Basic Principles of Remote

Sensing
By Onogu Jonathan and Adeyemi Bamidele Ezekiel
 Concept of RS
 Process of obtaining information about an object by analyzing data
acquired using a device that is not in direct contact with the object

 As Earth Observation; technique for observing atmosphere or earth

surface from the air using aircrafts or from space using satellites

 RS uses a part/s of the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS)

 Records the EM energy emitted by the object at various grey intensity

 All objects of the earth’s surface (at 300 Kelvin) like, soil, rock, vegetation, etc. above absolute
zero (-273° Centigrade or 0 Kelvin) emit electromagnetic energy.

 And so does the Sun (at 6000 Kelvin). Sun is the major source of energy required for remote
sensing purpose (except radar and sonar).

 The energy is transferred by electromagnetic radiation through the vacuum between the Sun
and the Earth at the speed of light.

 It interacts with the atmosphere before coming into contact with the earth’s surface. While
returning, it interacts with the atmosphere once again and finally reaches the remote sensor.

 The detectors or photographic film system on board records this reflected or emitted energy in
analogue or digital form
 The electromagnetic wave consists of two fluctuation fields – one electrical and the
other magnetic at the right angle to one another.
 Both are also perpendicular to the direction of travel.
 The electromagnetic waves are characterized by its wavelength (i.e. the distance from
any point on one cycle or wave to the same position on the next cycle or wave
measured in micrometer, µm) and frequency (number of cycles or waves pass through
a point per second).
 The frequency is inversely proportional to the wavelength
The basic principle involved in remote sensing methods is that in different wavelength
ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, each type of object reflects or emits a certain
intensity of light, which is dependent upon the physical or compositional attributes of
the object.
Hence, the spectral behavior (i.e. the intensity of light emitted or reflected by the objects) of same ground
object in different wavelength ranges may be studied through Spectral Signature Curves. Such curves may
help to differentiate different types of objects, e.g., soil, vegetation, waterbody, settlements, etc. and map their
distribution on the ground.
 Why Remote Sensing?

 Provide fundamental physical information including x, y and z,

climatic factor

 Extensive area

 Inaccessible places

 Frequent collection

 Cost
Classifications of Earth Observation
Remote Sensing
Classifications of EORS cont…

 Based on energy source; “Passive” vs. “Active” RS

Based on targets; Land, oceanic, or atmospheric RS

Based on application missions; e.g. forest, urban, wetland, global change
…
Limitation of RS

 RS is not the panacea that will provide all the information required to perform all researches and
projects

 It simply provide sufficient information that is efficient and economical.

 It reduces fieldwork but not fully replaced it.

 Active RS are likely to alter the properties of the object they are measuring.

 You can only reliably detect objects that are greater in size to the smallest measurement unit of
your sensor.
 Spectral differentiation

 Spectral differentiation is based on the principle that objects of different composition or condition

appear as different colors in a multispectral or hyperspectral image. For example, a newly planted

cornfield has a distinct color when compared to a field of mature plants, and yet another color when

the field has been harvested. Corn has a distinct color as compared to wheat; healthy plants are a

different color than pest-infested or drought-impacted plants. The use of spectral signature, or color,

to distinguish types of ground cover or objects is called spectral differentiation.

Spatial differentiation

 Spatial differentiation is related to the concept of spatial resolution. We may be able to analyze the

spectral content of a particular pixel or group of pixels in a digital image when those pixels comprise

a single homogeneous material or object. It is also important to understand the potential for mixing

of the spectral signatures of multiple objects into the recorded spectral values for a single pixel. When

designing an image analysis task, it is important to consider the size of the objects to be discovered or

studied compared to the ground sample distance of the sensor.

 Radiometric differentiation
 Radiometric differentiation is the detection of differences in brightness, which may in certain cases be
used to inform the image analyst as to the nature or condition of the remotely sensed object.

 Measures gray level present in an image (Light intensity or depth of colour). It is a measure of sensors
ability to discriminate small differences in the reflected energy from a surface.

 The depth of colour in an image tells you how much information is there in. The finer the radiometric
resolution of a sensor, the more sensitive it is to detecting small differences in reflected or emitted energy.

 Radiometric resolution is measured in bits. Each bit record an exponent of power of 2. The maximum
number of brightness levels available depends on the number of bits used in representing the recorded
energy.
Temporal resolution

 Temporal resolution is defined as the amount of time needed to

revisit and acquire data for the exact same location. When

applied to remote sensing, this amount of time depends on the

orbital characteristics of the sensor platform as well as sensor

characteristics.
Geometric distortions
 These distortions may occur due to various reasons including motion of the
sensor platform, relief displacement, curvature of the earth, rotation of the
earth, atmospheric refraction and non-linearities in the sweep of a sensor’s
IFOV (instantaneous field of view).
 Some of these distortions may be systematic which may be predictable. On
the other hand, some of these errors are random or non-systematic in
nature.
 Systematic distortions are also known as internal distortions, which may
be due to the geometry of the sensors. Systematic errors or distortions may
be easily determined and removed by applying suitable corrections based
on relationships that are mathematically derived through modeling the
sources of errors.
 Notable Remote Sensing Software
 ENVI (Environment for Visualizing Images)
 - PCI Geomatica
 - ERDAS (Earth Resource Development Assessment System)
 - SNAP (Sentinel Application Platform)
 - eCognition
 - QGIS (Quantum GIS)
 - ArcGIS (Aeronautical Reconnaissance Coverage Geographic Information
System)
 IDIRISI
 Data Acquisition

 Remote sensing data may be collected using either passive or active remote sensing systems. Passive

sensors record naturally occurring electromagnetic radiation that is reflected or emitted from the

terrain.

 Remote sensing images are collected from suitable platforms located at various altitudes e.g. aerial

(balloons, helicopters and aircraft) and space-borne (rockets, manned and unmanned satellites).

 Hydraulic platforms and handheld spectroradiometers are used to generate ground truth data. Each

remote sensing system is characterized by four types of resolutions e.g. spectral, spatial, temporal and

radiometric.
 Why digital image processing?

Image processing: The use of computer algorithms to

perform signal processing on digital images
 To extract information
 • To evaluate a sensor
 • To evaluate images statistically
 • To assess/improve quality
 • To make base data sets (e.g. for GIS)
 • To make art
 Digital image processing operations
 • Geometric transformation: Transformation of RS image data so that it has appropriate spatial scale and
appropriate projection is called geometric correction.

 • Color correction
 • Image editing
 • Image registration
 • Image projection
 • Compositing
 • Image differencing
 • Image segmentation
 • Pattern recognition
 RADAR Remote Sensing

 Radar is an acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging.

 A Radar system has three primary functions:

- It transmits microwave (radio) signals towards a scene

- It receives the portion of the transmitted energy backscattered from the scene

- It observes the strength (detection) and the time delay (ranging) of the return
signals.

 Radar provides its own energy source and, therefore, can operate both day or
night and through cloud cover. This type of system is known as an active
remote sensing system
Radar remote sensing uses the microwave portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum, from a frequency of 0.3 GHz to 300
GHz, or in wavelength terms, from 1 m to 1 mm.
 Why use RADAR for Remote Sensing

 • Controllable source of illumination – sees through cloud and

rain, and at night
 • Images can be high resolution (3 - 10 m)
 • Different features are portrayed or discriminated compared to
visible sensors
 • Some surface features can be seen better in radar images: – ice,
ocean waves – soil moisture, vegetation mass – man-made objects,
e.g. buildings – geological structures
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