Fundamental of Remote Sensing and its

Application

By
Saroj Kumar Sahu,
UGC-Assistant Professor
P.G. Environmental Science,
Department of Botany, Utkal University,
Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar-4, Odisha
 What is Principles of Remote Sensing (RS)?
“Remote sensing is the science (and to some extent, art) of acquiring
information about the Earth's surface without actually being in contact
with it.”
!!! Do you know that we have been using RS technology in our day to day life?

Reading Hearing
Book!! Sound!!

• Energy source and sensor are two important component of RS technology.

• Methods of collection of information: (two types)
• 1) In-situ measurements and 2) Remote Sensing observations.
• Measurement of body temperature using a clinical thermometer is “in-situ”
measurement because object is touched by thermometer.
 Some daily experience to understand the basic principle behind
Remote Sensing!!
During Reading Book!!
1. We see an object (Target) which reflects light.
2. Where “EYE” is sensor, “HEAD” is platform where the
sensor is mounted.
3. “LIGHT” as energy source is most important..
4. The nervous system carries the information to the
brain which act as “ INTERPRETER” for identification
of text in book.
• Modern Remote Sensing is an extension of above natural phenomenon.
• Major Objective of Modern/advance Remote Sensing technology is to sense the
earth’s surface for the purpose of improving natural resources management,
land use and protection of the environment.

• The energy sources used could be Visible light, Electromagnetic radiation

extending from Ultraviolet (UV) to the far infrared (IR), Microwave regions.

• Basic component of RS:

• 1. ENERGY SOURCE, 2.SENSOR, 3.PLATFORM, 4.TARGET, 5. INTERPRETER
A complete Remote Sensing System!!
(A) Energy Source or Illumination – the first requirement to
illuminates or provides electromagnetic energy to the target of
interest.

(B) Radiation and the Atmosphere - as the energy travels from its
source to the target, its interaction with the intervening atmosphere
and one more time during its travel from target to sensor.

(C) Interaction with the Target – During course of interaction with

target Three different process (i.e. reflection, absorption,
transmission) occur and it depend on the properties of both the
target and the radiation.

(D) Recording of Energy by the Sensor - after the energy has been
reflected/scattered by, or emitted from the target, we require a
remote sensor to collect and record the electromagnetic radiation.
(E) Transmission, Reception, and Processing - 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).
(F) Interpretation and Analysis - the processed image is
interpreted, visually and/or digitally or electronically, to extract
information about the target which was illuminated.
(G) Application - the final element of the remote sensing process
is achieved when we apply the information for better understand it,
reveal some new information, or assist in solving a particular
problem.
 Remote Sensing of 2 types
(Based on energy source used)

Passive Remote Sensing Active Remote Sensing

• Natural energy source like • Artificial energy source in the form
electromagnetic radiation of electromagnetic radiation is
from Sun is used as main generated to illuminate the
source of energy. objective/target.
• Operation in night is not • Advantages for active sensors
possible after naturally include the ability to obtain
emitted thermal infrared is measurements anytime, regardless
not available. of the time of day or season.
• Example: Weather satellite, • Example: Radar technology, SAR,
camera, GPS etc.
 • A Satellite is an object that orbits around
another object in space.
• There are two kinds of satellites:

