Component-I(A) - Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof.MasoodAhsanSiddiqui Department of Geography,

JamiaMilliaIslamia, New Delhi
Paper Coordinator, if any Dr. M P Punia Head, Department of Remote
Sensing, Birla Institute of
Scientific Research, Jaipur

Content Writer/Author (CW) Dr. M P Punia Head, Department of Remote

Sensing, Birla Institute of
Scientific Research, Jaipur
Content Reviewer (CR) Kumari Anamika BISR, Jaipur

Language Editor (LE)

Component-I (B) - Description of Module

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Geography

Paper Name Remote Sensing, GIS, GPS

Module Name/Title Interaction of EMR with surface and atmosphere

Module Id RS/GIS-03

Pre-requisites

Objectives  Student will acquire understanding of Earth’s surface.

 Student will acquire skill to analyze EMR interactions with
different levels of atmosphere.
 Student will be equipped with knowledge to study
Electromagnetic radiation interaction with surface and
atmosphere.

Keywords
Interaction of EMR with surface and atmosphere
Outline

 Electromagnetic radiation principals and electromagnetic spectrum.

 Interaction of electromagnetic radiation with atmosphere.
 Interaction of electromagnetic radiation with Earth's surface.
 Spectral response of materials.

Introduction:
Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is a form of energy that is all around us in many
forms, such as visible rays, radio waves, microwaves, X-rays and gamma rays.
Our environment has always played a role with radiation, either originating
naturally or manmade radiation. Radiation has always been associated with the
nuclear energy and is easily misinterpreted. Heat radiations originating from Sun
and thermal sources are the lifeline of planet.
The energy of radiation interacts with the environment through various atomic,
molecular and nuclear mechanisms which can be usefully characterized by the
amount of the energy involved in the process.

Energy in Radiation:
Energy incident on the earth's surface from different source is absorbed,
transmitted and reflected depending on the wavelength of radiation and
characteristics of earth surface. Incident energy is reflected or re-emitted from the
surface is recorded by sensors in satellite. These recorder signals are interpreted
and analyzed to identify different features on surface.
Energy can be transferred from one matter to another matter by three basic
mechanisms that are conduction, convection and radiation.

Conduction
It occurs when both the radiating (transferring) and the absorbing (receiving)
bodies are in physical contact with each other. For example when a metal pan is
heated by a hot plate, both energy transferring and the receiving bodies are in
physical contact with each other. This process of energy transfer is known as
conduction.

Convection
It is a process in which energy transferring from one place to another by
physically moving of the bodies for example the heating of the air near the ground
in the morning hours. The warmer air near the surface rises, setting up
convectional currents in the stratosphere.

Radiation
Thermal radiation generated from the emission of electromagnetic waves. They
carry energy away from the emitting source. Radiation is energy that comes from a
source and travels through some materials or through space. All materials radiate
thermal energy based on the temperature. Example, sun is the major source of
radiating energy.

Electromagnetic Radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is the radiant energy released by electromagnetic
process. Electromagnetic radiation consist of electromagnetic waves, which are
synchronized oscillation of electric and magnetic field that travels with a speed of
light (299,792,458 meters per second) through vacuum.
 Fig. 1 EMR wave

Source: http://www.livescience.com/38169-electromagnetism.html

The oscillations of two fields are perpendicular to each other and perpendicular to
the direction of propagation of waves as shown in Fig. 1. Electromagnetic wave
created whenever an electrical charged particle accelerated and these waves can
subsequently interact with any charged particle. EM waves
carry energy, momentum and angular momentum away from their source particle
and can impart those quantities to matter with which they interact. Wavelength (λ)
is the mean distance between consecutive maximums or minimums and is
measured in micrometers (µm) or nanometers (nm). Frequency (v) is the number of
wavelength pass through a point per unit time. The relationship between the
wavelength (λ) and frequency (v) of electromagnetic radiation is described by the
following formula.

