Remote Sensing Tutorial - Overview

Remote Sensing Tutorial Overview Página 1 de 57
THE REMOTE SENSING TUTORIAL

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM SENSORS ON SATELLITES AND
SPACECRAFT THAT LOOK INWARD AT THE EARTH AND
OUTWARD AT THE PLANETS, THE GALAXIES AND, GOING
BACK IN TIME, THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE - THE COSMOS
PRIME DEVELOPER AND WRITER:
DR. NICHOLAS M. SHORT
(See Biographies near end of second Overview page)
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Before entering this Overview, ponder this slogan:
REMOTE SENSING is the BACKBONE of the

SPACE PROGRAM
Puzzled by these words? The Overview gives a glimpse into their meaning and significance!
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THIS ILLUSTRATION WAS USED FOR THE CD-ROM
- AVAILABLE ONLY AS DESCRIBED BELOW
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Front/overview.html 11/03/2009
BULLETIN
:
THE TUTORIAL HAS NOW BE DECLARED COMPLETE AS OF

October 31, 2008. THIS MEANS THAT IT WILL NO LONGER BE
UPDATED ROUTINELY BUT MAY BE REVISED ABOUT TWICE A
YEAR IN THE FUTURE.
SEE BELOW
WELCOME TO THIS TUTORIAL, a training manual for learning the role of that aspect of space science
and technology that uses remote sensing to monitor planetary bodies and distant stars and galaxies. (It
also serves to review the so-called space programs [U.S. and international] in general and the history of
space exploration in particular.) The Earth itself will be the main focus and has the most obvious payoff
for mankind. But while reaching to the edge of the Solar System and ultimately much farther out to the
edge of the Universe seems mostly "academic", we shall try to demonstrate why, in the long run, those
extraterrestrial endeavors that depend on remote sensing may make the greatest contributions to useful
knowledge of value to humankind's future.
This Overview has several purposes: 1) To describe the contents of the entire Tutorial with suggestions
on best ways to utilize it (whether accessed as a Web Site or from a CD-ROM, 2) To synopsize the basic
concepts underlying remote sensing; 3) To provide a brief synopsis of the history and uses of Remote
Sensing (especially as carried out from orbiting satellites and deep space probes, and 4) To look
especially at the major advances in remote sensing over the last 20 years. Elsewhere on this page, we
will expand on the following thesis which is the prime reason for the importance of Remote Sensing and
the raison d'etre for this Tutorial: Remote Sensing is the technology that is now the principal modus
operandi (tool) by which (as targets or objects of surveillance) the Earth's surface and
atmosphere, the planets, and the entire Universe are being observed, measured, and interpreted
from such vantage points as the terrestrial surface, earth-orbit, and outer space. The main
Overview ends with a quick look at the latest products now being acquired by commercial remote sensing
satellites. At the bottom of the second page are biographies and credits appropriate to the contributors.
We strongly recommend that you read through this entire Overview, which may strike you as a
hodgepodge of diverse topics and facts, since it will serve as a proper introduction to both the Tutorial
and to the many practical ways in which Remote Sensing and allied fields contribute to gathering
information about the many topics of interest to be examined in the Sections that follow.
NOTICE: SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THE TUTORIAL HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED FOR SCREEN DISPLAY AT 800 BY 600 PIXELS. IN RECENT YEARS, AN
INCREASING FRACTION OF THOSE WHO ACCESS IT HAVE SET THEIR DISPLAY AT HIGHER RESOLUTION. THE RESULT IS THAT THE ILLUSTRATIONS,
WHICH HAD BEEN PROPERLY SIZED AT THE LOWER RESOLUTION TO FIT MUCH OF THE SCREEN WIDTH, BECOME NOTABLY SMALLER (OFTEN MAKING
WORDING UNREADABLE). IF YOU HAVE A HIGHER RESOLUTION DISPLAY AND THE SIZE DECREASE IS A HINDRANCE TO USE, WE SUGGEST THAT YOU
RESET RESOLUTION TO THE 800 BY 600 PIXELS LEVEL.
SECOND NOTICE: THIS TUTORIAL WAS CONSTRUCTED USING WINDOWS XP BUT THE WRITER RECENTLY HAD ACCESS TO THE CD
VERSION ON AN APPLE COMPUTER. HE FOUND THAT ABOUT ONE IN EVERY TEN ILLUSTRATIONS FAILED TO COME ON SCREEN PROPERLY. IF YOU,
THE READER, ARE USING APPLE, THE SAME RESULT MAY OCCUR.
ADDITIONAL NOTICE :
BECAUSE OF A MIX-UP IN RECORD KEEPING, MANY OF THE IMAGES, PHOTOS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TUTORIAL THAT ARE NOT IN THE PUBLIC
DOMAIN MAY NOT BE CREDITED, OR IF SO, ARE NOT PROPERLY CREDITED. IF YOU ARE THE SOURCE OF ANY SUCH ILLUSTRATIONS AND YOU WISH
TO HAVE YOUR DESIRED CREDIT (NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC.) APPLIED TO THE IMAGE(S), OR YOU CHOOSE NOT TO HAVE THE ILLUSTRATION(S)
USED IN THIS TUTORIAL, PLEASE NOTIFY THE WRITER, NICHOLAS M. SHORT, AT THE EMAIL ADDRESS GIVEN NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. SEE
ALSO THE WHAT'S NEW PAGE IN THE 'FRONT' FOLDER.
OVERVIEW: HOW TO USE THIS TUTORIAL AND A SYNOPSIS OF

