Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…2

2. Processing of remotely sensed data………………………………………………....…3

3. Temporal and Spatial analysis using Geographic Information

System…………………………………………………………………………………….4

4. Relationship between Geographic Information System and Remote

Sensing…………………………………………………………………………………….5

5. Applications of Geographic Information System…………………………………...….7

6. Applications of Remote Sensing……………………………………………………….9

7. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….………….12

8. References……………………………………………………………………………..13

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Introduction: Over the past decade there has been an explosive increase in georeferenced
data and computer systems for spatial data handling. Our perspective is that of scientists
attempting to take advantage of these data and new technologies to investigate real world
environments, their conditions, patterns, and dynamics. As noted by Curran (1987), remote
sensing and GIS are tools not only for scientific research on how the world works, but also
for technological applications in meeting human needs. The need for close coupling between
research and application is especially important to the emergent programs for monitoring the
environmental and social consequences of global change. The type of spatial information
system required for regional to continental scale environmental analyses is very large (e.g.,
lo3-106 megabytes) and may include fundamentally different kinds of data.

Much work has been devoted to overcoming technical obstacles to joint processing of image
and GIS data, such as converting between vector and raster data structures and jointly
displaying digital imagery and maps. Continued developments should lead to Integrated
Geographic Information Systems (IGIS) for joint analysis of remotely sensed and GIs data,
capable of handling multiple data structures and supporting complex spatial analyses and user
queries (Ehlers et al., 1989; Faust et al., 1991, this issue). In contrast, scientific theory to
guide modeling and analysis using the amalgamated data inputs and outputs of IGIS has been
slow to develop. Several features of IGIS analysis make processing and interpretation of the
outputs especially complex, for example:

 use of multiple data layers varying in their structure, level of preprocessing, and
spatial consistency;
 multiple (and often poorly known) measurement scales, ranging from "points" to grids
to irregular polygons;
 unknown measurement errors for most variables;
 unknown spatial dependencies in the data and their propagation through spatial
models;
 limited ability to verify or validate IGIS model outputs; and
 limited capability for model sensitivity analysis.

These challenges or impediments to IGIS analysis have long been recognized (e.g., Everett
and Simonett, 1976; Strahler et al., 1980). Many important topics such as the integration of
disparate data structures, analysis of large spatial databases, user-IGIS interfaces, and error
analysis are the focus of other research initiatives by the National Center for Geographic

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Information and Analysis, and are treated elsewhere in this issue. Our purpose here is to
expand on two general topics that we believe are high priority areas for research:

 Investigation of surface patterns and biophysical processes at multiple space and time
scales to quantify scale dependence of IGIS inputs and outputs, and development of
robust procedures to account for scale-dependence in lGIS modeling and
 Development of principles, methods, and technical support for quantifying and
tracking data transformations and information flow in IGIS processing.

Processing of remotely sensed data: In many applications, a visual interpretation of

remotely sensed data may be adequate. Resulting maps or similar products can be used as a
stand-alone product and as input for further analysis in a GIS or a hydrological model.
However, the aim of this section is to discuss the digital capabilities of these tools since they
are the most commonly used ones. For digitally processing remotely sensed data recorded in
the optical range of the electromagnetic spectrum, fundamental physical knowledge
concerning the path of radiation from the sun to Earth and to the sensor is necessary. The
radiation is influenced by variations in the spectral distribution, by the atmospheric (water
vapour, aerosols) and meteorological (temperature, wind, etc.) situation, and by the
reflection, absorption and emission properties of objects at the Earth's surface (spatial,
spectra! and bio-physical conditions) as well as by the observation geometry under which the
measurements are made (Schanda, 1986; Asrar, 1989).

A different situation is encountered by using active sensor systems such as radar (e.g.
Doppler radar, Synthetic Aperture Radar, Shuttle Imaging Radar) or lidar. Since the majority
of systems used in applications cover the optical range of the electromagnetic spectrum, the
discussion of processing methods focuses on these latter frequencies.

