ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE FEATURES

Energy incident on the Earth’s surface is absorbed,

transmitted or reflected depending on the
wavelength and characteristics of the surface features.
Interaction of the electromagnetic radiation with the
surface features is dependent on the characteristics of the
incident radiation and the feature characteristics.
After interaction with the surface features, energy that is
reflected or re-emitted from the features is recorded at
the sensors and are analyzed to identify the target
features, interpret the distance of the object, and /or its
characteristics.
The incident electromagnetic energy may interact with the
earth surface features in three
possible ways: Reflection, Absorption and Transmission

Fig. Energy interactions with earth surface features

These three processes (Reflection, Absorption and Transmission)
are not mutually exclusive.
Energy incident on a surface may be partially reflected, absorbed
or transmitted. Which process takes place on a surface depends on
the following factors:
 Wavelength of the radiation

 Angle at which the radiation intersects the surface

 Composition and physical properties of the surface

The relationship between reflection, absorption and transmission

can be expressed through the principle of conservation of energy.
Let EI denotes the incident energy, ER denotes the reflected
energy, EA denotes the absorbed energy and ET denotes the
transmitted energy.
Then the principle of conservation of energy (as a function of
wavelength λ) can be expressed as
EI (λ) = ER (λ) + EA(λ) + ET (λ) (1)
Since most remote sensing systems use reflected energy, the
energy balance relationship can be better expressed in the form
ER (λ) = EI (λ) – {EA(λ) + ET (λ)} (2)
The reflected energy is equal to the total energy incident on any
given feature reduced by the energy absorbed or transmitted by
that feature.
Reflection:
 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.
 Scattering is a special type of reflection wherein the
incident energy is diffused in many directions and is
sometimes called diffuse reflection.
Fig. Reflection and scattering
When electromagnetic energy is incident on the surface, it may
get reflected or scattered depending upon the roughness of the
surface relative to the wavelength of the incident energy.
If the roughness of the surface is less than the wavelength of
the radiation or the ratio of roughness to wavelength is less than
1, the radiation is reflected.
When the ratio is more than 1 or if the roughness is more than
the wavelength, the radiation is scattered.
A feature class denotes distinguishing primitive
characteristic or attribute of an image that have been
classified to represent a particular land cover
type/spectral signature.
Within one feature class, the proportion of energy
reflected, emitted or absorbed depends on the
wavelength.
 Hence, in spectral range two features may be
indistinguishable; but their reflectance properties may be
different in another spectral band.
In multi-spectral remote sensing, multiple sensors are
used to record the reflectance from the surface features
at different wavelength bands and hence to differentiate
the target features.
Variations in the spectral reflectance within the visible
spectrum give the colour effect to the features.
 For example, blue colour is the result of more reflection of
blue light. An object appears as “green” when it reflects
highly in the green portion of the visible spectrum.
Diffuse and Specular Reflection:
Energy reflection from a surface depends on the wavelength
of the radiation, angle of incidence and the composition and
physical properties of the surface.
 Roughness of the target surface controls how the energy is
reflected by the surface.
Based on the roughness of the surface, reflection occurs in
mainly two ways.
Specular reflection:
It occurs when the surface is smooth and flat.
A mirror-like or smooth reflection is obtained where complete or
nearly complete incident energy is reflected in one direction.
The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence.
 Reflection from the surface is the maximum along the angle of
reflection, whereas in any other direction it is negligible.
Diffuse (Lambertian) reflection:
It occurs when the surface is rough.
The energy is reflected uniformly in all directions. Since
all the wavelengths are reflected uniformly in all
directions, diffuse reflection contains spectral information
on the "colour" of the reflecting surface.
 Hence, in remote sensing diffuse reflectance properties
of terrain features are measured.
Since the reflection is uniform in all direction, sensors
located at any direction record the same reflectance and
hence it is easy to differentiate the features.
Most surface features of the earth are neither perfectly specular nor
perfectly diffuse reflectors.
In near specular reflection, though the reflection is the maximum along
the angle of reflection, a fraction of the energy also gets reflected in
some other angles as well.
 In near Lambertian reflector, the reflection is not perfectly uniform in
all the directions.

Fig. Different types

of reflection
 Spectral Reflectance Curves
The reflectance characteristics of earth surface features are
expressed as the ratio of energy reflected by the surface to
the energy incident on the surface.
 This is measured as a function of wavelength and is called
spectral reflectance, Rλ.
It is also known as albedo of the surface.
Spectral reflectance or albedo can be mathematically
defined as
The energy that is reflected by features on the earth's
surface over a variety of different wavelengths will give
their spectral responses.
The graphical representation of the spectral response of an
object over different wavelengths of the electromagnetic
spectrum is termed as spectral reflectance curve.
These curves give an insight into the spectral
characteristics of different objects, hence used in the
selection of a particular wavelength band for remote
sensing data acquisition.
Radiation - Target Interactions
 Radiation that is not absorbed
or scattered in the atmosphere
can reach and interact with the
Earth's surface
 There are three forms of
interaction that can take place
when energy strikes, or is
incident (I) upon the surface.
 These are: Absorption (A);
Transmission (T) Reflection (R)
The total incident energy will
interact with the surface in one or
more of these three ways. The
proportions of each will depend
on the wavelength of the energy
and the material and condition of
the feature.
Radiation - Target Interactions
 Radiation - Target Interactions

 When a surface is smooth we get specular or mirror-like reflection 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.
 Most earth surface features lie somewhere between perfectly specular or perfectly diffuse
reflectors.
 Whether a particular target reflects specularly or diffusely, or somewhere in between, depends on
the surface roughness of the feature in comparison to the wavelength of the incoming radiation.
 Radiation - Target Interactions

 If the wavelengths are much smaller than the surface variations

or the particle sizes that make up the surface, diffuse reflection
will dominate.
 For example, fine grained sand would appear fairly smooth to
long wavelength microwaves but would appear quite rough to the
visible wavelengths.
Radiation - Target Interactions
 Leaves: 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).
Radiation - Target Interactions
 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.
 In fact, measuring and monitoring
the nearIR reflectance is one way that
scientists can determine how healthy
(or unhealthy) vegetation may be.
Radiation - Target Interactions
 Water: Longer wavelength 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.
Radiation - Target Interactions
 Water: Suspended sediment (S) can
be easily confused with shallow (but
clear) water, since these two
phenomena appear very similar.
 Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more of
the blue wavelengths and reflects the
green, making the water appear more
green in colour when algae is present.
 The topography of the water surface
(rough, smooth, floating materials, etc.)
can also lead to complications for
water-related interpretation due to
potential problems of specular
reflection and other influences on
colour and brightness.
 Radiation - Target Interactions

By measuring the energy that is reflected (or emitted) by targets on

the Earth's surface over a variety of different wavelengths, we can
build up a spectral response for that object.
 By comparing the response patterns of different features we may
be able to distinguish between them.
 Radiation - Target Interactions

 For example, water and vegetation may reflect somewhat similarly in the visible
wavelengths but are almost always separable in the infrared.
 Spectral response can be quite variable, even for the same target type, and can also
vary with time (e.g. "green-ness" of leaves) and location.
Understanding the factors which influence the spectral response of the features of
interest are critical to correctly interpreting the interaction of electromagnetic
radiation with the surface.
Fig. Aerial
photograph of a
football stadium
with artificial turf.
(a) normal colour
photograph
(b) colour IR
photograph
Fig. Spectral reflectance curves of the natural vegetation
and the artificial turf