THE PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING.
Before proceeding into the main subject of the Overview - what remote sensing is and does - we ask you
to read through the next few paragraphs which provide a background into how the Tutorial came to be,
how you should use it, and how it fits into a computer format. We start with 7 Notes that are informative
comments.
NOTE 1: Most of the pages in the Tutorial will have a Summary for each page, bounded by blue
lines, near the top.
NOTE 2: The Tutorial has been prepared for online display using the HomeSite html marker
program; it is designed to run on the MS Internet Explorer browser. For some, the balance
between text and illustration size may be best at the monitor screen setting of 600 by 800 pixels,
used by the writer [NMS] to prepare the text. Also, see IMPORTANT NOTICE above.
NOTE 3: There are many internal links in the Tutorial: These are cross-references that go to other
pages and are indicated by blue-highlighted words such as "page #-#". They are for the most part
intended to go to one specific page, on which (somewhere) is the particular image or text referred
to in the starting page. To return to the original page, simply click on your browser BACK button.
Similar are external links to pertinent Internet sites (regrettably, some sites may now be defunct).
NOTE 4: Some images in the Tutorial appear degraded. Many of these were downloaded off the
Internet and have lost quality when reprocessed for use in the Tutorial. Others were copies from
photos or other sources on the writer's scanner, and are thus also blurred somewhat. And,
frequently the writer makes comments about what can be seen in a remote sensing image, but
viewers may have trouble seeing the same things in their screen version. For such cases, the
writer had access to image transparencies, in which (on a light table) the improved illumination
favors better visualization of small features.
NOTE 5: This Overview was begun in 1995. Its initial content was much less than what now fills
these two pages. Over the next 13+ years a great deal of new information was gleaned from
various sources - mainly from the Internet. IN FACT, this entire Tutorial has been expanded
largely from Internet sources, so it is fair to say that the document is "new age" in that it owes
much of its content to online material. (The writer [NMS] now lives in a small town away from his
former NASA colleagues and has to depend on the Internet for most new input). Much of that
material has been inserted in various appropriate Sections of the Tutorial but some was deemed
best suited to inclusion in this Overview. However, as the writer reads through the Overview now,
he concludes that it,, like most of the main body of the Tutorial, has grown like "topsy" and may
strike some readers as somewhat disjointed. If so, despite its plethora of information that is
designed to aid users in learning about the scope and value of the many applications of remote
sensing, the writer asks your indulgence in any seeming ramblings.
NOTE 6: In keeping with scientific convention and the intended worldwide use of this Tutorial, we
normally specify measurements in metric system units (SI), especially those for the
electromagnetic spectrum and other units in physics. We will place English unit equivalents in
parentheses where appropriate or to clarify, particularly when dealing with geographic
parameters.)
SPECIAL NOTE: THE PRINCIPAL AUTHOR OF THIS TUTORIAL, DR. NICHOLAS M. SHORT
(hereafter, referred to, in most instances, as NMS), IS NOW RETIRED AND IS NO LONGER AT OR
NEAR NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. HE CONTINUES TO RECEIVE MANY E-MAIL
REQUESTS FOR IMAGERY AND INFORMATION ON WHERE TO GET SPECIFIC PRODUCTS OR
REFERENCES. IN MANY CASES, HE CANNOT SATISFY SUCH REQUESTS BUT WHENEVER
POSSIBLE WILL TRY TO ANSWER CERTAIN TECHNICAL QUESTIONS OR TO SUGGEST OTHERS
TO CONTACT. HE IS ESPECIALLY UNWILLING TO RESPOND TO INDIVIDUALS, MOSTLY
STUDENTS, WHO WANT HIM TO DO THEIR HOMEWORK FOR THEM.
For many years, NMS has made upon request (over the Internet) a CD-ROM version that was sold for
$20 to cover the costs of producing and mailing. As of September 2007 the CD will ordinarily no longer
be available EXCEPT TO UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS WHO AGREE TO USE IT AS A TEXT OR
SUPPLEMENTARY TEXT FOR THEIR CLASSES (A SINGLE MASTER CD WILL BE PROVIDED,
FROM WHICH COPIES MAY BE FREELY MADE). However, if you feel you have a strong need for the
CD, and my health permits, contact me at my email address (nmshort2@verizon.net) and I will discuss
with you the possibilities.
THE REMOTE SENSING TUTORIAL (occasionally cited as RST) initially was sponsored by the now
defunct Applied Information Science Branch (Code 935) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and for
a time was also underwritten by the U.S. Air Force Academy. For the past several years it was ex officio
sponsored by the Earth Observation Systems (EOS) program at Goddard. Currently without any funding,
the RST is being improved and updated by the prime writer (NMS), who is doing this as a proverbial
"labor of love" and as a means of keeping mentally active in retirement. Since 2005 the host for the
Tutorial has been the Landsat Program Science Office. Recent Webmasters John Bolton and Laura
Rocchio of NASA Goddard have also contributed their time without direct support in order to maintain the
RST's currency. The writer is grateful to NASA and to his helpful Goddard colleagues for
continuing to provide the host server and other aid that permits the RST to reside on the Internet.
At your convenience, please take time to visit two pages accessed from the buttons above. The first is a
very important Dedication and Foreword. Then, read through the WHAT'S NEW text accessed by the
button at the top right of this long page. That text notes that the Tutorial now includes links to several
video "movies" that those (with higher speed access) can visit to learn about a variety of topics. The
instructions are on this WHAT'S NEW page. That page also contains a notice about an on-going problem
with image source accreditation.
As you work through these pages, you will see how users such as yourself can apply remote sensing (a
term defined in connection with Question O-1, then further below, and again at the beginning of the
Introduction Section; but for the moment try this phrase as a working definition: "The use of electronic
sensors [or photography] to produce images [pictures] of objects/scenes located in the field of view") to
the study of the land, sea, air and biotic communities that comprise our planet's environments, as well as
the principal means for obtaining a deep understanding of the vital role it plays in exploring the planets
and reaching the stars and galaxies well out into the Cosmos. Not only will you gain insight into past uses
of aerial photography and space imagery, but you should develop skills in interpreting these visual
displays and data sets by direct inspection and by computer processing.
The Tutorial has been developed for certain groups as the primary users: Faculty and students at the
college level; Science teachers at the High School level; gifted or interested students mainly from the 8-
12 grade levels; professionals in many fields where remote sensing comes into play, who need insights
into what this technology can do for them; that segment of the educated general public who are curious
about or intrigued with the many accomplishments of the space program that have utilized remote
sensing from satellites, space stations, and interplanetary probes to monitor and understand surface
features and processes on Earth and other bodies in the solar system and beyond. (Most members of
these user groups who access this very long Tutorial through the Internet are likely to be on fast-
download lines and hence can retrieve individual pages [which can have 15 or more illustrations] rapidly
enough for easy and efficient display.)
The central aim of The Remote Sensing Tutorial is to familiarize, and in so doing instruct, you as to what
remote sensing is, what its applications are, and what you need to know in order to interpret and,
hopefully, use the data/information being acquired by satellite, air, and ground sensors. We try to
accomplish this by presenting a very large number of remote sensing products as images which are
described in a running text that explains their characteristics and utility. This Internet means of delivery of
the Tutorial is thus image intensive. The abundance of pictorials becomes the principal learning device
rather than the more customary dependence on textual description, supported by photographs, found in
most pedagogical textbooks. The old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words" holds especially
true in remote sensing because it can convey, when accompanied by a brief textual commentary, a great
deal about how remote sensing is done and the methodology/rationale by which information is gleaned
from a pictorial product. The RST Internet format has one obvious advantage over standard textbooks - it
can use literally hundreds of color photos and images and thus is not limited to the few permitted in those
books because of cost constraints.
The Internet is a prime source for information on almost every aspect of remote sensing. Many sites offer
good overviews of satellite remote sensing. One that has recently appeared, and provides an excellent
synopsis of the main principles and applications, has been constructed by the Canadian Center for
Remote Sensing. Click here if you want to view it now, or at your leisure. Another of special merit is the
Remote Sensing Core Curriculum, project which highlights a new educational approach now under
development. A comprehensive Tutorial written by S.C. Liew of the University of Singapore is worth a
visit. A somewhat briefer review has been prepared by Harrison and Jupp. Several other sites that have
some helpful tutorial information are: University of Colorado website; NOAA Web site; Towson St. Univ.
site; OhioView site. A recent NASA-supported initiative in curriculum development is described at the
Geospatial Information Technology website of the University of Mississippi.
Another site that emphasizes remote sensing and imagery is the Eduspace program sponsored by the
European Space Agency (ESA). The site can be accessed by clicking on Eduspace links. Be advised
that to get into some of the features at this site, you must be able to register as a member of a teaching
institution - primary through college. It has an abundance and variety of links, many of which are worth
exploring at some stage in your use of this Tutorial.
For a broad perspective on how remote sensing has flourished in the last 30 years, one needs only to
check out the still growing number of U.S. and International organizations - government, university, and
private - that are largely concerned with various facets of remote sensing. A listing of most of these is
found at this site: CCRS For those who might wish to build or expand their knowledge and background in
several sciences that are relevant to remote sensing, we strongly recommend exploring the PSIGate site
maintained by the University of Manchester (England) that has many useful links in Astronomy, Earth
Science, and Physics.
The Remote Sensing Tutorial that you are now accessing may well be the first such "(Text)book" on
remote sensing to contain a significant part of its illustrations acquired directly from downloading off the
Net.. The writer (NMS) has used these downloaded illustrations as the keystone for constructing the
Tutorial. The running text is geared towards explaining or elaborating on the illustrations.
Because of its size and the many illustrations, the Tutorial can be treated almost as a textbook. It is
hoped that some teachers, especially at the college level, will elect to use the Tutorial either as a bona
fide text or as a supplement. One pedagogical tool in the learning process is repetition. As hinted at in
Note 5, the structure of the Tutorial seems tautological (repetitious). This is deliberate: the same
information in more detail, or even a repeat of an illustration, represents a) a reminder, b) a clarification,
and/or c) a expansion of the ideas inherent to the information. Various topics throughout the Tutorial will
follow this kind of hierarchy: 1) they appear briefly in this Overview; 2) they may be treated again,in more
detail in the Introduction; 3) they may reappear in various Sections of the Tutorial; and 4) in some
instances, they may warrant elevation to a level requiring a full Section to explore. Cross-referencing by
links helps to establish relationships and continuity.
One singular characteristic of the Remote Sensing Tutorial is the inclusion within the continuing text of
each Section (not at the end of a chapter as is the case in most textbooks) of a series of thought or
interpretive questions. The answers are accessed by clicking on the blue ANSWER button; give it a try
before you look. There will normally be 10 to 40+ questions per Section. This Overview has a get-
acquainted short Quiz consisting of only a half dozen questions pertaining to a set of images; its purpose
is to help you decide whether you want to "get involved" in the learning experience afforded by the
remainder of the Tutorial by showing you what image analysis and interpretation is all about and that your
general background knowledge is probably sufficient for you to succeed in this process. There are also
two "Exams" (at the close of Section 1 and Section 21) and a scene identification Quiz within Section 6
that challengeS you to conduct remote sensing interpretations on images from two adjacent areas in
central Pennsylvania. Lets introduce you to the type of questions to expect by asking this one right now.
O-1: Most people, even those with a good post high school education, when asked what the term
"remote sensing" means to them, don't have the remotest idea. So, what do you think remote
sensing is all about? Try to make up a simple definition. Then, list (mentally, or on paper) five
practical applications of remote sensing as you defined it. ANSWER
Now, following the above announcements, on to the main topics making up this Overview.
WHAT'S IN THE TUTORIAL
In the past 30 or so years, remote sensing has become a full-fledged discipline with thousands now
holding jobs related to its use/applications. Almost all universities now offer one to several courses in the
field, along with related courses such as Geographic Information Systems. The Remote Sensing Tutorial
is itself almost a complete course. It serves as its own textbook. But for the learner, it may only be a
supplement to other sources of information.
Here is a list of well-known textbooks that detail most of the fundamentals and applications of Earth
Remote Sensing:
z Avery, T.E. and Berlin, G.L., Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Airphoto Interpretation, 6th Ed.,
2001, MacMillan Publ. Co., 472 pp.
z Campbell, J.B., Introduction to Remote Sensing,3rd Ed., 2002, The Guilford Press
z Drury, S.A., Image Interpretation in Geology, 2nd Ed., 1993, Chapman & Hall, 243 pp.
z Drury, S.A., A Guide to Remote Sensing: Interpreting Images of the Earth, 1998, Oxford University
Press.
z Drury, S.A., Images of the Earth: A Guide to Remote Sensing, 2nd Ed., 1998, Oxford University
Press, 212 pp.
z Jensen, J.R., Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective, 2nd Ed.,
1996, Prentice-Hall.
z Jensen, J.R, Remote Sensing of the Environment, 2000, Prentice-Hall
z Kramer, H., Observation of the Earth and its Environment: Survey of Missions and Sensors, 4th
Ed., 2002, Springer-Verlag
z Kuehn, F. (Editor), Introductory Remote Sensing Principles and Concepts, 2000, Routledge, 215
pp.
z Lillesand, T.M. Kiefer, R.W., and Chipman, J.W., Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation, 5th
Ed., 2004, J. Wiley & Sons, 720 pp.
z Rees, W.G., Physical Principles of Remote Sensing, 2nd Ed., 2001, Cambridge University Press.
z Richards, J.A. and Jia, X, Remote Sensing Digital Image Analysis: an Introduction, 1999, Springer-
Verlag
z Sabins, Jr., F.F., Remote Sensing: Principles and Interpretation. 3rd Ed., 1996, W.H. Freeman &
Co., 496 pp.
z Siegal, B.S. and Gillespie, A.R., Remote Sensing in Geology, 1980, J. Wiley& Sons (especially
Chapters 1 through 11)
z Swain, P.H. and Davis, S.M., Remote Sensing - the Quantitative Approach, 1978, McGraw-Hill
Book Co.
After this list was compiled, in mid-2007 the writer (NMS) received a copy of the following remarkable
book, especially noteworthy for its numerous color illustrations: Aronson, S., Remote Sensing for GIS
Managers, 2005, ESRI Press, Redlands, Calif.
An excellent blending of remote sensing imagery, ground photos, maps, and other types of geographic
information is found in the Atlas of North America: A Space Portrait of a Continent, published by the
National Geographic Society (1986). The NGS has since published a world atlas using space imagery.
Also of value are these Periodicals devoted largely to remote sensing methods and applications:
z Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing

z Earth Observation Magazine
z Geocarto International
z IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.
z International Journal of Remote Sensing.
z Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing.
z Remote Sensing of the Environment
Other sources of basic information about remote sensing are the writer's (NMS) still relevant 1982 NASA
Publication RP 1078: The LANDSAT TUTORIAL WORKBOOK; MISSION TO PLANET EARTH:
LANDSAT VIEWS THE WORLD, co-authored with Paul D. Lowman, Jr, Stanley C. Freden, and William
C. Finch, Jr (now out-of-print but in some libaries); THE HCMM ANTHOLOGY, NASA SP-465; and (co-
authored with Robert Blair, Jr) GEOMORPHOLOGY FROM SPACE, NASA SP-486.
To expand upon the remarks at the beginning of the Overview, one prime purpose of this Tutorial is to be
a learning resource for college students, as well as for individuals now in the work force who require
indoctrination in the basics of space-centered remote sensing. In both instances the objective is to offer a
background that will actually be useful in current or eventual job performance to those who may need to
provide input information obtainable from remote sensing into day-to-day operations. We also think the
Tutorial can be an invaluable resource for pre-college (mostly Secondary School) teachers who want to
build a background in the essential contributions of the space program to society so as to better teach
their students (many of whom should also be capable of working through the main ideas in the Tutorial).
Our hope is that this survey of Satellite Remote Sensing will attract and inspire a few individuals from the
world community who might consider a specialized career in this field or in the broader fields allied with
Earth System Science (ESS) and the Environment (see below). An additional goal is to interest and
inform the general public about the principles and achievements of remote sensing, with emphasis on
demonstrated applications.
A solid way to appreciate how the RST goes about meeting these goals is to skim through its Table of
Contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
Overview of this Remote Sensing Tutorial; "Getting Acquainted" Quiz
Introduction to Remote Sensing: Technical and Historical Perspectives; Special Applications such as
Geophysical Satellites, Military Surveillance, and Medical Imaging
Section:
1. Image Processing and Interpretation: Morro Bay, California; First Exam
2. Geologic Applications: Stratigraphy; Structure; Landforms
3. Vegetation Applications: Agriculture; Forestry; Ecology
4. Urban and Land Use Applications
5. Mineral and Oil Resource Exploration:
6. Flight Across the United States: Boston to San Francisco; Quiz; World Tour
7. Regional Studies: Use of Mosaics from Landsat
8. Radar and Microwave Remote Sensing
9. The Warm Earth: Thermal Remote Sensing
10. Aerial Photography as Primary and Ancillary Data Sources
11. The Earth's Surface in 3-Dimensions: Stereo Systems and Topographic Mapping
12. The Human Remote Senser in Space: Astronaut Photography
13. Collecting Data at the Surface: Ground Truth; the "Multi" Concept; Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
14. The Water Planet: Meteorological, Oceanographic and Hydrologic Remote Sensing
15. Geographic Information Systems: The GIS Approach to Decision Making
16. Earth Systems Science; Earth Science Enterprise; and the EOS Program
17. Use of Remote Sensing in Basic Science Studies I: Mega-Geomorphology
18. Basic Science Studies II: Impact Cratering
19. Planetary Remote Sensing: The Exploration of Extraterrestrial Bodies
20. Cosmology: Remote Sensing Systems that provide observations on the Content, Origin, and
Development of the Universe
21. Remote Sensing into the 21st Century; Outlook for the Future; Final Exam
Appendix A: Modern History of Space
Appendix B: Interactive Image Processing
Appendix C: Principal Components Analysis
Appendix D: Glossary
Unlike a formal course in the subject, with chapters covering principles, techniques and applications in a
pedagogic and systematic way, we lead you through a series of Sections focused on one to several
relevant themes and topics. Because we can represent most remote sensing data as visuals, we will our
organize our instructional treatment around illustrations, such as space images, classifications, maps,
and plots, rather than numerical data sets. These data sets are the real knowledge base for application
scientists in putting this information to practical use. (Much of this material has been acquired by direct
downloading off the Internet. We are grateful to the source organizations and individuals but, for the most
part, we do not acknowledge each contribution per se.) Descriptions and discussions accompany these
illustrations to aid in interpreting the visual concepts. "Standard" space images, particularly those from
Landsat sensors, are usually the focal points of a Section, but we frequently add special computer
processed renditions with ground photos that depict features in a scene and descriptive maps where
appropriate.
We also call out numerous links to other remote sensing sources and to various continuing or planned
programs. Some of these programs are federal or international programs such as ESE, whereas, others
are programs from educational or commercial organizations that provide training and services. These
links, in turn, have their own sets of links, which, as you explore them, will broaden your acquaintance
with the many facets of remote sensing and its popular applications.
Perusal through the Introduction and Sections 1, 8 and 9 is the minimum effort we suggest if you
want to master the basics.
The Tutorial begins with an Introduction, which covers the principles of physics (especially
electromagnetic radiation) underlying remote sensing, then considers the main kinds of observing
platforms, and includes the history of satellite systems, with a focus on Landsat. Many of the subsequent
Sections and topics center on Landsat because it continues to be a kingpin among the current remote
sensing systems. This Introduction also delves into three special topics: Use of satellites for geophysical
measurements of Earth's force fields; a survey of satellite programs (military and security agencies)
employed in monitor activities detrimental to a country's safety (these are often called "spy satellites), and
the applications of intruments and techniques within the purview of remote sensing that are used in
medical diagnosis.
This last topic may seem a bit strange as part of this Tutorial, which deals almost entirely with remote
sensing data from satellites and spacecraft that look inwardly at Earth and outward at the heavens. But,
medical remote sensing (or "medical imaging") has been around for 100 years. For most people, use of
medical instruments that examine the bodies of humans and their pets by means of electromagnetic
radiation or force fields is the application of remote sensing of greatest personal familiarity and value in
their lives. We treat this subject in three review pages in the Introduction. For now, let's just look at two
examples of the sensing of the human body using X-rays. The first image shows an x-ray radiograph of a
diseased lung; the second is a CAT Scan (CAT = Computer Assisted Tomography) slice through the
midsection of a torso showing the labelled organs:
The first Section (1) is one of the key chapters in this Tutorial because we try to introduce most of the
major concepts of image analysis and interpretation by walking you through the product types and
processing outputs in common use, using a single subscene as the focus. That subscene is a Landsat
Thematic Mapper (TM) image of Morro Bay, California. (Landsat refers to the 6 spacecraft that became
the "workhorse" remote sensing system flown in space since 1972.) This is what it looks like in a false
color rendition:
Images such as this are readily analyzed and interpreted by computer-based processing programs. One
ultimate goal in image processing is to produce a classification map of the identifiable features or classes
of land cover in a scene. In Section 1 we examine various ways of enhancing a scene's appearance and
end with a supervised classification of the surface features we choose as meaningful to our intended use.
Here is the classification of Morro Bay:
Sections 2 through 5 deal with major applications of remote sensing. Section 6, although not essential to
understanding the principles of the several types of remote sensing, deserves your attention simply
because it covers a topic of general interest: familiar places associated with geographic regions and
natural/manmade features in the U.S. and the rest of the World. It's a bit like a "travelogue" that takes you
on an excursion first across the United States and then to a variety of locales in all continents (except the
Antarctic). And it has this meritorious attribute: It's FUN to run through!
Section 8 is concerned with another mode of remote sensing, the use of radar and passive microwave.
Seasat was the first civilian spacecraft that was dedicated to radar imaging. Radar has been flown
several times on the U.S. Space Shuttle. This X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image (SIR-C
mission) of Hong Kong is typical of this type of imagery:
A later Shuttle flight - the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) - acquired both C-band and X-band
images; these were utilized in calculating topographic altitudes. This SRTM image of Patagonia, Chile is
assigned colors that correspond to ranges in altitude:
Section 9 focuses on the increasing use of thermal infrared imagery obtained both from aircraft- and
spacecraft-mounted sensors that operate mainly in two spectral regions: 3-5 µm and 8-12 µm. Here we
will look at two modes of operation. Both images were acquired by the ASTER instrument on NASA's
Terra. The top is a 3.8 µm image taken at night, showing the coastline of Eritrea in eastern Africa. At
night, water is normally warmer than much of the land, so it appears as a lighter tone than most of the
land. The bottom image is a multispectral color composite of three bands in the 8-10 µm range. The area
shown is the Saline Valley of eastern California (near Death Valley); most of the colors in this image can
be related to rock types (silicates, carbonates, etc.).
Sections 10 and 11 touch upon some of the topics that are included in course on aerial photography.
Section 12 examines the topic of photography from space platforms like the Space Shuttle conducted by
onboard astronauts.
In Section 13, after a review of the methods of and necessity of "Ground Truth", you are introduced to the
concepts of spectroscopy and, more particularly, hyperspectral remote sensors (this is also discussed on
page Intro-24. Hyperspectral sensors are revolutionizing the ability of remote sensing to make accurate
and precise measurements of individual materials (e.g., rock types; plant species) using "spectrometers"
operating on the ground, from the air, and now from space. Such a sensor is capable of imaging in
narrow spectral width bands (typically 0.01 to 0.02 micrometers) over a broad, continuous range of the
visible-Near Infrared spectrum. The basis for hyperspectral remote sensing is implied in this figure:
The resulting data set produces a detailed spectral signature (a plot of wavelengths versus some
intensity function such as reflectance; see below on this page) for various features or classes within a
scene which can be used to better identify these classes, often, in the case of composition of rocks or
varieties of vegetation, leading to much higher accuracy in separating and discriminating the classes.
This signature can be compared with numerous signatures for the classes/materials acquired on the
ground (so-called "ground truth") on in the laboratory (this can be done automatically with signature
banks stored in a computer). To appreciate this grand "leap forward", compare the two spectral plots in
this figure - the upper one is the "crude" spectral signature of a specific substance made with the 4 MSS
bands on Landsat; the lower the hyperspectral equivalent signature:
Many examples of hyperspectral signatures, images, and applications are starting to appear in the
literature and on the Internet. One of the first systems used for airborne hyperspectral surveying is JPL's
AVIRIS. Narrow spectral bands (equivalent to individual absorption bands in the detailed spectral
signature) between 1.0 µm and 2.5µm are particularly sensitive to key diagnostic inflections of the
spectral curve obtained. Sulphides, oxides, carbonates, etc. among ore minerals and alteration products
can be pinpointed by their characteristic wavelengths such that individual mineral species can be
identified. Here is an AVIRIS image of part of Cuprite, NV made from 3 longer wavelength bands:
Using appropriate analytical techniques, these different minerals can be highlighted after identification at
specific locations, with other materials blacked out, thus producing a mineral distribution map of minerals
that are specific ore guides. Thus:
A NASA satellite - EO-1, the first in the New Millenium series - hosts the first hyperspectral sensor
(Hyperion) flown on a satellite. The sensor uses advanced technology to subdivide the spectrum between
0.4 and 2.5 µm into 220 channels. It also carried the ALI (Advanced Land Imager), a higher resolution
sensor which consists of 9 broader bands in the Vis-NearIR. To gain a sense of how images made by the
two sensors are similar, yet different, here is a scene in a mineralized district of Nevada as portrayed in
bands 5, 4, 3 of the ALI and three narrow bands in the Hyperion sensor (bottom):
And, to gain a feel for how well a scene can be classified using a large number of bands (channels), we
show on the left a Landsat TM scene of a forest in which only the broad differentiation of tree types can
be made and on the right a Hyperion-based classification that convincingly demonstrates the degree to
which individual tree species can be identified:
The emergence of hyperspectral sensors flown on both aircraft and spacecraft greatly increases
the analysis capability in remote sensing, owing to the ability to generate a detailed spectral
curve by dispersing the sensed electromagnetic radiation onto a large number of CCDs (charge-
coupled detectors) which are resampled in microseconds, that may well be the most important
new tool in earth-observing systems in the last ten years.
Satellites concerned with meteorological, oceanographic, and hydrologic phenomena constitute the
largest number of Earth-observing platforms (Section 14). Readers of this Tutorial are certainly familiar
with the Visible, Infrared, and Radar images of local, regional, continental, and hemispheric images of
realtime weather systems moving in their vicinity because today's area-specific Newscasts use and show
relevant images during the Weather segment of the programs. These Metsat (a general term for
meteorological satellites) images are for most people the most commonly encountered satellite data
presented to the general public. For instance, this is an Accuweather image (Near Infrared) of the cloud
distribution in the United States on June 30, 2002 (this weather imagery is updated hour by hour and can
be easily accessed on the Internet):
An obvious advantage, and PRIME USE, of satellite imagery is its "immediacy" of acquisition - images
are available in near real time, and the areas covered can be re-examined over short and long periods.
Change detection is thus one of the most common uses for repetitive satellite imagery. This is obviously
important in meteorological studies but particularly so when a storm, or other weather aberrations, leads
to a disaster of major proportions (thus Diaster Monitoring is a application of imagery from space).
Abnormal weather events are at the top of the list for this kind of death-causing and property-destroying
happening. A clear example of this was Hurricane Charley which hit the West Florida coast south of
Tampa as a Category 4 (winds in excess of 120 mph) storm on August 14, 2004, killing 19 and causing
more than 14 billion dollars in damage. This was one of four major hurricane to hit parts of Florida in
2004. Various satellites provided images of the storm at various stages of its advance (eventually up the
East Coast into New England played out as a weak tropical disturbance). We show here a MODIS image
of Charley as it hit the Florida coast.
2005 has proved to be another very active hurricane season. By far the most notable was Hurricane
Katrina which first hit Miami, then passed over Florida into the Gulf of Mexico turning north as a Category
5 that eventually hit Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on August 29, 2005 to become probably the
most destructive within the United States since meteorological records began to be kept systematically.
Below is a NOAA view of the hurricane in the Gulf. But a much fuller account is given on page Page 14-
10.
Hurricane Ike, which hit the Texas coast near Galveston on September 12, 2008, was a massive
Category 2 storm which produced sea surge waves up to 16 feet. The storm was huge, areawise,
covering most of the Gulf of Mexico. More than a million people evacuated low-lying areas, including
parts of Houston that flooded. Satellite coverage of the storm was almost minute-to-minute. The surge
wiped out entire communities along the coast.
Less well known to the general public, but of great importance in understanding and predicting weather
and climate on a global basis, are on-going measurements of oceanographic physical states. These, too,