For processing and analysing remotely sensed data in hydrological applications, several
concepts can be distinguished, namely multispectral, multitemporal, multisensor, multivariate
and near-real time concepts. Furthermore, analysis approaches are scale-dependent. Local,
regional or global/continental approaches can be distinguished. At a local scale (1:25 000 or
less), ground based and airborne sensor systems predominate. The use of spaceborne data is
often limited at such scales to conventional photographic products from manned spacecraft
and imagers on satellites such as SPOT (Système Pour l'Observation de la Terre). Generally,
the processing scheme includes procedures for preprocessing, processing and postprocessing
of remote sensing data which are usually summarized in the expression "image processing"

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(Swain & Davis, 1978; Schowengerdt, 1983; Lillesand & Kiefer, 1994). Image processing is
often used in several ways. In this context, all the necessary procedures for treating image
data from the raw data to the final result including, for example, normalization, calibration,
geocoding and classification are included in the expression image processing.

All remotely sensed data have to undergo a certain degree of preprocessing, i.e. data must be
calibrated (e.g. for deriving absolute data), normalized (e.g. for solar zenith angle and satellite
position), atmospherically corrected (e.g. by using such models as Lowtran and balloon
sounding data) and geometrically corrected (sensor and target characteristics e.g. skew and
panoramic distortion), and geocoded (related to a reference system such as UTM).

Temporal and Spatial analysis using Geographic Information System: A GIS is a system
which is designed to collect, store, update, manage, manipulate, analyse and represent
graphical and non-graphical spatial data. More precisely, the analysis procedures allow the
user a wide variety of investigations such as:

 proximity analyses, neighbourhood operations (e.g. identifying objects within a

certain neighbourhood fulfilling specific criteria)
 to show relationships between data sets within such a neighbourhood temporal
operations and analyses
 to generate new information by combining several data layers and attributes (e.g. by
splitting or aggregating etc.).

Furthermore, a GIS supports the import of external data (such as remote sensing), and the
selection and transfer of data into application-oriented, analytical models (Antenucci et al.,
1991).

Basically, the data in a GIS can be subdivided into graphical and non-graphical data.
Graphical data are digital descriptions of map features containing coordinates, symbols and
rules. Each map feature is separately stored in a layer and all the layers are geo-referenced
enabling comparisons and evaluations between the different layers. For the description of the
map features, several types of graphical elements are used such as points (including nodes),
lines (including line segments, arcs etc.), regions (polygons), pixels and symbols. Non-
graphical data (attributes) describe the characteristics, qualities or relationships of map
features at a specific geographical location. Four attribute types are distinguished: attributes
describing the quality and quantity of data; geographically referenced data at a specific

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location (excluding the map features themselves); description of spatial relationships of map
features; geographical indices linking attribute data with graphical data via geocodes.

Graphical data can be stored in a raster or vector format, or some hybrid of the two. In
hydrological applications, raster-based GIS are often preferred to vector-based systems. The
reason for this situation is that, very often, distributed parameter models are used where the
basin is partitioned into unit elements of homogeneous hydrological parameters. In
combination with the pixel structure of remote sensing data, the raster-based GIS is an ideal
solution. Many investigations such as vertical analyses (i.e. logical operations) between
several layers — or even more general — all geometrical and overlay operations can more
easily be performed in the raster domain. A disadvantage of this data format is that a large
amount of data has to be stored and, therefore, computations are considerably slowed down.
An advantage of the vector format is that network analyses and topological operations are
preferably carried out in the vector domain and that storage capacity is significantly lower
than in the raster format. Vector-based systems are more commonly used in applications
compared to raster-based systems (Allen, 1994). Hybrid systems do not make a distinction
between raster and vector format but the number of applications is rather limited. Using two
different data structures (raster for image data and vector for GIS analyses) brings the
problem of converting data from one format into another. The accuracy of this conversion is
critical: since it is very often a black box process, data should only be converted once
otherwise uncontrollable deviations can occur.

GIS have successfully been used in hydrological applications as standalone systems (as
database for planning and management, and for GIS internal, hydrological modelling) or in
combination with hydrological models. The synergism between G1S and remote sensing
enables hydrologists to model temporal and spatial variations of hydrological processes
efficiently. The integration of GIS and remote sensing with hydrological models and,
additionally, database management systems (DBMS) is today the technically most advanced
and applicable approach.

Relationship between Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing: As has been
shown, an interesting synergism between remote sensing and GIS exists, but due to the
format problems addressed above, the user cannot yet take full advantage of this synergism
(Frank et al., 1991; EMers et al., 1991; Estes, 1992). Therefore, in most of the hydrological
applications, either remote sensing or GIS techniques are used. In addition to the

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technological difficulties, only a few people have crossed the borders of their initial fields of
specialization into other ones. Now, since microcomputers are available for a reasonable
price, the situation is beginning to change (Fabbri, 1992). Until a fully integrated
geographical information system (IGIS) is available (Ehlers et al., 1991), i.e. all necessary
software modules (image processing, GIS and DBMS, hydrological models and graphical
output) can be used integratively, several technical and scientific impediments still need to be
solved. Consequently, the user has to continue working with today's antiquated tools (Frank
et al., 1991). This means that a system must be developed which allows the user to process
data and to transfer results from one module to another without being concerned about the
data structure, and which supports the user in handling all data as well as directing the user
through the high number of processing procedures.

Ehlers et al. (1991) show an intermediate solution of a partially integrated analysis system
based on two different data formats (i.e. raster and vector) but with a sophisticated user
Interface which helps the interpreter navigate through a large variety of different software
packages, processing procedures, data formats and analysis techniques. Presently, not many
such partially Integrated systems exist. In several papers, the Integration of image processing,
GIS and hydrological models is discussed (see examples in Fabbri, 1992) but in most of the
articles it is not clear how data are transferred from one software module to another and
whether a sophisticated user interface Is required. An example of a widely known and applied
system is ILWIS (Integrated Land and Water Information System) by ITC (International
Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences) (ILWIS, 1990). Another interesting
approach is reported by Carroll (1995) designed at the US National Weather Service which
can be used by hydrologists responsible for generating operational river and flood forecasts,
water supply forecasts, and spring snowmelt flood outlooks. As a third example, the
Environmental Data Atlas for the Savannah River Site project (Cowen et al., 1995) may be
mentioned. For a detailed description of the philosophy of such a partially integrated system,
the ASCAS (Alpine Snow Cover Analysis System) by Baumgartner & Rango (1995) is used.

Integrated Geographic Information Systems analysis can be conceptualized as a flow of

geographic data through a series of transformations into geographic information (Figure-1).

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 Figure 1: Conceptual diagram of data processing and information flow
durina integrated analysis of GIS and remote sensing data.

Applications of Geographic Information System: Geographic Information Science (GIS)

provides a powerful means of looking at the world and tools for solving complex problems.
Innovations continue to emerge from GIS, whether transportation companies are optimizing
logistics or manufacturers are tracking the locations of equipment with Internet of Things
sensors.

Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) also plays a vital role in scientific
research, with a broad array of applications for spatial data and visualizations in earth
science. The professionals who use these methods to gather, analyze, manipulate and
visualize geographic data can reveal fascinating details about our world and even other
planets. When you explore how GIST is employed in various fields, it’s easy to see why
geospatial reasoning is increasingly vital to growing our understanding of earth science and
pursuing new avenues of inquiry.

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1. Disaster management: Hurricane Katrina is seen by many as the first time that GIS was
used a disaster management tool. Thanks to newly available technology, the first responders
on the ground shared a great deal of data about street plans - particularly which streets were
and were not accessible and the extent of the flooding. Despite that FEMA and the
government came in for criticism, many agree that the efforts of data transmission both prior
to and during initial relief efforts were vital to relief efforts.

2014 was a terrible year for drought for the SW United States. Increasingly, GIS is being
used to manage environmental problems and specifically in disaster relief. Environmental
experts have plotted the reporting of official droughts in most of these areas and shape files
are now available of the affected region.

2. Crime statistics: GIS is now vital to law enforcement and planning in terms of crime
statistics. Though most police forces in the USA have used them for a long time, automated
and digital mapping of reported crime has made the process much easier, especially when
looking at different types of crime from different departments in larger cities. The ability to
share maps and look for correlations between different types of crime can give police a much
better idea of an overall picture of a wider region. The study cited here also permitted
community leaders and the police to get a better understanding of each other, facilitating two-
way dialogue.

3. Archaeology: GIS is now critical to many elements of archaeology as it takes on more

elements and characteristics of an environmental science. There are many applications in the
field of historical research but none has been more beneficial than the prediction of historic
site location . Several US universities recently plotted an area to the south of the Caucasus to
identify prehistoric sites and areas that may have potential for future on-the-ground research,
most notably of the migration route out of Africa in antiquity. The project successfully
identified a number of potential new sites for future investigation.

