Remote Sensing Essentials: Electromagnetic Spectrum, Solar Reflection and Thermal Emission

Remote Sensing Essentials
Electromagnetic Spectrum, solar reflection and thermal emission
Dr. Arun K. Saraf,

Professor
Department of Earth Sciences
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Electromagnetic Radiation
 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).
 All EM radiation has fundamental properties and behaves in

predictable ways according to the basics of wave theory.
 Two characteristics of EM radiation viz. wavelength and frequency

are particularly important for understanding remote sensing.
Electromagnetic
Radiation
• 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).
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• Two characteristics of
electromagnetic radiation are
particularly for understanding
remote sensing. These are the
wavelength 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
meters (m) or some factor of
metres such as micrometres
(µm, 10-6 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:
c=
Where:
 = wavelength (m)
 = frequency (cycles per second, Hz)
c = speed of light (3 x 108 m/s)
 The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency. The longer the wavelength, the
lower the frequency.
 Understanding the characteristics of electromagnetic radiation in terms of their

wavelength and frequency is crucial to understanding the information to be extracted
from remote sensing data.
Wavelength(m) Frequency(Hz)
Electromagnetic
Spectrum
 The ultraviolet or UV portion of the
spectrum has the shortest
wavelengths.
 This radiation is just beyond the
violet portion of the visible
wavelengths, hence its name.
 Some Earth surface materials,
primarily rocks and minerals,
fluoresce or emit visible light when
illuminated by UV radiation.
 The light which our eyes - our "remote
sensors" - can detect is part of the
visible spectrum.
 It is important to recognize how small
the visible portion is relative to the rest
of the spectrum.
 There is a lot of radiation around us
which is "invisible" to our eyes, but can
be detected by other remote sensing
instruments and used to our advantage.
 The visible wavelengths cover a range
from approximately 0.4 to 0.7 µm.
The longest visible wavelength is
red and the shortest is violet.
Common wavelengths of what we
perceive as particular colours from
the visible portion of the spectrum
are listed below.
It is important to note that this is
the only portion of the spectrum we
can associate with the concept of
colors.
Violet: 0.400 - 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 - 0.700 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.
• The visible portion of this radiation

can be shown in its component
colours when sunlight is passed
through a prism, which bends the
light in differing amounts according
to wavelength.
• The next portion of the spectrum of
interest is the infrared (IR) region which
covers the wavelength range from
approximately 0.7 µm to 1000 µm - more
than 1000 times as wide as the visible
portion!
• The infrared region can be divided into
two categories based on their radiation
properties - the reflected IR, and the
emitted or thermal IR.
• Radiation in the reflected IR region is used
for remote sensing purposes in ways very
similar to radiation in the visible portion.
The reflected IR covers wavelengths
from approximately 0.7 µm to 3.0 µm.
The thermal IR region is quite different
than the visible and reflected IR
portions, as this energy is essentially
the radiation that is emitted from the
Earth's surface in the form of heat.
The thermal IR covers wavelengths
from approximately 3.0 µm to 100
µm.
• The portion of the spectrum of more
recent interest to remote sensing is the
microwave region from about 1 mm
to 1 m.
• This covers the longest wavelengths

used for remote sensing.
• The shorter wavelengths have

properties similar to the thermal
infrared region while the longer
wavelengths approach the wavelengths
used for radio broadcasts.
THANKS
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Remote Sensing Essentials

Electromagnetic Spectrum, solar reflection and thermal emission

Dr. Arun K. Saraf,

 All EM radiation has fundamental properties and behaves in

 Two characteristics of EM radiation viz. wavelength and frequency

 Understanding the characteristics of electromagnetic radiation in terms of their

Blue, green, and red are the primary

• The visible portion of this radiation

• This covers the longest wavelengths

• The shorter wavelengths have

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