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ADVANCED
REMOTE
SENSING
Terrestrial Information Extraction and
Applications
SECOND EDITION
Edited by
Shunlin Liang
University of Maryland
Jindi Wang
Beijing Normal University
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
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noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding,
changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information,
methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their
own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury
and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of
any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
Yuqi Bai Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua Cuicui Dou Nanjing Institute of Geography and
University, Beijing 100084, China, yuqibai@ Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East
tsinghua.edu.cn Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; School of
Jinshan Cao Collaborative Innovation Center for Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University,
Geospatial Technology, Wuhan University, 129 Nanjing, China, dccdou@163.com
Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, China, caojin- Jinyang Du Numerical Terradynamic Simulation
shan0426@163.com Group, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Con-
Erxue Chen Institute of Forest Resources Informa- servation, The University of Montana, Missoula,
tion Techniques, Chinese Academy of Forestry, MT 59812, USA, jinyang.du@mso.umt.edu
Dongxiaofu No. 2, Xiangshan Road, Beijing Wenjie Fan Institute of RS and GIS, Peking Univer-
100091, China, chenerx@caf.ac.cn, chenerx@ sity, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing 100871, China,
ifrit.ac.cn fanwj@pku.edu.cn
Jun Chen State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Hongliang Fang Institute of Geographic Sciences
Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni- and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy
versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China,
Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie- fanghl@lreis.ac.cn
kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En- Yi Fang School of Remote Sensing and Information
gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote Engineering, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu Road,
Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci- Wuhan 430079, China, fywhu@qq.com
ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci-
Qiaoni Fu Nanjing Institute of Geography and
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai
Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East
Street, Beijing 100875, China, chenjun0903@qq.com
Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; School of
Jie Cheng State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University,
Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni- Nanjing, China
versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
Shuai Gao Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie-
Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En-
100101, China, gaoshuai@radi.ac.cn
gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote
Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci- Zhan Gao Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing
ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci- Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai 100875, China, 1578090895@qq.com
Street, Beijing 100875, China, Jie_Cheng@ Ruifang Guo Nanjing Institute of Geography and
bnu.edu.cn Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East
Robert E. Dickinson Department of Geological Sci- Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China, gr120206@
ences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 126.com
TX 78712, USA, robted@jsg.utexas.edu
ix
x Contributors of the second edition
Tao He School of Remote Sensing and Information Shunlin Liang Department of Geographical Sci-
Engeering, Wuhan University, Luoyu Road No. ences, Univsersity of Maryland, College Park MD
129, Wuhan 430079, China, taohers@whu.edu.cn 20742, USA, sliang@umd.edu
Wenli Huang School of Resource and Environ- Ming Lin Tsinghua University, MengMinWei Sci-
mental Sciences, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu tech Building, S912, Beijing 100084, China, tj_linm-
Road, Wuhan 430079, China, wenli.huang@ ing@foxmail.com
whu.edu.cn Qiang Liu State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing
Shunping Ji School of Remote Sensing and Informa- Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni-
tion Engineering, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
Road, Wuhan 430079, China, Jishunping2000@ Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie-
163.com kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; College of
Kun Jia State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Sci- Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing
ence, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Univer- Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing
sity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital 100875, China, toliuqiang@bnu.edu.cn
Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie- Suhong Liu Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing
kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En- Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing
gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote 100875, China, liush@bnu.edu.cn
Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci- Yaokai Liu Academy of Opto-Electronics, Chinese
ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci- Academy of Science, Beijing 100094, China, liuyk@
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai aoe.ac.cn
Street, Beijing 100875, China, jiakun@bnu.edu.cn
Yuanbo Liu Nanjing Institute of Geography and
Bo Jiang State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East
Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni- Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China, ybliu@
versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital niglas.ac.cn
Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie-
Yufu Liu Tsinghua University, MengMinWei Sci-
kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En-
tech Building, S917, Beijing 100084, China,
gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote
liuyufu18@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci-
ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci- Qian Ma State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Pro-
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai cesses and Resource Ecology, College of Global
Street, Beijing 100875, China, bojiang@bnu.edu.cn Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal
University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875,
Lingmei Jiang State Key Laboratory of Remote
China, maqian@bnu.edu.cn
Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing
Normal University and Institute of Remote Yuna Mao State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface
Sensing and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Processes and Resource Ecology, College of Global
Sciences, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal
China; Beijing Engineering Research Center for University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875,
Global Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of China, shanxian.08@163.com
Remote Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty Xiangcheng Meng Faculty of Geographical Science,
of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street,
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China, Beijing 100875, China, xiangchenmeng@yeah.net
jiang@bnu.edu.cn Xihan Mu State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing
Zengyuan Li Institute of Forest Resources Informa- Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni-
tion Techniques, Chinese Academy of Forestry, versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
Dongxiaofu No. 2, Xiangshan Road, Beijing, Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie-
100091, China kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En-
gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote
Contributors of the second edition xi
Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci- Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global
ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci- Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of
Street, Beijing 100875, China, muxihan@bnu.edu.cn Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University,
Wenjian Ni Institute of remote sensing and digital 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China,
earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 north, songjl@bnu.edu.cn
Datun road, Beijing 100101, China, niwj@radi.ac.cn Wanjuan Song State Key Laboratory of Remote
Zheng Niu Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing
Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101 Bei- Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing
jing, China, niuzheng@radi.ac.cn and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China;
Jinmei Pan State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing
Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global
Science, Jointly Sponsored by the Institute of
Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote
Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of Chinese Acad-
Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of
emy of Sciences and Beijing Normal University,
Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University,
100101 Beijing, China, panjm@aircas.ac.cn
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China, song-
Yong Pang Institute of Forest Resources Information wanjuan@126.com
Techniques, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Dong-
Guoqing Sun Department of Geographical Sciences,
xiaofu No. 2, Xiangshan Road, Beijing, 100091,
Univsersity of Maryland, College Park MD 20742,
China, pangy@ifrit.ac.cn
USA, guoqing.sun@gmail.com
Jingjing Peng Earth System Science Interdisci-
Wanxiao Sun Department of Geography and Sus-
plinary Center, University of Maryland, College
tainable Planning, Grand Valley State University,
Park 20740 MD, USA, jingjingpeng89@gmail.com
1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401-9403, USA,
Ying Qu School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast sunwa@gvsu.edu
Normal University, Changchun 130024, China,
Xin Tao Department of Geography, The State Uni-
quy100@nenu.edu.cn
versity of New York, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA, xin-
Yonghua Qu State Key Laboratory of Remote tao@buffalo.edu
Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing
Xinpeng Tian CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Envi-
Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing
ronmental Processes and Ecological Remediation,
and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China;
Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China,
Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global
xptian@yic.ac.cn
Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote
Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of Dongdong Wang Department of Geographical Sci-
Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, ences, Univsersity of Maryland, College Park MD
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China, 20742, USA, ddwang@umd.edu
qyh@bnu.edu.cn Haoyu Wang Faculty of Geographical Science, Bei-
Jiancheng Shi State Key Laboratory of Remote jing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Bei-
Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by the Institute jing 100875, China, why0925@mail.bnu.edu.cn
of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of Chinese Jindi Wang State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing
Academy of Sciences and Beijing Normal Univer- Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni-
sity, 100101 Beijing, China, shijc@radi.ac.cn versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
Jinling Song State Key Laboratory of Remote Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie-
Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En-
Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote
and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Science and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical
xii Contributors of the second edition
Science, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou- Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University,
wai Street, Beijing 100875, China, wangjd@ 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China,
bnu.edu.cn gjyan@bnu.edu.cn
Kaicun Wang State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Feng Yang State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing
Processes and Resource Ecology, College of Global Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni-
Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie-
China, kcwang@bnu.edu.cn kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En-
Wenhui Wang I.M. Systems Group at NOAA/NES- gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote
DIS/STAR, 5200 Auth Road, Camp Springers, MD Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci-
20746, USA, wang.wenhui@gmail.com ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci-
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai
Zhigang Wang China Center for Resource Satellite
Street, Beijing 100875, China, yftaurus@
Data and Applications, No. 5, Fengxian East Road,
mail.bnu.edu.cn
Beijing 100094, China, kevinwang2000@163.com
Wenping Yuan School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun
Jianguang Wen Institute of Remote Sensing and
Yat-sen University. No. 135, Xingang Xi Road,
Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guangzhou 510275, China, yuanwpcn@126.com
Beijing 100101, China, wenjg@radi.ac.cn
Xiuxiao Yuan School of Remote Sensing and Infor-
Guiping Wu Nanjing Institute of Geography and
mation Engineering, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu
Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing
Road, Wuhan 430079, China, yuanxx@whu.edu.cn
210008, China, gpwu@niglas.ac.cn
Quan Zhang Faculty of Geographical Science, Bei-
Zhiqiang Xiao State Key Laboratory of Remote
jing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Bei-
Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing
jing 100875, China, zhangquanzq@126.com
Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing
and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiaotong Zhang State Key Laboratory of Remote
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing
Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing
Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China;
Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China, Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote
zhqxiao@bnu.edu.cn Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of
Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University,
Chuan Xiong Southwest Jiaotong University,
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China,
Chengdu 611756, China, xiongchuan@swjtu.edu.cn
xtngzhang@bnu.edu.cn
Chunyan Yan China University of Geosciences, Bei-
Zhiyu Zhang Institute of remote sensing and digital
jing, 29 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China,
earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 north,
147583592@qq.com
Datun road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101,
Guangjian Yan State Key Laboratory of Remote China, zhangzy@irsa.ac.cn
Sensing Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing
Peisheng Zhao George Mason University, 4400 Uni-
Normal University and Institute of Remote Sensing
versity Drive, MSN 6E1, George Mason University,
and Digital Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Fairfax, VA 22030, USA, pzhao@gmu.edu
19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China;
Beijing Engineering Research Center for Global Xiang Zhao State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing
Land Remote Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Science, Jointly Sponsored by Beijing Normal Uni-
Sensing Science and Engineering, Faculty of versity and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital
Contributors of the second edition xiii
Earth of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Xinjie- Yi Zheng School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-
kouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China; Beijing En- sen University. No. 135, Xingang Xi Road, Guangz-
gineering Research Center for Global Land Remote hou 510275, China, zhengy263@mail2.sysu.edu.cn
Sensing Products, Institute of Remote Sensing Sci- Shugui Zhou Faculty of Geographical Science, Bei-
ence and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Sci- jing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Bei-
ence, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai jing 100875, China, zhoushugui1990@msn.cn
Street, Beijing 100875, China, zhaoxiang@
Xiufang Zhu Institute of Remote Sensing Science
bnu.edu.cn
and Engineering, Faculty of Geographical Science,
Xiaosong Zhao Nanjing Institute of Geography and Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street,
Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing 100875, China, zhuxiufang@bnu.edu.cn
Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China, xszhao@
niglas.ac.cn
Foreword to the first edition
xv
Preface to the first edition
As the technology of remote sensing has from their research expertise. Although this is an
advanced over the last two decades, the scientific edited volume with multiple authors, it is well
potential of the data that it produces has greatly designed and integrated. The editors and au-
improved. To better serve society’s needs, the thors have made great efforts to ensure the con-
immense amounts of aggregated satellite data sistency and integrity of the text.
