Energy Interactions with the Atmosphere

and at the Land Surface

Jensen (2002) Ch 2
 Solar and Terrestrial Radiation
Solar Terrestrial
 Solar energy which passes through the  Energy emitted from the earth and
atmosphere and is reflected in varying atmosphere, detectable both day and
degrees by Earth's surface and atmosphere night
detectable only during daylight  Earth's ambient temperature approx.
 Sun's visible surface (photosphere) has 300K
temperature approx. 6000K energy  Earth radiates 160,000 times less than
radiated from gamma to radio waves the sun
 99% of sun's radiation fall between  Essentially all energy is radiated at
0.2 - 5.6um (invisible) thermal infrared wavelengths
 80% - 0.4 - 1.5um (visible and between 4-25um
reflected infrared, atmosphere quite  Maximum emission occurs at 9.7um
transparent
 Maximum radiation occurs 0.48um
 About 50% of solar radiation passes
through the atmosphere and is absorbed in
varying degrees by surface
Wavelengths covering most of Earth's energy output are several times long than those covering
most of the solar output. Therefore, usually refer to:
terrestrial radiation - longwave radiation
solar radiation - shortwave radiation
Terrestrial Radiation
Energy-Matter Interactions in the Atmosphere

Atmosphere affects not only the speed of radiation, but also

its wavelength, its intensity, and its spectral distribution.
EMR may also be diverted from its original direction due to
refraction.
Interactions include:
 Refraction
 Scattering
 Absorption
 Reflectance
 Refraction
 Bending of light when it passes
from one medium to another
 Occurs because the media are of
differing densities and the speed of
emr is different in each

Index of Refraction (n) - measure of

the optical density of a substance

c  Refraction described by Snell’s

n
cn
where c – speed of light in a vacuum
cn – speed of light in a substance
Always greater than 1
Law
 For a given frequency of light
(not change when speed
changes), the product of n and
sinθ between the ray and a line
normal to the interface are
constant
n1 sin  1  n2 sin  2
 Scattering
 Scattering process disperses
radiation in all directions
 Important scattering agents
include gaseous molecules
(oxygen, nitrogen), suspended
particulates (aerosols), clouds
 Differs from reflection in that the
direction is unpredictable

3 types of scattering
 Rayleigh
 Mie
 Non-selective
 Rayleigh Scattering
 Primarily caused by oxygen
and nitrogen molecules
 diameters at least 0.1 times
smaller than affected wavelengths
 Most influential at altitudes
above 4.5km
 Highly selective, amount of
scattering inversely
proportional to fourth power of
wavelength
 UV at 0.3um scattered 16x as readily
as Red 0.6um
 Blue 0.4um scattered about 5x as
readily as Red
Mie Scattering
 Occurs when there are sufficient particles in
atmosphere w/ mean diameter 0.1 to 10 times
larger than wavelength under consideration
 Caused by water vapor, tiny particles of smoke,
dust, volcanic ejecta, salt crystals released from
evaporation of sea spray
 Most pronounced in lower 4.5km of atmosphere
 Amount of scattering dependent on size
distribution and concentration of mie particles
Non-selective scattering
 Occurs when lower atmosphere contains sufficient
# of suspended aerosols
 diameters 10 x larger than wavelengths under
consideration
 Important agents include larger equivalents of Mie
particles, water droplets and ice crystals which
clouds and fogs are composed
 Scattering is independent of wavelength (near UV,
visible, near infrared)
 Ice crystals scatter all wavelengths equally well
visible
Absorption
 Process by which radiant energy is absorbed and
converted into other forms of energy
 Takes place in the atmosphere or at the surface
 Absorption band – range of wavelengths (or
frequencies) in ems w/i (wat/inch) which radiant
energy is absorbed by substance
Water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, ozone , nitrous oxide
 Cumulative effect of absorption by various
constituents can cause the atmosphere to close
down completely in certain regions
 Other regions, atmosphere is transparent
Atmospheric window – portions of the ems that transmit radiant
energy effectively
(cont.) Absorption
 When dealing with atmosphere, absorption and
scattering frequently combined into an extinction
coefficient
 Transmission is inversely related to extinction
coefficient * thickness of the atmospheric layer
 Certain wavelengths are affected more by
absorption than by scattering
Erdas Imagine – Landsat TM scene (examine different bands)
Reflectance
 Reflectance exhibits 2 fundamental characteristics
important in remote sensing
 Various types of reflecting surfaces
Specular reflection - process whereby incident radiation
on the surface of substance in a single, predictable
direction; caused by surfaces smooth relative to
wavelengths of incident radiation; no change in
velocity or wavelength (specular=oglinda)
Diffuse reflection - occurs when incident radiation is
dispersed or spread out unpredictably in many
different directions; occurs when surfaces rough
relative to wavelengths of incident radiation; no change
in velocity or wavelength
 Energy Interactions with Surface
Radiant Flux (Φ) – amount of Radiation budget equation
energy onto, off, or through a
surface per unit time [W=Js-1]
Fundamental focus of remote
i      
sensing - characteristics and Total amount of radiant flux in specific
interactions of radiant energy wavelength (λ) incident to the terrain
with atmosphere and surface
(Φi) (from any angles in a hemisphere)
By carefully monitoring exact must be accounted for by amount of
nature of incoming (incident)
energy reflected (ρλ), absorbed (αλ), and
radiant flux in selective
wavelengths and how it transmitted (τλ) through the surface
interacts with atmosphere and
surface, possible to learn
important information about
atmosphere and surface
Hemispheric Reflectance, Absorptance, and
Transmittance
Hemispheric reflectance
reflected
(dimensionless ratio)
r 
- Radiant flux reflected from a
surface to radiance flux incident  i
Hemispheric transmittance
tra nsmitted
- Radiant flux transmitted through  
a surface to radiant energy
incident  i
Hemispheric absorptance
ab sorb ed
- Radiant flux absorbed by the
 
 i
surface to radiant energy
incident

Definitions imply that radiant energy must

  1  r   
be conserved
Net effect of absorption of radiation by
most substances is that energy is
converted to heat, causing subsequent
rise in substance’s temperature
Radiant Energy
Radiant energy [J]
Radiant flux [W=Js-1]
Radiant flux density [Wm-2]
Radiance [Wm-2sr-1]
 Radiant Flux Density [Wm-2]
Irradiance
 Amount of radiant flux
incident per unit area of a 
plane surface E 
A
Exitance

 Amount of radiant flux
leaving per unit area of M 
plane surface A
Energy coming and going at
any angle throughout
entire hemisphere
 Radiance [Wm-2sr-1]
 Most precise remote
sensing radiometric
measurement
 Radiant flux per unit solid
angle leaving and
extended source in a given
direction per unit of
projected source area in
that direction in certain

L  
wavelengths (Lλ)
A cos 
Paths and Factors that Determine Radiance
Reaching Satellite Sensor