• Natural Satellites
(such as the moon orbiting the Earth)
• Artificial satellites: are man-made robots that
are purposely placed into orbit around Earth to
perform numerous tasks in communication
industry, military intelligence and scientific
studies both Earth and space.
• India's first satellite is Aryabhatta (1975)
• First experimental remote sensing satellite is BHASKAR-1 in 1979 (
Carried TV and microwave cameras).
• Indian National Satellite (INSAT) series, IRS series, Kalpana-1
(meteorological satellite), RESOURCESAT (IRS-P6), EDUSAT in 2004,
CARTOSAT-1 in 2005, OCEANSAT-2 (IRS-P4) in 2009, etc.
• INSAT-3DR is a meteorological satellite lunched in Sept. 2016
India’s own navigational system is called
Navigation Indian Constellation (NAVIC)
(set of 7 satellites)
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System or IRNSS with an operational name of NAVIC
• NAVIC system will be similar to the Global Positioning System
(GPS) operated by the United States with 24 satellites and the
Glonass by Russia, Galileo by Europe and BeiDou of China etc.
• Mathematical technique of trilateration to determine user
position, speed and elevation.
 Satellite Name Year Application
GSAT-31, 2019 Telecommunication Satellite
Microsat-R 2019 Earth observation, Student Satellite
GSAT-7A 2018 Military Satellite
GSAT-11 2018 Communication
GSAT-29 2018 Communication
IRNSS-11 2018 Navigation/Global Positioning
INS-1C 2018 Technology Applications
CartoSat-2E,2F 2017 Earth Sciences
ResourceSat-2A 2016 Earth Sciences
Astrosat 2015 Space Sciences
Oceansat 2 2009 Earth Sciences (Ocean)
Kalpana-1 (MetSat-1) 2002 Earth Sciences
Many More…..
 Geostationary satellite Sun-synchronous satellite
1. Satellites at very high altitudes, which view the 1. Placed at an altitude of 700-800 km
same portion of the Earth's surface at all times. 2. Satellite combines altitude and
2. Altitude of approximately 36,000 kms directly inclination in such a way that satellite can
over the equator, that revolves in the same cover each area of the world at a constant
direction the earth rotates (west to east). local time of day called local sun time.
3. The satellite rotates at exactly the same speed as 3. It therefore has an inclination of (or very
the Earth. close to) 90 degrees to the equator.
4. Do not provide complete global coverage. It 4. A satellite in a polar orbit will pass over
cover approximately 42% of the Earth's surface the equator at a different longitude on
5. Satellite orbits can only be above the equator each of its orbits.
and therefore polar regions cannot be covered. 5. Cover more areas and widely used in
6. Example: Weather/cloud satellite, military applications, natural resource
communication satellite, GPS, TV satellite etc. satellite etc.
Also Called Near Polar orbit satellite
Geostationary satellite

Geostationary
satellite
 Electro-Magnetic Radiation (EMR)

• A black body is one that absorbs all the EM radiation (light) that
strikes it.
• To stay in thermal equilibrium, it must emit radiation at the same rate
as it absorbs it so a black body also radiates well.
• All objects with a temperature above absolute zero (0 K, -273.15 oC)
emit energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.
The sun act as a blackbody has effective temperature of 6000 K
“showers” enormous quantity of electromagnetic energy.

Electromagnetic radiation are created by the vibration of an electric

charge and these changing electric fields induces changing magnetic
fields in the surrounding medium.
This vibration creates a wave which has both an electric and a magnetic
component.
• Two characteristics of electromagnetic radiation are important.
These are the wavelength and frequency.

• Both are inversely related to each other.

• The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency.

The longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency.
•
An electromagnetic wave transports its energy through a vacuum
at a speed of 3.00 x 108 m/s .

• The total amount of energy emitted by the sun and received at

Earth’s atmosphere is constant, 1370 W/m2/sec.

• That received per unit area of the Earth’s surface is 343

W/m2/sec.
• Electromagnetic Radiation spans large spectrum of wavelengths from very short
wavelength like gamma rays (10-10m) to long radio waves (106m).
• The entire range of the electromagnetic radiation is called electromagnetic spectrum.
Optical Infrared (OIR)
Visible 0.4-0.7 µm Far IR Beyond 15 µm
Near Infrared (NIR) 0.7-1.5 µm Microwaves
Shortwave IR 1.5-3 µm P band 0.3-1 GHz (30-100 cm)
Midwave IR 3-8 µm ….L band, S Band, C Band, X Band, Ku Band, K
Band…..
Long Wave IR (LWIR) 8-15 µm Ka Band 26.5-40 GHz (0.75-1.1
Or Thermal IR cm)
 • Our eyes 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.
• Over 99% of the energy flux from the sun (0.15 to 4 µm,)
• With approximately 50% in the visible light region of 0.4 to 0.7 µm.
Violet: 0.4 - 0.446 μm BLUE, GREEN, and RED are the primary
Blue: 0.446 - 0.500 μm colors. They are defined as such because no
Green: 0.500 - 0.578 μm single primary color can be created from the
Yellow: 0.578 - 0.592 μm other two, but all other colors can be formed
Orange: 0.592 - 0.620 μm by combining blue, green, and red in various
Red: 0.620 - 0.7 μm proportions.
 Interaction of EMR with 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.

