AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

R-17 || COURSE CODE – 17CE31E5

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

 NBKR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY :: VIDYANAGAR

MODULE – 1 : FUNDAMENTALS OF RS
Course objective To introduce the basic principles of Remote Sensing and GIS
techniques
Content FUNDAMENTALS:
Definition – History – Physics of remote sensing – Electromagnetic
radiation – Interaction of electromagnetic radiation with atmosphere,
earth surface features – Vegetation, soil and water – Spectral signature
– Atmospheric windows.
Course outcome Understand remote sensing terms and concepts of the
physical applications of such a system.

Remote Sensing:

It is science of acquiring information about the earth’s surface without actually

being in contact with target.

This is done by sensing and recording reflected or emitted energy and

processing, analysing.

Remote sensing provides flexibility to observe large area at finer spacial and
temporal frequencies.

History: The development of remote sensing over time can be broadly divided
into following 3 phases.

1. The early age (1839-1907)

2. The middle age (1908-1945)

3. The modern age (1946 onwards)

Early age (1839-1907):

 In 1840 the director of Paris observatory advocated the use of

photography for topographic surveying and that time balloon
photography flourished.
 In 1858 gasper Felix photographed the house of French village from a
balloon at a height of 80m.
 After 2 years in 1860, Nadar took aerial photos of the enemy troop
moments for the French army during the Franco-Prussian war-I.
 Later cameras moved from balloons to kites and other platforms.

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 In 1903 Julius Neubronne patented a breast mounted camera for pigeons,

which are capable to expose automatically at 30-second intervals. But
pigeons were not well accepted remote sensing platforms.
 In 1906 Albert maul used a rocket, powered by compressed air to lift a
camera and took an aerial photograph from height of 2,600ft.

The middle age (1908-1945):

 First time aeroplane was used as a platform to obtain aerial photography

was in 1908 first aerial motion picture was recorded in Italy by Wilbur
wright.
 The camera strobe was first developed by Dr. Edgerton to take pictures at
night during world war-II(1940)
 World war-II brought more sophisticated techniques in aerial photo
interpretation as well which was widely used for military intelligence
purposes. And it gave real boots to photo interpretation; some notable
successes from the war are identification of radar, water depth detectors,
and vegetation indicators.

The modern age (1946 onwards):

 A commission on the utilization of aerial photographs was set up by

International Geographical Union (IGU) in 1949.
 The members of the commission emphasized the need of knowledge of
those parts of world which were not earlier photographed and also
attention was given to cover more area by aerial photographs and
techniques essential for interpretation.
 The techniques of photo interpretation became much more an applied
technique. A number of instruments was developed and introduced for
interpretation during this period. It opened a new horizon for accurate and
fast analysis and also for monitoring the changes.
 Hence a considerable advanced interpretation was made in many
disciplines such as Geography, Geology, Geophysics, Agriculture and
Archaeology. This phase is very significant in the history of Remote

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Sensing as artificial satellites were launched in the space for acquiring

information of earth surface.
 Though two American satellites, i.e. Explorer I and II were launched in
1958 and 1959 respectively under Explorer and Discover Programme,
they were not important from Remote Sensing point of view.
 On 1st April, 1960, one satellite of eight members of TIROS (Television
and Infrared Observation Satellites) family was launched as a research
and development project. As TIROS’s name suggested, the satellite
carried two types of sensing devices – firstly, television, camera etc.
which took picture of the visible spectrum; and secondly, infrared
detectors which measured the non-visible part of spectrum and provided
information of local and regional temperature of earth’s surface.
 The supply of remotely sensed data of earth surface was greatly
increased with the launching of ERTS-I (Earth Resources Technology
Satellite) on 23rd July, 1972. It was placed in a sunsynchronous polar
orbit about 600 miles above the earth surface. It makes 14 revolutions in
a day around the earth and its sensors were covering a series 160 kms.
wide strip.
 Then it was followed by ERTS-2 in 1975. With the launch of this
satellite, the name of these satellites has been changed from ERTS-1, 2 to
LANDSAT-1, 2 respectively. Four other satellites in these series were
launched one after another in this phase, with improved cameras and
sensors. Beside this, many other satellites were launched in the space by
European and Asian Countries during this period.
 In this period, Remote Sensing technique has been improved in two
ways. Firstly, there have been developments of sensors which can use
infrared and microwave spectrum other than visible spectrum to get
information about earth’s surface.
 Secondly, there have been very important advances with respect to the
platforms in which sensors are mounted. Besides, satellites have been
launched for specific purposes and with specific capability. The ground
resolution is continuously increasing till today. Hence, interpretation and
mapping is becoming very easy, accurate and purposive.
 The European Radar satellite (ERS-I) launched in 1991 opened the
avenue for systematic global observation in the microwave region.
 The French Satellite ‘SPOT’ is producing the imagery to provide the
three dimensional view under stereoscope.