are investigated in Section 14 as satellites that obtain marine data are described. Here is a map of global
ocean temperatures for a 3-day period in early June, 2002 as determined by Aqua, a mainstay of the
Earth Observing System (EOS) program:
Section 16 also deserves your careful reading. It treats an on-going program (EOS) started in the 1980's
that involves not only NASA but nearly all of the space agencies worldwide as well as environmental
organizations from most of the nations now in the UN. Specifically treated are the status and results of
several very sophisticated satellites - especially Terra and Aqua - that are part of the U.S.'s Earth
Science Enterprise. This program, including satellites being launched by other countries, will peak during
the first decade of the 21st Century but long range missions extend well into the new Millenium. The fleet
of satellites is dedicated to supporting a new field of science, known as Earth System Science. That is a
multidisciplinary approach to study of Earth at a global as well as regional scales. Particularly involved
are oceanographers, meteorologists/climatologists, biologist/botanists, geologists/volcanologists,
environmentalists/ ecologist,physicists, chemists, and even sociologists, economists, and members of the
legal profession. To learn more about these programs prior to working through Section 16, check this
link: Earth Science Enterprise.
The first part of Section 16 considers the "hottest" topic going today - Climate Change and its corollary,
Global Warming. Satellites, both meteorological and more generally, earth-observing play a vital role in
monitoring regional conditions that provide key clues about temperature variations and their
concommitant effects. As an example, here is a satellite-derived plot of melting along the periphery of
Greenland in 2005:
We shall see that observations made by Landsat, SPOT, the Metsats and oceanographic satellites,
Terra, Aqua, and many other satellites described both below and elsewhere in the RST have a very
valuable functional asset: There are now enough of these in active orbits to cover almost the entire globe
a number of times each day. (Good views are limited mainly by cloud cover.) Thus, timely (updated)
information about continuing events can often be monitored successfully. Monitoring these over time
illustrate one value of repetitive satellite coverage.
One example of monitoring short-term events that can be calamitous is coverage of dangerous fires. In
August of 2007, a series of fires (most suspiciously set by arsonists) occurred over much of Greece. The
region was tinder-dry owing to a severe summer drought. Whole villages were destroyed and at least 63
lives were taken. Here is a Terra MODIS image of these fires:
Terra's "sister ship", Aqua, has a sensor, OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument), that can image aerosols.
This next illustration shows OMI's detection of smoke from the Greek fires imaged on two successive
days, which exemplifies the Change Detection capabilties of earth-observing satellites:
Two more examples focus on U.S. fires; these resulted from very dry vegetation in the continuing drought
affecting the West. First are two NOAA-15 (meteorological satellite) images. These depict the great
wildfire (more than 470,000 acres burned) that raged for weeks from June into July of 2002 in eastern
Arizona. The top covers a wide area of the desert Southwest. Acquired on June 20, 2002, this image has
been processed to highlight the fire areas in red. The Arizona fire is sending smoke northeastward
towards a second fire near Mesaverde, Colorado. In the bottom image, another set of bands on NOAA-
15 were combined to show a false color composite that displays the two Arizona fires, Cheldiski (west)
and Rodeo (east) before they had coalesced. Proximity to the town of Show Low (population 8000)
suggests its citizenry had to be evacuated; exceptional efforts by the 2000+ firefighters saved it.
2003 started out as an average fire year until disaster struck southern California in October. Fires started
both naturally and by arson in very dry forestlands and brushlands were influenced by Chinook winds
(hot dry air coming south from the desert) and began to build, coalesce and move on populated areas. As
of November 28, more than 950000 acres had been burned over, 4800+ homes destroyed, and at least
22 people killed. This MODIS image capture the wide extent of the blazes but does not show clearly their
severity and destruction:
The fires described above all fall in the Disaster category. But some fires are deliberately set, and this is
allowed, because they are part of a common practice followed for centuries. Thus, harvested crop stalks
are burned off to prepare for the next planting (or to enrich the soil, which really doesn't happen). Or,
forests can be burning as part of land reclamation or clearing. Sometimes these fires get out of hand, and
grow uncontrolled; mostly, they are contained and just burn out over the area chosen for this action. Here
is a MODIS image (January 2007) of a large area in southeast Asia where hundreds of set fires are
visible.
Remote sensing is pertinent to basic science studies. Sections 17 (Geomorphology [Landforms]) and 18
(Impact Craters) - two fields in which the writer has specialized - give examples of how space imagery
has been used in scientific analysis of these features on the Earth's surface.
Sections 19 and 20 - Planetary Remote Sensing, and Cosmology - also are best described as science
topics. It is likely self-evident that the study of outer space - the Planets and the Cosmos - using remote
sensors as the prime tool has a direct and vital bearing on how we humans need to understand the
Universe beyond. One of the most famous of all pictures taken from Space - the view of Earth from
above the Moon as Apollo 8 passed overhead at Christmastime in 1968 - is reproduced here as a
reminder that humankind's quest for knowledge now links our planet and to those beyond it in the Solar
System. By inference this exploration hints that there are most probably other planetary systems in
faraway galaxies.
A moment's digression for an oddity: On November 23, 2003, a transient incident took place that ties in
both the planets and Cosmology (in the narrow sense of one star, our Sun) that also relates to the short-
term change detection capability of satellite remote sensing just considered in the California fires
examples above. On this date, a total eclipse of the Sun by the Moon took place in the high latitudes of
the southern hemisphere. Visible from the Antarctic continent, the eclipse looked like this:
Amazingly, at the time of totality, the Aqua satellite was orbiting near the South Pole and was able to
image the icy surface of the Antarctic in "real time" so as to capture the shadow caused by the Moon's
blocking of sunlight as it proceeded across the continent:
The reviews in Section 19 and 20 elucidate what Science has learned about these fascinating other
worlds (planets, satellites, and asteroids) and about the stars and galaxies and their origins. While these
topics seemingly stray from the main Tutorial theme focusing on the Remote Sensing of Earth, they offer
an in-depth summary of the main achievements in the exploration of our Solar System and the Universe
beyond. This exploration has been the centerpiece of the U.S., Russian, and now other space programs
and has relied heavily on remote sensing techniques (using not only the same wavelength intervals
applied to terrestrial observations but also other regions of the EM spectrum). In fact, likely even more
money has been spent on extraterrestrial remote sensing (consider the costs of Magellan,
Voyager, Galileo and the Hubble amd Chandra space telescopes, and others) than on the study of
the Earth that depends on unmanned satellites (although, the funding balance may be shifting
with the new era of commericalization of terrestrial observations).
In the first full decade of America's Space Program, the Kennedy commitment to land astronauts on the
Moon captured this country's, and the world's, imagination as no other space adventure has matched.
Exploration of the Moon is symbolic of NASA's greatest achievement. Even after the last Apollo crewmen
left the lunar surface, its features have continued to be measured and analyzed. To commemorate this
ongoing study of our satellite, shown here are two images of the Moon's front side, one just before
Apollo, the other in the last decade of the 20th Century. On the left is a full view of the Moon obtained
through an Earth-based telescope. On the right is a false color composite of much the same area made
by sensors aboard the Galileo spacecraft as it sat in an earth-parking orbit prior to being sent on its main
mission to Jupiter.
Space probes with a variety of imaging sensors have allowed planetary scientists to look closely at the
Outer Planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - and have revealed the great variety and
complexity of the many moons (satellites) around these Giant planets. To introduce the wondrous
information gathered by spacecraft such as Mariner, Voyager, and Galileo, we show this full hemisphere
view of Io, the innermost jovian moon. Io can be nominated as the most active, dynamic planetary body
in the Solar System, if as the prime criterion volcanism is selected as the indicator of this status.
Section 20 considers most of the basic ideas of Astronomy and Cosmology (which, based on a Web
Search, may well be the most comprehensive treatment of those two fundamental sciences now on the
Internet). As a preview of the many truly beautiful, fascinating, and scientifically informative images
spread throughout Section 20, we show here a montage of what has been called planetary nebulae (a
misnomer based on an earlier misconception, since these great blobs of glowing gas and dust are not the
precursors of eventual planet formation but are remnants of stars that have exploded as supernovae).
In the Cosmology Section (20) (specifically, page 20-4) images of stars and galaxies made by
instruments on telescopes using different intervals of the spectrum are discussed in some detail. Here we
give one specific example: the Andromeda Galaxy as seen in a visible light image and an infrared image
(wavelength of 175 mm), which is also then reoriented by a computer program to show it face on. The
differences in information displayed and revealed are striking.
Section 21 is a brief (and somewhat out-of-date) review of some aspects of future satellites and
programs, as well as a further look at products from several recently launched satellites.
Modern History of Space, Appendix A, was prepared by staff at the Air Force Academy as part of their
contribution to the Internet version. It is an exceptional review and well worth a full read.
Appendix B has now been removed, since the PIT program it provides does not work properly for most
users. See this appendix for more information.
Appendix C is a rather technical review of the concepts and underlying theory of Principal Components
Analysis (PCA).
Appendix D is a fairly comprehensive Glossary. If you encounter a term or idea as you proceed through
the Sections that may not be defined to your satisfaction, the Glossary is likely to have a concise
definition to clarify the meaning.
With this insight into what you will encounter in the Tutorial, we move on consideration of the remaining
three topics or goals in the Overview.
THE BACKGROUND UNDERLYING REMOTE SENSING
Just what is this elusive remote sensing we've been talking about? Try this general definition (a
similar one is given on page 1 of the Introduction (click on this colored word to access it; then click on
Back to return): Remote Sensing involves techniques that use sensor devices to detect and record
signals emanting from target(s) of interest not in direct contact (thus, at a distance) with the sensor.
Let s break down the key words. Techniques range from simple visual interpretation of a sensed scene
(which usually has both geometric [spatial] and geographic [locational] characteristics) carried out by
one s brain to methods of analysis that utilize complex algorithms applied to digitized measurements .
Sensors usually refer to systems that have optico-mechanical and electronic components - commonly
sophisticated but can be as basic as a film camera. Detection implies the ability of the sensor to properly
respond to the signal, and to measure its quantita-tive properties. Record denotes the ability to retain the
signal in a usable format that favors analysis. The signal itself can be diverse: Most commonly, it is some
form of electromagnetic (EM) energy (as photons) that is expressed as radiation representing discrete
wavelength intervals or bands (e.g., xrays; visible light; radio waves) within the EM spectrum. However,
remote sensing is the appropriate term when applied to acoustical (listening) devices, to detectors that
respond to magnetic force fields, and to instruments for seeing into human or animal bodies (such as
CATscans). The target of interest is almost self-explanatory - the words "feature", "object", "category",
and "class" are descriptive. The idea behind not in contact or at a distance is synonomous with
remote , in that the target is removed from physically touching the sensor; as a result, distance allows
a wider field of view to be sensed (typically the sensor optics bring into focus all resolvable objects in a
cone of observation). Most remote sensing applications involve having the sensors look down (commonly
vertically) or outward.
With this first insight in mind, consider this: Normally, we experience our world from a more or less
horizontal viewpoint while living on its surface. But, under these conditions our view is usually limited to
areas around our view site that fall within only a few square miles at most owing to obstructions such as
buildings, trees, and topography. The total area encompassed in our vistas is considerably enlarged if we
peer downward from, say, a tall building or a mountain top. This increases even more - to perhaps
hundreds of square miles - as we gaze outwards from an airliner cruising above 30000 feet. From a
vertical or high oblique perspective (as from a mountaintop or a skyscraper), our impression of the
surface below is notably different than when we scan our surroundings from a point directly on that
surface. We then see the multitude of surface features as they would appear on a thematic map in their
appropriate spatial and contextual relationships. This, in a nutshell, is why remote sensing is most often
practiced from platforms such as airplanes and spacecraft with onboard sensors that survey and analyze
these features over extended areas from above, unencumbered by the immediate proximity of the
neighborhood. It is the practical, orderly, and cost-effective way of maintaining and updating information
about the world around us.
O-2: State an advantage and a disadvantage in conducting a remote sensing viewing from
progressively higher altitudes. ANSWER
Until the 1960s, remote sensing was almost synonomous with 'aerial photography', as will be evident
after the next few paragraphs. Now, it is most often applied to "satellite imagery", which also is implicit in
"satellite remote sensing" since the chief product of such sensing is an image or a map derived
therefrom. Aerial photography is still big business but with the advent of high resolution satellite image, it
has an ever lowering market share. Satellite-borne remote sensors (and comparable ones mounted in
aircraft) have these major advantages over aerial photography: 1) they provide worldwide coverage
almost automatically; 2) they have potentially high frequency of repeat coverage; and 3) they usually are
multispectral in their design, allowing quantitative manipulations of the sensed data (which are also
normally acquired in digitized formats), so that the objects in the scenes can be identified and analyzed
by classification programs. This chart summarizes the main benefits of satellite remote sensing:
Now consider this very important precept or thesis spelled out in bold red letters to accentuate the
importance and scope of remote sensing:
Most remote sensing systems are built around cameras, scanners, radiometers, Charge Coupled
Device (CCD)-based detectors, radar, etc. of various kinds. The systems are the most widely used
tools (instruments) for acquiring information about Earth, the planets, the stars, and ultimately
the whole Cosmos. These normally look at their targets from a distance. One can argue that
geophysical instruments operating on the Earth's surface or in boreholes are also remote sensing
devices. And the instruments on the Moon's and Mars' surfaces likewise fall broadly into this
category. In other words, remote sensing lies at the heart of the majority of unmanned (and as
important tasks during some manned) missions flown by NASA and the Russian space agency,
as well as programs by other nations (mainly, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, India, China,
Japan, and Brazil) to explore space, from our terrestrial surface to the farthest galaxies. NASA
and other space agencies have spent more money (the principal writer [NMS] estimates this sum
to be in excess of $500 billion dollars [probably a low figure) on activities that - directly or
indirectly - utilize remote sensors as their primary data-gathering instruments than on those other
systems operating in space (such as Shuttle/MIR/ISS and communications satellites), in which

