REMOTE SENSING

ASSIGNMENT OF UNIT 2: PHYSICS OF REMOTE SENSING

SUBMITTED BY : KHUSBOO
TO
MR. RAKESH CHAUHAN
1. WHAT IS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION?
■ Electromagnetic radiation (EMR), also called electromagnetic energy, refers to all energy that moves with the velocity of
light in the form of waves.
■ The EMR is derived from subatomic vibrations of matter and is measured in a quantity known as wavelength.
■ The sun in the major main source of EMR, however old metal at temperatures above absolute zero degrees
continuously emits electromagnetic radiation.
■ EMR travels through space in waves that can be reflected or absorbed by objects, characterised by its wavelength i.e.
The distance from a peak of one wave to the peak of the neighbouring wave.
■ The units of wavelength are traditionally given as micrometers (µm} or nanometers (nm).
■ A plane wave has electric field and magnetic field in mutually perpendicular planes in the direction of the wave
propagation.
2. WHAT IS ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM?
■ ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM:
■ Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths are plotted owner logarithmic scale is known as
electromagnetic spectrum.
■ The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from the shorter wavelengths to the longer wavelengths.
■ There are several regions in the electromagnetic spectrum which are useful for remote sensing
in a way that they provide discrete information about an object.
■ Remote sensors are engineered to detect specific spectrum wavelengths and frequency ranges.
■ Most sensors operate in visible, infrared and microwave regions of the spectrum.
■ The spectrum regions are discussed in order of increasing wavelength and decreasing
frequency.
1. Gamma radiation:
• Gamma is the first in electromagnetic spectrum.
• Its wavelength is < 10-12 m and its frequency is 1020 – 1024.
• It has a wide application in the medical field. Gamma-ray imaging is used to see inside our
bodies. Interestingly, the universe is the biggest gamma-ray generator of all.
• It is used in chemotherapy for cancer patients.
2. X- rays :
• X- radiation has 1017 – 1020 frequency and 1 nm – 1 pm wavelength .
• X-rays can be used in many instances. For example, a doctor can use an X-ray machine to
take an image of our bones or teeth. Airport security personnel use it to see through and
check bags. X-rays are also given out by hot gases in the universe.
3. Ultravoilet radiation:
• Ultravoilet radiation has 1015 – 1017 frequency and 400 nm – 1 nm wavelength.
• The Sun is the main source of ultraviolet radiation. It causes skin tanning and burns. Hot
materials that are in space also emit UV radiation.
• Ultraviolet light is generally observed by ozone and become an important tool in tracking
changes in the ozone layer.
4. Visible rays:
• The light which over eyes can detect is the part of visible region of electromagnetic spectrum.
Visible radiation or light is the only portion of the spectrum that can be perceived as colours.
• These wavelength span very short portion of the spectrum, ranging from approximately 0.4 to
0.7µm because of this short range, the visible portion of the spectrum is plotted on a linear
scale which allows individual colour to be discretely depicted.
5. Infrared rays:
• It is used widely in night vision goggles. These devices can read and capture the infrared light
emitted by our skin and objects with heat. In space, infrared light helps to map interstellar dust.
• Frequency is 1013 – 1014 and wavelength is 25 μm – 2.5 μm.
6. Microwave rays:
• This type of radiation is found in microwaves and helps in cooking at home/office. It is also used
by astronomers to determine and understand the structure of nearby galaxies and stars.
• Frequency is 3 x 1011 – 1013 and wavelength is 1 mm – 25 μm.
7. Radio waves:
• A radio basically captures radio waves that are transmitted by radio stations. Radio waves can
also be emitted by gases and stars in space. Radio waves are mainly used for TV/mobile communication.
• Frequency is < 3 x 1011 and wavelength is > 1 mm.
3.WHICH PART OF ELECTROMAGNETIC
SPECTRUM IS NOT IMPORTANT FOR THE
REMOTE SENSING?
■ Long radio wavelengths >~1 km, can't penetrate the ionosphere. The situation at
infrared wavelengths is complicated, where there are bands where the atmosphere
is opaque, but "windows" where it isn’t.
■ Only a small part of the ultraviolet spectrum, just short of visible, is usable. At
shorter wavelengths (x-ray, gamma ray) the atmosphere is opaque.
■ X- rays and Gamma rays completely absorbed by the upper atmosphere; not
available for satellite remote sensing.
 4.EXPLAIN VISIBLE PART OF ELECTROMAGANETIC
SPECTRUM?
■ Light is the visible part of electromagnetic radiations. The light which over eyes can detect is the
part of visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Visible radiation or light is the only portion of
the spectrum that can be perceived as colours.
■ visible light consists of radiations having a wavelength between 390-760 nm. It can be resolved
into light of different colours –
• violet (390-430 nm)
• blue or indigo (430-470 nm)
• blue-green or blue (470-500 nm)
• green (500-580 nm,
• yellow (580-600 nm)
• orange (600-650 nm)
• orange-red (650-660 nm)
• red (660-760 nm).
5.DEFINE THESE TERMS: REFLECTION,
TRANSMISSION AND ABSORBTION.
■ Reflection :
• When a ray of light approaches a smooth polished surface and the light ray
bounces back, it is called the reflection of light. The incident light ray that land
on the surface is reflected off the surface. The ray that bounces back is called
the reflected ray.
TRANSMISSION:
■ The phenomenon of the transmission of light occurs only when the light hits an
object which is made up of a transparent or translucent material, and light is able to
pass all the way through it. We can also understand this by taking an example of a
glass. So glass is made up of a transparent or translucent material. Thus, when the
light falls on its surface, it does not get reflected back or get absorbed. Rather it
gets transmitted through it. But if we paint one side of a glass with an opaque color
then this material would not be able to transmit the light.
ABSORBTION:

