absorption bands in
10
0
a clay spectrum are
a.
0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 more prominent
60
than in a sand
Clay
Clay
Clay
50 2 – 6%
spectrum.
40

30 Hyperspectral data
20 can be used to
35 – 40% 
10 quantify these
0
0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 absorption
b. Wavelength (µm) features.
 Soil Organic Matter

Organic matter is a strong absorber of EMR in the VIS, so more

organic matter produces darker soils (lower reflectance). Note
change in shape from concave to convex.
Soil Reflectance and Moisture Content

Wilting Point 1.5MPa

Field Capacity 0.03MPa

Bowers and Hanks (1965)

 Soil Influences in Refletcance Data over
San Joaquin Valley, CA
Irrigation
Texture

7-1 8-2

8-3

Location of N Treatment
Richard Plant, UC Davis
 Kirchhoff’s Law:
A theorem (based on lab observations) states that at a given
temperature, energy is absorbed and radiated at the
maximum possible rate per unit area, for each wavelength.

Fails at high frequencies (very short wavelengths)

San Francisco Bay Estuary and Pacific Ocean Coastline

Color Infrared Sediment Load Surface Water Temperature

Light Penetration of Water by Wavelength and Depth

Blue Green Red NIR

 Light Penetration of Water

Cozumel Island

Palancar Reef Caribbean Sea

SPOT Band 1  SPOT Band 2  SPOT Band 3 

(0.5 ­ 0.59 µm) green (0.61 ­ 0.68 µm) red (0.79 ­ 0.89 µm) NIR

Jensen, 2000
 Upwelling along the northern and central California coast,
SeaWIFS 6 Oct. 2002

28
chlorophyll-bearing phytoplankton
% reflectance of clear and
algae-laden water

% reflectance of algae­laden water at 
suspended sediment concentrations 
ranging from 0 ­ 500 mg/l

Han, 1997;
Jensen, 2000
 5
 1,000 mg/l
4.5

4
Clayey soil

 300
Clear Water with Different
clay
3.5  250
 200
Levels of Suspended Clay
Percent Reflectance  

3  150

2.5
 100 and Silt Soil Sediments
2  50

clear water 
1.5

0.5

0
a. 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900
Wavelength (nm)
14  1,000 mg/l
silt  550
12 Silty  soil  500

Reflectance peak shifts toward 
 450
 400  600
 350
 300
10  250 longer wavelengths as more 
suspended sediment is added
 200
Percent Reflectance  

8  150

 100
6

4  50

clear water 
2

Lodhi et al., 1997; 
b. 0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 Jensen, 2000
Wavelength (nm)
 Mapping Aquatic Plant Species
True Color Image The Sacramento
Delta

Detection based on
spectral differences
between water and
plants

Map of
Submersed
Aquatic
Weeds
Color Infrared Image Map of Aquatic Plant Species
Emergent Aquatic Species

Rhode Island

Pennywort Pennywort

Water Hyacinth Water Hyacinth

MASTER Spectral Band Positions (Thermal IR)

Band Centers vs. Atmospheric Features

Blackbody Radiation
Curves for Several
Objects Emitting
Energy at different
Temperatures,
including the Sun
and Earth
 Wein’s Displacement Law
λ max = k/ T

k= 2898 μm K
T = K (deg. Kelvin)

Sun = ~ 6000 K
Earth = ~300 K The mean Earth Temp. = 300K

k 2898 µm K
λmax = =
≈ 300 K = 9.67 µm
T
 Thermal Emissions In the Solar Region

True Color (visible) 500nm Band 1000 nm Band 2000 nm Band

6.00

Willow Fire, CA Sept. 01, 1999

W cm-2 nm Sr. -1

AVIRIS
5.00 Estimate
Radiance,Radiance(uW/cm^2/nm/sr)

Residual Test fit for spectrum G

4.00 Temperature Estimate=984K

1.48% of the area

3.00

k 2898 µm K 2.00

λmax =
T ≈
=
300 K
1400
=9 .67 µm
2.07 1.00

0.00
400 700 1000 1300 1600 1900 2200 2500

0.60 0.800 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00

Wavelength (nm)
How Much Energy is Emitted by an Object?

Stefan-Boltzmann Law (for ideal blackbodies)

Mb is simplification and derived from

Planck’s equation as

Mb, λ = σT4
Total radiated energy (j or watts/m2) by a blackbody

σ = 5.6697 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4 μm K

What is a “perfect blackbody” ?

How about near-perfect blackbody?
What about objects that don’t emit at all wavelengths?
 Emissivity
Emissivity (ε): the ratio
between the true radiant
flux from an object (Mr) and
the blackbody emission at
the same temperature (Mb).

ελ = Mr/Mb = (Trad/Tkin)4
Mλ= εσT4
Incorporating Emissivity (ε) allows
calculation of Radiant flux of non-
blackbody materials
Death Valley, CA Landsat natural color (left) and TIMS (center
 The range in
What Is A Digital Image? Digital numbers
(DNs) is the
Radiometric
Resolution
Digital Number
Pixel 70 53 41 64 84 85 81 88 91 87

(DN) DN are typically

79 77 45 38 59 77 84 86 85 85
ranges from 0 to
80 82 69 44 32 45 72 86 82 78
255; 0 to 511; 0
88 79 86 87 65 40 41 75 79 78 to 1023, etc.
93 86 93 106 106 84 56 43 58 75

104 104 100 101 95 91 83 51 39 56

These ranges are
binary scales:
105 110 97 88 84 85 87 77 59 44
28=256; 29=512;
96 103 89 79 79 75 77 79 74 72
210=1024.
87 93 97 90 82 76 70 67 61 71

79 81 88 97 93 85 78Current
74 70 72

81 75 78 85 94 97 92
instruments
84 80 72

typically have 214

What What
your computer
you see…sees… or 216
DN = white
By convention, 0=black 255
 Spectral Bands in Image Dataset

Reflected
Light from 3
bands

Light
Source B3

B2
Each pixel is
measured by B1
an individual
detector.
Grayscale vs. RGB
Grayscale represents the data in the band as
an image where the variation in values is
represented
… by the different intensity tones.

RGB (“Red”, “Green”, “Blue”) images are

composites of 3 bands, corresponding to the
red, green and blue phosphors on a monitor.
Computer monitor colors are additive, meaning
maximum DN of red + green + blue = white.