remote sensing usually plays only a subordinate role. Add to this the idea that ground-based
telescopes, photo cameras, and our eyes used in everyday life are also remote sensors, then one
can rightly conclude that remote sensing is a dominant component of certain scientific and
technical aspects of human activity that involve looking at and characterizing objects of interest -
a subtle realization since most of us do not use the term "remote sensing" in our normal
vocabulary.
Having now made this "sales pitch" for the merits of remote sensing, let us turn the newly convinced to a
brief look at the history of Remote Sensing (covered in further detail on page I-7ff. and elsewhere in
Appendix A). This history is closely tied in some of its aspects to the Space Program, whose early
highlights will be reviewed beginning with the sixth paragraph down. But first a short synopsis of early
remote sensing efforts from aerial platforms above the Earth.
The practice of remote sensing can be said to have begun with the invention of photography. Close-up
photography (Proximal Remote Sensing) began in 1839 with the primitive but amazing images by by the
Frenchmen Daguerre and Neipce. Distal Remote Sensing from above ground began with the earliest
balloon photo made above a Paris, France suburb by Honore Daumier but this historic first picture has
been lost. In the 1860s during the Civil War balloonists took pictures of the Earth's surface using the
newly invented photo-camera. These balloons were used for reconnaissance; legend has it that General
McClelland had a battlefield photo made from such an aerial post but it has disappeared. Most photos
were made from tethered balloons but later free-flying balloons provided the platform. The photo below
was made from a balloon anchored above a Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood in 1860 and is the first
surviving aerial photo in the world.
NOTE: Each image throughout this Tutorial will have a caption that is accessed simply by placing
your mouse on the lower right portion of the image.
It is a little known fact that the first aerial photo taken from a rocket was made by the Swede Alfred Nobel
(of Nobel Prize fame) in 1897. Here is the picture he obtained of the Swedish landscape:
Perhaps the most novel platform at the beginning of the 20th century was the famed Bavarian pigeon
fleet that operated in Europe. Pigeons at the ready are shown here, with a prized 1903 picture taken of a
Bavarian castle beneath (the irregular objects on either side are the flapping wings).
O-3: What is an obvious disadvantage in using this primitive pigeon system? ANSWER
In 1906 interest in getting a panoramic view of the destruction in San Francisco, California right after the
catastrophic earthquake prompted an ingenious effort by "flying" cameras on kites. Here is the resulting
composite photo of part of the city along and in from the wharves in San Francisco Bay.:
Ever since the legend of Icarus in ancient Greek mythology, humans have been possessed by the urge
to emulate the birds and fly themselves. One can point to the famed flight of Wilbur and Orville Wright on
1904 as the first real triumph of making us airborne through use of combustible fuel - in a sense this can
be singled out as the first tiny step into Space.
Aerial photography became a valuable reconnaissance tool during the First World War and came fully
into its own during the Second World War. Both balloons and aircraft served as platforms.
The possibility of conducting "aerial" photography from space hinges on the ability to use rockets to
launch the equipment, either up some distance to then fall back to Earth or into Earth orbit. Page I-7 in
the Introduction describes the earliest successes. Rocketry can be traced back to ancient times when the
Chinese used solid materials, similar to their firecracker powders, to provide the thrust. In the 19th
Century, the noted French science fiction writer, Jules Verne, conceived of launching a manned projectile
to the Moon (in his book "From the Earth to the Moon", which formed the inspiration for this writer's
[NMS] first presented science paper on rocketry to his high school Science Club). In the first half of the
20th Century, a leader in rocketry was Robert Goddard (1889-1945) after whom Goddard Space Flight
Center (where this Tutorial is based) was named. Below is a 1926 photo of Dr. Goddard with one of his
first liquid fuel rockets (the motor is on the top of this 10 foot vehicle [it would break free from the frame
holding it up]).
The logical entry of remote sensors into space on a routine basis began with automated photo-camera
systems mounted on captured German V-2 rockets, launched out of White Sands, NM. These rockets
also carried geophysical instruments in their nose cones, which were returned to Earth by parachute.
(The writer [NMS] during his Army service at Fort Bliss, El Paso, TX in 1946-47 was doubly privileged.
First he was part of a group of GIs assigned to search for a missing instrument package in its nose cone.
Then, in Spring 1947, as a Post newspaper reporter, he interviewed Dr. Wernher von Braun - the guru of
post WWII rocketry - and was present during a V-2 launch. Little did I realize then that Space would
become my career.) Below is an example of one of the first photo pictures returned from a V-2 firing,
along with a list of specific localities recognizable in this view covering 800000 square miles of the
western U.S. and showing the Earth's curvature:
Both American and Soviet rockets pushed into outer space - reaching various suborbital altitudes - but for
more than 10 years had insufficient thrust to achieve orbit. The modern Space program is held by many
historians to truly have begun with the launch and orbit of Sputnik I by the Soviets on October 4, 1957
(like many noted events that stick in one's memory, the writer recalls vividly exactly where he was as the
news was read over a radio while he was eating breakfast in a cafeteria in Casper, Wyoming at the start
of a day of geological field work). Here is a full scale model of the first Sputnik (about the size of a
basketball, weighing 83 kg [182 lb], with radio and one scientific instrument), on display at the National
Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.:
This tiny satellite was hurled into space by the Semiorka rocket, seen below. Its presence, which was a
huge propaganda coup, was revealed by a steady series of beeps from its radio. An interesting
perspective on the world-stunning effects of this pioneering launch can be read at this Web site.
The Soviet program was led by Sergei Korolev. Korolov's identity was kept secret for almost 30 years.
Not only did he plan and supervise the launch of mankind's first satellite, but his rocket wizardry was
behind the launch of the first living animal, the first dogs returned from space to Earth, the first
cosmonaut (Yuri Gagarin), and the first human space walker (see below). He wished his Soviet nation
would set its aim to be first on the Moon, but Poliburo bureacracy thwarted this endeavor. Korolev is one
of the titans of the modern space program:
Several larger Sputniks soon followed, each with scientific payloads. The U.S. launched its first orbiting
satellite, Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958, followed shortly by the Vanguard series (see page Intro-1a) for
more details. For now, here is a photograph of the actual Explorer 1:
Explorer 1 was at the top of a Jupiter-C rocket. The satellite itself (it looks more like a probe) was 203 cm
(80 inches) long and weighed just over 66 kilograms (30 pounds). It achieved a highly elliptical orbit:
Perigee (point closest to the Earth) = 363 kilometers(224 miles) ; Apogee (farthest point) = 2552 km
(1575 miles). The payload was simple but very effective: a cosmic-ray detector which responded to the
suspected (but not yet sensed) circum-terrestrial stream of trapped charged particles from both the solar
wind and cosmic radiation.
This is a good moment to honor three of the "Titans" of the U.S. space program. In the picture below
Wehrner von Braun - the leader of the Nazi V-2 program who joined and led the U.S. rocket program
(especially the Saturn V) after World War II is on the right, James Van Allen (Univ. of Iowa), is in center,
and William Pickering, first Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (who died March 16, 2004 at the age
of 93) is on the left; they are holding a life size model of America's first satellite, Explorer 1, which Van
Allen developed to explore the particles and radiation around the Earth (and in so doing, discovered the
radiation belts that bear his name):
Thus began the Space Race. While the bulk of launches since 1957 have been unmanned satellites, the
real prize from the prestige viewpoint was putting living creatures into orbit in space. The Soviets won
that effort by orbiting the dog Laika but without returning him to Earth. This Russian "stray" was trained
beforehand and survived for several hours once in orbit, only to die from overheating.
With trepidations owing to the loss of Laika, the Soviet program stilled opted to put a man (a cosmonaut)
into orbit. That achievement was garnered by Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. Here he is with comrades
as he prepared to enter Vostok I:
The U.S. space program, now behind in the manned race, succeeded in placing Alan Shepard into
suborbital flight (15 minute duration) on May 5, 1961. He rode a small capsule named Freedom, part of
the Mercury series of flights. Below is a Mercury launch and a photo of Shepard's capsule after it reached
the Atlantic Ocean and was retrieved by helicopter:
John Glenn, an intrepid U.S. Marine Corps pilot, won the honor of being the first American (astronaut) to
fully orbit Earth on February 20, 1962.
Glenn later gained fame as a U.S. Senator and as the first senior astronaut to return to space, 36 years
later, on the Space Shuttle (STS-95) on October 29, 1998.
Up to this point we have talked in general historical terms about what is often termed "space flight", and
we will elaborate further on the topic on this and the next page, and obviously throughout the Tutorial.
But, some of you may wish to get further insight into the mechanics and history of operating men and
machines in space. Now may be an appropriate time, by reading through The Basics of Space Flight as
prepared by staff of the NASA/Cal Tech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and clicking on Table of
Contents, then reading all or selectively choose what is of personal interest.
America's space race sprung into high gear with the dramatic speech by President John F. Kennedy on
May 25, 1961 commiting the U.S. to land on the Moon before the end of that decade. The American
Space Program sprinted rapidly to world leadership because of that challenging goal, which was met with
the landing of the Eagle module on the lunar surface in July 20 of 1969.
But, after this invaluable historical diversion, let us return to our consideration of how remote sensing
contributed to the overall exploration of Earth, the planets, and the Universe beyond. After the launch of
Sputnik in 1957, putting film cameras on orbiting spacecraft (both manned and unmanned) became
possible. The first cosmonauts and astronauts used hand-held cameras to document selected regions
and targets of opportunity as they orbited the globe. Sensors tuned to obtain black and white TV-like
images of Earth flew on meteorological satellites in the 1960s. Other sensors on those satellites made
soundings or measurements of atmospheric properties at various heights. The '60s also recorded the
orbiting of the first communications satellites.
O-4: On TV, you are most likely to encounter a satellite remote sensing product of what kind (hint:
think local news)? ANSWER
As an operational system for collecting information about Earth on a repetitive schedule, remote sensing
matured in the 1970s, when instruments flew on Skylab (and later, the Space Shuttle) and on Landsat
(early on, called ERTS), the first satellite dedicated to mapping natural and cultural resources on land
and ocean surfaces. A radar imaging system was the main sensor on Seasat, launched in June, 1978. In
the 1980s, a variety of specialized sensors - Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), Heat Capacity
Mapping Mission (HCMM), and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) among others -
orbited primarily as research or feasibility programs. The first non-military radar system was JPL's Shuttle
Imaging Radar (SIR-A) on the Space Shuttle in 1982. Other nations soon followed with remote sensors
that provided similar or distinctly different capabilities. By the 1980s, Landsat had been privatized and a
widespread commercial use of remote sensing had taken root in the U.S., France, Russia, Japan and
other nations. Much of this growth was, and is still being, driven by the increasing awareness that Earth's
environments are in peril from man's activities and misuses.
O-5: Where might you have seen a Landsat image before? ANSWER
The chief advantage of remote sensing from satellites over relying on aerial surveys is that a satellite is
ALWAYS UP THERE whereas with aerial surveying each flight day requires considerable preparation.
But the disadvantage is that coverage is usually only "infrequent" with days to a week or two between the
next repeat coverage over an area owing to the orbital constraints that govern the spacing of the tracks
followed by a satellite. And, with this firm cycle of coverage spacing out the time of repeat, often the
satellite will pass over an area when it is cloudy, so that cloudfree conditions are serendipitous; aerial
coverage can be programmed to fly only when conditions are near-optimal.
It is generally agreed that Landsat set the stage for the advent of these other satellite systems in that it
demonstrated the power and versatility of multispectral imagery for observing the Earth for purposes of
monitoring its natural and manmade features over time, from which the many applications of remote
sensing have now become important in managing our planet's "health" and the utilization of its resources.
Since 1972, six Landsats have been orbited successfully (Landsat-8 did not fly as once scheduled; plans
to send it into orbit are still being evaluated). Here is the history of this highly successful program:
Preview of Remote Sensing Principles
So, how is remote sensing actually done from such satellites as Landsat, or for that matter, from
airplanes or on the ground? To repeat the essence of the definition above, remote sensing uses
instruments that house sensors to view the spectral, spatial and radiometric relations of observable
objects and materials at a distance, typically from above them, or in astronomy, by looking out.
Geophysics (mainly gravity, magnetic, and seismic surveys; also external fields) is considered by many
to be a form of remote sensing. But, except for three pages in the Introduction that summarize doing
geophysics measurements from space, we will confine our study in this Tutorial mainly to methods and
applications of spaceborne sensors that produce images and thematic maps. Most sensing modes are
based on sampling of photons (quantum particles that have a wide range of energies; a specific photon
will have some energy value that has its own unique corresponding frequency in the electromagnetic
(EM) spectrum.. Here is a simple EM Spectrum Chart, with different wavelength intervals named
according to common usage in remote sensing (the wavelength units are in micrometers (µm); a
micrometer is 1/1,000,000 of a meter.
This term EM Spectrum refers to the distribution of radiant energy as a function of wavelengths (distance
in length units between successive wave crests in an oscillating sine wave [the mathematical propagation
form in which light travels], which for radiation is the trace of a forward moving photon as it revolves 360°
through one cycle) or their inverse, frequencies (for a sine wave oscillation, number of cycles per second)
presented usually as a chart or diagram with highest frequencies (shortest wavelengths) at one end and
lowest frequencies (longest wavelengths) at the other. Radiation may be continuous (no break in the
range of wavelengths), its plot consisting of a sequence of all wavelengths over a spectral range whose
low and frequencies are at some beginning and end values. It can also be discrete, i.e., photon energies
are associated with specific, generally narrow wavelength intervals, with radiation outside these intervals
being absent (these discontinuous intervals are representative of energies released when atomic or
molecular species are excited in specific ways [determined by quantum physics]). Thus, chemical
elements, when excited by thermal or electrical energy, give off EM radiation at discrete (particular)
wavelength values unique to each element species; these may appear as lines in a spectrogram made
by dispersing the radiation using a prism or diffraction grating. (The writer did his Ph.D. thesis work using
an optical emission spectrograph to determine element distribution changes in the course of rock
weathering into soils.)
One type of a continuous spectrum is the blackbody radiation (BBR) emitted by all bodies whose
temperature is above absolute zero. A given BBR spectral plot, characterized by a total spectral interval
fixed on end points of specific wavelengths, is determined by the thermal state of the object sensed. For
any specific temperature, the plot curve has a characteristic peak intensity. BBR curves for three stars of
differing surface temperatures illustrate this type of radiation; note that as temperatures increase the
radiation intensity also increases and the peak wavelength decreases.
Note: to convert Angstroms to the more common micrometer unit (µm), multiply by 10-4, or 1/10000
To synposize these last ideas about electromagnetic radiation, consider this diagram:
Photons are emitted from a hot source (the Sun, an electric light, etc). The spectral curve for this