4. Civic planning: GIS has been a superb tool for rural and urban planning for the last few
decades, working out local tax rates, planning desirability and mapping social deprivation,
where new roads could go or which should be prioritised for repair. It is now a vital part of
our green future too. As with regular and previous methods of planning utilities, using the
landscape is far more critical to planning. Cascade in Montana is a prime site for wind farms
and there is a website that uses GIS data to plot wind speeds over the course of a year in order
to best site the wind farms.

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5. Health / Medical resource management: GIS is vital to the proper planning and analysis
of the provision of cancer services for the UK socialised healthcare system, the NHS
(National Health Service). The package is used to plan and examine a number of issues
including catchment areas for GP surgeries. A study recently found that there was greater
provision for cancer treatment in the midlands than the actual population. Such maps are used
to better manage resources of the NHS.

6. Transport: One of the biggest public works in the UK right now is the planned High
Speed 2 (HS2) rail connection between London and Manchester and then later beyond that. It
plans to upgrade and revolutionise the rail network in the UK, arguably starved of much-
needed modernisation since privatisation in the 1980s. Because of the massive amount of
planning involved, including that many agencies have input into the project, it would have
been a logistical problem with the massive amounts of data available and collected on a
dedicated GIS site in order that the best decisions are made while respecting local
infrastructures and the environment.

7. GIS in Environmental Science: Professionals in earth science and many other disciplines,
such as biology and social sciences, are engaged in examining how environmental systems
function and finding sustainable solutions to environmental threats. Employing GIS for
environmental applications ensures these scientists have the spatial information they need to:

 Monitor the habitats of endangered species

 Facilitate environmental management for sustainable development

 Model the effects of pollution on public health

 Coordinate conservation efforts across national borders

 Find environmental engineering solutions to maintain limited resources

This above list is only a small selection of examples of GIS' functionality. Any industry or
area of resource management where there may be a geographical element may benefit from
the advantages of using GIS. It is increasingly vital in many jobs today.

Applications of Remote Sensing: Each application itself has specific demands for
spectral resolution, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution of the satellite sensor. There
can be many applications for remote sensing in different fields. Some of them are
described below.

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1. Agriculture: Agriculture plays a dominant role in the economies of both
developed and undeveloped countries. Satellite and airborne images are used as mapping
tools to classify crops, examine their health, examine their viability, and monitor
farming practices. Agricultural applications of remote sensing include crop type
classification, crop condition assessment, crop yield estimation, mapping of soil
characteristics, mapping of soil management practices, and compliance monitoring
(farming practices).

2. Forestry: Forests are a valuable resource for providing food, shelter, wildlife
habitat, fuel, and daily supplies (such as medicinal ingredients and paper). Forests
play an important role in balancing the earth's CO2 supply and exchange, acting as a key link
between the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere. Forestry applications of remote
sensing include the following:

 Reconnaissance mapping
 Commercial forestry
 Environmental monitoring

3. Geology: Geology involves the study of landforms, structures, and the subsurface to
understand physical processes that create and modify the earth's crust. It is most commonly
understood as the exploration and exploitation of mineral/hydrocarbon resources to improve
the standard of living in society.

Geological applications of remote sensing include the following: Bedrock mapping,

lithological mapping, structural mapping, sand and gravel exploration/ exploitation, mineral
exploration, hydrocarbon exploration, environmental geology, geo-botany, baseline
infrastructure, sedimentation monitoring, event/monitoring, geo-hazard mapping, and
planetary mapping.

4. Hydrology: Hydrology is the study of water on the earth's surface, whether flowing above
ground, frozen in ice or snow, or retained by soil. Examples of hydrological applications
include wetlands monitoring, soil moisture estimation, snow pack monitoring, measuring
snow thickness, determining the snow-water equivalent, ice monitoring, flood monitoring,
glacier dynamics monitoring (surges, ablation), river/delta change detection, drainage basin
mapping, watershed modelling, irrigation canal leakage detection, and irrigation scheduling.

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5. Sea ice: Ice covers a substantial part of the earth's surface and is a major factor in
commercial fishing/shipping industries, Coast Guard operations, and global climate change
studies. Examples of sea ice information and applications include ice concentration, ice
type/age/motion, iceberg detection, surface topographytactical identification of leads,
navigation, safe shipping routes, ice condition, historical ice, iceberg conditions, dynamics
for planning purposes, wildlife habitat, pollution monitoring, and meteorological change
research.