C= λv

v= C/λ

λ = C/v

The above formula shows frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength,

means if wavelength will be maximum that time frequency will be minimum,
shorter the wavelength higher will be the frequency. When electromagnetic
radiation passes from one medium to another, the speed of light and wavelength
changes while the frequency remains same.

Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic waves is characterized by either frequency or wavelength, which
determines the position in electromagnetic spectrum which consists of radio waves,
microwaves ,infra-red waves, visible lights, Ultra violet rays, X-rays, Gamma rays
as in Fig. 2.
 Fig. 2 Electromagnetic Spectrum

Sources: http://www.ces.fau.edu/nasa/module-2/radiation-sun.php

Radio Waves
Radio waves are the lowest range of electromagnetic spectrum with the frequency
of 30 Gigahertz and wavelength greater than 10 millimeter. Radio waves are
primarily used for communication including voice data. Objects in space such as
planets and comets, giant clouds of gas and dust, and stars and galaxies, emit light
at many different wavelengths. Some of the light they emit has very large
wavelength- sometimes as long as mile. These long wavelengths are in the radio
region of electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves travel at speed of light, when
passing through an object they are slowed according to that object's permeability
and permittivity.

Microwaves
Microwaves fall in range between radio and infra-red waves. They have a
frequency of 3 GHz to 30 GHz and a wavelength of about 10 mm to 100 mm. They
are used for high bandwidth communication, RADAR and microwave ovens.
Radar wavelength and frequency used in active microwave remote sensing
investigation as shown in Table1. Microwaves travel by line of sight, unlike lower
frequency radio waves they do not diffract around hill, follow Earth surface as
ground waves, or reflect from the ionosphere, so terrestrial microwave
communication are limited by visual horizon to about 40miles.

Table 1
Radar Wavelength and Frequencies

RADAR Wavelength Frequency

Band Designation (in cm) (in GHz)
Ka 0.75-1.18 40.0-26.5
K 1.19-1.67 26.5-18.0
Ku 1.67-2.4 18.0-12.5
X 2.4-3.8 12.5-8
C 3.9-7.5 8.0-4.0
S 7.5-15.0 4.0-2.0
L 15.0-30.0 2.0-1.0
P 30.0-100 1.0-0.3

Infrared waves
Infrared falls between Microwave and Visible light range, they have a frequency
range between 30 THz to 400 THz and wavelength of 100 µm to 740 nm. IR light
is invisible to human eyes but the heat intensity can be felt. The basic applications
of infrared get counted in the fields like military application and for civilian
purposes. Military applications include target acquisition, surveillance, night
vision, homing and tracking, non military uses include thermal efficiency analysis,
environmental modeling, industrial facility inspection, remote temperature sensing,
short ranged wireless communication, spectroscopy, weather forecasting etc.
Relationships such as these suggest we can utilize radiometers placed at some
distance from an object to measure its radiant temperature, which correlates well
with the object's true kinetic temperature; this is the basis of thermal infrared
remote sensing temperature measurement (Fig. 3).
 Fig. 3 Thermal image of an animal

Source: https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/mis_sensor_lesson01

Visible Light
Our eyes can detect only tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum, called visible
light. Visible light are the wavelength which human eyes can see. Wavelength lies
between the range of 380 nm to 740 nm and frequency about 400THz to 800 THz.
White light is made up of whole range of colors mixed together. Each color has
different wavelength, red has the longest wavelength where as violet has the
shortest wavelength as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig 4. Visual description of wavelength as it corresponds to the visible light

spectrum
Ultraviolet
Ultra-violet light is in the range between visible light and X-rays. It has frequency
of about 8*1014 to 3 *1016 Hz and wavelength of 380nm to 10nm. It has been used
for various medical and industrial applications. UV wavelength of 320-400nm,
called, UV-A, responsible for formation of Vitamin D by the skin, and on other
hand causes sunburn and cataracts in eyes. UV-B falls within 290-320nm causes
damage at the molecular level of fundamental building block of life-DNA, as it
readily absorbs UV-B. The following diagram shows the various uses which EM
spectrum provides in different bands Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 Uses Of different region of EM spectrum

Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/ultraviolet-radiation

X-rays
An electromagnetic wave of high energy and very short wavelength, which is able
to pass through much material opaque to light. Maximum of X rays has
wavelength ranging from 0.01nm-10nm. X-rays are classified into two types: Soft
X-rays and hard X-rays. Soft rays comprise the range of EM spectrum between UV
and gamma rays, have the frequency of 3*1016 to about 1018 Hz. Hard Rays occupy
the region same as gamma rays. X ray have the properties of penetrating various
thicknesses of all solids. X rays hast vast applications in medical science field.
Gamma Rays
Gamma rays have frequency greater than 1018 Hz and wavelength less than 100
Picometer. Gamma radiation causes damage to the tissues and can be used for
curing cancer cells. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of light and are
produced by hottest region of the universe. Natural source of gamma rays on earth
are naturally occurring radionuclide’s, particularly potassium-40. Potassium-40 is a
radioactive isotope of potassium, it can be found in soil, water and also in meat and
banana.

Stefan-Boltzmann Law
The Stefan-Boltzmann law is named after two Austrian physicists, Joset Stefan and
Ludwig Boltzmann. All objects above absolute zero (-273 ̊c- or 0k) emits
electromagnetic radiation. All objects above absolute zero (-273 ̊c- or 0k) emit
electromagnetic radiation sun is the initial source energy. Sun as a 5770-6000k
black body, the critical construct that absorbs and radiates energy at the maximum
possible rate per unit area at each wavelength (λ) for a given temperature. The
total emitted radiation (j) from a black body measured is proportional to the fourth
power of its absolute temperature (T) measured in Kelvin (k). This is known as the
Stefan-Boltzmann law and is expensed as

j = σ T4, For a Black Body

σ is Stefan-Boltzmann constant and has a value of

σ = 5.6703 x 10-8 Wm-2 K-4

This signifies the amount of energy emitted by an object is the function of

temperature of the body. The greater the temperature the greater the amount of
radiating energy emitted by the object. It is summaries from explanation that the
total emitted radiation from the book sun is for greater that emitted by the 300 k
Earth.

Plank's Radiation Law

Planck’s radiation law, a Mathematical relationship formulated in 1900 by German
physicist Max Planck explained the spectral-energy distribution of radiation
emitted by a blackbody (a hypothetical body that completely absorbs all radiant
energy falling upon it, reaches some equilibrium temperature, and then reemits that
energy as quickly as it absorbs it). Planck assumed that the source of radiation is
atoms in a state of oscillation and that the vibrational energy of each oscillator may
have any of a series of discrete values but never any value between. Planck further
assumed that when an oscillator changes from a state of energy E1 to a state of
lower energy E2, the discrete amount of energy E1 –E2, or quantum of radiation, is
equal to the product of the frequency of the radiation, symbolized by the Greek
letter v and a constant h, now called Planck’s constant, that he determined from
blackbody radiation data;

i.e. E1- E2 = hv.

Planck’s law for the energy Eλ radiated per unit volume by a cavity of a blackbody
in the wave length interval λ to λ + Δλ (Δλ denotes an increment of wavelength)
can be written in terms of Planck’s constant (h) the speed of light (c), the
Boltzmann constant (k), and the absolute temperature (T) :

8𝜋ℎ𝑐 1
𝐸λ = ∗
λ5 𝑒
(
ℎ𝑐
𝑘𝑇 λ
)−1

The wavelength of the emitted radiation is inversely proportional to its frequency,

or λ = c/v.

The value of Planck’s constant is found to be 6.62606957*10-34 joule.second,

with a standard uncertainty of 0.00000029*10-34 joule. Second.

For a blackbody at temperatures up to several hundred degrees, the majority of the

radiation is in the infrared radiation region of the electromagnetic spectrum. At
higher temperatures, the total radiated energy increases, and the intensity peak of
the emitted spectrum shifts to shorter wavelengths so that a significant portion is
radiated as visible light.