condition or mode is like the above BBR curves. Now this light passes through a target, in this instance a
cloud containing atoms and molecules. On the right is an absorption spectrum in which the black lines
are at wavelengths characteristic of elements or molecules that absorb some of the photons of specific
energies (proxied by their characteristic wavelengths). At the same time, some of these photons cause
atoms and molecules in the cloud to be excited such that they give off (emit) radiation at particular
wavelengths, as shown in the bottom spectrum.
Most remote sensing data consist of receiving and measuring reflected and/or emitted radiation from
different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Those parts of the spectrum most commonly sampled
are the ultraviolet, visible, reflected infrared, thermal infrared, and microwave segments. Multispectral (or
the closely related multiband) data consist of sets of electromagnetic radiation that individually extend
over (usually narrow) intervals of continuous wavelengths within some finite parts of the spectrum; thus a
sensor may detect radiation in the red, the green, and the blue part of the visible spectrum - each a
discrete set, either overlapping or with gaps. Each interval makes up a band or channel identified by a
color (if in the visible), a descriptive label (e.g., Near IR), or a specified range of wavelengths. The data
are utilized by computer-based processing to produce images of scenes (Earth's surface and
atmosphere; planets; cosmological features) or to serve as digital inputs to analytical programs (see
Section 1 for a thorough examination of imaging techniques and categories of analysis).
An image (or picture, a term used mainly with photographs) is produced by radiation from point to point in
an array of sampling areas making up a scene (for example, ground points) will vary depending on the
reflectance, absorptance or emittance response of the various features/materials are different within an
interval, and different again when other bands are examined. The sampling area (any immediate point,
usually a few to a few tens of meters on a side, found somewhere in the scene) produces some level of
sensed radiation that can be recorded, played back, and used to assign a gray level tone or color value
adduced to a display that is a photo or electronic image monitor (e.g., a TV screen) in some position
within the two-dimensional display. The relative location of each sampled area in the actual scene is
reproduced along X and Y coordinates at corresponding points (forming an array of spatially distinct
points called pixels (picture elements) in the display. The variations in tone (black to white) or color give
rise to a picture that resembles or approximates the actual scene.
Multiband data collected by one sensor will usually show notable differences from one band to the next.
The band to band response in terms of photon energy variations as a function of wavelength or
frequency and of the magnitude or intensity of radiation at any sampling point in a scene can be
connected to become the spectral signature for a given feature or class of materials. Different
features/classes (leaves, soil, rock, buildings, etc) have differing and normally distinctive signatures. In
practice, many sampling points (areas on the ground) contain more than one substance or feature, so
that each such class contributes its own spectral signature data to the composite for the area - this gives
rise to what is termed the mixed pixel (thus, most pixels contain inputs from several different materials
and objects).
For the signature shown, the target is a field of actively growing crops - the main components are thus
vegetation, soil, and moisture. The detailed spectral signature for this composite of materials is shown in
the lower right. Some fraction of the incoming solar radiation is reflected towards a sensor above (on an
aircraft or spacecraft). While it is now possible for a sensor system to almost duplicate the signature
using the mode called hyperspectral remote sensing, in this example the broadband mode, initially the
normal configuration for obtaining reflectance measurements and still in common use, is illustrated here.
Thus the sensor employs bandpass filters to break the reflected radiation into discrete intervals (bands)of
continuous wavelengths, each consisting of a segment of the EM spectrum (red, green, infrared, etc.).
The radiation consists of photons that impign upon a plate that converts the photon energy to a voltage
(photoelectric effect). At the instant of sampling this radiation, each band will have some voltage value
(indicated on the dials). Assuming proper calibration of each band (channel), this voltage is a measure of
the reflectance from the target composited for each spectral interval. The resulting values represent a fair
approximation of the spectral signature. However, even these few values may be sufficiently distinct to
establish the identity of the target. Obviously, the more bands (and narrower bandwidths), the better is
the discrimination.
This topic "spectral signatures" is important, and worthy of additional discussion. Implied above is the fact
that spectral signatures of different materials and classes can be quite varied and distinctive. Here are
two signature plots for the three most general categories of classes - Rock/soil; Vegetation; Water - found
in nature. The first plot extends only through the wavelength range of 0.4 to 1.2 µm; the second goes out
to 2.6 µm (the finer detail - peaks and troughs - in the plot is smoothed out.
It should be obvious that there are fundamental differences in the signatures. Water has a low reflectance
in the visible and almost no response at longer wavelengths. Rock/soil can have varying reflectance
levels in the visible from high (white sandstone) to low (basalt) and also has strong reflectance beyond
1.2 µm. (A rock class curve may show notable absorption troughs at particular intervals in these longer
wavelengths; these may be specific and narrow enough to serve as indentifiers of individual rock types.)
Vegetation shows a small peak in the green region of the visible spectrum; actually, there appears to be
a trough in the red owing to chlorophyll absorption. Vegetation produces a strong reflectance response
between about 0.7 and 1.2 µm - this is diagnostic.
The question arises as to the ability of remote sensors to identify the various types of each general class
(e.g., distinguishing silty from clear water; limestone from a soil; grasslands from woods). This is possible
if good approximations of spectral signatures for each specific material type can be gained. To illustrate
this, consider these spectral signatures obtained with a high spectral resolution field spectrometer that
looked at the various species involved:
Most vegetation types had similar spectral signatures; the chief difference is in the percent reflectance
(only the wheat stubble shows a notable difference). All vegetation signatures are clearly distinct from
that of dirt.
The signatures shown above all came from using spectrometers capable of measuring variations in
spectral response intensities over narrow intervals (resolution of a micrometer or so; these plots are what
is called a hyperspectral curve). Most sensors flown so far in space have much coarser spectral
resolution. Landsat is illustrative. When the reflectance values for the four bands of the Multispectral
Scanner (MSS) are plotted, this crude approximation of a spectral signature results:
The principles set forth in the paragraphs above relating to multispectral remote sensing are considered
in additional detail again in the Introduction.
Next, to familiarize you with some of the principal types of image products that are used to monitor and
document the Earth's surface, we will now present an example of multispectral images and then a
sequence of space images of an area of the United States that occupied centerstage during February of
2002:
We will illustrate these ideas by showing images representing 4 of the 7 bands acquired by the Thematic
Mapper (TM), the main sensor on Landsats 4 through 7. Each image was constructed from numerical
values called Digital Numbers (DNs) which correlate with the intensity of reflected or emitted radiation
averaged for the spectral interval (Band) displayed; the DNs in this case range from 0 to 255 in whole
number increments. Levels of gray in the resulting image range from black (DN = 0) to white (DN = 255)
with shades of dark gray to very light gray associated with increasing DN values. The scene, a subset of
a full Landsat TM image, shows the western shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan (for
this and other related images, link onto the Michigan Technological University Web site). Wavelength
intervals (in micrometers) are shown; check the captions (cursor on lower right) for more information.
For Bands 1, 4, and 7, the darker (gray scale) tones in these black and white renditions represent low
(intensity) reflectances whereas light tones are high reflectances. In band 6 what is measured is emitted
radiation which becomes more intense (leading to lighter to white tones) with higher temperatures.
Starting with Band 1, pick out certain features (a pattern of usually uniform gray tones), without concern
about their identities, and find the gray tones at equivalent points in the other three images - this will give
you a feel for how reflectances (or emittances in Band 6) vary as a function of wavelengths used to
monitor features/classes.
Combinations of any 3 of the 7 bands on TM can be registered spatially and then each assigned to one
of the three primary colors: blue, green, red to yield what is called a color composite. This can be done
photographically using color filters or in a computer display in which the colors are determined by the
assignment (using an image processing program) of a given band to one of three color guns in the
monitor (and the remaining two bands each to the remaining colors). For the TM, the most frequently
used combination is Band 2 = blue; Band 3 = Green; Band 4 = red, giving the standard false color
version in which most of the reds and off-reds are the color signatures of vegetation. This is present here
as a larger subset showing nearly all of the Keweenaw Peninsula:
Below is another combination applied to a smaller section of this last image using Bands 3, 3, 1 as Red,
Green, and Blue (RGB) to simulate natural color. In this image, for the "fun of it" locate where this subset
is in the image above and try to identify (give them names, like water, town) features you recognize.
This brief primer on the appearance of individual multispectral bands and on making color composites
from combinations of three bands (or other variables) from one (or perhaps two or more) sensors
designed to scan the target (Earth's surface; a galaxy, etc.) should help you to interpret images from
various sensors and sources to follow in this Overview.
The MSS was the key sensor of Landsats 1, 2, and 3 and was also on 4 and 5 to retain continuity of
image types for those doing multitemporal studies. However, on 1-3 there was a second sensor, almost
forgotten today since it did not prove to have the versatility of the MSS. This was the RBV, or Return
Beam Vidicon, a television camera that produced images much like early home television systems. One
Landsat 1, there were three bands, two in the visible (red and green) and one in the near-Infrared. The
resolution was, like the MSS, 80 meters. The RBV was seldom used on Landsat 2. The RBV on Landsat
3 was panchromatic (single image covering 0.5 to 0.75 µm), imaged in four quadrants, and had 30 meter
resolution. This allowed merger of MSS and RBV images to give an effective higher (30 m) resolution.
The "hallmark" of an RBV image is a series of small crosses ("+") called reseau marks regularly spaced
as an aid in geometric (spatial) corrections. RBV pictures are hard to find on the Internet or textbooks.
Here is one example showing the Grand Canyon, imaged by the first RBV:
From space the extent and width of the Grand Canyon is made obvious. But space imagery cannot
capture the grandeur of this geologic wonder, as is evidenced in this ground photo.
Having surveyed some basic principles and examples of remote sensing and its products, we now move
on to the aforementioned sequence of various types of imagery that relate to a major event in Utah
during February, 2002. This should help you appreciate the advantages of both multiplatform,
multisensor, and multitemporal data and imagery. We turn to The Salt Lake City, Utah region, site of the
2002 Winter Olympics (which were underway when this subsection was being prepared, thus
accounting for why this subject was chosen).
To set the Salt Lake City area into a large, i.e., regional context, look first at this Daytime Thermal image
made by the Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM):
The Great Salt Lake is the dark, elongate feature in the upper right quadrant. It is dark because,
thermally, it is cool and in conventional thermal images cold features tend to be dark gray to black and
warm in light gray to white. The mountain chains show up moderately dark because they are cooler - at
higher altitudes - than lowlands and basins. Next to the Great Salt Lake just to its lower right is Salt lake
City. The dark vertical area to SLC's right is the Wasatch Range - home of many Olympic events. The
east-west chain of mountains to its east is the Uinta Mountains. Many elongate dark features, running
mostly up-down in the image, are individual mountains that make up the Basin and Range tectonic and
geomorphic provinces.
But, at the outset it is instructive for comparative reasons to look at the most common type of earth-
surface image available prior to the Space Age: a black and white aerial photo. Here is a 1:62500 scale
(see Section 10) photo of part of North Salt Lake City:
To put the "venue" of this great sports event into context with its surroundings, at a regional scale, we'll
start with one of the typical aerial oblique photos taken by the astronauts on a Space shuttle mission;
read the caption (click on picture) for a general description.
Now, we introduce you to a characteristic unmanned satellite image: Shown first are the four individual
band images made by the Landsat 1 Multispectral Scanner (MSS; 79 m resolution) presenting a view of
north-central Utah taken just 15 days after launch of ERTS-1 (the name given this satellite before it and
its successors were renamed the Landsat series), on August 7, 1972. The bands are identified in the
caption (note: these are somewhat degraded in quality because they were scanned from a 35 mm slide;
the two IR band images are also not well-balanced in gray tones owing to rather poor tonal stretching as
those in the image-processing lab were still learning how to generate good quality photo prints).
The scene below is a an early (Summer of 1972) Landsat (ERTS-1) false color image (185 km [110
miles] on a side) that helped to generate widespread interest in using satellites to monitor the Earth's
surface. Images of this type are made by sensors that receive reflective light which is split into several
Bands (made by subdividing both the visible and the near infrared spectrum into narrower wavelength
intervals), each with different tonal intensities (gray levels) in its image. Three of the band images are
then recombined (registered) photographically (or by a computer program) using red, green, and blue
filters (this idea, treated very briefly here but in detail in the Introduction. The combination of bands and
filters can vary, giving rise to color composites that differ in colors associated with different features
depending on the band/filter pairing.
The version shown here is a composite made by projecting the MSS Band 4 (green wavelength interval)
through a blue filter, 5 (red band) through green, and 7 (near-IR band) through red. The right side of the
image is bright red, which is the normal color for thick forests and grasslands as rendered in a standard
false color image in which we associate red with healthy vegetation that is usually very bright (high
reflectance, appearing in light tones) in the near-infrared (see page I-13 in the Introduction Section for the
explanation of color response and assignment). This widespread red area coincides with the high
Wasatch Mountains that run east of the block-fault mountains and deserts (gray-tan tones) of western
Utah. Other reds in small patches mark the farmlands of the desert plains whose potential inspired
Brigham Young to settle his group in this "promised land". The Great Salt Lake occupies part of the upper
scene. Lake Utah (bluer because of silt) is to its south. We challenge you to find the metropolitan area of
Salt Lake City in this image.
O-6: This is a good moment to begin to associate locations and features within a space image
such as Landsat with their counterparts on a map. Using a U.S. Atlas or a state map, fit the
Landsat image to its equivalent map area. In addition to places mentioned above, also find these
features: The small cities of Ogden, Orem, and Provo; Park City; Utah Lake; the Bingham Open
Pit Copper mine in the Oquirhh Mountains; large areas devoted to agriculture; heavily forested
lands; desert flats. Also, in your atlas, if it is nearly new, the shape of the Great Salt Lake may
differ from that in the image; why? Finally, why is the central part of Salt Lake City (which appears
as a long darker blue strip) so narrow, when the greater area of the city and suburbs seems to
appear reddish? ANSWER
Below this image, we place a subscene (part of the total area covered; the image was made using a
subset of data points sampled by the MSS) image of the same area made from a Landsat-7 image
acquired in the late 1990s. Landsat-7 had a different version of the Thematic Mapper called the ETM+ (or
