Introduction to Remote Sensing

Sudip Shrestha

What is remote sensing?

Science and art of obtaining information about an object, area or phenomenon through an analysis of data acquired by a device that is not in direct contact with the area, object or phenomenon under investigation. Lillesand, Thomas M. and Ralph W. Kiefer, Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1979, p. 1 Remote Sensing: remote sensing is science of
acquiring, processing, and interpreting

images and related data that are obtained from ground-based, airor space-borne instruments that record the interaction between matter (target) and electromagnetic radiation.

History
1783: The Marquis dArlandes 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

Energy Interactions with Atmosphere and Earth Surface

Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) or energy interactions with atmosphere and with the earth surface play a vital role In Remote sensing. Energy interactions with the atmosphere dictates the spectral regions through which only we can d o t he remote sensing which are known as Spectral windows (the spectral regions where atmosphere is more or less transparent). Knowledge of energy interactions with different features of the earth surface help us in interpreting the remotely sensed image. A given feature will have different reflection properties in different wave lengths of the energy spectrum. Thus combinations of information obtained in multi spectral regions help better in interpreting an image. Energy interactions with the earth surface, especially with three major features Vegetation, Soil and Water are detailed in this article. Two basic processes involved in electromagnetic remote sensing of earth resources are Data Acquisition and Data Analysis. The elements of Data Acquisition are(a)Energy source,(b) Propagation of energy through the atmosphere, (c) Energy interactions with earth surface features, (d) Airborne and/ or spaceborne sensors, (e) Generation of sensor data. Data analysis process involves examining the data in pictorial form or numerical form, analysis and presentation to the end users.

EMR - Atmosphere Interactions

EMR interacts with the atmosphere in the following ways; it may be absorbed and re-radiated at longer wavelengths, which causes the air temperature to rise. it may be reflected and scattered without change to either its velocity or wavelength. it may be transmitted in a straight-line path directly through the atmosphere. Atmospheric Scattering EMR within certain sections of the UV, visible and reflected IR bands is scattered by the atmosphere. Important scattering agents include; gas molecules suspended particulates clouds In addition, clouds absorb most of the long wave radiation emitted by the earths surface, essentially closing the thermal IR windows.

EMR - Atmosphere Interactions

There are three types of atmospheric scattering important to remote sensing;

Rayleigh or molecular scattering

primarily caused by oxygen and nitrogen molecules whose diameters are, at least, 0.1 times smaller than the affected wavelengths.

Mie or non-molecular scattering

occurs when there are sufficient particles in the atmosphere that have diameters from about 0.1 to about 10 times larger than the wavelengths under consideration. Important Mie scattering agents include;
water vapor smoke dust volcanic materials salt from evaporated sea spray

EMR - Atmosphere Interactions

Non- scattering
is found in the lower atmosphere when there are sufficient numbers of suspended aerosols having diameters at least 10 times larger than the wavelengths under consideration. Important non selective scattering agents include; larger Mie particles water droplets ice crystals

Interaction of EMR with earth surface feature

Remote sensing is concerned with the measurement of EMR returned by the earths natural and cultural features that first receive energy from the sun or an artificial source such as a radar transmitter. Because different objects return different types and amounts of EMR, the objective in remote sensing is to detect these differences with the appropriate instruments. This, in turn, makes it possible for us to identify and assess a broad range of surficial features and their conditions. Electromagnetic Spectrum Ranges From: Gamma rays (short wavelength, high frequency and high energy content) To: Passive radio waves (long wavelength, low frequencies, and low energy content). A spectral band is composed of some defined group of continuous spectral lines, where a line represents a single wavelength or frequency. The boundaries between most of the bands are arbitrarily defined because each portion overlaps adjacent portions. Different wavelengths of light can be grouped together into different types Visible light contains light from 0.4 to 0.7 micrometers Infrared light from 0.1 micrometers to 1 millimeter

The EM Spectrum
1020 Hz 1018 Hz 1016 Hz 1014 Hz 1012 Hz 1010 Hz

Gamma Rays
1 pm 10pm

X-Rays

UV
10 nm

visi- N. Mid Th. ble IR IR IR

1 micron

Microwaves Far IR Radar

100 microns 1 mm

TV FM Radiowaves

100 mm

Blue
0.4 m

green
0.5 m

yellow
0.6 m

red
0.7 m

Different wavelengths of light can be grouped together into different types

Visible light contains light from 0.4 to 0.7 micrometers Infrared light from 0.1 micrometers to 1 millimeter light from 0.1 micrometers to 1 millimeter

Radiation

Interaction of EMR with earth surface feature

R/S Spectral Regions Ultraviolet (UV) Visible Infrared (IR) Microwave Radiation-Matter Interactions When EMR strikes matter, EMR may be;
transmitted reflected scattered absorbed

The amount on interaction depends upon;

the composition and physical properties of the medium. the wavelength or frequency of the incident radiation. the angle at which the incident radiation strikes a surface.