Electromagnetic waves are one of the most common forms to undergo scattering.
EMR interaction with atmosphere
Irrespective of the sources, all the radiation is detected by remote sensor. Particles
and gases in the atmosphere can affect the incoming light and radiation. These
effects are caused by mechanism of scattering and absorption.

A brief description of the Earth’s atmosphere is in order. The major components of

dry air in the lower atmosphere are N2(78.1%) and O2(20.9%) with the remaining
1% composed of Ar, CO2, CH4, N2O, O3 and several other trace gases. Also, the
lower atmosphere contains highly variable quantities of water vapour, usually
making up 1 to 3% by volume. In addition to these molecules, there are solid and
liquid particles such as many types of dust, salt from the oceans, spores, pollen,
mist and clouds, raindrops, etc. The colloidal-sized particles (0.001-10 μm) are
often referred to as aerosols.

The atmosphere has no definite thickness; its density and pressure decrease more
or less exponentially with height above the surface. Traces of nitrogen and other
molecules can be found out to 500 km but
99% of the atmosphere is below 30 km and half is below 6 km. The lower region,
up to about 15 km, is called the troposphere. This is the region of strong convective
mixing due to solar heating of the ground surface. This region contains a large
fraction of the total atmospheric mass, particularly the trace gases, water vapor and
particulate matter. Essentially all clouds and ‘weather’ are in the troposphere.

Above the troposphere is the stratosphere (from about 15 to 50 km) where the
temperature rises again (due mainly to UVR absorption) to about -2ıC at 50 km.
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere (50- 85 km; temperature falling again to
about -90ıC) and beyond 85 km is the thermosphere where the temperature rises
again due to absorption of very high energy UVR (l < 100 nm) and X-rays (Fig 6).
 Fig. 6 Interaction of EMR with atmosphere

Source: http://www.kau.edu.sa

Scattering (Definition)
Scattering is an optical phenomenon where by the radiant energy, while interacting
with the atmosphere, deviate in all directions from its original path. Scattering
theory is a framework for understanding of scattering of waves and particles.
Scattering is the process by which "small particles suspended in a medium of a
different index of refraction diffuse a portion of the incident radiation in all
directions”. With scattering, there is no energy transformation, but a change in the
spatial distribution of the energy. Scattering, along with absorption, causes
attenuation problems with radar and other measuring devices.

Agents of Scattering
The incident solar radiation is reflected and scattered primarily by clouds (moisture
and ice particles) particulate matter (dust, haze, and smog) and various gases.
Atmospheric scattering disperses radiation in all directions. The important
scattering agents are gaseous molecules, suspended particulates aerosols and
clouds. Atmosphere modifies the frequency, intensity, the spectral distribution and
the direction of the incident radiation passing through it.
Effects of Scattering
Scattering of EMR by the atmospheric continents leads to adverse effect in Remote
Sensing .It reduces the image contrast, and it changes the reflectance
characteristics (spectral signature) of ground objects as seen by the sensor.

Types of scattering:
There are three main types of scattering

 Rayleigh scattering
 Mie Scattering
 Nonselective scattering

Rayleigh scattering (molecular scattering)

Rayleigh scattering occurs when the effective diameter of the matter (usually
air molecules) such as oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere are many times
smaller (usually < 0.1) then the wavelength of the incident electromagnetic
radiation. All scattering is accomplished through absorption and re-emission of
radiation by atoms or molecules of air particles. It is impossible to predict the
direction in which a specific atom or molecule will emit a photon, hence scattering.
The energy required to excite an atom is associated with short-wavelength and
high frequency radiation. The following graph shows the relation between
wavelength and intensity of scattered light Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 Plot of wavelength against intensity of scattered light

Source: Propagation, Dispersion and Scattering by Helen Amanda Fricker

The approximate amount of Rayleigh scattering in the atmosphere in optical
wavelength (0.4-0.7) may be computed using the Rayleigh scattering cross-section
ζ

ζ=8𝜋³(n²-1)²\3N²λ

Where n= refractive index

N= Number of air molecules per unit volume
λ= Wavelength
The effect of Rayleigh scattering is inversely proportional to the wavelength that is
shorter wavelengths are scattered more than the longer wavelengths. Most
Rayleigh scattering by gas molecules takes places in atmosphere 2 to 8 km above
the ground. Rayleigh scattering is responsible for blue appearance of the sky.