Enhanced Thematic Mapper) which included a separate 15-meter resolution panchromatic mapper and
improved the thermal band resolution from 120 to 60 meters. For the moment, just look it over and try to
note any conspicuous differences between it and the corresponding area in the Landsat-1 image. We will
take this comparison up again a few paragraphs later.
One obvious difference is a sharp tonal discontinuity along a straight, sharp boundary that is evident in
the Great Salt Lake; this results from a cutoff of water circulation by the Union Pacific railroad causeway
built as a pile of rocks. The area to its north is mostly saline silt deposits; these accumulate in the water
owing to the railroad barrier. Beyond the tracks, the water to the south is relatively clear (less silt). The silt
tones show up as blue tones since Landsat-7 has a blue band which imparts a higher reflectance of the
silt rendering it in lighter tones (note in the four Landsat-1 images that this tonal lightening also is
expressed in the green band).
If the proper spectral bands or intervals are used to create an image, important information is often
revealed. The lake north of the causeway can periodically develop extensive algae blooms that show up
in reddish tones if a near-infrared interval is a component of the sensor. Film in a camera utilized by
International Space Station astronauts has a near-IR response layer. This April 30, 2007 photo taken
from ISS shows a distinct reddish tone for the silty water in the northern half of the GSL, which is
attributable to algal blooms that have developed during an extended drought in northern Utah:
In case you had difficulty in pinpointing the city, this next view should help. It is a Landsat-5 Thematic
Mapper (TM; 30 m resolution) natural color image of the immediate urban area. However, Salt Lake City
is noted for its many trees and grass lawns, so in this subscene "green" tends to mask out the street
patterns and gray tones associated with industrial complexes. The image also demonstrates the
improvement in detail that has transpired in the later Landsats owing to this new sensor.
These images, of course, are vertical (straight down) views. To acquaint you with looking at Earth this
way, we draw upon a more familiar viewing vantage by showing this near-horizontal aerial view of the city
and the Wasatch Front to its east.
As will be repeatedly demonstrated throughout the Tutorial, space imagery (in digital format) can be
combined through specialized computer processing with co-registered digitized elevation data to produce
what is known as a perspective view (as though you were approaching the scene in a low flying aircraft
and looked ahead; much like the above aerial photo). Here is a Landsat-5 perspective of the Wasatch
Front with much of Salt Lake City in the foreground.
Another Landsat perspective view from a different direction shows the location of the principal Olympics
venue sites both in Salt Lake City and around Park City in the mountains to its east:
The Wasatch Mountains show up as even more imposing in this perspective view of Salt Lake City made
from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, in which the vertical elevations have been
exaggerated (often the custom when relief [difference in elevation] warrants emphasis):
To get a more intimate feel for the downtown part of Salt Lake City, here is two high resolution images
made by the IKONOS satellite (see next page). The first, in color, shows much of the downtown (at 4 m
resolution), including part of the University of Utah. The second depicts, at 1 m resolution how city blocks
in this town tend to be square; the two large buildings in it can be located near the left center edge of the
first image.
We can zero in on the Olympics infrastructure that has been home to more than 2500 international
athletes. Again, a high resolution IKONOS color images, taken in the summer of 2001 just before the
Games in February, 2002, shows the main facilities within SLC.
Leaning on your new found familiarity with Salt Lake City, try to find some of the features shown in the
above images in this very different-appearing image. This scene was obtained during the SIR-C radar
mission carried out by astronauts in 1994. Each of the three radar bands (C, L, X) were assigned color
used to generate this "false color" composite (see page 8-7 ). The image is oriented with the top
boundary running NE-SW; the Great Salt Lake is the black area below the top.
So far in our excursion in and around Salt Lake City, we have treated you to what might be called "pretty
pictures". But, now is a good time to stress the practical use or applications of space imagery. One such
use comes under the term "change detection" - determining what features or conditions in a scene have
been introduced, modified, or expanded over short to long time periods.
Urban population is one change that you would expect of this lengthy time period. The United States has
increased its citizens considerably since 1972. The West, in particular, is experiencing a population
boom, both from increased childbirth and from the influx of people from the eastern U.S as well as
Mexicans who have emigrated from their native country. Salt Lake City shares this trend, as is evident
from this pair of Landsat images. To estimate the extent of the growth, look for street patterns in each
image - the major clue is the spread of buildings as the suburbs expand away from the mountains.
The most noticeable area of growth occurs in the middle of these images (the 2001 image shows
urban/suburban sections of the city in a grayish tone; this is probably due to that image being taken at a
different time of the year). Note the large, irregular "scar" in light brown in the lower left quadrant of each
image. This is the Bingham Canyon copper mine, located in the Oquirhh Mountains. This is the largest
open pit mine in the world (note the increase in peripheral size in the 2001 image). You will see this mine
again in an enlarged image subset at the bottom of Page 5-4.
The second pair of Change Detection images focuses on the southern end of the Great Salt Lake.
Significant differences between the 1972 and 2001 Landsat images occur at several places.
In the 1972 scene, the peninsula of land near the bottom center is tied to the shore with all land exposed.
The most obvious modification noted in the 2001 image is that the peninsula at the southern end of the
Lake has become isolated (into Antelope Island) owing to the lake surface level's rise since 1972. At first,
this seems counterintuitive since the ultimate fate of lakes is for them to dry up (some as rapidly as a few
thousand to 20000 years). But this is not always a uni-directional process. Changes in climate from dry to
wet and reverse can have measurable effects over spans of decades. In 1963, the Great Salt lake had
shrunk from the hundred year average of 4200 square miles to a value of ~950 square miles. This
shrinkage was the consequence of a continuing drought that began in the 1950s. By 1972, the area
covered by the lake had extended to about 2500 miles2. At that time there was still a land bridge to
Antelope Island. By 2001, that bridge was inundated, restoring the peninsula to island status. Elsewhere
in the subscenes being compared, a tongue of sandy land on the southeast corner of the lake was
resubmerged by (actually before) 2001 and the lowlands adjacent to a mountain outlier in the southwest
corner have become partially covered with shallow water that supports vegetation.
Now, let's leave the specificity of a single scene (both large and small areas of coverage), used to
introduce you to some of the ways in which satellite imagery can depict the Earth's surface, and return to
the more general overview of what Remote Sensing is all about and can do in practical ways. In addition
to regional and local scale coverage, sensing from satellites allows images to be created that can
envisage the full Earth or entire continents, relying either on single looks from geostationary satellites or
mosaics constructed from numerous individual scenes.. Here, for example, is the quasi-natural color view
of the 48 continental U.S landmass (Courtesy Earthsat Corp, Rockville, MD) made from summer AVHRR
(see page 14-2) imagery. Notice the regionally variable distribution of vegetative cover (green).
(Examples of mosaics are found in Section 7 and elsewhere.)
Entire continents can be mosaicked, as evidenced by this AVHRR version of North America:
The Tutorial will draw extensively on the Landsat satellites for the images of the Earth's surface you will
see in the coming Sections, in part because there are so many outstanding scenes acquired since 1972
but also in part because the writer (NMS) spent most of his career at NASA Goddard working on data
from these satellites. The RST also utilizes imagery from a variety of sensors operating from land and
sea satellites launched by U.S. government and private U.S. industry and by governments and
commercial firms in other countries. Most of these observe in the visible, near infrared and thermal
infrared spectral intervals, but images from several radar systems are also included as examples of
common space data sets.
Listed here are the principal (non-commercial) remote sensing spacecraft flown by the U.S. and other
nations (identified in parentheses) along with the launch date (if more than one in a series, this date
refers to the first one put successfully into orbit. These fall naturally into three Groups based on their
principal applications: Land, Meteorology, Oceanography. However, many of the satellites provide useful
information for more than one Group:
Group 1 - Primarily Land Observers: Landsat (1-7) (1973); Seasat (1978); HCMM (1978); RESURS
(Russia) (1985); IRS(1A-1D) (India) (1986); ERS (1-2) (1991); JERS (1-2) (Japan) (1992); Radarsat
(Canada) (1995); ADEOS (Japan) (1996); Terra (1999); Proba/Chris (2001)
------------------
(Note 1: SIR-A (1981), SIR-B (1984), and SIR-C (1994) are radar systems flown on Space Shuttles; a Laser Altimeter also
flew on Shuttle)
Group 2 - Primarily Meteorological Observers: TIROS (1-9) (1960); Nimbus (1-7) (1964); ESSA (1-9)
(1966); ATS(g) (1-3) (1966); DMSP series I (1966); the Russian Kosmos (1968) and Meteor series
(1969); ITOS series (1970); SMS(g) (1975); GOES(g) series (1975); NOAA (1-5) (1976); DMSP series 2
(1976); GMS (Himawari)(g) series (Japan) (1977); Meteosat(g) series (Europe) (1978); TIROS-N series
(1978); Bhaskara(g) (India) (1979); NOAA (6-14) (1982); Insat (1983); ERBS (1984); MOS (Japan)
(1987); UARS (1991); TRMM (U.S./Japan) (1997); Envisat (European Space Agency) (2002); Aqua
(2002)
--------------------
(Note 2: g = geostationary) (Note 3: Nimbus also observed general land features; e.g., Nimbus 6 carried SCMR, an
experimental sensor designed to obtain information on surface composition)
Group 3 - Major use in Oceanography: Seasat (1978); Nimbus 7 (1978) included the CZCS, the
Coastal Zone Color Scanner that measures chlorophyll concentration in seawater; Topex-Poseidon
(1992); SeaWiFS (1997)
--------------------
(Note 4: NSCAT, the NASA Scatterometer, developed at JPL and launched in 1996 by a Japanese rocket, was designed
mainly for oceanographic studies but has provided valuable information applicable to meteorology and land observations.)
Commercial Satellites designed to produce imagery useful to the above Groups started to operate by the
mid 1980s. Among the growing number of these privately owned satellites are: SPOT (France) (1986);
Resurs-01 series (Russia) (1989; became commercial in the 1990s); Orbview-2 (U.S.)(1997) SPIN-2
(Russia)(1998); IKONOS (U.S) (1999); Quickbird (U.S) (2001); Resource21 (first 4 satellites yet to be
launched); EROS A (ImageSat International; Israel) (2000).
A good review of most of the major satellites dedicated to earth observations and their characteristics,
with links (some of which no longer work [404 Not Found]) to parent Web sites, can be called up from this
site: National Air and Space Museum
It helps to picture the dazzling array of operational satellites by looking graphically at launch dates and
lifetime of some of those in the above list (primarily land observing satellites) through the year 1996;
others since 1997 are listed on a bar chart found on the second page of the Overview.:
This impressive list convinces us that remote sensing has become a major technological and scientific
tool for monitoring planetary surfaces and atmospheres. In fact, the budgetary expenditures on observing
Earth and other planets, since the the space program began, now exceed $150 billion. Much of this
money has been directed towards practical applications, largely focused on environmental and natural
resource management. The Table below, put together in 1981 by the writer, summarizes the principal
uses in six disciplines.
All of these applications are valid today, and many others have been devised and tested, some of which
we introduce in other Sections of this Tutorial. The literature on remote sensing theory, instrumentation,
and applications is now vast, including a number of journals and reports of numerous conferences and
meetings. The great improvements in computer-based image processing, especially personal computers
that handle large amounts of remote sensing data, have made robotic and manned platform observations
accessible to universities, resource-responsible agencies, small environmental companies, and even
individuals. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide an exceptional means for integrating timely
remote sensing data with other spatial types of data. The GIS approach (explained in Section 15) stores,
integrates, and analyzes information that has a practical value in many fields concerned with decision-
making in resource management, environmental control, and site development.
The need for monitoring terrestrial systems that observe, quantify and map changing land use, search for
and protect natural resources, and track interactions within the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and
geosphere has become a paramount concern to managers, politicians, and the general citizenry in
developed and developing nations. This need has led to a mammoth international program to use a
variety of technologies, centered on observation systems from space, to improve our ability to oversee
and regulate the systems that govern Earth's effective operations. Among names associated with this
concept are the International Geosphere and Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Global
Change Program (IGCP). These programs cover a range of research and applications that embrace
primarily climate studies, oceanography, and terrestrial environment monitoring. National programs
include organizations that mainly make ground measurements but the current availability of suitable
satellites flown by several countries leads to a symbiotic integration of space observations and ground
measurements. This diagram depicts some of the primary topical activities, as described by their
acronyms.
The United States has been the kingpin in these efforts. Its chief role has been in providing many of the
versatile satellites that make the critical land, sea, and air measurements on a global scale. The program
began in the early 1990s under the name Mission to Planet Earth; that program was
renamed Earth Science Enterprise. ESE involves many federal agencies as well as
some private organizations. NASA's role, located primarily at Goddard Space Flight
Center, is to operate the Earth Observing System (EOS) program which will plan, build,
and launch a number of satellites, a list of these being found at this NASA Headquarters
site.
Closely allied to these and other programs is a new field of the geosciences called Earth System
Science. Many Universities are now offering courses and even majors in this new field of natural science.
When these various programs are examined closely, as will be done throughout Section 16 of the
Tutorial, two principal areas of emphasis underlie the goals and means of IGBP and ESE: 1) the concept
of Global Change, which recognizes that the Earth's natural systems are constantly modifying, with
various diverse aspects such as atmospheric temperatures, air and water pollutants, and land cover
interacting in often complex ways to alter environments; and 2) Global Climate, which is often the most
important single component of the Earth System in controlling the changes over time and in different
regions of the Earth. These modifications may be cyclical or unidirectional but generally take place slowly
(almost imperceptibly over short time spans) and thus require extended, repeated coverage over years to
decades using a variety of observational means (of which satellites are proving the most facile). These
two Logos give URLs (which you must access separately) for these specific U.S. programs .
These programs will last well into the first decade of the 21st Century. Starting in 1998, several major
platforms launched with broad complements of sensors supported by continuing operation of current
sensor systems. The programs will have far-reaching impact on all nations and at least an indirect effect
on all people on our planet, as they address problems and concerns tied to the environment and to
resources. When coupled and integrated with other major data management and decision making
approaches, GIS, ESE, and EOS should evolve into highly efficient implements for continuous gathering
and processing of key elements of knowledge required to administer the complex interactions between
nature and human endeavors.
If you want a preview of how some scientists apply remote sensing to monitor mankind's influence on the
environment, then go to the Home Page recently added to the Internet by The Consortium for
International Earth Science Information Network.
Now, on to the second page of the Overview that treats mostly the activities of remote sensing in space
applications during the last 20 years.
Primary Author: Nicholas M. Short, Sr.

