In this lecture, we want to

look at the properties of the Earth's surface that can be detected by remote
sensing instrumentation. When we examined
those properties, we will understand why certain wavebands
have been chosen in the design of sensors commonly used in civilian remote
sensing missions. Once you have assimilated
this material, you may wish to consult some of the many websites available that
include information on
remote sensing programs , and their sensors. As we develop further
knowledge in later lectures, these websites will
become valuable, additional sources
of information, with which to illustrate
the lecture presentations. The NASA website in particular
is especially valuable. First, remember that most
remote sensing missions record images of the Earth's surface using
reflected sunlight. Just as you and I see the Earth as a result
of reflected sunlight. In remote sensing, though, wavelengths outside the range of
human vision can also
be used for imaging. But let's just concentrate
on reflected sunlight. If the Earth's surface
wasn't an ideal reflector, such as a sheet of
white material, then all wavelengths would
be reflected equally. Real Earth's surface materials, however, are not
ideal reflectors. They selectively absorb sunlight at different
wavelengths, giving the appearance
of color in the visible range, for example, green vegetation
appears to us as green, because in the visible
range of wavelengths, there is strong absorption
of incident blue, and red radiation from the sun, but less absorption
of green sunlight. As a result, there is more green energy reflected
from most plant matter, so that we see grass, trees, and other grain
vegetative matter as green depending on
their pigmentation. Some plants are
differently colored, for example, plants
which appear red, strongly absorbed incident
blue and green radiation, but reflect a
significant proportion of the incident red
radiation from the sun. To develop a better idea of what satellite
sensors detect, including in the ranges of wavelengths beyond human vision. We will
now examine
in a little detail the reflectance properties of earth surface materials as
a function of wavelength. This slide shows how the three simple
fundamental Earth cover types of vegetation, soil, and water, reflect incident
sunlight across just the optical
range of wavelengths. Note that the vertical axis is calibrated in percentage
terms, and is expressed as reflectance. Note also that the range of
visible wavelengths shown at the left hand end of
the abscissa is quite small compared with the full range of
optical wavelengths. It is important to note that
the amount of green energy reflected by brain vegetation
is really quite small. Nevertheless, it is larger than the blue and
red reflections, meaning that we're seeing
most vegetation as green, even that the energy
levels are quite small. By contrast, in the
near infrared range, vegetation reflects about 30% or more of the incident
sunlight. If we were able to see in
the near infrared region, vegetation would look
much broader than, it does in the optical range. As we move to longer
wavelengths still, we see that the vegetation
reflectance curve drops away. It contains two large
absorption dips resulting from the water content of the vegetative matter.
Depending upon the moisture
content of the vegetation. Those dips can be very
deep, or quite shallow. If the vegetation
is moisture stress, the dips will be shallow
to non existent. Most remote sensing
instrumentation tends to avoid imaging
in those regions. The water absorption dips
also occur for soil. Although in this real example, the soil is quite dry, so that
the dips
are very shallow. Soil with a high
moisture content, or show dips comparable to those in this case to
the vegetation curve. The other interesting
property about soil is that the
reflectance curve rises steadily with
increasing wavelength in the visible and
the infrared ranges. As a result, the visible
color of soil is determined mostly by reflected
green and red radiation. Said that the color tends
toward reddish, yellow. That is particularly the
case for clays and sand. Dark loamy soil will appear blackish because there is high
absorption at
all wavelengths. The water reflection
curve is dark everywhere, showing just small amounts of reflected energy in the
blue, green range consistent without
experience of watercolor. These three curves are typical of what we encounter
in remote sensing, but that will vary
considerably depending upon the moisture and
mineral contents of soil, the moisture and pigmentation
contents of vegetation, and the clarity and
depth of water. If water contains
a lot of sediment, for example the
water curve will be a combination of the
reflectance of pure water, and that of the
suspended soil matter. If the water is shallow, there can be reflectance
from the bottom material. When looking at cover
types such as water, the remote sensing
specialists needs to be aware that
the reflectance is observed can be mixtures of
more than one pure material. In this slide, we show
how the wave bands of some common remote sensing
satellite instruments are chosen specifically, so that they sample the
most significant regions, of the spectral
reflectance curves, of common earth
surface cover types. To consider a simple example, the Landsat ETM+ takes three
measurements in
the visible range, roughly corresponding to
