Chapter-1 1.

Introduction to remote sensing Remote sensing is

the science (and to some extent, art) of acquiring information about
an object 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. Sensing objects at a
distance with the help of electromagnetic energy (EME) collected by
sensors mounted on space, aerial platform and ground based plat
forms. Remote sensing involves gathering information about an object
without being in physical contact with that object. The process
involves an interaction between incident radiation and the targets of
interest. This is exemplified by the use of imaging systems where the
following seven elements are involved. Note, however that remote
sensing also involves the sensing of emitted energy and the use of
non-imaging sensors. Fig 1.1 Remote sensing process
1. Energy Source or Illumination (A) – the first requirement for
remote sensing is to have an energy source which illuminates or
provides electromagnetic energy to the target of interest.
2. 2. Radiation and the 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. This interaction may
take place a second time as the energy travels from the target to
the sensor. 1
3. 3. Interaction with the Target (C) - once the energy makes its
way to the target through the atmosphere, it interacts with the
target depending on the properties of both the target and the
radiation.
4. 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. 5. Transmission, Reception, and Processing (E) - the energy
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. 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. 7. Application (G) - the final element of the remote sensing
process is achieved when we apply the information we have been able
to extract from the imagery about the target in order to better
understand it, reveal some new information, or assist in solving a
particular problem. These seven elements comprise the remote sensing
process from beginning to end
8. 1.2 Spatial data acquisition
9. Spatial data is any data with which position or location is
associated.
10. 1.3 History of remote sensing and recent development • 1966
Isaac Newton dicovered light spectrum using prism (red, orange
yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) 2 • 1800 Infrared Portion
of EMS was discovered. • 1801 Ultraviolet Portion of EMS was
discovered. • 1839 discovery of Photography. • 1840 Use of
Photography in Topographic Surveying. • 1847 Characteristics of IR
Radiation were established. • 1858 Photo from balloon by Parisian
photograph, using wet plate camera • 1860 Photo from balloon by
James Wallace 365m (Existing) of Boston. • 1882 Kites used in
obtaining Meteorological data First Aerial photograph taken from
Kite by English meteorologist, E.D.Archibald. • 1906 May 28th,
Sanfranciso after Earth quake & Fire above 600m using several kites,
22kg weight. • 1909 April 24th First aerial photo from Aeroplane /
Italy, Wilbur wright • 1914 - 1918 - WWI Air Reconnaissance • 1920 -
1950 - Aerial photogrammetry was developed • 1930s’ - Extensive use
of aerial photographs in Earth sciences and agriculture. • 1934 -
American Society of Photogrammetry was established. And radar
development for military use was started. • 1940 - 1945 - WWII
brings tremendous advancements in aerial photography and
photogrammetry. • The modern Space program is held by many
historians to truly have begun with the launch of Sputnik I by the
Soviets on October 4, 1957 • 1960s’ - Considerable activity with
multispectral image applications Satellites • 1960-1970 The word
remote sensing was used for the first time. • 1960 Launch of TIROS-1
Weather satellite. • 1972 Launch of ERTS (Landsat 1). • 1973 SKYLAB,
the first American space station. • 1978 SEASAT-1 as Oceanographic
research satellite. • 1979 BHASKARA by ISRO. • 1980 USSR METEOR
Satellite. • 1986 SPOT. Launch of French Earth observation
Satellite. • 1988 IRS. 1A, 1990. IRS. 1B, 1995. 1RS. 1C, 1997. IRS.