• Scattering depends on several factors including the wavelength of the radiation, the
abundance of particles or gases and it size, and the distance the radiation travels
through the atmosphere. There are three types of scattering happens i.e.
• 1. Rayleigh Scatterings
• 2. Mie Scattering
• 3. Nonselective Scattering
• Rayleigh scattering occurs when particles are very small compared to
the wavelength of the radiation.
• Example: small specks of dust or nitrogen and oxygen molecules.
• Shorter wavelengths of energy to be scattered much more than longer
wavelengths.
• 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.
• Mie scattering occurs when the particles
are just about the same size as the wavelength
of the radiation. Effect longer wavelengths than
those affected by Rayleigh scattering.
• Occurs mostly in the lower portions of the
atmosphere where larger particles are more
abundant, and dominates when cloud
conditions are overcast.
• Ex: Dust, pollen, smoke and water vapor etc.

Sky appears “Orange/red” during sunrise and sunset, because

the light has to travel farther through the atmosphere than at midday
and the scattering of the shorter wavelengths is more complete; this
leaves a greater proportion of the longer wavelengths to penetrate
the atmosphere. Sunset colors are typically more brilliant than sunrise
colors, because the evening air contains more particles than morning
air…
• Nonselective scattering occurs when the particles
are much larger than the wavelength of the radiation.
• Ex: Water droplets and large dust particles etc.
• 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 causes
molecules in the atmosphere to absorb energy at various
wavelengths.
• Ozone, carbon dioxide, and water vapor are the three
main atmospheric constituents which absorb radiation.
• Water vapor in the atmosphere absorbs much of the
incoming/thermal/outgoing long wave infrared and
shortwave microwave radiation (between 22μm and 1m).

• Greenhouse effect is consequence of above mechanism

 Interactions of EMR with Earth Surface Features

• Radiation that is not absorbed or scattered in the atmosphere can

reach and interact with the Earth's surface.
• Energy incident on the Earth’s surface undergo through above three
process i.e. Reflection, Absorption, Transmission.
• The proportions of each will depend on the wavelength of the
energy and the material and condition of the feature.
1. Reflection is the process in which the incident energy is redirected in such a way
that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. The reflected radiation
leaves the surface at the same angle as it approached. In remote sensing, we
are most interested in measuring the radiation reflected from targets.
• 2.Absorption occurs when radiation is absorbed by the target.
• Energy is transferred into other form-Say HEAT.
• The portion of the EM energy which is absorbed by the Earth’s
surface is available for emission and as thermal radiation at longer
wavelength.
• 3.Transmitted occurs when radiation is allowed to pass through
the target.
• Depending upon the characteristics of the medium, during the
transmission velocity and wavelength of the radiation changes,
whereas the frequency remains same. The transmitted energy may
further get scattered and /or absorbed in the medium.

• The combine effects of absorption and scattering reduces the

intensity of incident radiation is called ATTENUATION.
 ATMOPSHERIC WINDOW
• Solar radiation has to pass through the atmosphere before it
interacts with earth surface. Some of radiation is scattered and
absorbed by gases and particles during passing through the
atmosphere.

• Those areas of the EMR spectrum which are not severely

influenced by atmospheric absorption is called ATMOPSHERIC
WINDOW.

• In RS of earth’s surface having atmospheric window regions like

0.4-1.3 µm, 1.5-1.8 µm, 2.2-2.6 µm, 3.0-3.6 µm, 4.2-5.0 µm, 7-15
µm, and 1cm-30cm etc.

• Attenuation is the combine effects of absorption and scattering

which will reduces the intensity of incident radiation.
ATMOPSHERIC WINDOW REGIONS
 Concept of Signature
• Signature is the basic property which allows to identify an object.
• Each individual has an unique signature, with which it can be identified.
• In Remote Sensing, Signature is any set of observable characteristics,
which directly or indirectly leads to the identification of an object.
• This could be characteristics like spectral, spatial, temporal and
polarization variations of an object.
• Spectral variation are the changes in reflectance/emittance of objects
as a function of wavelength.
(color of objects is a indication of spectral variation in visible region.)
• Spatial variation is the arrangement of terrain features based on
attributes like shape, size, texture of objects.
• Temporal variation are the changes in reflectance with time.
(Seasonal change of crop pattern/color is good indicator)
• Polarization variation is the change in polarization of radiation reflected
by objects
(Generally used in microwave remote sensing)
 Why leaf looks green?

• Leaves: A chemical compound in leaves called chlorophyll strongly

absorbs radiation in the red and blue wavelengths but reflects green
wavelengths.
• Leaves appear "greenest“ to us in the summer, when chlorophyll content
is at its maximum. In autumn, there is less chlorophyll in the leaves, so
there is less absorption and proportionately more reflection of the red
wavelengths, making the leaves appear red or yellow (yellow is a
combination of red and green wavelengths). The internal structure of
healthy leaves act as excellent diffuse reflectors of near-infrared
wavelengths. If our eyes were sensitive to near-infrared, trees would
appear extremely bright to us at these wavelengths.
 Why Water Looks Blue?