blue, green, and red. Another measurement just at the start of the
near infrared range, and too broad measurements
further out in the infrared avoiding the
water absorption, dibs. Sensors such as Hyperion, take a very large number of
samples across the spectrum with sufficiently fine
spectral resolution that in principle, the full reflectant spectra could be
reconstructed
for each pixel. Remember, each pixel is sampled in all of the
available light bands, so that the spectral information recorded by any
of these sensors, is done for every
pixel in the image. Whenever you come
across a sensor, have a look at the wave
bands it operates with, and form an opinion as to
its likely applications. If a sensor operates largely
in the visible range, it is probably designed
for surveillance, mapping, or urban studies. If it has wide bands
in the infrared, it is then good for mapping
and monitoring cover types such as natural vegetation,
crops, and forests. If it operates further out
in the infrared range, it is likely to be designed for geological studies as well,
since a number of important spectral
features of minerals, occur in the wavelengths up
to about 2.5 micro meters. We are now in the position to introduce some
further definitions. If an instrument records
up to about 10 wide bands, it is generally referred to
as a multi spectral sensor. If it records a very
large number of bands, say more than 100, it is often referred to
as hyperspectral sensor. At this stage, it is
worthwhile re-examining other portions of the electromagnetic
spectrum and in particular, the region beyond the
optical wavelengths. Remember though, we have to be mindful of the presence of
atmospheric absorption, and can only reliably image over those wavelengths which
correspond to
atmospheric windows. As we noted in a
previous lecture, there are good atmospheric
windows in the vicinity of 10 micrometers and in the very broad radio wave
region of the spectrum, they are identified
on this slide. We need to ask
ourselves once again, whether those regions are useful for Earth's
surface imaging. Let's look at the wavelengths, in the vicinity of 10
micrometers first. There is a very famous law
called Planck's radiation law, which describes how a body, a so-called black body,
radiates energy as a
function of wavelength. The radiation emitted is also importantly a function of
the temperature of the body. Planck's law is described by an equation that allows
us to plot radiation curves as a function of wavelength
and temperature. In this slide, we show three examples of Planck's
radiation law in practice. The first example
is for the son, whose surface temperature
is taken to be 5,950 K. The second
is for the Earth, which has a temperature
of approximately 300 K. The third is for an object with a
temperature of 1,000 K, which roughly corresponds
to a burning fire. As seen, they have maximum radiation outputs
at different wavelengths. It is important to note that the vertical scale
is logarithmic, so that each integer
spacing represents a power of 10 or an
order of magnitude. Also, the sun curve has been scaled down to represent
the reduction in radiation because of
the distance it has traveled from the
Sun to the Earth. The solar curve has
a radiation maximum at a wavelength of about
one-half a micrometer. Whereas the Earth's
maximum emission is at a wavelength of
about 10 micrometers. The two curves crossover a little below five micrometers,
meaning that any observations of the Earth's surface
at wavelengths less than about four micrometers are dominated by
reflected sunlight. Whereas emissions above
about six micrometers are dominated by natural emissions
from the Earth itself. If we want to measure the natural energy
emanating from the Earth, we choose a sensor with
white bands in the range of 10-12 micrometers near where the Earth radiation
is at a maximum. That is the basis of so-called
thermal remote sensing, since we are
effectively detecting variations in the
Earth's heat output. Although we have shown the curve as a simple continuous line,
it does vary from place
to place on the Earth as a result of a property
called emissivity. It is variations
in emissivity that thermal remote sensing
missions measure and map. If we extrapolated both
the Earth and solar curves of the previous slide out to the radio wavelengths, we
would see that there is negligible emitted or scattered energy from the Earth
surface at those very long wavelengths. In fact, there is some
and it can be detected with very low spatial
resolution instruments. But in general, we assume that the Earth is quiet at
radio wavelengths. As a result, we can radiate the surface using an
artificial energy source, such as a radio transmitter carried on an aircraft
or spacecraft. A receiver on the platform
detects scattered radiation, which is then used to create a radio or microwave map
of the Earth's surface. That is the basis of
radar remote sensing. There are three
important messages here. Number 1, imaging can be done
with reflected sunlight, thermal emissions from
the Earth itself, or via scattered
radio waves or radar. Secondly, note the difference between hyperspectral and
multispectral imaging. Thirdly, remember, water absorption bands
need to be avoided. When thinking about the first
question, ask yourself, how burning fire front
could be mapped against significant surface
features such as roads, rivers and forests.