UNIT -1

BASICS OF REMOTE SENSING

DEFINITION:

Remote sensing is the science of acquiring information about the Earth's surface
without actually being in contact with it. This is done by sensing and recording
reflected or emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and applying that information.

Remote sensing is a science for observing ,collecting, measuring and analyzing

about objects on the earth's surface without directly coming into physical contact.

HISTORY OF REMOTE SENSING:

Accounts of remote sensing history began in early 1800's, following the development
of photography. Thus, photography may be considered as the first step towards
modern remote sensing. Balloons were the first elevated platforms used for
photography in 1858. During the American Civil War, balloons were used to
photograph enemy positions.

The invention of the aeroplane in 1903 was a great step forward to having a stable
platform for photography. The first aerial photography from a plane was made by
Wilbur Wright in Italy in 1909. Many of the early advancements of remote sensing
can be tied to military applications which continue to drive most of remote sensing
technology development even today.

After Word War-II, the use of remote sensing in science and infrastructure extended
its reach into many areas of academia and civilian life. The Sputnik-1 was launched,
by USSR in August, 1959, it transmitted the first picture of earth, to be ever taken
from an experimented a satellite.

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Brief History of Remote Sensing:
1826 The invention of photography.
1850’s Photography from balloons.
1873 Theory of electromagnetic energy by J. C. Maxwell.
1909 Photography from airplanes.
1910’s World War I: aerial reconnaissance.
1920’s Development and applications of aerial photography and photogrammetry.
1930’s Development of radar in Germany, USA, and UK.
1940’s World War II: application of Infrared and microwave regions.
1950’s Military Research and Development.
1960’s The satellite era: Space race between USA and USSR.
1960 The first meteorological satellite (TIROS-1).
1960’s First use of term “remote sensing” by Evelyn L.Pruitt.
1972 Launch of the first Earth Resource Technological Satellite (ERTS or
LANDSAT-1).
1970’s Rapid advances in digital image processing.
1975 Aryabhata ISRO launched an experimental satellite.
1980’s Landsat-4: new generation of Landsat sensors.
1986 Launch of French Earth Observation Satellite (SPOT-1).
1980’s Development of Hyperspectral sensors.
1988 ISRO launched IRS-1A satellite.
1990’s Launch of earth resource satellites by national and commercial companies.
1990 Digital soft copy photogrammetry.
1990 Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR).
1999 IKONOS- 2 launched.
2001 Quick Bird launched.
2005 Google Earth Server DigitalGlobe and Landsat TM data.
2008 ISRO launched Chandrayaan 1 - Space Mission.
2013 Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft (MOMS) - Space Mission.
2013-14 IRNSS (Indian Region Navigation Satellite System) Satellite Service and
many more ...!
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COMPONENTS OF REMOTE SENSING SYSTEM:

The process of remote sensing involves a number of processes starting from energy
emission from source to data analysis and information extraction. The stages of
remote sensing are described in follows steps:

Energy Source or Illumination (A)

The basic requirement for electromagnetic remote sensing is an energy source to
illuminate or provides electromagnetic energy to the target of interest. For passive
instruments, this is usually the sun; for active instruments, another sensor element
emits pulses of energy.

Radiation and the Atmosphere (B)

As the energy travels from its source to the target, it will come in contact with and
interact with the atmosphere it passes through. This interaction also takes place a
second time as the energy travels from the target to the sensor. Inevitably there is a
certain degree of atmospheric scattering of radiation.

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 Interaction with the Target (C)
Once the energy has made its way to the target through the atmosphere, it interacts
with the target depending on the properties of both the target and the radiation.

Recording of Energy by the Sensor (D)

After the energy has been scattered by, or emitted from the target, a sensor collects
and records the electromagnetic radiation.

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 usable information
(hardcopy or digital).

Interpretation and Analysis (F)

The processed information is interpreted, visually or digitally/electronically, to
extract useful elements.

Application (G)
The final element of the remote sensing process is achieved by applying the
information that has been extracted from the data about the target in order to better
understand it on a spatial domain. This reveals some new information that assists
solving a particular problem and directs the user to explore more on the phenomena
in question

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ADVANTAGES OF REMOTE SENSING:

The basic advantages of remote sensing are:

• Cost effective, faster and accurate. Provides, upto date information over large
area.
• Practical way to obtain data over inaccessible regions / terrains.
• Synoptic view and revisit capability to observe phenomena which are difficult
to perceive on the ground are visible from above ground.
• Reliable method to prepare thematic/base maps in the absence of detailed land
surveys.
• Amenable for analysis and retrieval of data using computer and /or combine
with other geographic coverage’s in GIS.

LIMITATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING:

The basic limitations of remote sensing are:

• No direct samples of the phenomenon. Calibration is essential. Error is upto
10%.
• Require to correct geometrically and also to be geo-referenced for making
useful as spatial maps.
• Distinct phenomena can be confusing, if look similar to the sensor, leading to
classification error, eg: artificial and natural grass may look similar.
• Features, which are not meant to be measured can interfere with the image and
they must be accounted for correction.
• Resolution of satellite imagery if it is coarse then, distinguishing small areas
would be difficult during detailed mapping.
• Cloud may interfere the visibility of ground features on the image.

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IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING:

• Environmental assessment and monitoring (urban growth, hazardous waste,

mining excavation, pollution contamination, land degradation etc).
• Global change detection and evaluation (atmospheric ozone depletion,
deforestation, global warming, desertification etc).
• Agriculture and Horticultural studies (crop acreage, condition /stress, yield
estimation, soil erosion, etc).
• Non-renewable resource exploration (minerals/rocks, oil & gas, coal etc).
• Renewable natural resources mapping (wetlands, soil, forests, oceans etc).
• Meteorology studies (atmosphere dynamics, weather prediction, rainfall etc).
• Mapping the assets (topography, land use. civil engineering, water etc).
• Military surveillance and reconnaissance (strategic policy, tactical assessment,
etc).
• Business studies (commercial applications, market analysis etc).

ENERGY INTERACTION IN THE ATMOSPHERE:

The space photography results from sunlight that passes through the full thickness of
the earth’s atmosphere twice on its journey from source to sensor.

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.

1. 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. There are three types of scattering which take place.

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
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oxygen molecules. Rayleigh scattering causes shorter wavelengths of energy to be
scattered much more than longer wavelengths. Rayleigh scattering is the 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. At sunrise and sunset 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.

Mie scattering occurs when the particles are just about the same size as the
wavelength of the radiation. Dust, pollen, smoke and water vapour are common
causes of Mie scattering which tends to affect longer wavelengths than those affected
by Rayleigh scattering. Mie scattering occurs mostly in the lower portions of the
atmosphere where larger particles are more abundant, and dominates when cloud
conditions are overcast.

Non-selective scattering occurs when the particles are much larger than the
wavelength of the radiation. Water droplets and large dust particles can cause this
type of scattering. Nonselective scattering gets its name from the fact that 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).

B. ABSORPTION is the other main mechanism at work when electromagnetic

radiation interacts with the atmosphere. In contrast to scattering, this phenomenon
causes molecules in the atmosphere to absorb energy at various wavelengths. Ozone,
carbon dioxide, and water vapour are the three main atmospheric constituents which
absorb radiation. Ozone serves to absorb the harmful (to most living things)
ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Without this protective layer in the atmosphere our
skin would burn when exposed to sunlight.

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The reason carbon dioxide is referred to as a greenhouse gas because it tends to
absorb radiation strongly in the far infrared portion of the spectrum - that area
associated with thermal heating - which serves to trap this heat inside the atmosphere.
Water vapour in the atmosphere absorbs much of the incoming longwave infrared and
shortwave microwave radiation (between 22µm and 1m). Because these gases absorb
electromagnetic energy in very specific regions of the spectrum, they influence where
(in the spectrum) we can "look" for remote sensing purposes.

Those areas of the spectrum which are not severely influenced by atmospheric
absorption and thus, are useful to remote sensors, are called atmospheric windows.

SPECTRAL SIGNATURE:

Spectral signature is the quantitative measurement of the property of an object or

material over one to several wavelength intervals. It is unique to basic object or
materials such as vegetation, water, soil etc.

Spectral signatures can be studied by plotting the spectral reflectance of

electromagnetic energy at different wavelength intervals in the imaging data or by
taking measurements in the field using spectrometers in the field.

A spectrometer is a device which measure intensity of radiation absorbed or reflected

by a material as a function of wavelength. Spectral reflectance is assumed to be
different with respect to the type of land cover. This is the principle that in many
cases allows the identification of land cover with remote sensing by observing the
spectral reflectance or spectral radiance from a distance far removed from the surface.

A spectral reflectance curve shows the percent reflectance of incidence energy at a

particular wavelength. The figure below shows three curves of spectral reflectance for
typical land covers; vegetation, soil and water. Vegetation has a very high reflectance
in the near infrared region, though there are three low minima due to absorption.
Water absorbs energy in the near-infrared region, unlike the turbid waters. Soil
reflectance increases with increase in wavelength.

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Spectral reflectance of Vegetation, Water and Soil:

Soil has rather higher values for almost all spectral regions. Water has almost no
reflectance in the infrared region. Figure 1. Shows detailed spectral curves of leaf
reflectance and water absorption. Chlorophyll, contained in a leaf, has strong
absorption at 0.45 m and 0.67 m, and high reflectance at near infrared (0.7 - 0.9 m).
This results in a small peak at 0.5 - 0.6 (green color band), which makes vegetation
green to the human observer. Near infrared is very useful for vegetation surveys and
mapping because such a steep gradient at 0.7 - 0.9 m is produced only by vegetation.
Because of the water content in a leaf, there are two absorption bands at about 1.5 m
and 1.9 m. This is also used for surveying vegetation vigor.

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 UNIT -2
REMOTE SENSING PLATFORMS

PLATFORMS OF REMOTE SENSING:

1) Ground Based Remote Sensing : A wide variety of ground based platforms are
used in remote sensing. Some of the more common ones are hand held devices,
tripods, towers and cranes. Instruments that are ground-based are often used to
measure the quantity and quality of light coming from the sun or for close range
characterization of objects. For example, to study properties of a single plant or a
small patch of grass, it would make sense to use a ground based instrument.
Laboratory instruments are used almost exclusively for research, sensor calibration,
and quality control.

Permanent ground platforms are typically used for monitoring atmospheric

phenomenon although they are also used for long-term monitoring of terrestrial
features. Towers and cranes are often used to support research projects where a
reasonably stable, long-term platform is necessary. Towers can be built on site and
can be tall enough to project through a forest canopy so that a range of measurements
can be taken from the forest area through the canopy and from above the canopy.

2) Aerial Remote Sensing: Airborne platforms were the sole non-ground-based

platforms for early remote sensing work. Aircraft are divided into three categories
(low, mid, and high) based on their altitude restrictions. In general, the higher an
aircraft can fly, the more stable a platform it is, but correspondingly more costly to
operate and maintain.

Low altitude aircraft typically fly below altitudes where supplemental oxygen or
pressurization are needed (12,500 feet above sea level). They are good for acquiring
high spatial resolution data limited to a relatively small area.

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Mid-altitude aircraft have an altitude limit under 30,000 feet above sea level. This
includes a number of turbo-prop aircraft. Often at higher altitudes, there is less
turbulence so stability is better. This class of airplane is used when stability is more
important and when it is necessary or desired to acquire imagery from a greater
distance than available from low altitude aircraft. These aircraft can obtain greater
areal coverage more quickly than low altitude platforms.

High altitude aircraft can fly at altitudes greater than 30,000 feet above sea level.
This class of airplane is usually powered by jet engines and is used for specialized
tasks, such as atmospheric studies, research to simulate satellite platforms, and other
applications where a high altitude platform is required. High altitude aircraft are good
for acquiring large areal coverage with typically lower spatial resolutions.

3) Satellite Remote Sensing: The most stable platform aloft is a satellite, which is
space borne. The first remote sensing satellite was launched in 1960 for meteorology
purposes. Now, over a hundred remote sensing satellites have been launched and
more are being launched every year.

Satellites can be classified by their orbital geometry and timing. Three orbits
commonly used for remote sensing satellites are geostationary, equatorial and Sun
synchronous.

A geostationary satellite has a period of rotation equal to that of Earth (24 hours) so
the satellite always stays over the same location on Earth. Communications and
weather satellites often use geostationary orbits with many of them located over the
equator. In an equatorial orbit, a satellite circles Earth at a low inclination (the angle
between the orbital plane and the equatorial plane).

Sun synchronous satellites have orbits with high inclination angles, passing nearly
over the poles. Orbits are timed so that the satellite always passes over the equator at
the same local sun time.

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The frequency at which a satellite sensor can acquire data of the entire Earth depends
on sensor and orbital characteristics. For most remote sensing satellites the total
coverage frequency ranges from twice a day to once every 16 days. Another orbital
characteristic is altitude. The Space Shuttle has a low orbital altitude of 300 km
whereas other common remote sensing satellites typically maintain higher orbits
ranging from 600 to 1000 km.

PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING:

The sun provides a very convenient source of energy for remote sensing. The sun’s
energy is either reflected, as it is for visible wavelength or absorbed and then re-
emitted (for thermal infrared wavelength). Remote sensing systems, which measure
this naturally available energy, are called 'Passive Remote Sensing'. This can only
take place when the sun is illuminating the earth. There is no reflected energy
available from the sun at night. Energy that is naturally emitted can be detected day
and night provided that the amount of energy is large enough to be recorded.

ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING:

Remote sensing systems, which provide their own source of energy for illumination,
are known as 'Active Remote Sensing'. These sensors have the advantage of
obtaining data any time of day or season. Solar energy and radiant heat are examples
of passive energy sources. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an example of active
sensor.

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 REMOTELY SENSED DATA PROVIDE INFORMATION IN THE
FOLLOWING DOMAINS OF RESOLUTIONS:

Resolution refers to level of detail which data are measured. Remotely sensed data
provide information in the following domains of resolutions:
• Spatial Resolution
• Spectral Resolution
• Temporal Resolution

Spatial Resolution: The capability of the sensor to discriminate the smallest

object on the ground of different size is usually specified in terms of linear
dimension. As a general rule, higher the resolution, smaller the object that can be
identified. Spatial resolution can be classified into high (0.6m - 4m), medium (4m -
30m) and low (30m - >1000m).The spatial resolution specifies to the size of the pixel
of the satellite imagery covering the earth surface. The spatial resolution of image
data is de ned by the smallest spatial area sampled or viewed by a sensor's detectors.

Spectral Resolution : The spectral bandwidth with which the data is collected is
called spectral resolution.
A sensor's spectral resolution specifies the number of spectral bands in which the
sensor can collect reflected radiance. But, the number of bands is not the only
important aspect of spectral resolution. The position of bands in the electromagnetic
spectrum is also important.
• High spectral resolution: 220 Bands.
• Medium spectral resolution: 3 - 15 Bands.
• Low spectral resolution: 3 Bands.

Remote sensing instruments are designed to detect various wavelengths of the

electromagnetic spectrum. Each discrete, distinctly recorded wavelength interval
measured by a sensor is referred to as a ‘band’ or ‘channel.’

Most sensors are multispectral (detecting more than one band). Using multispectral
data to create multispectral images (by building up image layers each representing a
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single spectral band's response of the same scene) provides the ability to differentiate
objects that otherwise cannot be resolved by differences in texture or shape

Temporal Resolution : It is the capability to view the same target, under similar
conditions, at regular intervals.

• High temporal resolution:< 24 hours – 3 days.

• Medium temporal resolution: 4 - 16 days
• Low temporal resolution: > 16 days

The time of day or year at which an image was taken is an important consideration in
the analysis of remotely sensed data. This may mean selecting a morning image over
an afternoon image or perhaps a post monsoon image over an summer image. Also,
knowing the date and time a particular image was taken can provide valuable
information during image interpretation. This is especially true when interpreting
different classes.

Multi-temporal imagery (also referred to as a ‘time series’) is imagery acquired at

different times. This is useful to study changes in the environment and to monitor
various processes. Sometimes the dynamics of interest take place during the course of
a day, a week, or over a number of years

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 UNIT -3
INTRODUCTION TO GIS, DATUM AND MAP
PROJECTIONS

A Geographical Information System (GIS) is a system for capturing, storing,

analyzing and managing data and associated attributes, which are spatially referenced
to the Earth. In a more generic sense, GIS is a software tool that allows users to create
interactive queries, analyze the spatial information, edit data, maps, and present the
results of all these operations.

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HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF GIS:

The idea of portraying different layers of data on a series of base maps, and relating
things geographically, has been around much older than computers invention.
Possibly the earliest use of the geographic method, in 1854 John Snow depicted a
cholera outbreak in London using points to represent the locations of some individual
cases.

The advancements in technology that has been recorded as the history of GIS
development made the present GIS as it is today. In the 20th century, the print- ing of
geographic locations were already made possible.

Canada then developed the first and really operational GIS. It was called Canada
Geographi- cal Information System or CGIS and was being used in 1960 to save,
manipulate and study the data gathered for Canada Land Inventory. It has been an
improvement from the computer mapping soft- ware because it gives researchers the
ability to scan, overlay and measure geographical places. The CGIS lasted up to the
90′s but was never marketed as a product.

By early 1980′s a team of different companies surfaced as GIS software sellers as

they have successfully combined the CGIS features with their upgraded development
into it. By the end of the 20th century, the growth of GIS platform and systems has
been rapidly spread that many users are already viewing GIS data using the internet.
Right now, there are available customized platforms of GIS that performs many
different tasks making mapping applications and geospatial data are already available
in the internet.

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GEOSPATIAL DATA:

Geospatial data is a term used to describe any data related to or containing

information about a specific location on the Earth’s surface. Take the example of
roads. To describe a road, we refer to its location (i.e.,where it is) and its
characteristics (e.g; length, name, speed limit and direction etc.). The location, also
called as geometry or shape, represents Spatial Data, whereas the characteristics are
Attribute Data. Thus a road like any geospatial data has two components of Spatial
and attribute data.

GIS data represents real world objects such as roads, land use, elevation with digital
data. Real world objects can be divided into two abstractions: discrete objects (a
house) and continuous fields (rain fall amount or elevation).

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Spatial data can exist in a variety of formats and contains more than just location
specific information. There are two broad methods used to store spatial data in a GIS
for both abstractions: Raster and Vector.

Vector data is best described as graphical representations of the real world. There are
three main types of vector data: points, lines, and polygons. Vector data model uses
points and their x-, y- coordinates to construct spatial features of points, lines, and
polygons (areas).

Raster data model uses a grid and grid cells to represent the spatial variation of a
feature or features. Raster data is data that is presented in a grid of pixels. Each pixel
within a raster has a value, whether it be a colour or unit of measurement, to
communicate information about the element in question. Rasters typically refer to
imagery.

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GIS OPERATIONS OR GIS FUNCTIONS:

General-purpose GIS software performs six major tasks such as input, manipulation,
management, query and analysis, Visualisation.

1) Input:

The important input data for any GIS is digitized maps, images, spatial data and
tabular data. Before geographic data can be used in a GIS it must be converted
into a suitable digital format. Maps can be digitized using a vector format in
which the actual map points, lines, and polygons are stored as coordinates. Data
can also be input in a raster format in which data elements are stored as cells in a
grid structure.

The process of converting data from paper maps into computer les is called
digitizing. Modern GIS technology has the capability to automate this process
fully for large projects; smaller jobs may require some manual digitizing. Today
many types of geographic data already exist in GIS-compatible formats.

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2) Manipulation:

GIS can store, maintain, distribute and update spatial data associated text data. The
spatial data must be referenced to a geographic coordinate systems (latitude/
longitude). It is likely that data types required for a particular GIS project will need to
be transformed or manipulated in some way to make them compatible with the
system. There are many other types of data manipulation that are routinely performed
in GIS. These include projection changes, data aggregation, generalization and
weeding out unnecessary data.

3) Management:

For small GIS projects it may be sufficient to store geographic information as

computer files. However, when data volumes become large and the number of users
of the data becomes more than a few, it is advised to use a database management
system (DBMS) to help store, organize, and manage data. There are many different
models of DBMS, but for GIS use, the relational model database management
systems will be highly helpful.

4) Query:

The stored information either spatial data or associated tabular data can be retrieved
with the help of Structured Query Language (SQL). Depending on the type of user
interface, data can be queried using the SQL or a menu driven system can be used to
retrieve map data

5) Analysis:

GIS systems really come into their own when they are used to analyze geographic
data. The processes of geographic analysis often called spatial analysis or geo-
processing uses the geographic properties of features to look for patterns and trends.
Modern GIS have many powerful analytical tools like overlay analysis and proximity
analysis to analyse the data.

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6) Visualisation:

GIS can provide hardcopy maps, statistical summaries, modeling solutions and
graphical display of maps for both spatial and tabular data. For many types of
geographic operation the end result is best visualized as a map or graph. Maps are
very efficient at storing and communicating geographic information. GIS provides
new and exciting tools to extend the art of visualization of output information to the
users.

COMPONENTS OF GIS:
A working GIS integrates these five key components: hardware, software, data,
people, and methods.

1) Hardware:

Hardware is the computer on which a GIS operates. Today, GIS runs on a wide range
of hardware types, from centralized computer servers to desktop computers used in
standalone or networked configurations.

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2) Software:

GIS software provides the functions and tools needed to store, analyze, and display
geographic information. Key software components are:

• A database management system (DBMS)

• Tools for the input and manipulation of geographic information
• Tools that support geographic query, analysis, and visualization
• A graphical user interface (GUI) for easy access to tools

3) People:
GIS technology is of limited value without the people who manage the system and to
develop plans for applying it. GIS users range from technical specialists who design
and maintain the system, to those who use it to help them do their everyday work.

4) Methods:
A successful GIS operates according to a well-designed plan and business rules,
which are the models and operating practices unique to each organization.

5) Data:
Maybe the most important component of a GIS is the data. Geographic data and
related tabular data can be collected in-house or bought from a commercial data
provider. Most GIS employ a DBMS to create and maintain a database to help
organize and manage data.
The data that a GIS operates on consists of any data bearing a definable relationship
to space, including any data about things and events that occur in nature. At one time
this consisted of hard-copy data, like traditional cartographic maps, surveyor’s logs,
demographic statistics, geographic reports, and descriptions from the field. Advances
in spatial data collection, classification, and accuracy have allowed more and more
standard digital base-maps to become available at different scales.

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STANDARD GIS PACKAGES:
1) Commercial or proprietary GIS software: Most widely used notable
proprietary software applications and providers are ESRI (ArcGIS), ERDAS
IMAGINE, MapInfo, MapPoint,IDRISI etc.

2) Open source software : Most widely used open source applications are QGIS,
GRASS, MapServer, GeoTools, PostGIS, TerraView etc.

APPLICATIONS OF GIS :

GIS provides the ability to completely model utility networks, such as those
supplying water, power and telecommunications to a large number of consumers. GIS
provides link between many information systems, including engineering, planning
and customer billing, which can increase overall performance and operational
efficiency. Examples of the types of activities that are being addressed through this
technology are listed below:

1. Municipal Infrastructure: Centre-line drawings for streets, water and sewer

utilities linked to databases for integrated planning, construction, and
maintenance management.
2. Regional Planning: Maps, land records, highways, redevelopment plans
analyzed for regional impact.
3. Tax Management: Property maps, tax records, assessment for tax collection
and planning.
4. Environmental Studies: Evaluation of wetlands, erosion patterns and
watersheds using aerial digital orthophotography.
5. Oil Spill Impacts: Remote sensing and surface based evaluation for tanker
spills, war disasters, and real time management of emergency operations.
6. Wastewater Management: integrated planning system including sewers,
catch basins, ditches, and waterways for planning storm impacts.
7. Water Quality Management: Modeling soil, land use, and watershed
characteristics to evaluate alternative scenarios.
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8. Air Emissions: Modeling and display of dispersal and risk from air toxics on
regions surrounding industrial facilities.
9. Emergency Services: Responding to fire, explosions, hazardous material
spills, and other unpredictable events.
10. Process Hazard Analysis: Linking drawings and databases to conduct
hazardous operations analysis for chemical operations.
11. Forestry Management: Imaging and digital elevation modeling to evaluate
damage to forests from the effects of fire, logging, pesticides, and acid rain and
to describe trends in forest resources.
12. Population Planning: Spatial distribution and mapping overpopulation and
slums in underdeveloped countries using satellite imagery.
13. Habit Characterization: Analysis of population and migration patterns to
support preservation of endangered species.
14. Urban Development Planning: Modeling diffusion of development processes
to predict real estate growth patterns.

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 DATUM AND MAP PROJECTIONS

CONCEPT OF DATUM

A datum is a model of the earth that is used in GIS. A datum is chosen such that it
gives the best possible fit to the true shape of the Earth. The understanding about the
shape of the irregular Earth has continually improved and is expressed in spheroids.

Horizontal datums measure positions (latitude and longitude) on the surface of the
Earth, while Vertical datums are used to measure land elevations and water depths.
Datums that describe both vertical and horizontal systems along with other
parameters are called “complete or global datums‟.

GEODETIC DATUM TYPES :

i) Horizontal: Datums that define the relationship between the physical earth and
horizontal coordinate such as latitude and longitude

ii) Vertical: Datums that define level surfaces.Some are based on sea-level
measurements and levelling networks

iii) Complete (Global): Datums that describe both vertical and horizontal systems
(e.g. WGS-84 ~ world geodetic system). With modern technology, such as the Global
Positioning System (GPS), global or complete datums are now readily accessible.
The World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) is used by the US Department of
Defense for GPS and is suitable for charting and navigation

SHAPE OF THE EARTH AND GEOID:

i) Spheroid: Pythagoras (~569 BC) first postulated that the Earth was a sphere. In
fact, the shape of the earth is like a flattened sphere (an oblate spheroid). This shape
is called an ellipsoid. Thus, the ellipsoid is defined either by its semi-major axis or
the semi-minor axis or as the flattening of the ellipsoid.

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ii) Ellipsoid: An ellipsoid is a mathematically defined surface approximating the
true shape of the Earth the centrifugal force of the earth‘s rotation caused bulging at
equator and flattening at the poles An ellipsoid is defined by semi-major or by semi-
minor axes

iii) Geoid: The equipotential surface (gravity perpendicular to surface) is called the
geoid. It is a close representation of the shape of the Earth. The mean sea level (MSL)
surface is considered as a good example for equipotential approximation.

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 COORDINATE SYSTEMS

In general, a coordinate system is a set of mathematical rules for specifying how

coordinates are to be assigned to a point.

i) Geographic Coordinate System (GCS):

A Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) is a Common Reference System (CRS) used
to represent the locations of geographic features and their observations within a
common geographic framework. The GCS can be based on a geodetic reference
(datum) and a map projection. The coordinate system is generally unrelated to the
Earth. But, the CRS is a coordinate system related to the Earth through a datum.

Spatial Reference = Datum + Projection + Coordinate System

• GCS uses a three-dimensional spheroidal surface to define locations on the earth.

• Spheroid defines the size and shape of the earth as a model.

• Datum is that which connects the spheroid to the earth‘s surface.

• Includes unit of measurements (typically in meter, decimal and degree)

ii) Cartesian Coordinate Reference System :

It is a two-dimensional coordinate reference system which is commonly defined by
two axes. At right angles to each other, they form a XY-plane.

Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM):

The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is an International locational
reference system that depicts the Earth‘s three-dimensional surface in a relatively-
accurate, two- dimensional manner. It relies on the meter unit of measure, and allows
users to accurately and unambiguously identify geographical locations anywhere on
the Earth‘s surface between the northern limits of North America (84 degrees north
latitude) and the southern limits of continent of Antarctica (80 degrees south latitude).

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 MAP PROJECTIONS

Globe represents the earth‘s shape. Although globe preserve the majority of the
earth‘s shape and illustrate the spatial configuration of continent-sized features (small
scales e.g. 1:100 million), they are very difficult to carry in one‘s pocket. On the
other hand, typical GIS datasets have scales of 1: 50,000 even larger.

Cartographers have developed a set of techniques called map projections to facilitate

to represent the spherical earth in two-dimensions.

The purpose of map projection is:

• To represent a 3-D spheroid into a 2-D flat surface.

• To allow computation in a simple 2-D coordinate system (computation, such as

distance between points, is excessively complex when expressed in spheroidal
formulae)

Types of map projections (based on developable surface)

• Cylindrical - analogous to wrapping a cylinder of paper around the Earth,
projecting the Earth‘s features onto it, and then unwrapping the cylinder.

• Conical – analogous to wrapping a sheet of paper around the Earth in a cone.

• Azimuthal or planar - analogous to touching the Earth with a sheet of flat paper.

Types of map projections (based on distortion characteristics)

• Equal area – the ratio of areas on the earth and on the map are constant. Shape,
angle, and scale are distorted.

• Conformal – the shape of any small surface of the map is preserved in its original
form. If meridians and parallel lines are at 90-degree angles, then angles are also
preserved.

• Equidistant - preserve distances between certain points. Scale is not maintained

correctly, however, typically one or more lines has its scale maintained.

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 TRANSFORMATIONS

Transformations: It is define as the geometrical change of an object from a

current state to a modified state. It is a manipulation of the initially created object to
display the modified object without having to redraw it. There are two type of
transformations: (i) object transformation and (ii) coordinate transformation

In geometry, specific ways are described to a change a figure. The transformations

include:

• Translation.

• Scaling or dilation.

• Reflection.

• Rotation.

Translation: A translation is a transformation of the plane that slides every point in

the same distance and direction

Scaling: Scaling or dilation is a transformation that changes the size of a figure.

Reflection: A reflection, or flip, is a transformation that creates symmetry on the

coordinate plane.

Rotation: Rotation turns a figure about a fixed point, called the centre of rotation.

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Figure showing Translation

Figure showing Scaling

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 Example of Reflection

Example of Rotation

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 UNIT 4

DATA MODELS, SPATIAL DATA CREATION & SPATIAL

DATA ANALYSIS

DATA MODELS: GIS is a computerised spatial information system. It requires

spatial and attribute data for furnishing much needed spatial information to the
decision makers in map form. Spatial data is about location and relationship of
various geographical features, which are present on the surface of the earth.

The major datasets used by the GIS are spatial and attribute (or non-spatial). The
spatial data denotes the location of real world geographical features, with their
unique location and relationships.Spatial data can be stored in both raster and vector
format. All GIS software has the capability to store and process spatial data.

Attribute data is non-locational data that describes the characteristics of spatial

entities in a GIS database. These datasets are stored and managed in a separate
attribute table. GIS software has the capability to link the spatial data with
corresponding attribute table.

SPATIAL DATA MODELS: In GIS, two data models are used frequently to
handle spatial data viz., vector and raster.

i) Raster Data Model: The basic element in a raster data model is a grid cell. In
raster model, the real world features are represented in an array of grid cells in terms
of rows and columns. Each grid has a fixed location and can be addressed by its row
and column number.

In a raster model, grid cells have their own unique values. The resolution is defined
in terms of size of the grid cell. The shape of the grid cell is normally square; though
there are other shapes also in use like rectangle, triangle, hexagon etc.

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ii) Vector Data Model: The basic element of vector data model is a point with a pair
of x, y coordinates, and hence the model is very explicit. Points are used to build
complex features. Vector data concentrates on modeling discrete features like roads,
buildings, boundaries etc.

Vector formats normally have points/multipoint, line/ polyline, polygon and labels.
Point entities like temple, bridge, well, bore well; linear objects like road, river; and
polygon features such as tank, forest, soil type, lake etc. can be represented in a
vector data model.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Raster Data Model

Advantages:

Geographic location of each cell is shown using its position in the grid of cell.

• Data analysis is easy and quick to perform.

• Ability to store continuous surface data, hence easy to process surface analysis.

• The uniform structure permits the user to perform various analyses such as query,
reclass, overlay etc.

• Point, line and polygon features can be combined.

• Lossy and lossless compressions can be done for data storage.

• The cost of application software is cheaper.

• High spatial variability is easily represented.

Disadvantages:

• Datasets are larger in size.

• Providing projection and transformation is tougher.

• Topological representation cannot be done.

• Cell size determines the objects that can be shown.

• Linear features are hard to represent and so network analysis cannot be carried out
in raster data model.

• Stores only single attribute for a cell.

• Errors in perimeter and shape.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Vector Data Model

Advantages:

• Data will be represented in its original form.

• Since most of the hard copy maps such as SOI maps, represent the data in vector
form, it will be easy to show the data in vector format than in raster.

• Correct geographic location of the data is maintained.

• Topological construction can be carried out easily for checking adjacency,

containment, analyzing the network etc.

• Occupies less storage space.

• One layer can consist of more attribute information. Hence it occupies lesser
memory space.

• Projection and transformation can be done easily to the vector data.

Disadvantages:

• Data structure is complex to build.

• Analyses are hard to perform.

• Needs higher end software for complex analysis.

• Needs costly software and hardware for vector analysis.

• Point, line and polygon layers can be overlaid in a single coordinate system.