1D. • 1999 IKONAS. • 1999 ASTER • 2001 Quick Bird, 2005 Cartosat.,
2006 Alos, 2007 WorldView • 2008 GeoEye • 2013 Landsat 8 (LDCM) 1.4
Advantage and disadvantage of remote sensing Vast coverage: Remote
sensing systems cover large area of the earth’s surface. Repetetive
coverage: At what time/interval/ gap collect image of the same area
of the earth’s surface. For instance Landsat covers the same area
of the earth at every 16 days. Synoptic view: bird view/top view/ 3
Accessibility: Areas inaccessible on ground based means are easily
accessible using remote sensing means. Time saving: As it covers
large area of the earth’s surface in a continues ways in a seconds,
which is perhaps impossible by other means Multi-displinary
application: Earth observation remote sensing has multi-displinary
application. e.g Agriculture, natural resource management, water
resource and wildlife conservation ….etc. Data format: it gives
digital or analog data format, which is readily to be used. However,
remote sensing have these all fascinating features, it has some
limitations. These are:  It needs ground truth data for accuracy
 It is limited to surface feature only, remote sensing alone
cannot used for sub surface features information, unless it
integrated with others means. Disadvantage of remote sensing •
Expensive for small areas, particularly one time analysis • Requires
specialized training for analysis of images • Large scale
engineering maps cannot be prepared from satellite data • Aerial
photographs are costly if repetitive photographs are required to
study the dynamic features 1.5 Application of remote sensing 
Forests monitoring/forestry applications/  Agriculture application
 hydrological applications include:  Land use applications of
remote sensing.  Agro-climatology  Agro-ecology  Vegetation
health monitoring  Yield estimation  Soil fertility management
 Drought assessment are a few among many application area of
remote sensing in agriculture 4 Chapter - 2 2. Electromagnetic
Radiation and remote sensing 2.1 Electromagnetic Radiation
Principles • Energy Transfer occurs in the form of: – Conduction –
Convection – Radiation (for remote sensing) • Electromagnetic
Radiation in the form of : – Wave model – The particle model •
Energy-Matter Interaction in the Atmosphere is resulted in: –
Refraction • Energy-Matter Interaction with the Terrain occurs in
the form of: – reflectance – absorptance – transmittance
Mechanisms of Energy transfer Energy transfer can take place in
different mechanisms:  Conduction: when one body transfers its
kinematic energy to another by colliding with it.  Convection:
When the kinematic energy of the body is transferred is transferred
from one place to another by physically moving it. 
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR):-(remote sensing uses EMR) 2.2
Electromagnetic Energy The first requirement for remote sensing is
to have an energy source to illuminate the target (unless the sensed
energy is being emitted by the target). This energy is in the form
of electromagnetic radiation. All electromagnetic radiation has
fundamental properties and behaves in predictable ways according to
the basics of wave and particles theories. Electromagnetic radiation
consists of an electrical field (E) which varies in magnitude in a
direction perpendicular to the direction in which the radiation is
traveling, and a magnetic field (M) oriented at right angles to the
electrical field. Both these fields travel at the speed of light
(c). 5 Fig 2.1 EMR Two characteristics of electromagnetic radiation
are particularly important for understanding remote sensing. These
are the wavelength and frequency. Fig.2.2 wave length and frequency
The wavelength is the length of one wave cycle, which can be
measured as the distance between successive wave crests. Wavelength
is usually represented by the Greek letter lambda (λ). Wavelength
is measured in metres (m) or some factor of metres such as
nanometres (nm=10-9 metres), micrometres (μm=10-6 metres) (μm,=10-
6 metres) or centimetres (cm=10-2 metres). Frequency refers to the
number of cycles of a wave passing a fixed point per unit of time.
Frequency is normally measured in hertz (Hz), equivalent to one
cycle per second, and various multiples of hertz. Wavelength and
frequency are related by the following formula:  The link between
sensors and objects to be sensed is done by EMW which expressed by
the wave energy equation. Particle Theory The EME is assumed to be
composed of many discrete units called photons. The energy of a
Quantum Q = hf Q is the energy of quantum (J), h = Planck's
constant, 6.626 X 10-34J sec f = frequency λ = wavelength and c=
speed of light 6 If we relate the wave theory and particle theory
From particle theory these can be derived as follows: c =fλ, f =
c/λ, Therefore Q = hf, Q = hc / λ Q = energy of quantum is
inversely proportional to its wavelength. Note: The longer the
wavelength, the lower the energy. 2.3 Sources of Electromagnetic
Energy All matter with a temperature above absolute zero (0K)
radiates Electromagnetic (EM) energy due to molecular agitation.
