REMOTE SENSING RESOLUTIONS
Resolution refers to the ability of
a remote sensing system to record
and display fine details. The types of
resolutions are:
SPECTRAL
SPATIAL
RADIOMETRIC
TEMPORAL
Four Fundamental Properties For Design
•Image depends on the wavelength response of the sensing instrument
(radiometric and spectral resolution) and the emission or reflection spectra
of the target (the signal).
- Radiometric resolution
- Spectral resolution
•Image depends on the size of objects (spatial resolution) that can be discerned
- Spatial resolution
•Knowledge of the changes in the target depends on how often (temporal
resolution) the target is observed
- Temporal resolution
Remote Sensing System Resolutions
§ Spectral - Energy
§ Spatial - Pixel size
§ Temporal - Repeat time
§ Radiometric
Cost vs Accuracy tradeoff - Some areas will be more costly to monitor- clouds, hilly terrain,
other drivers of deforestation.
Need for cost effective solutions
Spectral resolution
p Spectral resolution describes the
ability of a sensor to define fine
wavelength intervals
p Size of wavelength interval that
the sensor can distinguish
p The finer the spectral resolution,
the narrower the wavelength range
for a particular channel or band
This refers to the number of bands in the
spectrum in which the instrument can take
measurement.
MULTI-SPECTRAL VS HYPER-SPECTRAL
Spectral Resolution
p The width and number of spectral intervals in the electromagnetic
spectrum to which a remote sensing instrument is sensitive
p Allows characterization based on geophysical parameters (chemistry,
mineralogy,etc.)
p Surface components with very distinct spectral
differences can be resolved using broad
wavelength ranges
Spectral Resolution
• Example: Black and
white image
- Single sensing device
- Intensity is sum of
intensity of all
visible wavelengths
0.4 mm 0.7 mm
Black &
White Blue + Green + Red
Images
Can you tell the color of the
platform top?
How about her sash?
Spectral Resolution (Con’t)
• Example: Color image
- Color images need
least three sensing
devices, e.g., red, green,
and blue; RGB
0.4 mm 0.7 mm
Color
Images
Blue Green Red
Using increased spectral
resolution (three sensing
wavelengths) adds
information
In this case by “sensing”
RGB can combine to
get full color rendition
This represents the ability of the sensor to detect and
distinguish small objects and fine detail in larger
objects. Depends on the instrument's sensitivity and
distance from the object, and defines the pixel size of
a digital image.
Satellite Orbit Determines...
p …what part of the globe can be viewed
p …the size of the field of view.
p …how often the satellite can revisit the same place.
Spatial Resolution
Landsat
a ck
Field Of View d Tr
705km u n
r o
t e G
e lli
Sa t
Scene
m Spatial Resolution
5 k
1 8 5 Km 1 7
Pixel Size= (30x30m)
Jensen, 2000
SPATIAL
RESOLUTION
Radiometric resolution
Smallest change in intensity level that can be detected by the sensing system
p Sensor’s sensitivity to the magnitude of the electromagnetic
energy,
p Sensor’s ability to discriminate very slight differences in (reflected
or emitted) energy,
p The finer the radiometric resolution of a sensor, the more
sensitive it is to detecting small differences in energy
p Number of digital values (“gray levels”) that a sensor can use to express
variability of signal (“brightness”) within the data
p Determines the information content of the image
p The more digital values, the more detail can be expressed
Radiometric Resolution
p Determined by the number of bits of within
which the digital information is encoded
21 = 2 levels (0,1)
22 = 4 levels (0,1,2,3)
28 = 256 levels (0-255)
212 = 4096 levels (0-4095)
This is the sensitivity to small differences in
the radiation of an observed object.
While the arrangement of pixels
describes the spatial structure of an
image, the radiometric characteristics
describe the actual information content in
an image. Every time an image is
acquired by a sensor, its sensitivity to the
magnitude of the electromagnetic energy
determines the radiometric resolution. Its
describes the ability to discriminate very
slight differences in energy. The finer the
radiometric resolution of a sensor, the
more sensitive it is to detecting small
differences in reflected or emitted energy.
Digital Number
at-sensor
imaging optics DN
radiance
detectors
electronics
The DN that is recorded is proportional to the
radiance at the sensor
Digital Images
10 25 10
10 30 30
SENSOR 30 30 5
1. Space is covered continuously with cells.
2. Each cell has one number indicating the
amount of energy received from the cell
3. The cell is called pixel (picture element)
4. The size of the pixel is the spatial
resolution
Basics of Bit
bits Max. num
p Computer store (2bits)
everything in 0 or 1 p Determined by the
1 2 number of bits of
within which the digital
2 4 information is encoded
3 8 21 = 2 levels (0,1)
22 = 4 levels (0,1,2,3)
Bit no. 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 6 64 28 = 256 levels (0-255)
212 = 4096 levels (0-4095)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 256
11 2048
256 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
12 4096
8 bits as an example Resolution: 12 bits
Coverage: 0 - 4095
Digital Raster Imager Format
10 25 10
10 30 30
10 25 10
30 30 5
10 30 30
20 15 Multispectral remotely sensed data
10
30 15 12
1 40 30
20 40
30
Each band will generate a layer of remotely sensed data, usually
with the same cell (pixel) size. For Landsat satellite, we will have
6 layers of data corresponding to the 6 bands.
Radiometric resolution (cont…)
Comparing a 2-bit image with an 8-bit image
Radiometric resolution (cont…)
Temporal resolution
p Temporal resolution is the revisit period, and is the length of
time for a satellite to complete one entire orbit cycle, i.e. Start
and back to the exact same area at the same viewing angle.
p The frequency of data acquisition over an area
p Temporal resolution depends on:
n The orbital parameters of the satellite
n Latitude of the target
n Swath width of the sensor
n Pointing ability of the sensor
Temporal resolution
p Temporal coverage is the time period of sensor from starting to ending
p For example
n Landsat needs 16 days,
n NEXRAD needs 6 minutes for rain mode and 10 minutes for clear sky mode
n SPOT - 26 days (1, 4-5 days with pointing)
n MODIS - 16 day repeat, 1-2 day coverage
n AVHRR – 9 day repeat, daily coverage
n GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) - 30 minutes
p For example,
n MODIS/Terra: 2/24/2000 through present
n Landsat 5: 1/3/1984 through present
n ICESat: 2/20/2003 to 10/11/2009
Temporal Resolution
Temporal
n Length of time between sensor visits
p Multi-temporal imagery is important for
n Infrequent observational opportunities
March 2002 June 2002
(e.G., When clouds often obscure the
surface)
n Short-lived phenomenon (floods, oil
spills, etc.)
n Rapid-response (fires, hurricanes)
n Detecting changing properties of a
feature to distinguish it from otherwise
similar features