■ Light absorption is the process in which light is absorbed by matter and converted
into energy. In an atom, electrons vibrate at a specific frequency – this is called
the natural frequency. If a wave of light hits a material in which the electrons are
vibrating at the same frequency as the wave of light, the electrons will absorb the
energy and convert it into vibrational motion. This is why objects have different
colours – different materials’ electrons will vibrate at different rates, and therefore
absorb different frequencies of light.
6.WHAT IS WAVELENGTH AND FREQUENCY OF
RADIATION?
■ Wavelength of Radiation:
• The wavelength of a wave describes how long the wave is. The distance from
the "crest" (top) of one wave to the crest of the next wave is the wavelength.
Alternately, we can measure from the "trough" (bottom) of one wave to the
trough of the next wave and get the same value for the wavelength.
■ Frequency of Radiation:
• The frequency of a wave is inversely proportional to its wavelength. That means
that waves with a high frequency have a short wavelength, while waves with a
low frequency have a longer wavelength.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

7.EXPLAIN EMR QUANTITIES:
ENERGY, RADIANT FLUX, SOLID ANGLE AND
RADIANT INTENSITY?
■ RADIANT FLUX: it is defined as the directed angular density from a source. The radiant intensity in
a given direction is the sum of power contained in all the ways emitted in that direction by the
entire source. Rate of flow of electromagnetic radiation measured in watts per square centimetre.
centimetre.
■ SOLID ANGLE: a solid angle is a 3d angular volume that is defined analogously to the definition of
plane angle in two dimensions.
■ RADIANT INTENSITY: the intensity of radiation is defined as the rate of emitted energy from unit
surface area through unit solid angle. The power per unit solid angle that is the power incident on
that portion of the surface of a sphere which subtend angle of one Radian at the centre of the
sphere in both the horizon and vertical plane.
 8.EXPLAIN PLANCK’S RADIATION LAW?
■ It is a fundamental principle in physics that describes the spectral
distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black body in
thermal equilibrium, when there is no net flow of matter and energy.
■ An expression for the variation of expression of emittance of a
blackbody at a particular temperature as a function of wavelength.
■ Plank’s law describes the intensity and distribution of black body
radiation emitted at different wavelengths at a given temperature.
■ It shows that as the temperature increases, the intensity of the
radiation increases, and the peak of the distribution shifts to shorter
wavelengths, indicating higher-energy photons.
■ Conversely, as the temperature decreases, the intensity decreases,
and the peak shifts to longer wavelengths, indicating lower-energy
photons.
■ This law introduced the concept of quantized energy levels, where
energy is emitted or absorbed in discrete packets called photons.
This departure from classical physics was a key step toward
understanding the quantum nature of radiation and paved the way
for the development of quantum mechanics.
9.EXPLAIN BLACK BODY RADIATION?
■ BLACK BODY RADIATION:
• A blackbody is a hypothetical, ideal radiator. It absorbs and reemits the entire energy incident upon it.
• Total energy emitted by a black body varies with temperature. The total energy is distributed over different
wavelengths, which is called the spectral distribution or spectral curve here. Area under the spectral curve gives
the total radiant exitance M.
• In addition to the total energy, the spectral distribution also varies with the temperature the spectral distribution
of the energy radiated from black bodies at different temperatures. The Stefan-Boltzman’s law represents as the
temperature increases, area under the curve, and hence the total radiant exitance increases.
• It can be observed that the peak of the radiant exitance varies with wavelength. As the
temperature increases, the peak shifts towards the left.
• This is explained by the Wien’s displacement law. It states that the dominant wavelength at which
a black body radiates λm is inversely proportional to the absolute temperature of the black body (in
K) .
• λm = A / T
• where A is a constant, which is equal to 2898 μm K. The Sun’s temperature is around 6000
K, and from the figure it can be observed that the visible part of the electromagnetic energy
(0.4- 0.7 μm) dominates in the radiance exitance from the Sun.