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 The satellite – IKONOS, launched on 24th September, 1999 has 1 m.

resolution in panchromatic and 4 m. resolution in multi-spectral cameras.
 USA, France and India have planned and launched a series of satellites,
with improved capability, so that the users are assured continuity of data.

Passive/ Active Remote Sensing:

Depending on the source of electromagnetic energy, remote sensing can be

classified as passive or active remote sensing.

Passive remote sensing:

 Source of energy is that naturally available such as the Sun.

 Most of the remote sensing systems work in passive mode using solar
energy as the source of EMR.
 Solar energy reflected by the targets at specific wavelength bands are
recorded using sensors onboard air-borne or space borne platforms.
 In order to ensure ample signal strength received at the sensor,
wavelength / energy bands capable of traversing through the atmosphere,
without significant loss through atmospheric interactions, are generally
used in remote sensing
 Any object which is at a temperature above 00 K (Kelvin) emits some
radiation.
 Passive sensors can also be used to measure the Earth’s radiance but they
are not very popular as the energy content is very low.
Example: passive remote sensing is similar to taking a picture with an
ordinary camera

Active remote sensing:

 Energy is generated and sent from the remote sensing platform towards
the targets.
 The energy reflected back from the targets are recorded using sensors
onboard the remote sensing platform.
Most of the microwave remote sensing is done through active remote
sensing.

Example: Active remote sensing is analogous to taking a picture with camera

having built-in flash

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Remote sensing process:

1. Radiation by energy source.

2. Interaction of energy with atmosphere.
3. Interaction of EMR with the object /target.
4. Interaction of energy with atmosphere again.
5. Recording of energy by the sensor.
6. Transmission, reception and processing.
7. Interpretation and analysis.
8. Application.

1) Radiation by energy source:

 In remote sensing technique, electromagnetic radiations emitted /
reflected by the targets are recorded at remotely located sensors and
these signals are analysed to interpret the target characteristics.
 Characteristics of the signals recorded at the sensor depend on the
characteristics of the source of radiation / energy, characteristics of the
target and the atmospheric interactions.
Source of energy:
Sun is natural source of energy. Artificial sources also used in remote
sensing. Whether the energy is radiated from an external source or
emitted from object itself it is in the form of EMR.

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Electromagnetic Energy:

“Electromagnetic (EM) energy includes all energy moving in a harmonic

sinusoidal wave pattern with a velocity equal to that of light. Harmonic
pattern means waves occurring at frequent intervals of time.
Electromagnetic energy has both electric and magnetic components
which oscillate perpendicular to each other and also perpendicular to the
direction of energy propagation”
Concept of EMR can be described by using 2 different models
Wave model and Particle model.

Electromagnetic spectrum:

 Distribution of radiant energy can be plotted as a function of wavelength

(or frequency) and is known as the electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
spectrum.
 EMR spectrum is divided into regions or intervals of different
wavelengths and such regions are denoted by different names.
 The EM spectrum ranges from gamma rays with very short wavelengths
to radio waves with very long wavelengths.

 The visible region (human eye is sensitive to this region) occupies a very
small region in the range between 0.4 and 0.7 μm. The longest visible
wavelength is red and the shortest wavelength is violet. However blue,
green, red are primary colours or wavelengths of the visible spectrum.
 Remote sensing is generally performed within the range of ultraviolet to
microwave region.