6. Land cover and land Use: Although the terms ‘land cover’ and ‘land uses’ are often used
interchangeably, their actual meanings are quite distinct. Land cover refers to the surface
cover on the ground, while land use refers to the purpose the land serves. The properties
measured with remote sensing techniques relate to land cover from which land use can be
inferred, particularly with ancillary data or a priori knowledge.

Land use applications of remote sensing include natural resource management, wildlife
habitat protection, baseline mapping for GIS input, urban expansion, logistics planning for
seismic/exploration/resource extraction activities, damage delineation (tornadoes, flooding,
volcanic, seismic, fire), legal boundaries for tax/property evaluation, target detection, and
identification of landing strips, roads, clearings, bridges, and land/water interface.

7. Mapping: Mapping constitutes an integral component of the process of managing land

resources, with mapped information the common product of the analysis of remotely sensed
data.

8. Oceans and coastal monitoring: The oceans provide valuable food-biophysical resources,
serve as transportation routes, are crucially important in weather system formation and CO2
storage, and are an important link in the earth's hydrological balance. Coastlines are
environmentally sensitive interfaces between the ocean and land, and they respond to changes
brought about by economic development and changing land-use patterns. Often coastlines are
also biologically diverse inter-tidal zones and can be highly urbanized.

 Ocean pattern identification

 Storm forecasting
 Fish stock and marine mammal assessment
 Oil spill
 Shipping

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Conclusion: The trend in remote sensing over the past decade has been from empirically
based image classification, mapping, and inventory to more deterministic modeling of scene
characteristics based on physical laws of radiative transfer and energy balance, and to
knowledge-based image interpretation systems. Similarly, GIS analyses have grown
increasingly sophisticated, moving from simple map overlay and relational models to
spatially distributed simulation modeling. It is obvious that the progress made to this point
and future developments in this area depend critically on hardware and software that facilitate
the integration of remote sensing and GIS. As these technologies continue to improve, the
power of IGIS analysis is increasingly limited by our understanding of the phenomena under
investigation and their representation in spatial databases. At its worst, IGIS is a powerful
technology that can be used to answer poorly posed questions by running misspecified
models on improperly extrapolated data to generate output whose validity can never be
tested. At best, the coupling of satellite measurements with other spatial data has tremendous
potential for describing Earth surfaces, predicting future conditions, and validating
biophysical representations produced solely through remote sensing or GIS data.

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References:

Allen, J. A. (1994) Spatial data: data types, data applications and reasons for partial adaption
and non-integration. In: Environmental Remote Sensing from Regional to Global Scale, ed.
G. Foody & P. Curran, 214-222. Wiley, Chichester, UK.

Antenucci, J. C , Brown, K., Croswell, P. L., Kevany, M. J. & Archer H. (Eds) (1991)
Geographic Information Systems - A Guide to the Technology, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New
York, USA.

Ehlers, M., G. Edwards and Y Bedard, 1989. Integration of Remote Sensing with Geographic
Information Systems: A Necessary Evolution. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote
Sensing, Vol. 55, pp. 1619-1627.

Frank, A. U., Egenhofer, M. J. & Kuhn, W. (1991) A perspective on GIS technology in the
nineties. Photogramm. Engng Remote Sens. 57(11), 1431-1436.

Faust, N. L., W. H. Anderson, and J. L. Star, 1991. Geographic Information Systems and
Remote Sensing Future Computing Environment. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote
Sensing, Vol. 57, No. 6, pp. 655-668.

Fabbri, A. G. (1992) Remote sensing, geographic information systems and the environment: a
review of interdisciplinary issues. ITC Journal 1992-2, 119-126.

Lillesand, T. M. & Kiefer, R. W. (1994) Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation (3rd edn),
Wiley, New York, USA.

Schanda, E. (1986) Physical Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg,

Germany.

Swain, P. H. & Davis, S. M. (Eds) (1978) Remote Sensing: The Quantitative Approach,
McGraw-Hill, New York, USA.

Schowengerdt, R. A. (1983) Techniques for Image Processing and Classification in Remote

Sensing, Academic Press, Orlando, USA.

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