Introduction to RS

Lecture 2

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Intro. to RS

 This course is about electromagnetic energy

sensors – other types of remote sensing such as
geophysical will be disregarded.

 For proper analysis and interpretation of remote

sensing data, it is important to understand
 the source of electromagnetic energy,
 its nature,
 its propagation, and
 its interaction with atmosphere and other matter.

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NR401 Dr. Avik Bhattacharya 3
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Intro. to RS

Passive
system:
EM Energy
source- the
SUN

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Intro. to RS

 The Sun is the most important source of EM

radiation used in passive optical remote
sensing.

 The Sun’s radiation covers

 Ultraviolet  Visible  Infrared  Microwave

 Radio waves

 Maximum radiation occurs around 0.55 µm 

Visible region of the EM spectra.

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 http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Surface regions of the Sun - the

photosphere, the chromosphere, and
the corona.

The photosphere corresponds to the

bright region normally visible to the
naked eye.. (`Temperature ~ 6000 K)

The chromosphere lies ~5,000 km

above the photosphere. Short-
Short-lived,
projections may extend for several
thousands of kms from the
chromosphere. (Temperature ~
20,000 K)

The corona is the outermost layer of

the Sun; this region extends into the
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Intro. to RS

 Solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface is

modified by the atmospheric effects

 All bodies at temperature above absolute zero

degree emit EM radiation at different
wavelengths  Planck’s Law

 Earth as blackbody at 300 K emits radiation at

around 9.5 µm

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Intro. to RS

 Solar radiation has to pass through the

atmosphere before it interacts with Earth’s
surface.

 Radiation is scattered/absorbed by gases and

particulates.

 The strongest absorption occurs at wavelength

< 0.3 µm  Ozone Layer

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Intro. to RS

 Certain spectral regions of the EM radiation pass

through the atmosphere without much
attenuation  Atmospheric Windows

 In the region of atmospheric windows

 Scattering by atmospheric molecules and aerosols
produces spatial redistribution of energy
 The scattered/diffused radiance entering the field of
view of a remote sensor other than that from the target
 Path Radiance

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Intro. to RS

 Atmospheric haze/cloud is much more

transparent to microwave than optical and
Infrared region of the EM spectrum

 Microwave remote sensing

 Side Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR)
 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

 Active and Passive Microwave RS

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Intro. to RS (Concept of Signatures)

 Incident EM on a surface either gets

 Reflected/Absorbed/Re-radiated/Transmitted

 Dependence upon the nature of the object

and wavelength of the incident radiation

 Study of interaction  understanding of

the object under observation

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Intro. to RS (Concept of Signatures)

 The basic property which allows

identification of an object  Signature

 Spectral/Spatial/Temporal/Polarization 
4 major characteristics of the target which
facilitates discrimination.

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Spectral Signatures

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Intro. to RS

 Spectral variation are changes in the

reflectance/emittance of an object

Rf | Ef  f ( )

 Colour of an object is a manifestation of spectral

variance in reflectance in the visible region

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Intro. to RS

 Spatial variation
 Spatial arrangement of terrain features
providing attributes such as
shape/size/texture of objects

 Temporal variation
 Changes in reflectivity/emissivity with time.
They can be diurnal/seasonal

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Intro. to RS

 Polarization variation
 Changes in polarization of the EM radiation
reflected/emitted by an object.

 The degree of polarization is a characteristic

of the object and hence can be used to
distinguished the object.

 Useful in the microwave region

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Intro. to RS

 Signatures are not completely

deterministic

 Statistical in nature with certain mean

value with some dispersion around it

 Spectral variation is the most often used

signature in the Optical/IR region

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Intro. to RS

 Not impossible to generate continuous

spectra for identifying objects.

 Practical solution 
 Observation in discrete spectral region 
Spectral bands

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