need to be transferred into high-level products In addition to the introductory chapter, this
in order to improve the predictive capabilities book consists of five parts: (1) data processing
of global and regional models at different scales methods and techniques; (2) estimation of land-
and to aid in decision making through various surface radiation budget components; (3) estima-
decision support systems. A general trend is tion of biophysical and biochemical variables;
that the data centers are distributing more (4) estimation of water cycle components; and
high-level products rather than simply the raw (5) high-level product generation and applica-
satellite imagery. tion demonstrations. The titles and authors of
An increasing number of researchers from a the individual chapters are as follows:
diverse set of academic and scientific disciplines
are now routinely using remotely sensed data
products, and the mathematical and physical so- Chapters Titles Authors
phistication of the techniques used to process 1 A Systematic View of S. Liang, J. Wang, B.
and analyze these data have increased consider- Remote Sensing Jiang
ably. As a result, there is an urgent need for a
PART 1 Data Processing Methods and Techniques
reference book on the advanced methods and al-
gorithms that are now available for extracting in- 2 Geometric Processing X. Yuan, S. Ji, J. Cao, X.
and Positioning Yu
formation from the huge volume of remotely Techniques
sensed data, which are often buried in various
journals and other sources. Such a book should 3 Compositing, Z. Xiao
Smoothing, and Gap-
be highly quantitative and rigorously technical; Filling Techniques
at the same time, it should be accessible to stu-
dents at the upper undergraduate and first- 4 Data Fusion J. Zhang, J. Yang
year graduate student level. 5 Atmospheric Correction X. Zhao, X. Zhang, S.
To meet this critical demand, we have identi- of Optical Imagery Liang
fied and organized a group of active research sci- Continued
entists to contribute chapters and sections drawn
xvii
xviii Preface to the first edition
(cont'd) (cont'd)
PART 2 Estimation of Surface Radiation Budget 20 Snow Water L. Jiang, J. Du, L. Zhang,
Components Equivalence J. Shi, J. Pan, C. Xiong
6 Incident Solar Radiation X. Zhang, S. Liang 21 Water Storage Y. Liu, P. Song
7 Broadband Albedo Q. Liu, J. Wen, Y. Qu, T. PART 5 Production Generation and Application
He, X. Zhang Demonstrations
8 Land-Surface J. Cheng, H. Ren 22 High-Level Land D. Wang
Temperature and Product Integration
Thermal Infrared
23 Production and Data S. Liu, X. Zhao
Emissivity
Management Systems
9 Surface Longwave W. Wang
24 Land-Cover and Land- X. Zhu, S. Liang, B.
Radiation Budget
Use Changes Jiang
PART 3 Estimation of Biophysical and Biochemical
Variables
10 Canopy Biochemical Z. Niu, C. Yan
Chapter 1 presents introductory material and
Characteristics provides an overview of the book. From the sys-
tem perspective, it briefly describes the essential
11 Leaf Area Index H. Fang, Z. Xiao, Y. Qu,
J. Song
components of the remote-sensing system,
ranging from platforms and sensors, modeling
12 Fraction of Absorbed W. Fan, X. Tao approaches, and information extraction methods
Photosynthetically
Active Radiation by
to applications.
Green Vegetation Part 1 includes four chapters on data process-
ing. Chapter 2 is the only chapter that presents
13 Fractional Vegetation G. Yan, X. Mu, Y. Liu
Cover
the methods and techniques for handling geo-
metric properties of remotely sensed data. These
14 Vegetation Height and G. Sun, Y. Pang, W. Ni, include the calibration of systematic errors, geo-
Vertical Structure W. Huang, Z. Li
metric correction, geometric registration, digital
15 Above-Ground Biomass G. Sun, W. Sun, S. terrain model generation, and digital ortho-
Liang, Z. Zhang, E. image generation.
Chen
Chapter 3 seeks to reconstruct spatial and
16 Vegetation Production W. Yuan, Z. Chen temporal continuous high-quality imagery. As
in Terrestrial the temporal resolution of satellite observations
Ecosystems
greatly increases, images are more often contam-
PART 4 Estimation of Water Balance Components inated by clouds and aerosols that partially or
17 Precipitation Y. Liu, Q. Fu, X. Zhao, completely block the surface information. Two
C. Dou groups of techniques are presented. The first
18 Terrestrial K. Wang. R. Dickinson,
group deals with composite methods for aggre-
Evapotranspiration Q. Ma gating the fine temporal resolution (say, daily)
to the coarse resolution (say, weekly or
19 Soil Moisture Contents S. Liang, B. Jiang, T. He,
X. Zhu
monthly), and the second discusses smoothing
and gapfilling methods to eliminate the impacts
Preface to the first edition xix
of clouds and aerosols at the same temporal include leaf area index (LAI) in Chapter 11, the
resolution. fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active
Chapter 4 introduces the basic principles and radiation by green vegetation (FPAR) in Chapter
methods of data fusion for integrating multiple 12, fractional vegetation cover in Chapter 13,
data sources on the pixel basis, which have vegetation height and vertical structure in Chap-
different spatial resolutions, and are acquired ter 14, above-ground biomass in Chapter 15, and
from different spectra (optical, thermal, micro- vegetation production in terms of gross primary
wave). This chapter focuses mainly on low-level production (GPP) and net primary production
data products. (The methods for integrating (NPP) in Chapter 16. Various inversion methods
high-level products are introduced in Chapter 22.) are introduced in this part, including optimiza-
Chapter 5 introduces methods for correcting tion methods (Section 11.3.2), neural networks
the atmospheric effects of aerosols and water (Sections 11.3.3, 13.3.3 and 15.3.4), genetic algo-
vapor on the optical imagery. Other atmospheric rithms (Section 11.3.4), Bayesian networks (Sec-
correction methods are discussed in Chapter 8 tion 11.3.5), regression tree methods (Section
for thermal-IR data and in Part 4 for microwave 13.3.3), data assimilation methods (Section 11.4)
data. and look-up table methods (Section 11.3.6). Part
Part 2 focuses on estimation of surface radia- 3 also discusses multiple data sources besides op-
tion budget components. The surface radiation tical imagery, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar
budget is characterized by all-wave net radiation (SAR) and Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar),
(Rn) that is the sum of shortwave (Sn) and long- and polarimetric InSAR data.
wave (Ln) net radiation Part 4 is on estimation of water balance com-
ponents. A general water balance equation is
Rn ¼ Sn þ Ln ¼ ðsY s[Þ þ ðLY L[Þ
expressed by:
¼ ð1 aÞSY þ ðLY L[Þ
P ¼ Q þ E þ DS
where SY is the downward shortwave radiation
(discussed in Chapter 6), S[ is the upward short- where P is precipitation (discussed in Chapter
wave radiation, a is the surface shortwave al- 17), Q is runoff that is currently difficult to esti-
bedo (discussed in Chapter 7), LY is the mate from remote sensing, E is evapotranspira-
downward longwave radiation, and L[ is the tion (discussed in Chapter 18), and DS is the
upward longwave radiation. Longwave net radi- change in storage to which three chapters are
ation (Ln) can be also calculated by related: soil moisture in Chapter 19, snow water
equivalence in Chapter 20, and surface water
Ln ¼ εLY εsTs4 storage in Chapter 21. In addition to optical
where s is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, ε is and thermal data, microwave data are dealt
surface thermal broadband emissivity, and Ts is with extensively in all chapters except in Chapter
surface skin temperature. Estimation of ε and 18. The gravity data with the GRACE data are
Ts is discussed in Chapter 8, and LY and Ln are also briefly introduced in Chapter 21.
covered in Chapter 9. Part 5 deals with high-level product genera-
Part 3 focuses on the estimation of biochem- tion, integration, and application. Chapter 22
ical and biophysical variables of plant canopy. presents different methods for integrating high-
Chapter 10 introduces the various methods for level products of the same variable (e.g., LAI)
estimating plant biochemical variables, such as that may be generated from different satellite
chlorophyll, water, protein, lignin and cellulose. data or different inversion algorithms. The data
The biophysical variables discussed in this book fusion methods for integrating low-level
xx Preface to the first edition
Since the first edition of this book was pub- for sharing, processing, archiving, and dissemi-
lished in 2012, the field of remote sensing has nating the massive size of remotely sensed data.
experienced extensive growth and development. The processing and analysis can be greatly
An updated text that examines and describes in enhanced by using a massive number of
detail this growth is now needed. computing nodes through high-performance
There are several remarkable trends. The first computing and high-throughput computing
trend is the steadily increasing volume of techniques.
remotely sensed data, driven by the growing Another trend is the generation of long-term
number of satellites with higher spatial and tem- consistent high-level satellite products that can
poral resolutions. For example, DigitalGlobe’s be used directly by users for a variety of applica-
satellite fleet currently generates 80TB per day tions. The creation of long-term high-level land
of images. The constellations of smaller satellites, products leverages off the advantages of multi-
mostly operated by the commercial sector, source remote sensing data. It started from the
provide high spatial and temporal resolutions NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) program
imagery. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in late 1980s. One of the product suites exten-
platforms, and associated sensing technologies sively discussed in this book is the Global Land
are now also collecting huge amounts of data Surface Satellite (GLASS) products, which are
for use in a variety of applications in a cost- being distributed free of charge through the
effective manner. China National Data Sharing Infrastructure of
The second trend is the widespread applica- Earth System Science (http://www.geodata.
