Elements Involved in Remote Sensing

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. Radiation and the Atmosphere (B)

Energy will 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.
 Elements Involved in Remote Sensing
3. Interaction with the Target (C) once the energy
contacts the target it interacts with it, depending
on the properties of both the target and the
radiation.
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. 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).
 Elements Involved in Remote Sensing
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. 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.
 Remote Sensing Based on energy source

Passive Remote Sensing Active Remote Sensing

• Natural energy source like electromagnetic Artificial energy source in the form of electromagnetic

radiation from sun is used as main source of radiation is generated to illuminate the objective/target.

energy. Advantages for active sensors include the ability to obtain

• Operation in night is not possible after measurements anytime, regardless of the time of day or

naturally emitted thermal infrared is not season.

available. Example: Radar technology, SAR, camera, GPS etc.

• Example: Weather satellite,

 Electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR)

• energy that moves with the velocity of light in a

harmonic wave pattern.

• EMR consists of an Electrical field and Magnetic

field.

• The two vectors are at right angles (orthogonal) to

one another, and both are perpendicular to the
direction of travel..

• It is represented by Greek letter

 Electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
• Wavelength The distance between
two successive crests.

• lambda (λ) measured in micrometer

(mm, 10-6m) and the nanometer
(nm,10-9m).
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
• ranges from the shorter wavelengths (including gamma and x-rays) to the longer
wavelengths (including microwaves and broadcast radio waves).
• EM are divided to ranges called Spectral bands.
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
Ultraviolet (UV) region ( 0.30 µm - 0.38 µm)
• UV portion of the spectrum has the shortest wavelengths which are practical for
remote sensing.
• Some Earth surface materials, primarily rocks and minerals, fluoresce or emit
visible light when illuminated by UV radiation.
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
Visible ( 0.4 µm - 0.7 µm)
• It is small relative to the rest of the spectrum.
• Common wavelengths of what we perceive as particular colors from the visible
portion of the spectrum.
• It is the only portion of the spectrum we can associate with the concept of colors.
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
infrared (IR) (0.7 µm to 100 µm )

• more than 100 times as wide as the visible portion

• It divided into two categories based on their radiation

properties

• Reflected IR (0.7 µm to 3.0 µm)

• Thermal IR (3.0 µm to 100 µm)

• Thermal IR is essentially the radiation that is emitted

from the Earth's surface in the form of heat.
 Electromagnetic Spectrum
microwave ( 1 mm - 1 m)

• covers the longest wavelengths

• The shorter wavelengths have properties

similar to the thermal infrared region while
the longer wavelengths approach the
wavelengths used for radio broadcasts.
 Interactions with Atmosphere
• Before radiation travel through some distance of the Earth's
atmosphere. Particles and gases in the atmosphere can affect
the incoming light and radiation.
• The two major atmospheric effects are 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.
➢In scattering the energy is not lost but the direction is altered,
hence lost from the original direction.
 scattering
• scattering depends the wavelength of the radiation, the abundance of particles or
gases, and the distance the radiation travels through the atmosphere.
1- 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.
• It causes shorter wavelengths of energy to be scattered much more than longer
wavelengths.
• It is the dominant scattering mechanism in the upper atmosphere.
• Sky appears "blue" during the day is because of this phenomenon.

2- Mie scattering

• Occurs when the particles are just about the same size as the wavelength of the radiation.

• Dust, smoke and water vapor are common causes of Mie scattering which tends to affect longer wavelengths
than those affected by Rayleigh scattering.

• It occurs in the lower portions of the atmosphere where larger particles are more abundant, and dominates
when cloud conditions are overcast.
 scattering
Type of scattering is a function of:
✓ The wavelength of the incident radiant energy
✓ The size of the gas molecule, dust particle, and/or water vapor droplet
encountered.

3- Non selective scattering

• Occurs when the particles (Water droplets and large dust particles)
are much larger than the wavelength of the radiation.
• all wavelengths are scattered about equally.
• Causes fog and clouds to appear white to our eyes because blue,
green, and red light are all scattered in approximately equal
quantities
 Absorption
• Ozone, CO2 and water vapor in the atmosphere absorbs energy at various
wavelengths (called absorption bands).

• Atmospheric Windows: The spectral bands for which the atmosphere is relatively
transparent are known as atmospheric windows
 Radiation - Target Interactions
• Three forms of interaction are: absorption (A); transmission
(T); and reflection (R).

• In remote sensing, we are interested in measuring the

radiation reflected from targets.

• Specular reflection or mirror-like reflection occurs when the

surface is smooth, where all (or almost all) of the energy is
directed away from the surface in a single direction.

• Diffuse reflection occurs when the surface is rough and the

energy is reflected almost uniformly in all directions.

Specular reflection Diffuse reflection

 Radiation - Target Interactions
• Most earth surface features lie somewhere
between perfectly specular or perfectly diffuse
reflectors.
• depends on the surface roughness of the
feature in comparison to the wavelength of the
incoming radiation.
• If the wavelengths are much smaller than the
surface variations or the particle sizes that
make up the surface, diffuse reflection will
dominate
• .
 interaction of Vegetation With EMR
interaction of Vegetation With EMR
• Chlorophyll strongly absorbs radiation in the red and blue wavelengths and
reflects green wavelengths.
• This is why healthy vegetation appears green.
• Healthy leaves are excellent reflectors of near-infrared wavelengths.
interaction of water With EMR
• Longer wavelength visible and near infrared radiation is absorbed more by
water than shorter visible wavelengths. Thus water typically looks blue or
blue-green

• Water appear darker if viewed at image of red or near infrared wavelengths

• suspended sediment present in water allow better reflectivity and a

brighter appearance of the water

• Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more of the blue wavelengths and reflects the
green, making the water appear more green in colour
 Spectral reflectance curve
• The graphical representation of the spectral response of an object over different
wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum