REMOTE SENSING AND DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING

THERMAL INFRA-RED
SENSOR
NIMISHA BORKAR
ROLL NO: 2202229 CA II
TYBSC. SEMESTER V DATE: 01/10/2024
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY
1 INTRODUCTION TO TIRS AND 5 AREA
LANDSAT 8

DISCUSSION - METHODOLOGY-
2 TIRS INSTRUMENT PARAMETERS 6 RESULTS

3 TECHNICAL OVERVIEW OF TIRS 7 CONCLUSION

4 CASE STUDY 8 REFERENCES

TIRS 2/11
 INTRODUCTION TO TIRS AND LANDSAT 8
The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on the Landsat-8
satellite is a two-channel thermal imager designed to
measure land surface temperature.

By using two thermal bands, TIRS helps separate the

temperature of the Earth's surface from that of the
atmosphere.

It was added late in the Landsat-8 mission timeline to

NASA. THERMAL INFRARED VIEW OF continue thermal imaging capabilities, which were not
EARTH'S SURFACE, NORTHERN
HEMISPHERE [IMAGE]. LANDSAT
SCIENCE.
initially planned.
HTTPS://LANDSAT.GSFC.NASA.GOV/WP-
CONTENT/UPLOADS/2018/02/20100208_NU1.PNG
 INTRODUCTION TO TIRS AND LANDSAT 8
Built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with
a three-year design life, TIRS operates in
pushbroom mode using two infrared channels
(10.8 µm and 12 µm).

The data it collects has a 100-meter resolution

and is registered with 30-meter OLI data
products.

TIRS supports various applications, including

monitoring urban heat islands, assessing
evapotranspiration for water management,
NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. (N.D.).
THERMAL INFRARED SENSOR (TIRS) DESIGN. tracking burn areas, and observing land and water
LANDSAT SCIENCE.
use.
HTTPS://LANDSAT.GSFC.NASA.GOV/SATELLITES/LANDSAT-
8/SPACECRAFT-INSTRUMENTS/THERMAL-INFRARED-SENSOR/TIRS-
DESIGN/
 TIRS INSTRUMENT PARAMETERS
Temperature Ranges:

The TIRS's 10.9-micron channel

saturates at around 400 K, and
the 12-micron channel saturates
at around 370 K.

The TIRS can measure

temperatures as low as 180 K
with a high signal-to-noise ratio.

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY. (N.D.). LANDSAT BANDS

[IMAGE], FROM
HTTPS://EARTH.ESA.INT/EOGATEWAY/DOCUMENTS/2
0142/1488765/LANDSAT_BANDS.JPG

SCENE SIZE 185X180 KM

SWATH WIDTH 185 KM

10.3-11.3 ΜM (10.8 BAND CENTRE) AND SPATIAL

BANDWIDTHS 100 M
11.5-12.5 ΜM (12.0 BAND CENTRE) RESOLUTION
 TECHNICAL WORKING OVERVIEW OF TIRS
Functionality:

Applies quantum physics to detect heat and enables separation of Earth’s surface
temperature from the atmosphere.

Application:
Differentiates cold spots (e.g., irrigated vegetation) from warm spots (e.g., recent burn scars).
Useful for:
Tracking land and water use.
Observing burned areas.
Monitoring urban heat islands.
Understanding water consumption and irrigation practices.
 TECHNICAL WORKING OVERVIEW OF TIRS
Orbits the Earth in a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit
(98.2 degrees inclination)

Achieved an altitude of 705 km (438 mi)

Completes one Earth orbit every 99 minutes. Has a 16-day

repeat cycle with an equatorial crossing time of 10:00 a.m. +/-
INTRO TO RADAR. (2022, MARCH 11).
15 minutes
WHY DO SAR SATELLITES HAVE DAWN-
DUSK ORBITS? [VIDEO]. FACEBOOK.
HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/INTRO2R
ADAR/VIDEOS/WHY-DO-SAR- Image Specifications:
SATELLITES-HAVE-DAWN-DUSK-
ORBITS/702022380717517/ TIRS produces a 185-km swath width with 1850 pixels per
row per channel.
Ground speed: 7 km/s, capturing approximately 70 frames
per second with a 3.49-millisecond integration time.
 TECHNICAL WORKING OVERVIEW OF TIRS

Spectral Channels:
Two spectral channels centered at 10.9 and 12 microns.
Use the "split-window" approach to account for atmospheric effects when converting
radiances into surface temperatures.

TIRS-2 on Landsat 9:
Upgraded version aboard Landsat-9.
CASE STUDY
ABSTRACT
Thermal remote sensing is
currently an emerging technique
for monitoring active volcanoes
around the world.

The study area, the Aso volcano,

is currently the most active and
Mount Aso erupted in a massive Mount Aso, also known as Aso-
has erupted almost every year
upheaval on Oct. 8, 2016. san, is a volcanic mountain located
since 2012. A weather satellite observed volcanic in central Kyushu island, Japan. The
smoke rising from the crater up to tallest of its five peaks stands at
For the first time, Landsat 8 TIRS 11,000 meters high. about 1,592 meters (5,223 feet). It
thermal data were used in this The Japan Meteorological Agency at has one of the largest active craters
study area to evaluate and that time raised the volcanic alert level in the world, with a circumference
monitor the recent thermal status from Level 2 to Level 3, and of 114 kilometers (71 miles). The
of this volcano, situated in prohibited people from entering caldera, which marks the original
within an area of about 2 kilometers crater, contains an active volcano
Southwest Japan, from 2013 to
from the crater. and several hot springs.
2016 using four sets of images.
 CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION
The use of Landsat 8 TIRS data helped track abnormalities, allowing researchers to
monitor changes in heat flux, surface temperature, and land cover, providing deeper
insights into the evolving thermal behavior of the Aso volcano.

While previous studies used ground-based imaging, video cameras, and single thermal
band satellite data to monitor thermal activity, no studies had yet used multi-thermal
band satellite images, such as those from Landsat 8 TIRS.

The prime objective here was to monitor the recent abnormal thermal activity of the Aso
volcano based on LST, RHF, and HDR using the images of the recently launched Landsat
8 OLI and TIRS sensors from 2013 to 2016.

The secondary objective was to, in this region, evaluate the relationship between the
recent thermal activity and the land cover.
 DISCUSSION

The images were acquired

during Japan’s late spring on 23
May 2016, 21 May 2015, 02
May 2014, and 13 April 2013,
espectively, at times varying
between 10:46am to 10:49am
(local time).

All those images were cloud

free and high quality, i.e., a
perfect scene with no errors
detected .
 OLI Bands: Data from OLI bands (1-8) was converted from digital
METHODOLOGY numbers (DN) to reflectance. NDVI (Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index) was calculated.

TIRS Bands: Data from TIRS thermal bands (10-11) was

converted from DN to radiance and then to brightness
temperature.

Land Surface Temperature (LST): The split-window algorithm

was applied to derive the land surface temperature from TIRS
data.

Emissivity: The NDVI-threshold method was used to calculate

the emissivity for TIRS Bands 10 and 11, which is important for
accurately estimating thermal emissions.

Radiative Heat Flux (RHF): Based on the calculated emissivity and

TIRS data, the radiative heat flux (in W/m²) was determined.

Radiative Heat Loss (MW): The average RHF from the two
thermal bands was used to estimate the total radiative heat loss
in megawatts.

Heat Discharge Rate (MW): The relationship between radiative

heat flux and heat discharge rate was applied to estimate the
total geothermal heat loss from the volcano.
RESULTS
In 2013, the thermal anomaly in the area was
higher, based on both Land Surface
Temperature (LST) and Radiative Heat Flux
(RHF) data. There was no indication of
healthy vegetation, as the NDVI values (which
indicate vegetation health) did not exceed 0.5.
This means the region lacked healthy plant
cover.

It's possible that small patches of healthy

vegetation were present, but they were too
small to be captured by the image resolution,
causing the pixels to show as mixed land
areas instead.

After 2013, as the LST around the crater

decreased, more vegetation started to grow.
From 2014 to 2016, both the amount of bare
land and the LST dropped in some areas
around the Nakadake crater. By 2015, the
amount of bare land had further decreased,
and the mixed land area increased, reflecting
the lower LST and improved conditions for
vegetation.
RESULTS
The radiative heat loss was highest
in 2013 and lowest in 2016 .

Between April 2013 and May

2014, the eruption that occurred in
the Aso volcanic area was the
reason why the radiative heat loss
declined. After 2014, the Aso
volcano again showed an
increasing trend in radiative heat
flow, resulting in eruption activity in
2015 and on 7 October 2016.
RESULTS Regarding the four distinct craters
at the Aso volcano, Crater 1 was
the most active throughout the
study period, while Craters 3 and 4
showed higher heat loss in 2013.

We found an active zone only in

Crater 1 in 2014. Craters 1 and 3
showed higher activity in 2015.

One of the major limitations of this

research is the ground validation due
to the inaccessibility of the recent
thermal abnormal activity in the Aso
volcano from 2013, but this work is the
continuation of monitoring for thermal
activity in this volcano using satellite
images.
 CONCLUSION
The highest HDR was obtained in 2013, at about 4715 MW, and was the lowest in 2016, at
about 3819 MW. The total heat loss showed a declining trend, overall, from 2013 to 2016.

The highest pixel RHF was in 2013 and the lowest was in 2014; after that, it increased
gradually until 2016, coinciding with the LST of this study area.

LC showed that, with decreasing heat loss, the vegetated coverage increased and bare land
or mixed land decreased, and vice versa.

From the spatial distribution of RHF, we saw that, within the Nakadake craters of the Aso
volcano, Crater 1 was the most active part of this volcano throughout the study period, and
Crater 3 was the most active after 2014.

We inferred that the applied methods using the continuous Landsat 8 TIRS data showed an
effective and efficient method of monitoring the thermal status of this active volcano
CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES
Case Study
Mia, M. B., Fujimitsu, Y., & Nishijima, J. (2017). Thermal activity monitoring of an active volcano using
Landsat 8/OLI-TIRS sensor images: A case study at the Aso volcanic area in Southwest Japan.
Geosciences, 7(4), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7040061

Sensor Information
ESA. (n.d.). Thermal infrared sensor (TIRS). European Space Agency.
https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/instruments/tirs

NASA. (n.d.). Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). Earthdata.

https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/sensors/tirs

NASA. (n.d.). Thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) design. Landsat 8.

https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellites/landsat-8/spacecraft-instruments/thermal-infrared-
sensor/tirs-design/
 REFERENCES
USGS. (n.d.). USGS EROS archive: Landsat archives—Landsat 8 OLI. United States Geological
Survey.
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/science/usgs-eros-archive-landsat-archives-landsat-8-oli-
operational-land-imager-and

Wang, L., Li, J., & Chen, Y. (2015). The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Landsat 8: Design overview
and pre-launch characterization. Remote Sensing, 7(1), 1135-1152.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs70101135

Wu, H., & Yang, Z. (2015). The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Landsat 8: Design overview and
pre-launch characterization. Remote Sensing, 7(1), 1135. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-
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THANK YOU