Spectral Signatures
Every natural and synthetic object reflects and emits EMR over a range of wavelengths in its own characteristic manner according , in large measure, to its chemical composition and physical state Spectral signatures are the distinctive reflectance and emittance properties of objects. Within some limited spectral region, a particular object will usually exhibit a unique spectral response pattern that differs from that of other objects. Remote sensing depends upon operation in wavelength regions of the spectrum where these detectable differences in reflected and emitted radiation occur.

Types of Remote Sensing

Type of platforms used for remote sensing
Ground based platforms: Ground Vehicles and /or towers>50m Airborne platforms: Airplanes, helicopters. High altitude air crafts and balloons up to 50km Space borne : rockets, satellites, shuttle form about 100 km up to 3600km
Space shuttle 250-300km Space station 300-400km Low level satellites 700-1500km High level satellites- about 3600km

Types of Remote Sensing

Passive and active remote sensing Passive sensors measure natural radiation emitted by the target material or/and radiation energy from other sources reflected from the target. Examples: Passive microwave radiometer that detects naturally emitted microwave energy. Radiometers that measure reflected (or backscattered) sun light from the atmosphere and ocean. Aerial photo Satellite image Image acquisition Active sensors transmit their own signal and measure the energy that is reflected (or scattered back) from the target material. Examples: Lidar (LIght Detection And Ranging) Radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) Sonar

Types of Remote Sensing

Types of Remote sensing

Types of Satellites orbits: 1. Equatorial orbiting satellites 2. Polar orbiting satellite 3. Oblique orbiting (or near-polar) satellites LEO satellites are often on sunsynchronous orbits. Sunsynchronous means that the satellite remains fixed with respect to the sun with the earth rotating under the satellite. High-level (about 36000 km) satellites: geosynchronous satellites presses around the Earth at rates related to the rotation of the Earth on its polar axes Equatorial orbiting satellites, whose orbits are within the plane of the Equator Polar orbiting satellites, whose orbits are in the plane of the Earths polar axis Swath is the area imaged on the surface by the sensor. Imaging swaths for spaceborne sensors generally vary between tens and hundreds of kilometers wide. Geosynchronous satellites: Geostationary satellites (often called weather satellites) are fixed above a given point on the Earth surface because their circular orbits above the equator have rotation period equals to the earths rotation period.

Types of Remote Sensing

Image acquisition Across Track Scanner Push broom Scanner Framing Camera

Color Composite Images

In displaying a color composite image, three primary colors (red, green and blue) are used. When these three colors are combined in various proportions, they produce different colors in the visible spectrum. Associating each spectral band (not necessarily a visible band) to a separate primary color results in a color composite image. Many colors can be formed by combining the three primary colors (Red, Green, Blue) in various proportions. False Color Composite The display color assignment for any band of a multispectral image can be done in an entirely arbitrary manner. In this case, the color of a target in the displayed image does not have any resemblance to its actual color. The resulting product is known as a false color composite image. There are many possible schemes of producing false color composite images. However, some scheme may be more suitable for detecting certain objects in the image. Natural Color Composite When displaying a natural color composite image, the spectral bands (some of which may not be in the visible region) are combined in such a way that the appearance of the displayed image resembles a visible color photograph, i.e. vegetation in green, water in blue, soil in brown or grey, etc. Many people refer to this composite as a "true color" composite. However, this term may be misleading since in many instances the colors are only simulated to look similar to the "true" colors of the targets.

Image
A panchromatic image consists of only one band. It is usually displayed as a grey scale image,

i.e. the displayed brightness of a particular pixel is proportional to the pixel digital number
which is related to the intensity of solar radiation reflected by the targets in the pixel and detected by the detector. Thus, a panchromatic image may be similarly interpreted as a black-and-white aerial photograph of the area, though at a lower resolution.