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 Different bands of electromagnetic spectrums are used for different types

of remote sensing.
 Gamma rays are not available for remote sensing. Incoming radiation is
absorbed by the atmosphere.
 X-ray are also not available for remote sensing since it is absorbed by
atmosphere.
 Ultraviolet (UV) rays 0.03 - 0.4 Wavelengths less than 0.3 are absorbed
by the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. Wavelengths between 0.3-
0.4 μm are transmitted and termed as “Photographic UV band”.
 Visible 0.4 - 0.7 detectable with film and photo detectors. Hence this is
used for aerial remote sensing
 Infrared (IR) 0.7 – 100 atmospheric windows exist which allows
maximum transmission. Portion between 0.7 and 0.9 μm is called
photographic IR band, since it is detectable with film.
 Microwave can penetrate rain, fog and clouds. Both active and passive
remote sensing is possible. Radar uses wavelength in this range.
 Radio have the longest wavelength. Used for remote sensing by some
radars.

2) Interaction of energy with atmosphere:

 EMR is generated first it is propagated through the vacuum and
through the earths atmosphere.
 In vacuum EMR travels with speed of light with any change in its
property.
 But when it enters into earth’s atmosphere it may affect not only in
speed of radiation but also its wavelength, its intensity, and spectral
distribution.
 Because atmosphere consists of presence of different types gases in
addition to gases, the atmosphere also contains water vapour,
methane, dust particles, pollen from vegetation, smoke particles
etc. Size of these particles in the atmosphere varies from
approximately 0.01μm to 100μm.
 The gases and the particles present in the atmosphere cause
scattering and absorption of the electromagnetic radiation passing
through it. These Scattering and absorption are the main processes
that alter the properties of the electromagnetic radiation in the
atmosphere.

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 EMR also diverted its original path due to refraction.

Scattering:

 Scattering is unpredictable diffusion of radiation by particles in the

atmosphere.
 It occurs when particles or large gas molecules present in the atmosphere
interacts with EMR and causes to be redirected from its original path.
 Amount of scattering depends on several factors like wavelength of the
radiation, diameter of particles or gaseous particles, and the distance the
distance travelled through atmosphere.

There are three different types of scattering:

 Selective

 Non-selective scattering

In selective scattering again there are 3 different types

 Rayleigh scattering  Mie scattering  Raman scattering

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 Rayleigh scattering

o This occurs when the particles causing the scattering are much smaller in
diameter (less than one tenth) than the wavelengths of radiation
interacting with them.
o Smaller particles present in the atmosphere scatter the shorter
wavelengths more compared to the longer wavelengths.
o Rayleigh scattering is also known as selective scattering or molecular
scattering.
o Within the visible range, smaller wavelength blue light is scattered more
compared to the green or red. The blue light is scattered around 4 times
and UV light is scattered about 16 times as much as red light.

 Mie scattering

o When the wavelengths of the energy is almost equal to the diameter of

the atmospheric particles.
o Mie scattering is usually caused by the aerosol particles such as dust,
smoke and pollen. Actual size of particle may varies from 0.1 to 10 times
of wavelength of incident energy.
o This scattering happens lower 4.5km of the atmosphere.

 Raman scattering

o This also caused by atmospheric particles, which are larger, smaller, or

equal to the that of the wavelength the radiation.

 Non-selective scattering:

o This takes place in the lowest portions of the atmosphere where air
particles greater than 10 times the wavelength of the incident EMR.
o Particles such as pollen, cloud droplets, ice crystals and raindrops can
cause non-selective scattering of the visible light.
o For visible light (of wavelength 0.4-0.7μm), non-selective scattering is
generally caused by water droplets which is having diameter commonly
in the range of 5 to 100 μm. This scattering is non-selective with respect
to wavelength since all visible and IR wavelengths get scattered equally.

Absorption:

 Radiant energy is absorbed and converted into other forms of energy.

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 The absorbing medium will not only absorb a portion of the total energy,
but will also reflect, refract or scatter the energy.
 The most efficient absorbers of solar radiation are water vapour, carbon
dioxide, and ozone.
 Even though all the wavelengths from the Sun reach the top of the
atmosphere, due to the atmospheric absorption, only limited wavelengths
can pass through the atmosphere. The ranges of wavelength that are
partially or wholly transmitted through the atmosphere are known as
"atmospheric windows."
 Remote sensing data acquisition is limited through these atmospheric
windows.
 It can be observed that electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
is completely absorbed, partially absorbed or totally transmitted through
the atmosphere.
 In the visible part of the spectrum, little absorption occurs.

