A VERY BRIEF

INTRODUCTION TO REMOTE
SENSING

Arden Albee
April 15, 2004
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
Modes of EM wave interaction with a surface or media
SOLAR RADATION ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE
 ATMOSPHERIC INTERACTIONS
WITH SURFACE RADIANCE

Murchie et al, 2000

 Film Cameras
• Black & White (& later color film) provides a simple sensor.

• Two dimensions of near-infinite, well-calibrated pixels. Radial lines from center

point of aerial photos preserve angular relationship regardless of topography and
aircraft tilt and provide a basis for building mosaics and geodetic nets. Stereo
images provide a basis for calculating topography.

• The Lunar Surveyor mission scanned film on board to digitize it, whereas the later
Mars Viking mission used vidicons, essentially TV tubes in reverse. Most of
Viking analysis was done on photo prints—not digitally. Digitization of the prints
is recent.

• Point, line, and 2-D sensors became successively available and were used in
conjunction with filters and spectrometers to build up the capability for
hyperspectral imaging.
Scanning approaches for use of point sensor and line array
Hyperspectral Image
Cube
Organization of hyperspectral image cube.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be
regarded as an logical extension with the additional
of topographic, geographic, and demographic data
layers. Off-the-shelf systems are available to easily
manipulate such systems whether terrestrial or
martian.
 CHARACTERISTIC IR SPECTRA OF
ATMOSPHERE

Basic blackbody curves vary with temperature.

Absorption by gas, ice, dust, etc. provide spectral
information on the radiating material. Note that
Phobos radiation is almost pure black body.

Christensen, et al
Decorrelation stretching for highly-correlated data
Foreshortening Layover

Red & black indicate

shadowed area
 Sources of Widespread Coverage

• Landsat—Thematic Mapper—6 vis-swir, 1 tir

• ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission

and Reflection Radiometer)—14 vnir-swir-tir

• SRTM—Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission—

30 m resolution

• ARCVIEW—widely used GIS software

 Some Nuclear Physics…
 Incoming cosmic rays
excite Neutrons
 High energy Neutrons
collide with atoms,
releasing gamma rays for
specific elements
 Neutrons are slowed by
collusion with H to epi-
thermal (intermediate) and
thermal (low) energies
 We can measure all of
these from orbit and obtain
chemical composition

(GRS Science Team)

 REVIEW OF SPECTROSCOPIC DATA
(L. SODERBLOM, in MARS, 1992)
• Spectroscopic observations cover 0.3-50 μm, but Earth and
Mars atmospheric interferences hamper accurate mineral
identification.
• Water absorption at 3 μm is evident and is spatially variable on
Mars; actual nature of water is not clear
• C02 ice (1.2-2.4 μm) is evident near south cap
• Multicolor images show three discrete albedo units.
• Reddish, very fine-grained, ferric oxide evident in VIS-NIR
spectra of light and dark regions; Ca pyroxene probable in dark
regions
• Sheet silicates, palagonite, amorphous material, carbonate,
sulphate inferred from lander chemistry, spectral character, and
“theory”, but not confirmed
• CONCEPT OF HIGHLY OXIDIZED AND HYDRATED
WEATHERED SURFACE PREVAILED
 COMBINED ISM-TES SPECTRA
OF SOILS

Mustard & Cooper, 2002

 COMBINED ISM-TES SPECTRA
OF DARK REGIONS

Mustard & Cooper, 2002

Typical TES spectra from Mars
 CONCLUSIONS
•The most distinctive geologic units on Mars are still the “light red”,
“dark red”, and “dark” units and they do not match the
topographic units such as volcanic constructs.
•Easily-weathered “igneous” minerals (feldspar, pyroxene, and
olivine) dominate dust-free regions. Meaning of “andesite” is not yet
clear.
•Lack of significant chemical weathering of the Martian surface
indicates a geologic history dominated by a cold, dry climate.
•Similar minerals, but different proportions, as Martian meteorites;
plagioclase & Ca-pyroxene dominate surface. No specific source
area for meteorites can be identified.
•Widespread light-toned, cliff-forming, layered outcrops (=
sedimentary rocks) have non-diagnostic spectra like dust.