Multispectral and hyper spectral images consists of several bands of data. For visual display, each band of the image may be displayed one band at a time as a grey scale image, or in combination of three bands at a time as a color composite image. Interpretation of a multispectral color composite image will require the knowledge of the spectral reflectance

Image processing PCI ENVI ERDAS Imagine Matlab IDl etc

Satellites Landsat Terra (ASTER) MODIS SPOT IKONOS Quick bird Geoeye

Resolutions: spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal

Spatial resolution is often defined as the ability to distinguish between two closely spaced objects on an image. Spectral resolution refers to the dimension and number of wavelength regions (or bands) in the electromagnetic spectrum to which the sensor is sensitive. Radiometric resolution is a measure of the sensitivity of a sensor to differences in the intensity of the radiation measured the sensor. Radiometric resolution is a measure of how many grey levels are measured between pure black and pure white. The radiometric resolutions is measured in bits: 1-bit system (21 = 2) measures only two radiation levels; 2-bit system measures (22=4) four levels, etc. Temporal resolution is a measure of how often data are obtained for the same area (i.e., how often an area can be revisited). The temporal resolution varies from hours for some systems to about 20 days to others. High temporal resolution: daily or twice daily.

Procedures of image processing

Preprocessing
Radiometric correction is concerned with improving the accuracy of surface spectral reflectance, emittance, or back-scattered measurements obtained using a remote sensing system. Atmospheric and topographic corrections Geometric correction is concerned with placing the above measurements or derivative products in their proper locations.

Information enhancement
Point operations change the value of each individual pixel independent of all other pixels Local operations change the value of individual pixels in the context of the values of neighboring pixels. They are image reduction, image magnification, transect extraction, contrast adjustments (linear and non-linear), band rationing, spatial filtering, Fourier transformations, principle components analysis, and texture transformations

Information extraction Post-classification Information output

Image or enhanced image itself, thematic map, vector map, spatial database, summary statistics and graphs

Applications of Remote Sensing

There are probably hundreds of applications -these are typical: Meteorology -Study of atmospheric temperature, pressure, water vapour, and wind velocity. Oceanography: Measuring sea surface temperature, mapping ocean currents, and wave energy spectra and depth sounding of coastal and ocean depths Glaciology-Measuring ice cap volumes, ice stream velocity, and sea ice distribution. Geology -Identification of rock type, mapping faults and structure. Geodesy- Measuring the figure of the Earth and its gravity field. Topography and cartography -Improving digital elevation models. Agriculture Monitoring the biomass of land vegetation Forest-monitoring the health of crops, mapping soil moisture

Applications of Remote Sensing

Hydrology-Assessing water resources from snow, rainfall and underground aquifers. Disaster warning and assessment -Monitoring of floods and landslides, monitoring volcanic activity, assessing damage zones from natural disasters. Planning applications -Mapping ecological zones, monitoring deforestation, monitoring urban land use. Oil and mineral exploration-Locating natural oil seeps and slicks, mapping geological structures, monitoring oil field subsidence. Military-developing precise maps for planning, monitoring military infrastructure, monitoring ship and troop movements Urban-determining the status of a growing crop Climate-the effects of climate change on glaciers and Arctic and Antarctic regions Space program-is the backbone of the space program Land cover Change detection Seasonal Annual

Trend and Future of Remote Sensing (1)

High spatial resolution - IKONOS launched in 1999 by Space Imaging (4 m multi-spectral and 1 m panchromatic) - QuickBird launched in 2001 by DIGITALGLOBE (2.44 m multi-spectral and 61 cm panchromatic) High spectral resolution - AVIRIS, 10nm and 20 m, 224 bands - Hyperion launched in 2000, 10nm and 30m, 220 bands High radiometric resolution - 8 bits to 12 bits High temporal resolution - GOES 15-30 minutes - NEXRAD 6 or 10 minutes

Trend and Future of Remote Sensing (2)

Globe coverage, high repeatability (or improved temporal resolution) - AVHRR, 1100m, morning or afternoon - MODIS, 250-1000m, morning or afternoon - NPOESS Preparatory Program (NPP) (to be launched 2007): 4 sensors - NPOESS (to be launched in 2009), 370-740m, 4 hours: 14 sensors Real-time or near real-time availability - MODIS available online in the second day ? - NEXRAD available online in 6 minutes - NPOESS available online in 15 minutes Cost free or affordable - Most of the federal collected images are free available or lower cost, while commercial high resolution images are affordable. Integrated remote sensing and GIS - Remote sensing applications with the support of GIS - Remote sensing data as a major GIS data source

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