 Infrared (IR) radiation is mainly absorbed due to the rotational and

vibrational transitions of the molecules. The main atmospheric
constituents responsible for infrared absorption are water vapour (H2O)
and carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules. Most of the radiation in the far
infrared region is also absorbed by the atmosphere.
 However, absorption is almost nil in the microwave region.

Refraction:

 When EMR passed through different substances of different densities,

like air and water, refraction takes place.
 Refraction is nothing but bending of light when it passes from one
medium to another medium of different densities.

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 Errors in location due to refraction can occur in images formed from

energy detected at high altitude.
 However these errors are predictable by snell’s law and can be removed.
n1 sin 𝑎1= n2 sin 𝑎2

Reflection:

 Whereby radiation “bounces off “an object like cloud, water body.
 Reflection is different from scattering. Where angle of incident and
reflection all lie in same plane. And angle of incident and reflection are
approximately same.
 This results in blurred image and appearance of cloud on the imagery are
main problems of atmospheric reflection.
 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.
 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. Leaves appear green since its chlorophyll pigment
absorbs radiation in the red and blue wavelengths but reflects green
wavelengths.

3) Interaction of EMR with the object /target:

 Radiation that is not absorbed or scattered in the atmosphere can
reach and interact with the earth’s surface.
 There are 3 types of interaction can take place when energy strikes,
or incident upon the earth’s surface. This incident electromagnetic
energy may interact with the earth surface features in three possible
ways: Absorption, Transmission and Reflection.
 Reflection occurs when radiation is redirected after hitting the
target. According to the law of reflection, the angle of incidence is
equal to the angle of reflection.

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 Absorption occurs when radiation is absorbed by the target. The

portion of the EM energy which is absorbed by the Earth’s surface
is available for emission and as thermal radiation at longer
wavelengths.
 Transmission 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.
 These three processes 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(one form of energy neither be created nor be destroyed but
one form of energy can be converted into another form) (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:

Types of reflections

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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.

i) 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.

ii) 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.
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.

i. Diffuse reflectors are considered ideal for remote sensing. The

reflection from an ideal diffuse surface will be the same
irrespective of the location of the sensor. On the other hand, in case
of an ideal specular reflector, maximum brightness will be obtained
only at one location and for the other locations dark tones will be
obtained from the same target. This variation in the spectral
signature for the same feature affects the interpretation of the
remote sensing data.
ii. Most natural surfaces observed using remote sensing are
approximately Diffuse at visible and IR wavelengths. However,
water provides specular reflection. Water generally gives a dark
tone in the image. However due to the specular reflection, it gives a
pale tone when the sensor is located in the direction of the reflected
energy.

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 The basic property by which an object can be identified is called

signature.
 3types of signatures are there spatial, spectral, and temporal.
 Temporal signature is change in reflectance with time.
 Spatial signature are arrangements of terrain features like shape,
size, texture.
 Spectral signature is change in reflectance with change in
wavelength. For any given material, the amount of radiation that
reflects, absorbs, or transmits is varies with wavelength. This
important property of matter makes it possible to identify different
substances or classes and separate them by their spectral
signatures.
 A graph of the spectral reflectance of an object as a function of
wavelength is termed as spectral reflectance curve.

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 vary within a given material class.
 Spectral reflectance or albedo can be mathematically defined as

Rλ = Energy of wavelength reflected from the object*100/

Energy of wavelength incident on the object

 Albedo is low at lower incidence angle and increases for higher

incidence angles.
 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”

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 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.
 Spectral reflectance’s varies within a given material i.e., spectral
reflectance of one deciduous tree will not be identical with another.
These curves help in the selection of proper sensor system in
order to differentiate deciduous and coniferous trees.
 Spectral reflectance curves for deciduous and coniferous trees
spectral reflectance curves for each tree type are overlapping in
most of the visible portion.
 A choice of visible spectrum is not a feasible option for
differentiation since both the deciduous and coniferous trees will
essentially be seen in shades of green.
 A comparison of photographs taken in visible band and NIR band.
In visible band, the tone is same for both trees. However, on
infrared photographs, deciduous trees show a much lighter tone
due to its higher infrared reflectance than conifers.
 In remote sensing, the spectral reflectance characteristics of the
surface features have been used to identify the surface features and
to study their characteristics. This requires basic understanding of
the general reflectance characteristics of different feature.