Fig. 8 Rayleigh scattering

Source: Propagation, Dispersion and Scattering by Helen Amanda Fricker

The shorter violet and blue wavelengths are more efficiently scattered than the
longer orange and red wavelengths. Rayleigh scattering is also responsible for red
sunset since the atmosphere is a thin shell of gravitationally bound gas surrounding
the solid Earth, sunlight must pass through a longer slant path of air at sunset than
at noon (Fig. 9).
 Fig.9 Redness of sun during sunset

Source: Propagation, Dispersion and Scattering by Helen Amanda Fricker

Since the violet and blue wavelength are scattered even more during their now
longer path through the air than when the sun is overhead what we see when we
look toward the sunset is the reside the wavelengths of sunlight that are hardly
scattered away all especially orange and blue (Fig. 8).

Mie Scattering
Mie scattering is also referred as non molecular or aerosol scattering. It generally
takes place when the molecular size of the atmosphere is equal to the size of the
wavelength or the incident energy. It normally takes place in the lower 4.5 km of
the atmosphere. This scattering is caused by particles with radius between 0.1 and
10 µm such as dust, smoke an aerosols. The amount of scatter is greater than
Rayleigh scatter and the wavelengths scattered are longer.

Higher amount of smoke and dust particles in the atmospheric column, the more
violet and blue light will be scattered away and only the longer orange and red
wavelength light will reach our eyes

Nonselective scattering
Nonselective scattering occurs when the atmospheric particle size is much greater
than the incident radiation. This particles generally bound in the lowest part of
atmosphere so nonselective scattering takes place in lower part of atmosphere. This
is called nonselective scattering as wavelengths of light are scatter, not just blue,
green or red. Thus the water droplets and ice crystals that make up clouds and
fogbanks scatter all wavelength of visible light equally well, causing the cloud to
appear white (Fig. 10).

Scattering can severely reduce the information content of remotely sensed data to
the point that the imagery looses contrast and it is difficult to differentiate one
object from another.

Fig.10 Visibility distortions because of clouds and fogbanks

Source: Propagation, Dispersion and Scattering by Helen Amanda Fricker

Absorption
Apart from scattering, the molecules in the atmosphere absorb solar radiation.
Most of the absorption occurs in broad bands in the IR region, i.e., l > 700 nm.
This is due to vibrational absorption, primarily by water vapor molecules and to a
lesser extent by CO2 molecules.

Since most of the water vapor is in the lower atmosphere, most of the IR
absorption occurs in the lower 5 km of the troposphere. Although the energy is
initially absorbed by the H2O and CO2 molecules, it is very rapidly (through
molecular collisions) converted to random kinetic energy (heat energy) of all the
molecules, resulting in warming of the lower atmosphere. In addition to vibrational
IR absorption, there is also electronic absorption by atmospheric molecules, almost
entirely by O2 and O3 (ozone) in the UV.

The small amount of very high energy UVR (l < 200 nm) and X-rays in solar
radiation is absorbed by the equally small amount of O2 and N2 in the
thermosphere and mesosphere (height > 50 km). Oxygen, and to a smaller extent
N2, absorbs strongly in this spectral region and the photon energy is sufficient to
both cleave, and ionize, the molecules as well as create excited electronic states.
Most of the solar radiation of l > 200 nm penetrates into the stratosphere where
there is further absorption by the increasing amount of O2.

Interaction of EMR with Earth's Surface

Electromagnetic radiation that passes through the earth's atmosphere without
being absorbed or scattered reaches the earth's surface to interact in different ways
with different materials constituting the surface.