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NON SPATIAL DATA MODELS:

Non-spatial (attribute) datasets are relevant only for vector model based spatial
datasets; because in raster spatial data, the attributes are stored as a separate data
layer. Non-spatial data has got a set of attributes which describe the characteristics of
spatial data.

Geo-database contains detail about geographic attributes of a particular area. In

vector Geographic Information System (GIS), there are two types of data are
managed viz., spatial and attribute. Spatial data in vector data structure are stored in
geodatabase along with associated attribute data.

i) Conceptual Data Model: Data abstraction at the conceptual model level is

limited to the description of the information contents of the user‘s view of the
real world

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ii) Hierarchical Data Model: In this model, each entity has only one parent but can
have several children. It organises data in a tree like structure

iii) Relational Data Model: In Relational model, the data and relations between
them are organized in a two dimensional array of tables. A table is a collection of
records and all records in a table contains the same fields. These fields are used to
store attributes

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SPATIAL DIGITAL FORMATS:

38
SPATIAL DATA CREATION:

GIS supports both raster and vector data in all formats but for analysis the data must
be software or analysis specific. A number of methods are available to input data.
Some of the important methods of data input are Scanners & Digitisers.
i) Scanning: Scanning is the most common method employed to convert spatial
and attribute data from analog to digital. This is the fastest method of attribute
data entry while compared to keyboard entry. Spatial data in paper/analog form
are scanned and stored as raster files. These raster files can be added to any GIS
for further digitisation after georeferencing.
ii) Digitisers:
A) Table Digitiser: This is one of the common methods of spatial data input. The
map has to be pasted on a digitizing table, which consists of a sensitised fine wire
mesh grid. The digitiser is connected to a PC loaded with GIS software.
B) OnScreen Digitising: The demand from the GIS users had lead to the
development of onscreen digitizing tools in MapInfo and ArcGIS software. The
software accepts scanned images as base maps, or digital data derived from other
sources. Scanned images are georeferenced to their true coordinate system and
specific projection. Feature classes such as point, line and polygon were created and
used for onscreen digitisation.
Advantages of Manual digitizing:
• Low capital cost.
• Low cost of labour.
• Flexibility and adaptability to different data types and sources.
• Easy to learn in a short span of time.
• Generally the quality of manually digitised data is high.
Disadvantages of Manual Digitizing:
• Requires skilled persons.
• Errors can be propagated easily.
• Digitisation may vary from person to person.

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DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL:
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a three-dimensional representation of earth’s
surface which gives information about terrain relief, by interpreting landscape
using sophisticated techniques and high-resolution satellite imageries. For so many
decades, the presence of the
various landforms like valleys,
mountains etc was shown on
maps using symbols, like
symbols in contour maps. But
after the evolution of DEM, it
becomes easier to depict the
ground undulations precisely.

• For any practical applications like urban planning, topographic studies, drainage
modelling etc. the requirement of third dimension(height) information in the
maps is also important for precise designing of the project.
• DEMs can be generated using different techniques such as Ground surveys,
interpolation of contour maps, photogrammetric techniques using aerial stereo
photographs and satellite stereo images, air borne laser scanning, interferometry
etc.
• Some of the open source DEMs available globally are GTOPO30 (1km
resolution), SRTM (30m &90m resolutions), ASTER (30m resolution). As these
DEMs are having very high resolution, they are not much useful in detail
topographic mapping.

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Sources of Error & Corrections:
Errors in GIS can occur due to various reasons. These errors are avoidable or can be
reduced if the data encoding was done properly. Errors can occur both in spatial and
attribute data.

Major sources of error occur during data input, data processing and data display.
Similarly, data collected using sensors/ instruments such as satellite will have error in
the data. Error in source data is difficult to identify and correct. Some of the source
data error in raster data are cloud cover, scan line error, shadow etc.

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Methods of Correcting Errors:
i) Transformation : Spatial data collected from various sources will have different
co-ordinate systems, origins, units of measurement and/ or orientation. It is
necessary to transform the coordinates of each i.e., map/ image to a common
coordinate system. The methods used for transformation are:. Translation,
Scaling, Rotation.

ii) Re-projection: If the datasets are of different projection systems then their spatial
co-ordinate‘s position may not be accurate. To reduce it, all the datasets have to
be brought to a common projection system. This process is termed as re-
projection.

iii) Edge matching: This has to be done after digitization, editing, re-projection,
transformation and generalization are completed. After the digitization along the
margin some of the continuous entities may mismatch. These entities have to be
joined this process is called as edge matching

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 SPATIAL DATA ANALYSIS

RASTER DATA ANALYSIS:

In raster data analysis, grid cells are geographic units of equal size referenced by
rows and columns.

i) Local function works on individual cell and operates cell by cell basis for multiple
rasters. A new raster is created from single input raster or multiple input rasters.

ii) Focal function in raster data analysis operates on individual cell and group of
cells surrounding it. The selection of surrounding cells can be based on criteria of
distance and directional relationship to focal cell. A focal mean function (moving
average function) defines the mean of the specified neighbourhood.

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iii) Zonal function operates on a group of cells within grid having same values or
similar features. A zonal geometry measure requires one grid for calculation of zone
area, perimeter, thickness and zone centroid.

iv) Global function operates on entire grid. It includes physical distance measure
operations to measure straight line distance or Euclidean distance and cost distance
measure operations to calculate the cost for traversing the physical distance.

VECTOR DATA ANALYSIS:

A vector data analysis uses the geometric properties of spatial entities abstracted into
point, line and polygon objects.

i) Buffering: Buffer can be used to generate buffer zones (area that is within
specified distance) around a point (circular buffer zone), line (elongated buffer zone)
or polygon feature (outer boundary). It allows finding of areas around the feature
within the specified buffer zone.