Spectral Reflectance Curve for Vegetation

 Spectral reflectance curve for healthy green vegetation exhibits the "peak-
and-valley". The peaks indicate strong reflection and the valleys indicate

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predominant absorption of the energy in the corresponding wavelength

bands.
 In general, healthy vegetation’s are very good absorbers of
electromagnetic energy in the visible region. The absorption greatly
reduces and reflection increases in the red/infrared boundary near 0.7 μm.
 Spectral response of vegetation depends on the structure of the plant
leaves.
 The valleys in the visible portion of the spectrum are due to the pigments
in plant leaves. The palisade cells containing sacs of green pigment
(chlorophyll) strongly absorb energy in the wavelength bands centered at
0.45 and 0.67 μm within visible region.

 On the other hand, reflection peaks for the green colour in the visible
region, which makes our eyes perceive healthy vegetation as green in
colour. However, only 10-15% of the incident energy is reflected in the
green band.
 In the reflected infrared portion (or near infrared, NIR) of the
spectrum, at 0.7 μm, the reflectance of healthy vegetation increases
dramatically.
 In the range from 0.7 to 1.3 μm, a plant leaf reflects about 50 percent of
the energy incident upon it.
 Healthy vegetation therefore shows brighter response in the NIR region
compared to the green region.
 If a plant is subjected to some form of stress that interrupts its normal
growth and productivity, it may decrease or cease chlorophyll production.

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 The result is less absorption in the blue and red bands in the palisade.
Hence, red and blue bands also get reflected along with the green band,
giving yellow or brown colour to the stressed vegetation.
 Also in stressed vegetation, the NIR bands are no longer reflected by the
mesophyll cells, instead they are absorbed by the stressed or dead cells
causing dark tones.
 Similar to the reflection and absorption, transmittance of the
electromagnetic radiation by the vegetation also varies with wavelength.
“Transmittance of electromagnetic radiation is less in the visible region
and it increases in the infrared region”.

Spectral Reflectance of Soil

 Some of the factors effecting soil reflectance are moisture content, soil
texture (proportion of sand, silt, and clay), surface roughness, presence of
iron oxide and organic matter content. These factors are complex,
variable, and interrelated.
 For example, the presence of moisture in soil decreases its reflectance.
 Soil moisture content is strongly related to the soil texture. For example,
coarse, sandy soils are usually well drained, resulting in low moisture
content and relatively high reflectance. On the other hand, poorly drained
fine textured soils generally have lower reflectance. In the absence of
water, however, the soil itself exhibits the reverse tendency i.e., coarse
textured soils appear darker than fine textured soils.
 Two other factors that reduce soil reflectance are surface roughness and
the content of organic matter. Presence of iron oxide in a soil also
significantly decreases reflectance, at least in the visible region of
wavelengths.

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Spectral Reflectance for Water

 Water provides a semi-transparent medium for the electromagnetic

radiation. Thus the electromagnetic radiations get reflected, transmitted or
absorbed in water.
 The spectral responses vary with the wavelength of the radiation and the
physical and chemical characteristics of the water.
 Spectral reflectance of water varies with its physical condition: In the
solid phase (ice or snow) water give good reflection at all visible
wavelengths. On the other hand, reflection in the visible region is poor in
case of water in liquid stage. This difference in reflectance is due to the
difference in the atomic bond in the liquid and solid states.
 Water in the liquid form shows high reflectance in the visible region
between 0.4μm and 0.6μm. Wavelengths beyond 0.7μm are completely
absorbed. Thus clear water appears in darker tone in the NIR image.
 Locating and delineating water bodies with remote sensing data is done
more easily in reflected infrared wavelengths because of this absorption
property.
 The reflectance from a water body can stem from an interaction with the
water's surface (specular reflection), with material suspended in the
water, or with the bottom surface of the water body.
 Even in deep water, where bottom effects are negligible, the reflectance
properties of a water body are not only a function of the water, but also of
the material in the water Clear water absorbs relatively less energy having
wavelengths shorter than 0.6 μm.
 However, as the turbidity of water changes (because of the presence of
organic or inorganic materials), transmittance and therefore reflectance
change dramatically.
 For example, water bodies containing large quantities of suspended
sediments normally have much higher visible reflectance than clear
water.
 Likewise, the reflectance of water changes with the chlorophyll
concentration involved. Increase in chlorophyll concentration tends to
decrease reflectance in blue wavelengths and increase reflectance in
green wavelengths.
 These changes have been used in remote sensing to monitor the presence
and to estimate the concentration of algae. Reflectance data have also