Radiation is able to penetrate the materials and pass through it is said to be

transmitted. Most wavelength of visible light energy from sun is transmitted
through the atmosphere, allowing it to come in contact with earth's surface (Fig.
11).
 Fig.11 Interaction of EMR with Earth Surface

Source: http://remote-sensing.net/concepts.html

There are three ways in which the total incident energy will interact with earth's
surface materials. These are

 Absorption
 Transmission, and
 Reflection

How much of the energy is absorbed, transmitted or reflected by a material will

depend upon:
 Wavelength of the energy
 Material constituting the surface, and
 Condition of the feature.

Absorption:
Absorption of electromagnetic radiation is the way where energy of a photon is
taken up by matter. Thus, the electromagnetic energy is transformed into internal
energy of the absorber, for example thermal energy.

The reduction in intensity of a light wave propagating through a medium by

absorption of a part of its photons is often called attenuation. Usually, the
absorption of waves does not depend on their intensity (linear absorption),
although in certain conditions (usually, in optics), the medium changes its
transparency dependently on the intensity of waves going through, and saturable
absorption (or nonlinear absorption) occurs.

Measuring Absorption
The absorbance of the object is depended on the intensity of light absorbed
by the matter. Precise measurement of the absorbance at many wavelengths allows
the identification of substance via absorption spectroscopy, where a sample is
illuminated from one side and the intensity of light exiting from all the direction is
measured. Example, ultra-violet spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray
absorption spectroscopy.

Transmission
Transmission is the process by which incident radiation passes through matter
without measurable attenuation; the substance is thus transparent to the radiation.
Transmission through material media of different densities (e.g., air to water)
causes radiation to be refracted or deflected from a straight-line path with an
accompanying change in its velocity and wavelength; frequency always remains
constant.

Reflection
Reflection is a process in which energy is incident on the surface in such a way
angle of incidence is equal to angle of reflection. When electromagnetic energy is
incident on the surface, it may get reflected or scattered depending upon the
roughness of the surface relative to the wavelength of the incident energy. If the
roughness of the surface is less than the wavelength of the radiation or the ratio of
roughness to wavelength is less than 1, the radiation is reflected. When the ratio is
more than 1 or if the roughness is more than the wavelength, the radiation is
scattered.

Reflection from surfaces occurs in two ways:

  When the surface is smooth, we get a mirror-like or smooth reflection where
all (or almost all) of the incident energy is reflected in one direction. This is
called Specular Reflection and gives rise to images Fig 12(a).
 When the surface is rough, the energy is reflected uniformly in almost all
directions. This is called Diffuse Reflection and does not give rise to images
Fig 12(b).

Fig.12(a) Fig.12(b)

Specular Reflection Diffuse Reflection

Source: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/node/14637

Most surface features of the earth lie somewhere between perfectly specular or
perfectly diffuse reflectors. Whether a particular target reflects specular or
diffusely or somewhere in between, depends on the surface roughness of the
feature in comparison to the wavelength of the incoming radiation. If the
wavelengths are much smaller than the surface variations or the particle sizes that
make up the surface, diffuse reflection will dominate. For example, fine-grained
sand would appear fairly smooth to long wavelength microwaves but would appear
quite rough to the visible wavelengths.
Interaction of EMR with different material on Earth

Spectral Response of Materials:

By measuring the energy that is reflected (or emitted) by targets on the Earth's
surface over a variety of different wavelengths, we can build up a spectral
response for that object. The spectral response of a material to different
wavelengths of EMR can be represented graphically as a Spectral Reflectance
Curve.
It may not be possible to distinguish between different materials if we were to
compare their response at one wavelength. But by comparing the response patterns
of these materials over a range of wavelengths (in other words, comparing their
spectral reflectance curves), we may be able to distinguish between them. For
example, water and vegetation may reflect somewhat similarly in the visible
wavelengths but are almost always separable in the infrared (Fig. 14). Spectral
response can be quite variable, even for the same target type, and can also vary
with time (e.g. "green-ness" of leaves) and location.