• Water: Longer wavelength of visible and near infrared

radiation is absorbed more by water than shorter visible
wavelengths. Thus water typically looks blue or blue-green due
to stronger reflectance at these shorter wavelengths, and darker
if viewed at red or near infrared wavelengths.
• If there is suspended sediment present in the upper layers of
the water body, then this will allow better reflectivity and a
brighter appearance of the water. The apparent color of the
water will show a slight shift to longer wavelengths.
• Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more of the blue wavelengths and
reflects the green, making the water appear more green in color
when algae is present.
 Remote Sensors
• Instruments used to measure the EMR reflected/emitted from
target are referred as remote sensor.
• Again of two type based on kind of radiation sense like Passive
sensors sense natural radiation emitted/reflected from
earth/objects where as active sensors carry own source of EMR
to illuminate the target.
• The major parameters of sensor system are
1. Spatial resolution (Pixel Size): the capacity of sensor to
discriminate the small object on the ground of different size.
(area of ground imaged by one pixel)
• Most remote sensing images are composed of a matrix of picture
elements, or pixels, which are the smallest units of an image.
(Example:QuickBird:0.65m, GeoEye1:0.4m etc).
• Based on specific application, the sensor are customized.
(Example: OCM,)
2. Spectral resolution: the ability of a sensor to define fine
wavelength intervals. (i.e. the number of spectral bands in which the
sensor can collect reflected radiance.

The finer the spectral resolution, the narrower the wavelength

range for a particular channel or band.

The choice or number of spectral bands required will depend upon the
application of use.

The spectral reflectance curves, or spectral signatures of different types of

ground targets provide the knowledge base for information extraction.
Reflectance measurements can help reveal the mineral content of rocks, the
moisture of soil, the health of vegetation, the physical composition of
buildings, and thousands of other invisible details.
3. Radiometric resolution: to discriminate two object based on its
reflectance/emittance difference. (actual Information content in image)
Radiometric resolution refers to how much information is in a pixel
and is expressed in units of bits.
(higher the RR, smaller the radiance difference that can be detected
between two target.
A single bit of information represents a binary decision of yes or no,
with a mathematical value of 1 or 0.
Typical Black & White images from a source such as a digital camera
are 8 bits, meaning the information is represented with a value of 0-
255 or 256 in total.
In contrast, a colour image is represented using 3 channels, Red, Green,
Blue and each channel is 8 bits, equalling 24 bits of information.
Humans visualise colours as a combination of the three primary
colours, red, green and blue.
A radiometric resolution of 11 means the pixel has 2048 possible
intensities of blue, 12 bit resolution represents 4,096 shades of blue.
4. Temporal resolution: the capability to view the same target,
under same condition at regular intervals.

Important factors to consider with regards to temporal resolution :

Leaf on/leaf off

Tidal stage
Seasonal differences
Shadows
Relationship to field sampling
Phonological differences such as flowering, breeding and
migration differences in relation to climatic conditions.

Revisit times for satellites and how often can you acquire the
same area.
 False Colour Composite
• A very common False Color Composite (FCC) scheme for displaying
satellite data is
• Actually Plants reflect near infrared and green light, while absorbing red.
Since they reflect more near infrared than green, In order to take the
advantage of this.
• Near infrared light as RED
• Red light as GREEN
• Green light as BLUE.
• So plant-covered land appears deep red. The signal from plants is so
strong that red dominates the false-color view
• Denser plant growth is darker red. This band combination is valuable for
gauging plant health.
• Clear water appears dark-bluish (higher green band reflectance), while
turbid water appears cyan (higher red reflectance due to sediments)
compared to clear water. Bare soils, roads and buildings may appear in
various shades of blue, yellow or grey, depending on their composition.
Application of Remote Sensing!!
 Agriculture
 Oceans & Coastal Monitoring
 Land Cover & Land Use
 Sea Ice
 Geology
 Hydrology
 Forestry
 Hazard/Disaster monitoring
 Air Pollution
 Mapping
 Volcano monitoring
 Urban Planning
 Climate Change
 Urban Planning
 Disaster Management
 Atmospheric Research
Thank You