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 Figure showing Buffer operation-Point, Line &Polygon

ii) Overlay: An overlay operation combines the geometries and attributes of two
feature layers to create output which represents the geometric intersection of features
from input layers.

iii) Union: Preserves all features and attributes from the inputs. As it is an OR
function, the area extent of output layer combines area extent of both input layers. It
requires both input layers be polygon layers. For example, if it is required to find out
total residential area in a city for urban planning purposes.

Figure showing Union operation (Input layer, Union layer and Output layer)

iv) Intersect: operation preserves only those features those are common to both input
layers. One of the input layers may have point, line or polygon as feature type and
other must be polygon layer. In Intersect overlay method, output feature layer has
attribute data from both the input feature layers

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Figure showing Intersect operation (input layer, intersect layer and output layer)

v) Merging & Splitting operations:

Dissolve integrates features that have similar non-spatial values. It declassifies the
classified polygon layer.

Figure showing Dissolve removes Polygon boundary

Eliminate removes those features that meet user-defined criteria. For example, the
criteria can be set as that polygon smaller than minimum mapping unit defined for
layer is to be removed

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 Figure showing Eliminate operation for sliver removal at‟A‟

Split operation divides the input layer into subunits as specified in input layer.

Split operation

Clip operation clips that area extent of input layer which falls within bounds of clip
layer. Clip layer must be a polygon layer while input layer may either be point, line or
polygon layer

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Erase operation removes that area extent of input layer which falls within bounds of
erase layer

Reselect extracts map features from an input layer based on their attribute values

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 UNIT 5

TERRAIN MODELLING AND ANALYSIS

DEM and TIN are two input datasets requirement for terrain modeling. TIN
generation from irregularly spaced elevation points. The terrain mapping methods:
contouring, vertical profiling, hill shading and perspective view.

Contouring: Contour lines are the iso-lines which connect points of equal elevation.
Contour interval is the distance between two contour lines. The arrangement and
pattern of contour lines depicts the topography of terrain. For instance, contour lines
are very closely spaced in steep slope and are sparsely spaced for less undulating
terrain.
Contour generation from DEM or TIN is two-step process: i) It detects the contour
line which intersects a raster cell or triangle; ii) It draws contour line through raster
cell or triangle

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Vertical Profiling: A vertical profile across the cross section of DEM, TIN or
contour lines denotes changes in elevation values along transect. The manual process
of drawing vertical profile from DEM involves following steps:
• Draw a profile line contour map.
• Record each elevation at intersection of transect with contour lines.
• Plot elevation value of each intersecting point against the distance from transect
end.
• Draw vertical profile by connecting the plotted points.

Hiil shade: Hill shading also known as shaded-relief represents an illuminated terrain
resulting from the interaction of sunlight with terrain features (Figure 4). The terrain
slope facing the incoming solar radiation is bright while slope opposite to radiation is
dark

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3D Perspectives: 3D perspective provides different views of terrain at different
viewing angles. Draping of various layers such as vegetation, or the ortho-photos is
made on terrain (DEM or TIN) to generate more realistic 3D views.

Terrain Analysis:

Slope & Aspect analysis : Slope measures rate change of elevation with respect to
ground horizontal distance traversed. It is measured either in percent or degree slope.
Percent slope is defined as 100 times vertical rise to horizontal run.

Aspect measures orientation of terrain slope respect to north in clockwise direction.

Aspect is classified into four (north, east, south and west) or eight (north, north-east,
east, south-east, south, south-west, west, north-west) principle directions. Aspect is
calculated in linear measures by taking sine or cosine of angular measures.

Slope and aspect analysis is important in hydrological modeling, watershed studies,

soil erosion, etc.

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 Figure showing Slope and Aspect of an area

Viewshed Analysis: Viewshed is that portion of terrain surface which is visible from
one or more viewpoints depending upon the location and height of viewpoint,
viewing angle, search distance and other viewing parameters.

There are two input data sets required for viewshed analysis: point layer for one or
more viewpoints, DEM or TIN representing the terrain. The underlying principle for
viewshed analysis is visibility analysis i.e. line-of-sight visibility which connects the
viewpoint with target point on terrain. There are different steps involved in viewshed
derivation:

• A line of sight is established between target and viewpoint.

• The intersecting points between line of sight and elevation raster grid lines are
obtained.
• The elevations of intersecting points are interpolated over area extent.
• The elevation of intersecting points is evaluated in order to determine whether
target is visible or not. The output is a classified raster into visible and invisible
regions.

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 ViewShed Analysis

Watershed Analysis: A watershed represents an area which drains out surface water
based on topographic features divide. Watershed analysis involves processing of
elevation raster and various raster operations on raster in order to delineate watershed
and to extract stream network. A large watershed may consist of several smaller
watersheds based on major stream network. The delineation of watershed involves
several steps:

• Before proceeding to any step for watershed delineation, a given raster must be free
of imperfections in elevation values i.e. undesired depressions. In order to avoid
any depressions, the sink elevation value in depressed region is raised to lowest
elevation value of overflow point out of sink.

• Flow direction raster computation using D8 method represents the direction of

water flow from each raster cell.

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• Flow accumulation raster computation counts the number of cells that will flow to
given cell. The cells having higher accumulation value corresponds to stream
channels while those with lower value are ridge lines.

• A stream is derived from flow accumulation raster based on the specified threshold
value. The specified threshold value decides the density of stream network.

• A stream ordering is performed on derived stream network in order to assign a

uniform flow direction to each stream link.

• A watershed boundary is delineated from raster based on point of interest which

may be dam or intake location for drinking water system or stream gauge stations
and also called as pour point or outlet. For complete delineation of watershed for
the outlet, the pour point must be located over stream link.

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