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been used to determine the presence vegetation in lowland areas, and to

detect a number of pollutants, such as oil and certain industrial wastes.
 Many important characteristics of water such as dissolved oxygen
concentration, pH, and salt concentration cannot be observed directly
through changes in water reflectance.
 Variation in the spectral reflectance in the visible region can be used to
differentiate shallow and deep waters, clear and turbid waters, as well as
rough and smooth water bodies.

4) Interaction of energy with atmosphere again:

The radiant flux reflected or emitted from the earth’s surface once again
enter the atmosphere, where it interacts with different gases, water
vapours. Thus atmospheric scattering, absorption, reflection and
refraction influences the radiant flux once again before recorded the
sensor.

5) Recording of energy by the sensor:

 Radiant energy recorded by the camera or detector is a true
function of the amount of radiance leaving the terrain at a specific
solid angle.
 Other radiant energy may enter the field of view from various other
paths like atmospheric interaction, solar irradiance, sky irradiance,
scattering etc., and also introduce confuse noise into the remote
sensing process.
 The light from a target outside the field of view of the sensor may
be scattered into the field of view of the sensor. This effect is
known as adjacent effect.
 Near to the boundary between two regions of different brightness,
the adjacency effect results in an increase in the apparent
brightness of the darker region while the apparent brightness of the
brightness region is reduced.
 Only small amount of total radiance at the sensor is actually
reflected by the terrain in the direction of the sensor system.
 Amount of radiance recorded by the sensor (Ls) doesn’t equal to
the radiance returned from the interest (Lt). Because some
additional radiance from different path which may fall within field
of view of the sensor system. This is called path radiance (Lp).

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Ls=Lt+Lp
 This path radiance generally introduces unwanted radiometric
noise in the remotely sensed data and complicates the image
interpretation process. However these noises can be reduced while
doing digital image processing.

6) Transmission, reception and processing:

 Remotely sensed data can be collected using onboard aircraft
sensors/camera and/or onboard satellite remote sensors.
 Data obtained during airborne remote sensing missions can be
retrieved once the aircraft lands. It can be processed and delivered
to the end user.
 Data collected from satellite need to be electronically transmitted
to the earth. There are 2 main options for transmitting data
acquired by satellites to the surface.
A) Data can be directly transmitted to the earth if a ground
receiving station (GRS) is in the line of sight of the satellite.
B) If case A is not possible then data transmitted to another
satellite which is same geosynchronous orbit until they reach
the vicinity of appropriate ground receiving station (GRS).
 Data received at the GRS in a raw digital format.
 If required be processed to correct systematic, geometric, and
atmospheric distortion to the imagery and be translated into a
standardized image format.

7) Interpretation and analysis:

Data alone cannot be used for decision making. It must be interpreted or
analysed before one can extract information. Analysis of remotely sensed
data is performed using a variety of image interpretation and processing
techniques are categorised as visual image interpretation and digital
image processing.

Visual image interpretation:

Fundamental image interpretation are used in this is image analysis,

including size, shape, shadow, colour, parallax, pattern, texture, site.