tion of machine learning techniques that trans- cn/thematicView/GLASS.html) and the Univer-
form raw satellite observations into the values sity of Maryland (www.glass.umd.edu). The
of various bio/geophysical variables. These GLASS products have some unique features,
methods, such as artificial neural network, one of which is long-term time series (from
support vector regression, random forest, and 1981 to present). Considerable efforts are also be-
multivariate adaptive regression splines, are often ing made by the remote sensing community to
based on extensive simulations of different radia- develop the Climate Data Records (CDR)
tive transfer models. defined as the time series of measurements of
The third trend has been the gradual adapta- sufficient length, consistency, and continuity to
tion of cloud computing. It is essential to develop determine climate variability and change by
an infrastructure that connects global remotely the US National Research Council.
sensed data collected and managed by various To incorporate state-of-the-art development
agencies and data centers located throughout of land remote sensing, this new book provides
the world. It will be a cost-effective approach a major revision of the first edition by presenting
xxi
xxii Preface to the second edition
1
A systematic view of remote sensing
O U T L I N E
1.1 Introduction
We are living in a world where population is
rapidly increasing, depleting natural resources,
and experiencing the possible consequences of
human-induced climate change. Our ability to
meet these challenges partially depends on how
well we understand the Earth system and use
that information to guide our actions. Remote
sensing is a tremendous source of information
needed by policy-makers, resource managers,
forecasters, and other users, and it has become
increasingly vital for the effective and sustainable
future management of the Earth. A remote
sensing system consists of instrumentation, pro-
cessing, and analysis designed to measure,
monitor, and predict the physical, chemical, and
biological aspects of the Earth system. Sophisti-
cated new technologies have been developed to
gather vast quantities of data, and the mathemat-
ical and physical sophistication of the techniques
used to process and analyze the observed data
has increased considerably.
The first chapter of the book aims to link
diverse components to paint a full picture of a
remote sensing system as illustrated in Fig. 1.1.
It starts with a brief introduction to the platform FIGURE 1.1 Key components of the remote sensing
and sensor system for acquiring data and then system.
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 3
1.2 Platform and sensor systems The satellite appears motionless at a fixed posi-
tion in the sky to ground observers. There are
The data acquisition system mainly consists of several hundred communication satellites and
the sensor and the platform on which the sensor several meteorological satellites in such an orbit.
resides. The platform may be on the surface, in Fig. 1.2 illustrates a few typical meteorological
the air, or in space. A surface platform may be satellites in the geostationary orbit relative to
a ladder, tower, cherry picker, crane, building, the polar-orbiting satellites.
or scaffolding that provides data used primarily US operational weather satellites include the
for validation. Geostationary Operational Environmental Satel-
Aerial platforms include aircraft and balloons. lite (GOES) used for short-range warning and
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly “now-casting” primarily to support the National
known as a drone, have considerable potential Weather Service requirements. The procure-
to radically improve Earth observation by ment, design, and manufacturing of GOES are
providing high spatial detail over relatively large overseen by the National Aeronautics and Space
areas in a cost-effective way and an entirely new Administration (NASA), while all operations of
capacity for enhanced temporal retrieval the satellites once in orbit are effected by the
(Manfreda et al., 2018). In addition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
increasing availability of UAS and affordability, tion (NOAA). Before being launched, GOES
recent advances in sensor technologies and satellites are designated by letters (-A, -B, -C).
analytical capabilities have stimulated an explo- Once a GOES satellite is launched successfully,
sion of interest from the remote sensing commu- it is redesignated with a number (1, 2, 3).
nity. Increasing miniaturization allows Normally two GOES satellites are operational.
multispectral, hyperspectral, and thermal imag- Information on the GOES series is shown in
ing, as well as synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) Table 1.1. The third generation of GOES, the
and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensing new GOES-R satellite series program, consisting
to be conducted from UAS. of four satellites (from GOES-16), represents a
Spaceborne platforms are mainly satellites significant improvement in spatial, temporal,
and space shuttles. As the landmark of space- and spectral observations over the capabilities
borne remote sensing, Landsat 1 was launched of the previously operational GOES series. For
in 1972. Since then, there have been over 50 example, the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI)
countries operating land remote sensing satel- is the primary instrument on the GOES-R Series
lites. The Committee on Earth Observation Satel- for imaging Earth’s weather, oceans, and envi-
lites (CEOS) database (http://database. ronment. The ABI provides three times more
eohandbook.com/database/missiontable.aspx) spectral information, four times the spatial reso-
lists the current and future satellite missions and lution, and more than five times faster temporal
sensors. The following will mainly discuss the coverage than the previous system.
satellite remote sensing. European operational missions are currently
operated by the European Organization for the
Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
(EUMETSAT). EUMETSAT’s geostationary
1.2.1 Geostationary satellites satellite programs include the Meteosat First
A geostationary satellite is in an orbit that can Generation system (up to Meteosat-7) from
only be achieved at an altitude very close to 1977 to 2017, four Meteosat Second Generation
35,786 km (22,236 miles) and which keeps the (MSG) satellites (MSG-1,2,3,4 or Meteosat-
satellite fixed over one longitude at the equator. 8,9,10,11) from 2004 to 2025, and six Meteosat
4 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
FIGURE 1.2 Illustration of the distribution of a few common geostationary satellites compared to the polar-orbiting
satellites.
Third Generation (MTG) satellites from 2021 to are located in orbit at around 140.7 degrees east
39. The MSG satellites carry an impressive pair and will observe the East Asia and Western
of instruments: the Spinning Enhanced Visible Pacific regions for a period of 15 years. The
and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI), which has the ca- Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI), similar to
pacity to observe the Earth in 12 spectral chan- ABI, has six channel multispectral bands in the
nels and provide image data every half hour, visible to near-infrared spectrum with 500m
and the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget spatial resolution and provides full disk observa-
(GERB) instrument supporting climate studies. tions every 10 min and images of Japan every
The Japanese Geostationary Meteorological 2.5 min.
Satellite (GMS) series had five satellites from China has launched eight of the first-
1977. The Multifunctional Transport Satellites generation geostationary satellites named Fen-
(MTSAT) are the successors to the GMS 1e5 sat- gyun (FY-2) from FY-2A to FY-2H since 1997.
ellite series. The MTSAT-2 from 2010 was also The second generation of geostationary meteoro-
known as Himawari-7. Himawari-8 was opera- logical satellites FY-4 was launched in December
tional from July 2015, and Himawari-9 started 2016, and multiple FY-4 satellites have been
backup operation on March 2017. Both satellites planned to provide service through 2037 when
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 5
TABLE 1.1 Information on GOES satellite series. 1.2.2 Polar-orbiting satellites
Satellites Launch day Status Polar-orbiting satellites can provide an obser-
1 October 16, Decommissioned
vational platform for the entire Earth surface,
1975 while their geostationary counterparts are limited
to approximately 60 degrees of latitude of geosta-
2 June 16, 1977 Decommissioned
tionary meteorological satellites at a fixed point
3 June 16, 1978 Decommissioned over the Earth. Polar-orbiting satellites are able
4 September 9, Decommissioned to circle the globe approximately once every
1978 100 min. Most polar-orbiting Earth observation
5 May 22, 1981 Deactivated on July 18, 1990
satellites, such as Terra, ENVISAT, and Landsat,
have an altitude of about 800 km. They are in
6 April 28, 1983 Decommissioned sun-synchronous orbits passing directly over a
G May 3, 1986 Failed to orbit given spot on the ground at the same local time.
7 February 26, Used as a communications
A relatively low orbit allows detection and collec-
1987 satellite; decommissioned 2012 tion of data by instruments aboard a polar-
orbiting satellite at a higher spatial resolution
8 April 13, 1994 Decommissioned 2004
than from a geostationary satellite.
9 May 23, 1995 Decommissioned 2007 NASA has launched a series of polar-orbiting
10 April 25, 1997 Decommissioned 2009 satellite missions with the ability to characterize
the current state of the Earth system. The
11 May 3, 2000 Decommissioned 2011
currently active satellites are illustrated in
12 July 23, 2001 Decommissioned 2013 Fig. 1.3. All the missions fall into three types:
13 May 24, 2006 On-orbit storage exploratory, operational precursor and technol-
ogy demonstration, and systematic.
14 June 27, 2009 On-orbit spare
Exploratory missions are designed to yield
15 March 4, 2010 Operational West backup new scientific breakthroughs. Each exploratory
16 November 19, Currently operating as GOES satellite project is expected to be a one-time
(GOES-R) 2016 East mission that can deliver conclusive scientific
17 March 1, 2017 Currently operating as GOES
results addressing a focused set of scientific
(GOES-S) West questions. In some cases, an exploratory mission
may focus on a single pioneering measurement
GOES-T Planned to
launch in 2020
that opens a new window on the behavior of
the Earth system. These missions are managed
GOES-U Planned to in the NASA Earth System Science program
launch in 2024
(ESSP). Examples include the Gravity Recovery
and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Cloud-
SAT. GRACE data can be used for estimating
a successor program will be inaugurated. The soil moisture and surface/underground water
Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (Section 20.4).
(AGRI) aboard FY-4 is the corresponding version Operational precursor and technology
of ABI in the GOES-R series. It has 14 spectral demonstration missions enable major upgrades
bands, delivering full disk images every 15 min of existing operational observing systems.
at a significantly improved resolution of NASA is investing in innovative sensor technol-
0.5e4 km. ogies and developing more cost-effective
6 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
FIGURE 1.3 Illustration of the current NASA Earth observing satellites, downloaded from https://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/
in February 2019.
versions of its pioneer scientific instruments that centerpiece of NASA’s recent Earth observation
can be used effectively by operational agencies. program. It was conceived in the 1980s and
An example is the NMP EO-1 (New Millennium began to take shape in the early 1990s. It is
Program Earth Observing-1) mission launched composed of a series of satellites and sensors, a
on November 21, 2000, which includes three science component, and a data system support-
advanced land imaging sensors and five revolu- ing a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and
tionary crosscutting spacecraft technologies. The low inclination satellites for long-term global ob-
three sensors led to a new generation of lighter servations of the land surface, biosphere, solid
weight, higher performance, and lower cost Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. Complete and
Landsat-type Earth surface imaging instru- still active EOS satellites are shown in Tables 1.2
ments. The hyperspectral sensor Hyperion is and 1.3.
the first of its kind to provide images of land sur-
face in more than 220 spectral bands.