Agitation is the movements of molecules. This means that the sun and
also the Earth radiate energy in the form of waves. Matter that is
capable of absorbing and re-emitting all EM energy is known as a
blackbody. For blackbodies both the emissivity, the absorbance are
equal to 1. The amount of energy radiated by an object depends on
its absolute temperature, its emissivity and is a function of the
wavelength. In physics, this is defined by Boltzmann’s law. A
blackbody radiates a continuum of wavelengths. The radiation emitted
by a blackbody at different temperatures is shown in figure 2.3.
From figure 2.3 it can be concluded that a higher temperature
corresponds to a greater contribution of short wavelengths. The peak
radiation at 400oC is around 4µm while the peak radiation at 1000oC
is at 2.5µm. The emitting ability of a real material compared to
that of the blackbody is referred to as the material’s emissivity.
2.4 The Electromagnetic Spectrum Fig 2.3 blackbody radiation curve 7
The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from the shorter wavelengths
(including gamma and x-rays) to the longer wavelengths (including
microwaves and broadcast radio waves). There are several regions of
the electromagnetic spectrum which are useful for remote sensing.
Fig 2.4 Electromagnatic spectrum 8 Fig 2.5 Visible light spectrum
Violet: 0.4 - 0.446 μm Blue: 0.446 - 0.500 μm Green: 0.500 - 0.578
μm Yellow: 0.578 - 0.592 μm Orange: 0.592 - 0.620 μm Red: 0.620 -
0.7 μm Blue, green, and red are the primary colours or wavelengths
of the visible spectrum. They are defined as such because no single
primary colour can be created from the other two, but all other
colours can be formed by combining blue, green, and red in various
proportions. Although we see sunlight as a uniform or homogeneous
colour, it is actually composed of various wavelengths of radiation
in primarily the ultraviolet, visible and infrared portions of the
spectrum. 2.5 Energy Interaction in the atmosphere Before radiation
used for remote sensing reaches the Earth's surface it has to travel
through some distance of the Earth's atmosphere. Particles and gases
in the atmosphere can affect the incoming light and radiation. These
effects are caused by the mechanisms of scattering and absorption.
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. 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.
11. There are three (3) types of scattering which take place.
Rayleigh scattering: occurs when particles are very small compared
to the wavelength of the radiation. These could be particles such as
small specks of dust or nitrogen and oxygen molecules. Rayleigh
scattering causes shorter wavelengths of energy to be scattered much
more than longer wavelengths. Rayleigh scattering is the dominant
scattering mechanism in the upper atmosphere. The fact that the sky
appears "blue" during the day is because of this phenomenon. As
sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the shorter wavelengths
(i.e. blue) of the visible spectrum are scattered more than the
other (longer) visible wavelengths.
9 Mie scattering: occurs when the particles are just about the same
size as the wavelength of the radiation. Dust, pollen, smoke and
water vapour are common causes of Mie scattering which tends to
affect longer wavelengths than those affected by Rayleigh
scattering. Mie scattering occurs mostly in the lower portions of
the atmosphere where larger particles are more abundant, and
dominates when cloud conditions are overcast. 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.
This type of scattering causes fog and clouds to appear white to our
eyes because blue, green, and red light are all scattered in
approximately equal quantities (blue+green+red light = white light).
Absorption is the other main mechanism at work when electromagnetic
radiation interacts with the atmosphere. In contrast to scattering,
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.
Because these gases absorb electromagnetic energy in very specific
regions of the spectrum, they influence where (in the spectrum) we
can "look" for remote sensing purposes. Those areas of the spectrum
which are not severely influenced by atmospheric absorption and
thus, are useful to remote sensors are called atmospheric windows.
Fig. 2.6 Atmospheric window 10