Remote Sensing Tutorial - Overview

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Remote Sensing Tutorial Overview Página 1 de 57

THE REMOTE SENSING TUTORIAL

Before entering this Overview, ponder this slogan:

REMOTE SENSING is the BACKBONE of the

THIS ILLUSTRATION WAS USED FOR THE CD-ROM

- AVAILABLE ONLY AS DESCRIBED BELOW

THE TUTORIAL HAS NOW BE DECLARED COMPLETE AS OF

OVERVIEW: HOW TO USE THIS TUTORIAL AND A SYNOPSIS OF

WHAT'S IN THE TUTORIAL

z Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing

Overview of this Remote Sensing Tutorial; "Getting Acquainted" Quiz

1. Image Processing and Interpretation: Morro Bay, California; First Exam

2. Geologic Applications: Stratigraphy; Structure; Landforms

3. Vegetation Applications: Agriculture; Forestry; Ecology

4. Urban and Land Use Applications

5. Mineral and Oil Resource Exploration:

7. Regional Studies: Use of Mosaics from Landsat

8. Radar and Microwave Remote Sensing

9. The Warm Earth: Thermal Remote Sensing

10. Aerial Photography as Primary and Ancillary Data Sources

12. The Human Remote Senser in Space: Astronaut Photography

15. Geographic Information Systems: The GIS Approach to Decision Making

17. Use of Remote Sensing in Basic Science Studies I: Mega-Geomorphology

18. Basic Science Studies II: Impact Cratering

19. Planetary Remote Sensing: The Exploration of Extraterrestrial Bodies

Appendix A: Modern History of Space

Appendix B: Interactive Image Processing

Appendix C: Principal Components Analysis

THE BACKGROUND UNDERLYING REMOTE SENSING

systems operating in space (such as Shuttle/MIR/ISS and communications satellites), in which

Preview of Remote Sensing Principles

Primary Author: Nicholas M. Short, Sr.

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