Systematic missions provide systematic
1.2.3 Overview of major satellite
measurements of key environmental variables
missions and programs
that are essential to specify changes in forcings
caused by factors outside the Earth system There exist 72 different government space
(e.g., changes in incident solar radiation) and to agencies as of 2018, and 14 of those have launch
document the behavior of the major components capability. Six government space agencies have
of the Earth system. An example is the Earth full launch capabilities, i.e., launch and recover
Observing System (EOS) program. EOS is the multiple satellites, deploy cryogenic rocket
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 7
TABLE 1.2 Active EOS satellites as of April 2019. TABLE 1.2 Active EOS satellites as of April
2019.dcont’d
Satellites Launch day
Satellites Launch day
Aqua May 4, 2002
Terra December 18,
Aura July 15, 2004 1999
Cloud-aerosol LiDAR and infrared April 28, 2006 The global change observation May 18, 2012
pathfinder Satellite observation (CALIPSO) mission-water (GCOM-W1)
CloudSat April 28, 2006 Total solar irradiance spectral solar December 15,
Cyclone global Navigation Satellite system December 15, irradiance 1 (TSIS-1) 2017
(EVM-1) (CYGNSS) 2016
Deep space climate observatory (DSCOVR) February 11,
2015
TABLE 1.3 Completed EOS satellites as of April
ECOsystem spaceborne thermal radiometer June 29, 2018 2019.
experiment on space station (EVI-2)
(ECOSTRESS) Satellites Lunch day
Global ecosystem dynamics investigation December 5, Combined Release and Radiation Effects July 25, 1990
LiDAR (EVI-2) (GEDI on ISS) 2018 Satellite (CRRES)
Global precipitation measurement core February 27, Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite September 12,
observatory (GPM Core) 2014 (UARS) 1991
Gravity recovery and climate experiment May 22, 2018 Atmospheric Laboratory of Applications March 24,
follow on (GRACE-FO) and Science (ATLAS) 1992
Ice, cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 September 15, TOPEX/Poseidon August 10,
(ICESat-2) 2018 1992
Jason-3 January 17, Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) April 19, 1994
2016
Radar Satellite (RADARSAT) November 4,
Landsat 7 April 15, 1999 1995
Landsat 8 February 11, Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer-Earth July 2, 1996
2013 Probe (TOMS-EP)
Lightning imaging sensor on ISS February 19, Advanced Earth Observing Satellite August 17,
(LIS on ISS) 2017 (ADEOS) 1996
Ocean surface topography Mission/Jason-2 January 20, Orbview-2/SeaWiFS August 1, 1997
(OSTM/Jason-2) 2008
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission November 27,
Orbiting carbon observatory 2 (OCO-2) July 2, 2014 (TRMM) 1997
Quik Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) June 19, 1999 Tomographic Experiment using Radiative May 18, 1999
Soil moisture active-passive (SMAP) January 31, Recombinative ionospheric EUV and Radio
2015 Sources (TERRIERS)
Solar radiation and climate experiment January 25, Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance December 20,
(SORCE) 2003 Monitor Satellite (ACRIMSAT) 1999
Stratospheric aerosol and gas experiment February 18, Challenging Mini-Satellite Payload July 15, 2000
III on ISS (SAGE III-ISS) 2017 (CHAMP)
(Continued)
8 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
TABLE 1.3 Completed EOS satellites as of April The following will introduce the major satellite
2019.dcont’d programs of the United States, Europe, and
Satellites Lunch day China.
imaging instruments. Sentinel-1 is a polar- monitor the atmosphere from polar orbit aboard
orbiting, all-weather, day-and-night radar imag- a MetOp Second Generation satellite. Sentinel-6
ing mission for land and ocean service with carries a radar altimeter to measure global sea-
Sentinel-1A launched on April 3, 2014 and surface height, primarily for operational oceanog-
Sentinel-1B on April 25, 2016. Sentinel-2 is a raphy and for climate studies.
polar-orbiting, multispectral high-resolution Similar to the Landsat program, the SPOT
imaging mission for land monitoring, with program has also provided the long-term high-
Sentinel-2A launched on June 23, 2015 and resolution satellite observations. The Landsat
Sentinel-2B on March 7, 2017. Sentinel-3 is a mul- program has been mostly funded by the US
tiinstrument mission to measure sea surface government, but the SPOT program has been
topography, sea- and land surface temperature, operating commercially. The SPOT satellites are
and ocean color and land color. Sentinel-3A was summarized in Table 1.4. It is able to take stereo-
launched on February 16, 2016 and Sentinel-3B pair images almost simultaneously to map
on April 25, 2018. Sentinel-4 is for atmospheric surface topography.
monitoring that will be embarked upon a Meteo-
sat Third Generation-Sounder (MTG-S) satellite 1.2.3.3 China
in geostationary orbit. Sentinel-5 Precursor China has developed several satellite series,
(Sentinel-5P) is to provide timely data on a multi- such as meteorological satellite series Fengyun
tude of trace gases and aerosols. Sentinel-5P was (FY), ocean satellite series Haiyang (HY), Earth
launched on October 13, 2017. Sentinel-5 will resources satellite series Ziyuan (ZY),
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 11
TABLE 1.4 Overview of the SPOT satellites and on October 21, 2003. ZY-1 02C was launched
data characteristics. on December 22, 2011. ZY-3 is China’s first
SPOT Launch Ending Spatial and spectral
high-resolution civilian optical transmission-
satellites date date resolutions type stereo mapping satellite that integrates the
functions of surveying, mapping, and resources
1 February December One 10 m panchromatic
investigation. ZY-3 is equipped with two front
22, 1986 31, 1990 band (0.51e0.73 mm);
three 20 m multispectral and back view CCD cameras having the resolu-
bands: green (0.50e0.59), tion better than 3.5 m, one CCD camera with
red (0.61e0.68 mm), near- the resolution better than 2.1 m, and one multi-
infrared (0.79e0.89 mm) spectral camera with the resolution better than
2 January July 2009 Same as SPOT 1 5.8 m. The swath is about 50 km.
22, 1990 The meteorological FY satellite series include
3 September November Same as SPOT-1 both geostationary (FY2 and FY4) and polar-
26, 1993 14, 1997 orbiting (FY-1 and FY-3) satellites. FY3 is the
second generation of the Chinese meterological
4 March 24, July 2013 One 10 m monospectral
1998 band (0.61e0.68 mm); polar-orbiting satellites. FY-3A was launched on
three 20 m multispectral May 27, 2008 and carried 11 sensors. FY-3D is
bands: green (0.50e0.59), the latest one in the series launched on November
red (0.61e0.68 mm), near- 15, 2017. Additional satellites in this series have
infrared (0.79e0.89 mm)
also been planned with FY-3E (2019), FY-3F
5 May 4, March 31, 2.5/5 m panchromatic (2019), and FY-3G (2022). FY-4A was launched
2002 2015 band; three 10 m on December 10, 2016, and additional five new
multispectral bands:
FY-4’s launches were also planned.
green (500e590 nm), red
(610e680 nm), near-IR Gaofen (GF), meaning high resolution in
(780e890 nm) bands, and Chinese, satellite series is part of the China
one 20m resolution on High-Resolution Earth Observation System
shortwave-infrared (1.58 (CHEOS), an analog to Europe’s Copernicus
e1.75 mm)
program of Sentinel Earth observation satellites.
6 September One 1.5 m panchromatic The first few satellites and some characteristics
9, 2012 band; four 6m are shown in Table 1.5.
multispectral bands: blue
(450e525 nm), green (530
e590 nm), red (625
e695 nm), near-infrared 1.2.4 Small satellites and satellite
(760e890 nm)
constellations
7 June 30, Same sensors as SPOT 6
2014 All satellites can be classified into seven clas-
ses based on their masses (see Table 1.6). There
environment and disaster monitoring small sat- is a trend in using small satellites for Earth obser-
ellite constellation (HJ). Their launch times are vation for reducing the cost: heavier satellites
shown in Fig. 1.5. require larger rockets with greater thrust, which
The resource ZY satellite series started with also has greater cost to finance. Small satellites,
the ChinaeBrazil Earth resource satellites also known as miniaturized satellites, are artifi-
(CBERS) jointly developed by China and Brazil cial satellites of low mass and size, usually under
with CBERS-1 launched in 1999 and CBERS-2 500 kg. Most of these small satellites have been
used with “mother” satellites that provide
12 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
FIGURE 1.5 Major Chinese satellites relevant to land remote sensing and their launch times (Liang et al., 2018).
operating signals; however, more recent versions cover might be a good example of a mission
are operating independently. Femto satellites where higher refresh rate at lower accuracy is a
and other types of small satellites are beginning preferred approach.
to revolutionize not only who can send satellite The Planet Labs, a private company based in
systems in space but also they have now given San Francisco, CA, USA, had launched 298 satel-
unprecedented access for data collection. lites, 150 of which were active, as of September
According to the Union of Concerned Scien- 2018. The company is operating several Earth
tists Database, all 620 active EO satellites in observation satellite constellations: Flock, Rapi-
2017 include 186 large satellites, 74 small satel- dEye, and Skysat. The Flock constellation consists
lites, 100 microsats, 215 Nanosats/CubeSats, of the Dove Cubesats that weigh 4 kg (8.8 lb),
and the remaining 45 satellites that do not have 10 10 30 cm (3.9 in 3.9 in 11.8 in) in
a launch mass specified. In particular, the num- length, width, and height. Each Dove satellite
ber of Nanosats/CubeSats increased by 34.68% is tiny and has a lifespan of 1e3 years but can
from 2016. observe the Earth at 3e5 m spatial resolution.
Satellite systems are generally transitioning The RapidEye constellation consists of five sat-
from the single satellite model to the cooperative ellites producing 5-m (16 ft) resolution imagery
sensing approach. For missions requiring global that Planet acquired from the German company
or continuous coverage in real time or within a BlackBridge in 2015. The five satellites travel on
very short temporal period, there is a potential the same orbital plane (at an altitude of
advantage in deploying a constellation of satel- 630 km) and together are capable of collecting
lites. A satellite constellation is a group of satel- over 4 million km of 5-m resolution, 5-band im-
lites operating in a coordinated format. The agery every day in the blue (440e510 nm), green
well-known example is the global positioning (520e590 nm), red (630e690 nm), red-edge
system (GPS) constellation (Fig. 1.6). (690e730 nm), and near infrared (760e880 nm).
Constellations of small satellites may offer a The Skysat constellation, purchased from
new approach to those science missions that Google in 2017, is composed of CubeSat that
would benefit from more frequent sampling by can observe the Earth surface at a spatial resolu-
a larger number of lower cost sensors. Moni- tion of 0.9 m in its 400e900 nm panchromatic
toring of time-varying phenomena such as cloud band, making it the smallest satellite to be put
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 13
TABLE 1.5 Overview of the Gaofen first seven sat- in orbit capable of such high-resolution imagery.
ellites and data characteristics. The four multispectral bands have a spatial reso-
GF- Launch date Notes
lution of 2 m in blue (450e515 nm), green
(515e595 nm), red (605e695 nm), and near-
1 April 26, 2013 Two sensors: high-resolution cameras infrared (740e900 nm). As of September 2016,
(HRC) and wide field imagers (WFI).
six SkySat satellites were launched. In October
HRC includes pan at 2 m and four
multispectral bands (blue, green, red, 2017, four additional Dove satellites were also
and near-IR) at 8m with the swath of launched being part of this constellation.
68 km. WFI has similar four Besides the constellations with actual satel-
multispectral bands to HRC at 16m lites simultaneously orbiting in space, the
resolution with the swath of 830 km.
concept of virtual constellation has also been
Repeating cycle: 4 days at the equator
proposed. The CEOS defines virtual constella-
2 August A single camera: one 1 m Pan and 4 m tions as a “set of space and ground segment capabil-
19, 2014 multispectral bands (blue, green, red,
ities that operate in a coordinated manner to meet a
and near-IR). Swath: 45 km. Repeating
cycle: 4 days at equator combined and common set of Earth Observation
requirements.”
3 September A quad-polarization (vertical-vertical
We are increasingly faced the challenging dif-
8, 2016 (VV); horizontalhorizontal (HH);
vertical-horizontal (VH); ficulty to address rapid changes in the global
horizontalvertical (HV)) C-Band SAR at environment using data from single-satellite
25 m spatial resolution, a 26-day repeat sensors or platforms due to the underlying limi-
cycle tations of data availability and tradeoffs that
4 December A geostationary satellite with a camera govern the design and implementation of exist-
28, 2015 of 5 bands. The first four bands (blue, ing satellite systems. Virtual constellations can
green, red, and near-IR) at 50 m principally be used to add value to Earth obser-
resolution, the middle-IR (3.5e4.1 mm)
vation by combining sensors with similar spatial,
at 400m resolution. Swath: 400 km.
spectral, temporal, and radiometric characteris-
5 September Two hyperspectral/multispectral tics. Virtual constellations of planned and exist-
5, 2018 sensors for terrestrial earth observation
ing satellite sensors may help to overcome the
and four atmospheric observation
sensors: visible shortwave infrared limitation by combining existing observations
hyperspectral camera, full-spectrum to mitigate limitations of any one particular
spectral imager, atmospheric aerosol sensor. While multisensory applications are not
multiangle polarization detector, new, the integration and harmonization of multi-
atmospheric trace gases differential
sensor data is still challenging, requiring tremen-
absorption spectrometer, main
atmospheric greenhouse gases monitor, dous efforts of science and operational user
ultrahigh-resolution infrared communities.
atmospheric sounder The CEOS has formed seven virtual constella-
6 February Similar to the GF-1 satellite, but using a tions so far to coordinate space-based, ground-
6, 2018 different instrument suit, consisting of a based, and/or data delivery systems to meet a
2/8 m resolution panchromatic/ common set of requirements within a specific
hyperspectral camera and a 16 m domain, including Atmospheric Composition
resolution wide angle camera
(AC-VC), Land Surface Imaging (LSI-VC),
7 2019 Similar to ZY-3 with 3D topographical Ocean Color Radiometry (OCR-VC), Ocean
mapping Surface Topography (OST-VC), Ocean Surface
FIGURE 1.6 Global positioning system satellite constellation, downloaded from https://upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/e/e2/GPS-constellation-3D-NOAA.jpg.
Vector Wind (OSVW-VC), Precipitation (P-VC), that is emitted by the object being viewed or re-
and Sea Surface Temperature (SST-VC). They flected by the object from a source other than the
leverage inter-Agency collaboration and part- instrument. Reflected sunlight is the most com-
nerships to address observational gaps, sustain mon external source of radiation sensed by pas-
the routine collection of critical observations, sive sensors. Typical passive sensors include the
and minimize duplication/overlaps, while following:
maintaining the independence of individual
• Radiometer: An instrument that
CEOS Agency contributions.
quantitatively measures the radiance of
electromagnetic radiation in the visible,
infrared, or microwave spectral region.
1.2.5 Sensor types • Imaging radiometer: A radiometer that
The sensor technology has been well includes a scanning capability to provide a
reviewed recently (Toth and Jozkow, 2016). two-dimensional array of pixels from which
There are two types of sensors: passive and an image may be produced. It is often called a
active. Passive sensors detect natural radiation scanner. Scanning can be performed
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 15
mechanically or electronically by using an structure information, Section14.4.2 for
array of detectors. Across-track scanners, estimating above-ground forest biomass, and
scanning from one side of the sensor to the Section 18.3.2.2 for mapping soil moisture.
other across the platform flight direction • Interferometric synthetic-aperture radar
using a rotating mirror, are called (InSAR): A technique that compares two or
Whiskbroom Scanners, such as AVHRR. more amplitude and phase images over the
Alone-track scanners, scanning a swath with same geographic region received during
a linear array of charge-coupled devices different passes of the SAR platform at
(CCD) arranged perpendicular to the flight different times. InSAR can survey height
direction of the platform without using a information of the illuminated scene with
mechanical rotation device, are called cm-scale vertical resolution and 30-m pixel
Pushbroom scanners, such as High resolution, and covering areas 100 100 km
Resolution Visible of SPOT and Advanced (in standard beam modes). Examples include
Land Imager of EO-1. ERS-1 (1991), JERS-1 (1992), RADARSAT-1
• Spectroradiometer: A radiometer that can and ERS-2 (1995), and ASAR (2002). While the
measure the radiance in multiple spectral majority of InSAR missions to date have
bands, such as the Moderate Resolution utilized C-band sensors, recent missions such
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the as ALOS PALSAR, TerraSAR-X, and COSMO
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer SKYMED are expanding the available data in
(MISR). the L- and X-bands.
• Scatterometer: A high frequency microwave
Active sensors provide their own electromag-
radar designed specifically to determine the
netic radiation to illuminate the scene they
normalized radar cross section of the surface.
observe. They send a pulse of energy from the
Over ocean surfaces, measurements of
sensor to the scene and then receive the radiation
backscattered radiation in the microwave
that is reflected or backscattered from that scene.
spectral region can be used to derive maps of
Typical active sensors include:
surface wind speed and direction. It has also
• Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging): A been used for mapping surface soil moisture
microwave radar that uses a transmitter and freeze/thaw states. Examples include the
operating at microwave frequencies to emit Advanced Microwave Instrument (AMI) of
electromagnetic radiation and a directional ERS-1 and ERS-2.
antenna or receiver to measure the time of • LiDAR: An active optical sensor that uses a
arrival of reflected or backscattered pulses of laser in the ultraviolet, visible, or near-
radiation from distant objects for determining infrared spectrum to transmit a light pulse
the distance to the object. and a receiver with sensitive detectors to
• SAR: A side-looking radar imaging system measure the backscattered or reflected light.
that uses relative motion between an antenna Distance to the object is determined by
and the Earth surface to synthesize a very recording the time between the transmitted
long antenna by combining signals (echoes) and backscattered pulses and using the speed
received by the radar as it moves along its of light to calculate the distance traveled. The
flight track for obtaining high spatial details are given in Chapters 13 and 14.
resolution imagery. There are multiple SAR • Laser Altimeter: A laser altimeter that uses a
systems in operation, and some examples can LiDAR to measure the height of the
be seen in Section 13.4 for estimating instrument platform above the surface. By
vegetation canopy height and vertical independently knowing the height of the
16 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
platform with respect to the mean Earth’s of view (IFOV) of the sensor, or the linear dimen-
surface, the topography of the underlying sion on the ground represented by each pixel.
surface can be determined. The Geoscience Fig. 1.7 shows the campus of the University of
Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) of ICESat is a Maryland at College Park at four different
typical example of a space-based Laser spatial resolutions. Table 1.7 shows the spatial
Altimeter. resolution of some common sensors.
(A) 1 m (B) 10 m
FIGURE 1.7 Campus of the University of Maryland at College Park at four Spatial resolutions.
1.2 Platform and sensor systems 17
TABLE 1.7 Characteristics of some commonly used satellite sensors.
B6 60
HRV/SPOT5 Pan 2.5 or 5 8 26/2.4 2002-
B1eB3 10
SW-IR 20
Very high Ikonos Panchromatic 0.82 at nadir 11 3 days at 40 1999-
resolution band degrees latitude
(<5 m)
B1-b4 3.2 at nadir
Quickbird Pan 0.61 11 1e3.5 2001-
B1eB4 2.44
World view Pan 0.5 at nadir 11 1.7e5.9 2007-
Geoeye-1 Pan 1.41 at nadir 11 2.1e8.3 days at 40 2008-
degrees latitude
B1eB4 1.65 at nadir
FIGURE 1.8 Campus of the University of Maryland at College Park at four radiometric resolutions.
in each band of data, and is determined by the (2) the data can be recorded on board the
number of bits into which the recorded radiation satellite for transmission to a GRS at a later
is divided. In 8-bit data, the digital numbers (DN) time; and
can range from 0 to 255 for each pixel (28 1/4 256 (3) the data can also be relayed to the GRS
total possible numbers). Obviously more bits re- through the Tracking and Data Relay
sults in higher radiometric accuracy of the sensor, Satellite (TDRS) System (TDRSS), which
as shown in Fig. 1.8. The radiometric resolutions consists of a series of communications
of common sensors are shown in Table 1.7. satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The data
are transmitted from one satellite to another
until they reach the appropriate GRS.
NASA’s TDRS started in the early 1970’s and
1.3 Data transmission and ground has evolved for three generations. The
receiving system current TDRSS consists of 10 in-orbit
satellites (four first generation, 3 s generation
There are three main options for transmitting and two third generation satellites)
data acquired by satellite sensors to the surface: distributed to provide near-constant
(1) the data can be directly transmitted to Earth communication links between the ground
if a Ground Receiving Station (GRS) is in the and orbiting satellites (e.g., Landsat).
line of sight of the satellite;
1.4 Data processing 19
There are two types of GRSs: fixed and mo- 1.4 Data processing
bile. Most GRSs are fixed, and Fig. 1.9 shows
the locations of all currently active ground sta- A series of preprocessing tasks are needed to
tions operated by the United States (only two undertake before environmental information
in South Dakota and Aelaska) and International can be accurately extracted from remotely
Cooperator ground station network for the sensed data. Two types of preprocesses are
direct downlink and distribution of Landsat 7 conducted: radiometric processing and geomet-
(L7) and/or Landsat 8 (L8) image data. As ric processing. The radiometric processing may
coverage of the globe by ground receiving sta- include sensor radiometric calibration, image
tions is not complete, as seen from Fig. 1.9, the enhancement (mostly filtering noises), atmo-
mobile station is an attractive solution to fill spheric correction, and image fusion.
the holes and also an efficient means to perform
acquisition in a remote location for a long period
of time when a lot of images are needed for 1.4.1 Radiometric calibration
particular work (cartography of a region for
Radiometric calibration is a process that con-
example).
verts recorded sensor voltages or digital
The ground receiving stations acquire,
numbers (DN) to an absolute scale of radiance
preprocess, archive, and process data. Their
or reflectance. Because outer space is such a
typical components and functions may include
harsh environment, the performance of all satel-
the data acquisition facility, the data processing
lite sensors degrades over time. To achieve
facility, the value added facility, and user sup-
consistent and accurate measurements that can
port services.
be used to detect climatic and environmental
FIGURE 1.9 The locations of all active ground stations operated by our US and International Cooperator (IC) ground sta-
tion network for the direct downlink and distribution of Landsat 8 and/or Landsat 9 data. The circles show the approximate
area over which each station has the capability for direct reception of Landsat data. Downloaded from https://landsat.usgs.gov/igs-
network in February 2019.
20 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
change, the digital numbers (DNs) need to be reflective solar sensors. There are several
transformed into physical quantities. common desired characteristics of an
Calibration measurements can be conducted invariant sited for example, temporal
in three stages: preflight, in-flight, and post- stability, spatial uniformity, little or
launch: nonvegetation, and relatively high surface
reflectivity with approximately Lambertian
• Preflight calibration measures a sensor’s
reflectance. Commonly used sites include
radiometric properties before that sensor is
stable desert areas of the Sahara, Saudi
sent into space. Preflight instrument
Arabia, Sonoran, White Sand, and regions in
calibration is performed at the instrument
Bolivia. By observing these sites with satellite
builder’s facilities. The controllable and stable
sensor systems over extended periods of time,
environment in the laboratory guarantees
degradations (trends) in sensor responsivity
high calibration accuracy and precision
can be monitored and quantified.
• In-flight calibration is usually performed on a
routine basis with on-board calibration Some sensors have neither on-board calibra-
systems. More and more optical sensors have tion devices nor regular post-launch calibration,
on-board calibration devices. For example, for example, AVHRR. One solution to calibrate
the AVHRR optical sensor does not have an the sensor is through cross calibration. MODIS
on-board calibration capability, but the as a well calibrated instrument (Xiong et al.,
ETMþ has three on-board calibration devices: 2018) has been used as a reference to calibrate
the Internal Calibrator, the Partial Aperture other sensors using coincident observations of
Solar Calibrator, and the Full Aperture Solar MODIS and the target sensors over the pseudo-
Calibrator. MODIS also has three dedicated invariant calibration sites. For example, Vermote
calibration devices for the reflective bands: and Kaufman (1995) proposed a cross-
Solar Diffuser, Solar Diffuser Stability calibration method using a time series of MODIS
Monitor, and the Spectroradiometric and AVHRR data over a Saharan Desert site.
Calibration Assembly. In addition, MODIS These two methods using data over the
has two additional calibration techniques: pseudo-invariant calibration sites provide abso-
looking at the Moon and at deep space. The lute radiometric calibration of the sensors.
MODIS sensor has such an onboard Many sensors contain multiple detectors that
calibration system that promises an absolute have slightly different responsivities. As a result,
error better than 2%. the imagery produced by these sensors may
• Post-launch calibration data have to be contain a significant level of striping. One solu-
obtained from vicarious calibration tion is to match the mean values of each detector
techniques that typically make use of selected over a period of times so that all detectors pro-
natural or artificial sites on the surface of the duce the relatively uniform values.
Earth. Prelaunch and onboard methods are
better established, and postlaunch methods
using invariant sites in vicarious calibration is 1.4.2 Geometric processing
becoming more popular with the changing
No image acquired by sensors can perfectly
design and demands of new instruments.
represent the true spatial properties of the land-
Vicarious calibration using pseudo-invariant
scape. Many factors can also distort the geomet-
sites has become increasingly accepted as a
ric properties of remote sensing data, such as
fundamental postlaunch calibration method
variations in the platform altitude, attitude and
to monitor long-term performance of satellite
velocity, Earth rotation and curvature, surface
1.4 Data processing 21
(A) (B)
TGSD
1
0.8
0.6 0.6
PSF
footprint decided
PSF
0.4 by TGSD
0.4 0.2
Realistic PSF 0
0.2 10
5 10
0 5
Y( 0
km –5 –5
0 ) )
–20 –15 –10 –5 0 5 10 15 20 –10 –10 X (km
X distance from scene center (km)
FIGURE 1.10 Point spread functions: (A) Realistic and ideal PSF model for simulating GEO radiances, (B) Sketch of EE in
terms of the PSF, Dashed square shows the integral area for EE, which is determined by the TGSD (Zhang et al., 2006).
ACK
GTR
ALON
N
GSCA
ALON
Nadir
–
a–
– Major axis of scan spot ellipse
a
b b–
– Minor axis of scan spot ellipse
–
FIGURE 1.11 Sketch of pixel geometry for the AVHRR for adjacent scan lines to illustrate autocorrelation (Breaker, 1990).
relief displacement, and perspective projection. called the modulation transfer function (MTF), a
Some of these resulting distortions are system- precise measurement of details and contrast
atic and can be corrected through analysis of made in the frequency domain. The sensor PSF
sensor characteristics and platform ephemeris is often modeled as a Gaussian. Fig. 1.10 illus-
data, but others are random and have to be cor- trates the PSF in two- and three-dimensions
rected by using ground control points (DCP). (Fig. 1.11), where TGSD is the threshold ground
In the sensor ground instantaneous field of sample distance, which is the centroid-to-
view (IFOV), surface elements do not contribute centroid distance between adjacent pixels.
to the pixel value equally, but rather, the central The actual response function of the ground
part contributes most to the pixel value. This IFOV is often not square; for example, for
kind of spatial effect is usually specified by the MODIS, it is twice as wide cross-track as
sensor point spread function (PSF) in the spatial in-track because of time integration during scan-
domain, and the Fourier transform of the PSF is ning. For most whiskbroom scanners, such as
22 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
FIGURE 1.12 The actual size of the ground IFOV of AVHRR as a function of the view zenith angle.
AVHRR and MODIS, the actual size of the example, dropped lines are usually filled with
ground IFOV is a function of the scanning angle the values of the previous lines or the averages
(see Fig. 1.12). of the neighboring lines. Strips can be removed
This topic is significant because level-1 radi- by using simple along-line convolution, high-
ance data or level-2 reflectance data should be pass filtering, and forward and reverse principal
corrected for geometric distortions before calcu- component transformations.
lating geophysical parameters in order to obtain To assist human visual interpretation, various
a truly absolute geophysical parameter. The image enhancement techniques have been incor-
details are discussed in Chapter 2. porated in many remote sensing digital image
processing systems. These enhancement
methods can be divided into spatial domain
1.4.3 Image quality enhancement and frequency domain categories. In spatial
domain techniques, we directly deal with the im-
Imperfections or image artifacts are continu-
age pixels. Fig. 1.13 illustrates the effects of a
ously caused by the instrument’s electronics,
linear enhancement technique. The pixel values
dead or dying detectors, and downlink errors.
are manipulated to achieve the desired enhance-
Known artifacts include the scan-correlated shift, ment. In frequency domain methods, the image
memory effect, modulation transfer function, is first transferred to the frequency domain.
and coherent noise. Dropped lines and That is, the Fourier transform of the image is
in-operable detectors also exist as a result of computed first, all the enhancement operations
decommutating errors and detector failure.
are performed on the Fourier transform of the
Potential remnant artifacts include banding and
image, and then the inverse Fourier transform
striping. In the past, these effects were ignored
is performed to obtain the resultant image.
or artificially removed using cosmetic algo-
rithms during radiometric preprocessing. For
1.4 Data processing 23
(A) (B)
2.0×104
1.5×104
1.0×104
5.0×103
0
500 1000 1500 2000
Data value
(C) (D)
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
500 1000 1500 2000
Data value
FIGURE 1.13 An example of linear enhancement: original image and its histogram (A) and (B); linearly enhanced image
and its histogram (C) and (D). Note that the radiometric properties characterizing environmental conditions are artificially
altered by image enhancement methods. Most image enhancement techniques for assisting visual interpretation should not
be performed before quantitatively estimating biophysical variables. (A) Original image. (B) Histogram. (C) Enhanced image.
(D) New histogram.
FIGURE 1.15 An example of atmospheric correction of MODIS imagery before (A) and after (B) (Gui et al., 2010). From
Liang, S., Fang, H., Chen, M., Shuey, C., Walthall, C., Daughtry, C., 2002. Atmospheric correction of landsat ETMþ land surface
imagery: II. validation and applications. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 40, 2736e2746. © 2002, IEEE.
1.5 Mapping category variables 25
For thermal-IR imagery, if we can acquire at- • Multispatial images from the same or multiple
mospheric profile information (mainly tempera- sensors (e.g., merge ETM panchromatic and
ture and water vapor) from sounding data, multispectral images);
atmospheric correction is straightforward. The • Multiple images of different spectral regions
split-window approach based on two thermal- from the same or multiple sensors (e.g., merge
IR bands, when no such atmospheric profile SAR with optical imagery or visible bands
information is available, is often used to estimate with thermal bands);
land surface temperature without atmospheric • Remote sensing images with ancillary data
correction. The details are available in Chapter 7. (e.g., topographic map).
When the high-level satellite products are
evaluated, it is surprising to see that most prod-
1.4.5 Image fusion and product ucts are mainly generated from a single sensor.
integration For example, the MODIS albedo product is
mainly from MODIS data, which is also true
There are many cases where we need to inte- for MISR, MERIS, etc. The same product from
grate image data through image fusion tech- different satellite sensors may have different
niques. Definitions of image fusion in the characteristics (e.g., spatial and temporal resolu-
literature are very diverse. Image fusion can be tions, accuracy). Instead of asking the user to
viewed as a process that produces a single image pick the “best” product, we can generate a
from a set of input images. The fused image blended/integrated product from multiple-
should have more complete information and is sensor products. Chapter 21 is devoted to
more useful for estimating land surface vari- addressing this topic in the example of leaf
ables. It can improve both reliability by using area index (LAI).
redundant information and capability by using
complementary information, as illustrated in
Fig. 1.16. 1.5 Mapping category variables
Image fusion is not distinguished from image
merging or image integration, which at the pixel We are interested in two types of land surface
level may be in many different forms, for variables: category and quantitative. The cate-
example: gory variables represent the types of objects on
• Multitemporal images from the same or the land surfaces and are usually mapped out
multiple sensors for change detection (e.g., through image classification. The purpose of im-
merge TM images acquired at different age classification is to group together pixels that
times); have similar properties into a finite set of classes.
An example of a classified image is a land cover
map. Fig. 1.17 is a global land cover map map-
ped from MODIS data. The key steps in the clas-
sification process are as follows:
(1) Definition of classification system (scheme):
This depends on the objective and the
characteristics of the remote sensing data.
The purpose of such a scheme is to provide
(2) A framework for organizing and
FIGURE 1.16 Illustration of image fusion. categorizing the information that can be
26
1. A systematic view of remote sensing
FIGURE 1.17 Global land cover classification map from MODIS.
1.6 Estimating quantitative variables 27
extracted from the data. A number of (6) Accuracy assessment: The classified results
classification schemes have been developed should be checked and verified for their
for mapping regional and global land cover accuracy and reliability. The training data
and land use maps. The IGBP land cover are usually divided into two parts, one for
classification system for global mapping training and the other for validation. In the
using MODIS data is shown in Fig. 1.17. evaluation of classification errors, a
(3) Selection of features: Classification is classification error matrix is typically
executed based on a series of features in the formed, which is sometimes called a
feature space. It divides the feature space confusion matrix or contingency table.
into several classes based on a decision rule.
The details of image classification techniques
Instead of using the original bands, they are
are not covered by this book, but the basic prin-
often transformed into feature space to
ciples and progress can be found elsewhere
discriminate between the classes. Examples
(Dash and Ogutu, 2016; Lu and Weng, 2007).
of features include various vegetation
Some typical techniques for mapping land use
indexes, principal components and those
types will be discussed in Chapters 23e25. At
from the Tasseled-Cap transformation, and
most spatial resolutions, the majority of pixels
other spatial, temporal, and angular features.
are mixed. If a pixel is required not just to be
The subset of features is selected to
labeled as one of the cover types but to estimate
maximally distinguish different classes.
the percentages of the cover types, it would be
(4) Sampling of training data: Training is the
more challenging. How to estimate the fractional
process of defining the criteria by which these
vegetation coverage within one pixel will be dis-
classes are recognized and is performed with
cussed in Chapter 12.
either a supervised or an unsupervised
method. Supervised training is closely
controlled by the analyst, who selects pixels
from each class based on high-resolution 1.6 Estimating quantitative variables
imagery, ground truth data, or maps, while
unsupervised training is more computer- To drive, calibrate, and validate the Earth pro-
automated and enables the user to specify cess models and support various applications,
some parameters that the computer uses to high-level products of quantitative variables
uncover statistical patterns that are inherent are much more desirable. How to generate these
in the data but do not necessarily correspond products is the main focus of this book. In the
to classes in the classification scheme. early stages of remote sensing technique devel-
(5) Classification: A parametric or opment, visual interpretation was the approach
nonparametric decision rule, which is often commonly used for extracting land surface infor-
called a classifier, is used to perform the mation. Statistical analysis later became a more
actual sorting of pixels into distinct class common method for quantitatively estimating
values. There are various classifiers, such as land surface information. As can be seen in the
the parallelepiped classifier, minimum following chapters, various inversion techniques
distance classifier, maximum likelihood based on physically based surface radiation
classifier, regression tree classifier, and models have become the subject of mainstream
support vector machine (SVM) classifier. research (Liang, 2007). It is necessary to provide
They are compared with the training data so an overview of these techniques. As many inver-
that an appropriate decision rule is selected sion algorithms are based on forward radiation
for classification. modeling, let us first begin with that.
28 1. A systematic view of remote sensing
1.6.1 Forward radiation modeling ellipsoid shape and the calculated sunlit and
shadowed components.
This is the process that links the pixel values Turbid-medium radiative transfer models
of an image with surface characteristics through treat surface elements (leaf or soil particle) as
mathematical models (Liang, 2004). We will small absorbing and scattering particles with
mainly present landscape generation, surface given optical properties, distributed randomly
and atmosphere radiative transfer modeling, in the scene and oriented in given directions. In
and sensor models. one-dimensional canopy models(Kuusk, 1995;
Liang and Strahler, 1993b; Liang and Town-
1.6.1.1 Scene generation shend, 1996; Verhoef, 1984), canopy elements
Scene generation is a quantitative description are assumed to be randomly distributed, but
of our understanding of the landscape. Strahler three-dimensional RT models (Kuusk, 2018;
et al. (1986) identify two different scene models Myneni et al., 1989) can take into account the
in remote sensing: H- and L-resolution models. structural information of the landscape, as
H-resolution models are applicable where the el- shown in Fig. 1.19. The further development of
ements of the scene are larger than the pixel size, geometric optical models has incorporated radi-
and L-resolution models are applicable when the ative transfer theory in calculating the individual
converse is true. H-resolution scenes can be sunlit/shadow components; the resulting
generated using computer graphics techniques; models are often called hybrid models. In com-
for example, a vegetation canopy can be created puter simulation models, the arrangement and
with Onyx software (http://www.onyxtree. orientation of scene elements are simulated on
com/). L-resolution scenes can be generated a computer, and the radiation properties are
using mathematical models or GIS (geographic determined based on the radiosity equations
information system) techniques. (Borel et al., 1991; Huang et al., 2013; Qin and
Gerstl, 2000) and/or Monte Carlo ray tracing
(Disney et al., 2006; Gastellu-Etchegorry et al.,
1.6.1.2 Surface radiation modeling 2015; Lewis, 1999; North, 1996; Qi et al., 2019)
Given landscape composition and its optical methods. Fig. 1.20 compares a photo of grass
properties, we can predict the radiation field. field and the simulated field using the Botanical
Three types of models characterize the radiation Plant Modeling System (Lewis, 1999) based on
field of the scene, and they are commonly used the ray-tracing technique.
in optical remote sensing: geometric optical
models, turbid-medium radiative transfer 1.6.1.3 Atmospheric radiative transfer
models, and computer simulation models. The radiation at the Earth’s surface is
In geometric optical models (Li and Strahler, disturbed by the atmosphere before being
1985, 1986), canopy or soil is assumed to consist captured by the sensor in the atmosphere
of geometric protrusions with prescribed shapes (airborne sensors) or above the atmosphere
(e.g., cylinder, sphere, cones, ellipsoid, (spaceborne sensors).
spheroid), dimensions, and optical properties Atmospheric gases, aerosols, and clouds scat-
that are distributed on a background surface in ter and absorb the incoming solar radiation and
a defined manner (regularly or randomly distrib- the reflected and/or emitted radiation from the
uted). The total pixel value is the weighted surface. As a result, the atmosphere greatly mod-
average of sunlit crown, sunlit ground, shad- ulates the spectral dependence and spatial distri-
owed crown, and shadowed ground. Fig. 1.18 il- bution of the surface radiation. The atmospheric
lustrates a simulated canopy field with an radiative transfer theory is quite mature, and
1.6 Estimating quantitative variables 29
(A) (B)
Sunlit
r
Projecon crown shadowed
b
(shadowed) crown
h
A(
shadowed
ground
FIGURE 1.19 Principles of the geometric-optical model (A) for the canopy with an ellipsoid crown and the simulated
canopy field (B).
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children like stories, and during the telling of the story, if it is at all
worth while, the children will be quiet and attentive. The teacher
may, however, call the restless child to herself, saying to him, “I like
to have somebody stand by me.” Better still, she may gather all the
pupils around her and say to the mischievous boy, “Robert, I am
going to tell you a story. The other boys and girls may listen.” This
will captivate the child, and when she has finished she may ask him
to tell the story.
By this time the reader will sigh and ask, “Must all this be done to
keep one mischievous boy at work?” Yes, but it is far easier to
interest him than to be worried by his pranks. Then, too, by keeping
him interested, the teacher is administering to his development,
while to let him loll in his mischief would only tend to create in him
habits of inattention and idleness. At the close of the day the boy will
go home happy and the benediction of a happy teacher will follow
him. Nothing adds more to a teacher’s usefulness and happiness
than the thought of work well done.
In the above procedure the teacher has practiced suggestive
control. She has led the mischievous boy into activities that interest
him, that appeal and fascinate as well as satisfy that active mind, and
that will mature into right action. It is far easier to deal with a child
full of life, than to deal with a dullard. Direct properly the impulse
that causes this mischief, and it will become a force for real good in
the child’s life. The discreet teacher will look ahead and avoid
difficulties, and nowhere will she get more valuable clues to a
method of control than on the playground.
Watch the child in his play at recess to see what activity interests
him most. Suggest to him some point about that activity which he
has overlooked and commend him on his skill. Every child has a
hobby. If you can find this boy’s hobby and tell him something about
it which he does not know, you will make a warm place in his heart
for yourself. Then utilize the knowledge thus gained, and his
increased confidence in you, in order to add to his school work just
the element that will make it so interesting for the child that he will
find the work more delightfully fascinating than the mischief.
The first grade teacher needs to be in her room but a few days
before she will see some little child making grimaces at his neighbor
and not infrequently he may make a grimace at the teacher,
especially if he feels that the teacher has not dealt fairly with him.
This is not a serious annoyance and should give the prudent teacher
no worry. It can not be repeated too often that many of the small
offenses that harass a school day are doubly intensified by the
attention that is paid them. Often when a pupil does some petty
misdemeanor, he would soon forget it were it not that the teacher
notices it and pounces upon the offender with some brand of
punishment and thereby the child learns that this certain offense is a
thing that the teacher dislikes. In the future, whenever that child’s
feelings are ruffled, he will resort to this certain offense to annoy the
teacher. The discreet teacher will train her pupils in such a way that
they will not settle upon any specific type of annoyance.
In cases where a child resorts to the practice too frequently, the
teacher will find it well to devise some means by which she can
substitute one activity for another; that is, substitute a more
interesting activity for the making of grimaces. The teacher may use
the following method and conversation:
“Children, we are planning to have a little play party once a month.
This is to be on the last Friday afternoon of each month. Each one of
you is to bring either a cooky, an apple, an orange, or a banana, and I
will bring some candy. We will play all kinds of games and just before
school dismisses we will eat our dainties. Won’t that be fine? But,
children, I have just thought that any one who makes grimaces or
ugly faces during the month ought not to be invited. We do not want
our party spoiled. What do you say?”
Of course all, or nearly all of the children will say that any one who
is guilty of making faces shall not come. The teacher who has not
tried anything like this will think it is absurd and impracticable, but
it will greatly assist in removing grimacing and many other evils that
troop through a teacher’s school experiences.
The means of discipline need not necessarily be a party. It can be
some other affair or activity that children like. If the teacher chooses
a party, she must have a goodly number of games ready and keep her
children intensely interested.
The luncheon is an important feature of the party and must be well
managed by the teacher. All the sweetmeats must be divided into
small parts and so mixed that a child does not get the dainty he
contributed. A cooky can be cut into four pieces, a banana into four
or five pieces, and the same with other sweetmeats. Children like
little things. Then, too, the teacher may suggest that they play at
having a luncheon.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Mr. Briggs did well to search for underlying causes and effective
remedies, because the use of authority in such a case is a mistake, as
he found. Make no attempt to suppress the practice, but proceed at
once to the constructive plan of building up a good sentiment.
Whatever you do, do not assume that the pupil is disrespectful to
you. If the pupils have shown such disrespect in the past, simply set
about gaining their confidence.
Face-making is largely an outgrowth of the play impulse, no matter
what its motive. Substitute a better form of play. Dramatizing a story
that emphasizes the opposite of the undesirable characteristics, is
one of the best ways of overcoming the fault. Read “The Little Knight
of Kentucky” during the twenty-minute periods just before school
closes. Dramatize parts of it. When the children are imbued with the
chivalrous spirit of the story, suggest the incongruities of face-
making and other spiteful acts, by saying to the boy whom you
“catch”: “Harold, the little knights of Kentucky did not make faces at
each other. Would we be as proud of them as we are, had they done
so? Then, let’s not have any one who makes faces play that story
today.”
COMMENTS
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Miss Stone has one simple task: to rouse from absorption in one
duty and wisely distribute her attention to several matters.
Promises must not be taken as fulfillment; assurances of any sort
must not be taken for more than they are worth. Find a safe medium
between espionage and disastrous indifference.
COMMENTS
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Avoid asking such questions as, What made you laugh? Why did
you do it? etc., except privately. Even then unless you are reasonably
sure of a satisfactory answer to these questions you may complicate
your case by so doing instead of helping it toward a solution.
Pass over details of causes which pupils most often allude to and
lay hold of the prime provocation for bad order. Use your power of
analysis and apply an effective remedy. Henry needs an abundance
of heavy but interesting work. Bear down so deep into his interest in
geology that he cannot menace your loyalty to him by trifling with
you in respect to discipline. Treat him so squarely, frankly,
generously that his respect for you will be an unremitting check on
small misdemeanors.
COMMENTS
Pupils may not know what to answer when asked, “Why did you do
so and so?” The truth is the causes are numerous. The last cause may
have been the stumbling of one pupil over another one’s foot. But
another cause lies behind this—disrespect for the teacher; behind
this, fondness for another teacher. Why does a pupil act in a certain
fashion? He is underfed, improperly clothed, irritated from
insufficient sleep—these are all proper answers to the question,
“Why?” Hence, every time the query is put a teacher runs the risk of
provoking a worse situation and yet of gaining nothing from the
inquisition.
ILLUSTRATION
A bright lad and into all sorts of mischief, George had gradually
acquired the reputation among the teachers of being “a bad boy”;
and the new superintendent was informed to this effect when he
came to the school.
One day there was a great commotion in Snake in School-
his grade; an innocent garter snake had room
been let loose in the school-room. George was accused, and as the
disturbance had begun in his corner of the room, and as he was
known to have a great fondness for all sorts of animals, insects,
snakes, etc., the evidence seemed decidedly against him.
“No, sir!” he replied to the superintendent, when sent for to go to
the office. “No, sir! I didn’t do it!”
“I’m afraid that you are not telling me the truth, George. You have
a bad reputation. I think that I shall punish you by sending you into
the next lower grade, until you can learn to become more of a man.”
“It’s such a disgrace, mother! No, I can’t go back. The boys will all
make fun of me. Besides, I didn’t do it!”
Finally, however, his mother made him see that the manly thing
would be to take his punishment, even if he wasn’t to blame. So, on
the following morning, he reported himself to the teacher of the next
lower grade, and told her that he was to study there.
Later in the day the superintendent made his rounds, and
exclaimed surprisedly, when he saw George,
“Why, you here? I didn’t expect to ever see you again!”
Needless to say that was the last appearance of George at school,
and a life that might have been helped was spoiled by an unjust
punishment and a careless remark. Even superintendents may make
mistakes!
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
COMMENTS
The fact that George was fond of animals, insects, snakes, etc., was
the clew for the teacher to work upon in gaining the good will and
coöperation of the troublesome boy. Knowing one strong interest
that he had, the teacher should start with that and work out from it
to other and broader fields of action.
Unless the teacher had actual proof to the contrary, she should
have accepted the boy’s statement that he did not bring in the snake.
It is far better that a guilty boy go unpunished, than that an innocent
person be punished. Take the initiative in coöperation with the
troublesome pupil and the troubles will soon disappear.
Henry Gould was very fond of his collie The Pet Dog
and insisted upon having his company every
day at school. His teacher, Miss Greenway, probably would have
made no objection to this had it not been for a fact that the dog was
inclined to snap at any child except his master and thus endanger the
safety of the other children. How to forbid the presence of the dog
without arousing the antagonism of his owner was the problem. She
resolved to try approval and initiative in coöperation. So she called
Henry to her at noon time and said:
“Henry, I noticed the collie snapping at one of the little girls today,
and I think we shall have to ask him to stay at home after this. But he
is such a bright little fellow we shall miss him. Don’t you think it
would be fine for the children to take his picture before he goes? How
would you like to get him into a good position when the drawing
period comes and let the children use him for a model?”
Henry was proud to have his pet honored, stood by him patiently
while the children drew, and made no further insistence that he
should come to school.
Teasing Rhymes
“Hey Diddle Diddle!
Parts his hair in the middle!”
This was the couplet that greeted John Fraser as he entered his
eighth grade room one September noon. Above the couplet was a
portrait of himself, the style of his hair indicated very clearly. He
erased the decorations hastily, but said nothing about it. He was very
young, however, and the thoughtless disrespect shown him hurt
sadly.
A day or two passed, during which he noticed the covert
amusement at his faultlessly pressed clothes, his punctilious
manners, his careful grooming, all new and strange to the crude little
town in the Southwest in which he taught. Then, one noon, he
entered the room from the playground to find a rough cartoon on the
board, labeled, “Mr. Fraser pressing his pants to make creases at 2
a.m.” The pupils were vastly entertained by it.
“Who made this picture?” John demanded, very angry and feeling
that his dignity demanded that the offender be punished. Every head
turned instantly toward Cleaver Trotter, who seemed much pleased
to be singled out for attention.
“Cleaver, you may remain in at recess. I want to see you.”
“Just as you say, Mr. Fraser!” sang out Cleaver, jauntily. There was
a half-suppressed titter of admiration, and Mr. Fraser felt that he
had come out second best.
At recess he ascertained that Cleaver had really drawn the picture,
and forbade him sternly to repeat the offense. The interview took
place in the otherwise empty school-room, and when Cleaver was
allowed to go he joined a group of gaping admirers on the
playground.
“What did he do to you?” they demanded to a man.
“Oh, he asked me why I did it, and I told him I couldn’t help it; I
just knew it took him all night to press his pants that way.”
“And what did he say then?”
“Well, he smelled of the smelling-salts and said that’d be all for
today, so I came on out.”
None of this account was true, but Cleaver won by it the thing his
boyish vanity wanted, the admiration of his crowd. They approved
the ridicule because it furnished them with fun, and Cleaver was
shrewd enough to know that his leadership depended upon their
approbation of his attitude. He annoyed John Fraser constantly