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Digital image processing:

Information derived from remote sensor data are usually interpreted as

enhancing image, image map, orthophoto map, thematic map, filtering etc.,

8) Application:
 Remote sensing may be used for numerous application including
guidance system, medical image analysis, analysis of earth’s
resources etc.
 Earth resource information is like information concerning
terrestrial vegetation, soil, minerals, water, and urban infrastructure
as well as certain atmospheric characteristics.
 Examples remote sensing uses in civil engineering
 Water resources mapping: Identification and mapping of
the surface water boundaries has been one of the simplest
and direct applications of remote sensing in water resources
studies
 Estimation of watershed physiographic parameters:
Various watershed physiographic parameters that can be
obtained from remotely sensed data include watershed area,
size and shape, topography, drainage pattern and landforms.
 Estimation of hydrological and meteorological variables:
Remote sensing applications in estimating precipitation,
evapotranspiration and soil moisture.
 Water conservation: Rainwater harvesting, wherein water
from the rainfall is stored for future usage, is an effective
water conservation measure particularly in the arid and semi-
arid regions.
 Urban and regional planning: Our urban areas are
expanding at a rapid rate mainly due to the population
growth and the large scale migration from the rural areas.
This urban area expansion creates additional pressure on the
land, water and infrastructural resources.
 Identification of geothermal energy sources: Geo-thermal
energy is produced from underground reservoirs of steam or
hot water. Being the most reliable, and sustainable source of
energy, several studies have been ongoing to develop

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technologies to tap these geo-thermal energy resources for

human use.
 Assessment of snow cover and water equivalent: Periodic
snow cover depth and extent are some of the essential
information’s required for snow-melt runoff forecasting.
Field-based surveys for periodic monitoring of Snow
covered areas (SCA) are not easy due to the difficulties in
the physical access to the snow covered areas. Satellite
remote sensing techniques, being operational from space-
borne platforms, help to overcome the accessibility issues.
 Groundwater studies: Remote sensing application in the
groundwater studies are generally classified into three broad
areas:
 Estimation of the geomorphologic parameters essential for
the groundwater modelling
 Estimation of the groundwater potential
 Estimation of the groundwater storage
 Earthquake and Tsunami studies: Remote sensing
techniques have been successfully employed for assessing
the damage caused during natural calamities like earthquake
and tsunami. Very high resolution remote sensing data can
be used to identify the structural damage and the extent of
affected areas.
 Along with those remote sensing applications in rainfall-runoff
modelling, remote sensing applications in irrigation management, remote
sensing applications in flood mapping, remote sensing applications in
drought assessment, remote sensing applications in environmental
monitoring are few more applications.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Remote Sensing

Advantages of remote sensing are:

a) Provides data of large areas

b) Provides data of very remote and inaccessible regions

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c) Able to obtain imagery of any area over a continuous period of time, natural
changes in the landscape can be analyzed

d) Relatively inexpensive when compared to employing a team of surveyors

e) Easy and rapid collection of data

f) Rapid production of maps for interpretation

Disadvantages of remote sensing are:

a) The interpretation of imagery requires a certain skill level

b) Needs cross verification with ground (field) survey data

c) Data from multiple sources may create confusion

d) Objects can be misclassified or confused

e) Distortions may occur in an image due to the relative motion of sensor and
source

Ideal Remote Sensing System:

i. A Uniform Energy Source which provides energy over all

wavelengths, at a constant, known, high level of output
ii. A Non-interfering Atmosphere which will not modify either the
energy transmitted from the source or emitted (or reflected) from the
object in any manner.
iii. A Series of Unique Energy/Matter Interactions at the Earth's
Surface which generate reflected and/or emitted signals that are
selective with respect to wavelength and also unique to each object or
earth surface feature type.
iv. A Super Sensor which is highly sensitive to all wavelengths. A super
sensor would be simple, reliable, accurate, economical, and requires
no power or space. This sensor yields data on the absolute brightness
(or radiance) from a scene as a function of wavelength.
v. A Real-Time Data Handling System which generates the instance
radiance versus wavelength response and processes into an
interpretable format in real time. The data derived is unique to a

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particular terrain and hence provide insight into its physicalchemical-

biological state.
vi. The Multiple Data Users The success of any remote sensing mission
lies on the user who ultimately transforms the data into information.
This is possible only if the user understands the problem thoroughly
and has a wide knowledge in the data generation. The user should
know how to interpret the data generated and should know how best to
use them.

Textbook:

1. Remote sensing and GIS by BASUDEB BHATTA

2. Remote sensing and GIS by Prof. Anji Reddy

References

1. Lilliesand and kiefer, Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation.

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