Fig 14. Spectral reflectance curve of vegetation, soil water

Source:

http://www.seos-project.eu/modules/classification/classification-c00-p05.html
Vegetation:
A chemical compound in leaves called chlorophyll strongly absorbs radiation in
the red and blue wavelengths but reflects green wavelengths.

Leaves appear "greenest" to us in the summer, when chlorophyll content is at its

maximum. In autumn, there is less chlorophyll in the leaves, so there is less
absorption and proportionately more reflection of the red wavelengths, making the
leaves appear red or yellow (yellow is a combination of red and green
wavelengths) Fig 15.

Fig.15 Internal structure of leaf and its reflectance characteristic

Source: http://www.geol-amu.org/notes/mw4-2-4.htm

The internal structure of healthy leaves act as excellent diffuse reflectors of near-
infrared wavelengths. If our eyes were sensitive to near-infrared, trees would
appear extremely bright to us at these wavelengths. In fact, measuring and
monitoring the near-IR reflectance is one way that scientists can determine how
healthy (or unhealthy) vegetation may be.

Water:

Longer wavelength visible and near infrared radiation is absorbed more by water
than shorter visible wavelengths. Thus water typically looks blue or blue-green due
to stronger reflectance at these shorter wavelengths, and darker if viewed at red or
near infrared wavelengths.
If there is suspended sediment present in the upper layers of the water body, then
this will allow better reflectivity and a brighter appearance of the water. The
apparent color of the water will show a slight shift towards longer wavelengths.

Suspended sediment (S) can be easily confused with shallow (but clear) water,
since these two phenomena appear very similar. Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more
of the blue wavelengths and reflects the green, making the water appear greener in
colour when algae are present.

The topography of the water surface (rough, smooth, floating materials, etc.) can
also lead to complications for water-related interpretation due to potential
problems of specular reflection and other influences on colour and brightness.

We can see from these examples that, depending on the complex make-up of the
target that is being looked at, and the wavelengths of radiation involved, we can
observe very different responses to the mechanisms of absorption, transmission,
and reflection.

Soil
Soil Surface is brown to human eyes, as it is a combination of green and red EMR.
A very little amount of energy transmitted through soil and most of it is either
absorbed or reflected. In Soil surface, level of reflectance gradually increases with
the increase of wavelength in visible and IR regions. Fig. 16.

Fig.16 Spectral response curve of different type of soil

Source: http://www.geol-amu.org/notes/mw4-2-4.htm
Presence of soil moisture reduces the surface reflectance at all visible wavelength.
Reflectance at near infrared wavelength is also negatively to soil moisture. An
increase in soil moisture will result in rapid decrease in reflectance due to water.

A clay soil tends to have a strong structure which leads to a rough surface on
ploughing, causing shadows and lower reflectance. Sandy soil exhibits weak
structure which leads to fairly smooth surface.

Summary
Energy can be transferred from one matter to another matter by three basic
mechanisms that are conduction, convection and radiation. Radiation is energy that
comes from a source and travels through some materials or through space. All
materials radiate thermal energy based on the temperature, hotter the object more
radiation will occur. Electromagnetic radiation consists of electromagnetic waves,
which are synchronized oscillation of electric and magnetic field that travels with a
speed of light through vacuum. Electromagnetic Radiation interacts with particles
and gases in the atmosphere by the mechanism of scattering and absorption.

Scattering is an optical phenomenon where by the radiant energy, while interacting

with the atmosphere, deviate in all directions from its original path. Scattering can
be divided into Rayleigh scattering, Mie Scattering & Nonselective scattering.
Rayleigh scattering is responsible for blue appearance of the sky & for red sunset.
Due to the absorption of radiation through molecules in atmosphere, it results in
warming of the lower atmosphere.

Electromagnetic Radiation is able to penetrate the materials and pass through it is

said to be transmitted. Most wavelength of visible light energy from sun is
transmitted through the atmosphere, allowing it to come in contact with Earth's
surface. Absorption (A) occurs when radiation (energy) is absorbed into the target
while, Reflection (R) occurs when radiation "bounces" off the target and is
redirected.