REMOTE SENSING

1. Remote sensing is the term used to describe the science and art of identifying,
observing, and measuring an object without coming in direct contact with it. This
process involves the detection and measurement of radiation of different
wavelengths reflected or emitted from distant objects or materials.

2. Basics of remote sensing:

a. The key to understanding remote sensing is the electromagnetic
spectrum, which has been arbitrarily divided into intervals to which
descriptive names have been applied. Shorter wavelengths are measured
in nanometers and micrometers. Longer wavelengths are measured in
millimeters to meters.
b. Unless an object has a temperature of absolute zero (-273 degrees
Celsius, 0 degrees Kelvin), an object reflects, absorbs, and emits
electromagnetic radiation in unique combinations of wavelengths.
c. Amount of electromagnetic radiation an object emits depends primarily on
its temperature. The higher the temperature of an object, the shorter its
wavelength of emitted radiation. Lower temperature objects have longer
wavelengths.
d. Transmissitivity is the ability of the atmosphere to allow radiation to pass
through from surface objects so that they can be detected by satellite
sensors
i. Areas of the EM spectrum that are absorbed by atmospheric gases
such as water vapor and carbon dioxide are known as absorption
bands. These wavelengths are not available for satellite detection.
ii. In contrast to absorption bands, there are areas of the EM
spectrum where the atmosphere is transparent, and there is little or
no absorption of radiation. These wavelengths are known as
atmospheric windows since they allow radiation to pass directly
through Satellites detect this radiations
e. Most remote sensing instruments on aircraft or space-based platforms
operate in one or more of these windows by making their measurements
with detectors tuned to specific wavelengths that pass through the
atmosphere or are absorbed..
f. Various kinds of surface materials can be distinguished from each other
by differences in the wavelengths of EM radiation absorbed, emitted and
its corresponding intensity. The radiation that is detected remotely for an
object or surface depends upon filtering in absorption bands and the
radiation that passes through particular windows.
g. Each surface or object has its characteristic radiation signature, which
may be referred to as its spectral signature.

3. Remote sensing hardware

a. Remote sensing information may be acquired in an passive or active
mode. Active remote sensing systems, such as radar, transmits
wavelengths of radiation that bounce off of distant objects and is reflected
back to and measured from a receiving station, where it is subsequently
converted to an image. In passive systems, naturally-generated radiation
that is emitted or reflected is measured and converted to an image.
 b. Aerial photography is a good example of a passive remote sensing
system. Doppler radar is an example of an active remote sensing system.
c. The heart of a remote sensing device is the sensor. Sensors may be
housed on satellites, planes, set on top of a building, or even towed along
the back of a vehicle in the case of some portable radar systems
d. Sensors can be differentiated according to spectral range of wavelengths
they detect. Three basic kinds
i. Broad-band devices use a sensor that receives radiation of many
wavelengths and composites them into a single signal. A common
broadband sensor is photographic film. Photographic film forms an
image by compositing the range of wavelengths duplicated in
human vision. However, certain films can be used that have
chemicals that are sensitive to wavelengths of light undetected by
human eye, such as infrared sensitive film.
ii. A narrow-band device receives a limited range of wavelengths, as
is the case with radar.
iii. Multispectral devices simultaneously record radiation in two or
more separate wavelength bands. These can then be recombined
in different combinations to elucidate specific spectral signatures for
a wide range of surface phenomena.

4. Types of remote sensing

a. Aerial photographs (broad-band passive systems)
i. Aerial photographs can be divided based on the type of film.
Photographic film can be coated with different light-sensitive
emulsions, each sensitive to specific wavelengths of
electromagnetic radiation.
(1) Black and white emulsion sensitive to approximately the
same wavelengths as the human eye.
(2) Infrared emulsion sensitive to wavelengths that fall outside of
the range of human vision. IR film is commonly used to
produce color-infrared photos (USGS DOQQ’s). IR imagery
uses false color since we can’t really see the wavelengths
that are recorded on infrared film.
ii. Features that may have similar shades of gray in black and white
aerial photographs will be much more distinguishable with IR film.
For example, broad-leaf vegetation (oaks, maples, magnolias for
example) is highly reflective in the infrared spectrum, much more so
than pines. As a result, these two types of vegetation can be
distinguished in IR aerial photos. Water and land contrasts are also
more pronounced in IR aerial photos.
b. Radar (radio detection and ranging), lidar (light detection and ranging) and
sonar (sound detection and ranging). These are narrow-band active
systems.
i. Radar uses a transmitter to emit either radio or microwave radiation
and a directional antenna or receive and measure the time of arrival
of reflected pulses of this radiation from distant objects.
ii. Doppler is the type of radar that uses microwave radiation.
iii. Radar uses wavelengths that correspond to what is used by radios
to make broadcasts.
 iv. A lidar uses laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation) instead of radio or microwave radiation.
v. Sonar used sound waves to image objects and is more commonly
applied to image objects underwater or underground.
c. Multispectral imagery : The Enhanced Thematic Mapper on board the
Landsat 7 satellite records in 7 bands. These 7 bands are divided up
among the wavelengths spanning the visible to the infrared part of the
spectrum. The resolution of the sensor is 15 meters, therefore each pixel
in a remote sensing image taken by Landsat 7 has an area of 15 m x 15 m
(225 square meters). By adding up the number of pixels in an image, you
can calculate the real world area of an image.

5. Satellite platforms and sensors

a. MSS - Multispectral scanner (Landsat 1- 5)
b. TM - Thematic Mapper (Landsat 4-5)
c. ETM - Enhanced Thematic Mapper (Landsat 7)
d. MODIS

6. Timeline of remote sensing history

a. 1490: Leonardo da Vinci describes in detail the principles of the camera
obscura
b. 1614: Discovery that silver salts darken when exposed to sunlight, thus
paving the way for future innovation in the development of light-sensitive
film
c. 1802: Theory of color vision explained: Red, blue, and green are split by
cones in the retina
d. 1839: Development of the daguerreotype, one of the first photographic
mediums
e. 1899: George Eastman simplified film development by shifting the medium
from glass to paper
f. 1903: Bavarian Pigeon Corps uses pigeons to transmit messages and to
take aerial photos.
g. 1938: Chief of German General Staff states: “The nation with the best
photo reconnaissance will win the next war”. Germany soon leads world
in aerial photo interpretation. Extensive use of aerial photos by Allied and
Axis powers in WWII, much more than WWI.
h. 1942: Kodak patents first false-color IR film
i. 1957: Russians launch Sputnik
j. 1960: Tiros launched as first meteorological satellite
k. 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
l. 1960's: Gemini and Apollo space photography
m. 1972: Launch of Landsat 1. On board was a videocamera and a
multispectral scanner (MSS)
n. 1970's -present: Ongoing launches of Landsat satellites
o. 1990: Start of Hubble Space Telescope program
p. 1999: Landsat 7 with enhanced Thematic Mapper launched
q. 1999: Launch of Space Imaging IKONOS satellite, the first commercial 1-
meter class system)
r. 2003: War in Iraq makes extensive use of remote sensing technology in
night vision systems, satellite reconnaissance, and unmanned aerial
 vehicles
s. 2005 Launch of Google Earth