Image

Introduction to Geospatial Engineering

Reflected Light
Incident Light
Lecture 02
B a s i c s o f Re m o te S e n s i n g Scattered
Light Emitted Energy

Dr. Rishikesh Bharti

Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Absorbed Energy
https://fac.iitg.ac.in/rbharti/
Transmitted Light

Remote Sensing Electromagnetic Wavelength Range

Microwave

Visible>>VNIR>>SWIR
Credit: ISRO

Thermal Infrared

Reflection Emission Scattering

Source: Google Images

 Satellite Images

1972 2002

ASTER Satellite Image

Source: Landsat
1 bit 4 bit OLI Bands 6,5,4 (False Color) https://www.satimagingcorp.com/gallery/more-imagery/aster/

Satellite Images Satellite Images

IKONOS
Image

Microwave Remote Sensing Images

https://earth.esa.int/web/polsarpro/data-sources/sample-datasets
https://www.satimagingcorp.com/gallery/ikonos/
 Satellite Images Satellite Images
IKONOS SENTINEL GeoEye-1

Digital Image File Formats Remotely Sensed Images

Band 1: Blue Wavelength

Band 2: Green Wavelength

Band 3: Red Wavelength

Band 4: NIR Wavelength

Band 5: SWIR Wavelength

 Digital Image Data Formats Digital Image Data Formats

Digital Image Data Formats Digital Image Data Formats

x1 x2 x3 x4 y1 y2 y3 y4 z1 z2 z3 z4
x5 x6 x7 x8 y5 y6 y7 y8 z5 z6 z7 z8
x9 x10 x11 x12 y9 y10 y11 y12 z9 z10 z11 z12

Band 1 Band 2 Band 3

Band 1 Band 1
Band 2 Band 2
Band 3 Band 3
Interaction of Electromagnetic Energy Stages in Remote Sensing from space
. .
Source .
Spacecraft .

.
Radiation to sensor .
. .

Irradiance

Atmospheric
Clouds Direct emission
Thermal
radiation Reflected emission
radiation Field data collection
Scattered
radiation

Reflection Processes Emission Processes

Electromagnetic Radiation Electromagnetic Radiation

Frequency, wavelength
and amplitude of a
wave …
 Electromagnetic Radiation Electromagnetic Radiation
Based on frequency, electromagnetic radiation is divided into different
groups:
 Radio Waves,
 Microwaves,
 Infrared Radiation,
 Visible Light,
 Ultraviolet Radiation,
 X-rays, and
 Gamma Rays.

Electromagnetic Radiation Wien's Displacement Law

Stephen Boltzmann Law:

Total emitted radiation from a blackbody is proportional to the 4th power of its maxT = 2897.9 µmK
absolute temperature.

Total emitted radiation = 𝝈𝑻𝟒 where, T is the absolute temperature (kelvin).

where, σ (Stefan-Boltzmann constant= 5.6697 10 𝑊. 𝑚 .𝐾

Explains the relationship between the peak
Note: wavelength (λmax) of emittance and the
For a perfect reflecting material, emissivity will be ‘0’. temperature of a material.
A true blackbody has an emissivity of 1.
Natural materials are neither a perfect reflector nor a perfect blackbody.
 Planck Radiance versus Wavelength
Planck’s radiations law:

The radiance being emitted by a blackbody is given by:

Planck radiance versus wavelength
2ℎ𝑐 𝜆 for the indicated temperature.
𝐵 𝑇 Planck’s radiance curve
ℎ𝑐
exp 1
𝜆𝑘𝑇 Note: Wavelength of maximum
emission is a function of temperature.
Where ‘k’ is Boltzmann’s constant and ‘T’ is the absolute temperature. The Planck
function is more conveniently written as: 𝑐 𝜆 As the temperature of an object
𝐵 𝑇 𝑐 increases, its λmax shifts toward the
exp 1
𝜆𝑇 shorter wavelengths of the spectrum.
where c1 and c2 are the first and second radiation constants. Since the radiance from
a blackbody is independent of direction, the radiant exitance from a blackbody is
simply πBλ.

EMR source Atmosphere Interaction

Sensor
 When electromagnetic radiation interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere, its
speed, intensity, spectral distribution (w.r.t. wavelength), and direction may
change.
 Scattering and absorption are very important process to describe/understand
Scattering Scattering the process of interaction of electromagnetic light with Earth’s atmosphere.
Absorption

S C AT T E R I N G :
Scattering  Causes change in the direction (unpredictable) of electromagnetic waves,
Absorption Emission
 Efficiency and behavior depends on the size of the scatterers and
Scattering wavelength of the radiation,

Absorption
 Scattering
Ty p e s o f s c a t t e r i n g :
 Rayleigh, Main chemical species
Degree of penetration
Naturally Occurring
 Mie, and of solar irradiance
Pollutants Temperature
 Non-selective.
500 km Exosphere 300o K
N2/ O2/ N/ O/
Shorter wavelengths N2+/ O2+/ NO+/ O+
scattered more
Thermosphere
85 km 175o K
Longer wavelengths 100 nm to
scattered less N2/ O2/ NO/
Incident white light longer
Mesosphere N2+/ O2+/ NO+/
50 km 280o K
N2/ O2/ O3 220 nm to
Stratosphere CFCs longer
(Scattering medium) 15 km 210o K
N2/ O2/ H2O/ Ar/ 330 nm to
Tropospher CO2 longer
e O3/ NO2/ SO2 300o K

Scattering: Rayleigh Scattering Scattering: Mie Scattering

 Occurs when size of the matter is very small than Rayleigh scattering  Occurs when there are spherical particles
the wavelength… from a molecule present in the atmosphere with diameters
 During scattering, EMR get absorbed and then re- approximately equal to the wavelength of
emitted by the atoms/molecules… radiation.
 Unpredictable direction of emission…
Rayleigh Scattering
 The amount of scattering is inversely proportional
to the 4th power of radiation’s wavelength…
Mie Scattering
Observer

I∝ Observer
 For example: blue light (0.4µm) scatters 16 times
more than near-infrared light (0.8µm).  For visible light, water vapor, dust, and other particles ranging from a few 10th of a
micrometer to several micrometers in diameter are the main scattering agents.
 Rayleigh scattering is responsible for the blue sky
and red sunsets.  The amount of Mie scatter is greater than Rayleigh scatter and the wavelengths
scattered are longer.
 Scattering: Non-selective Scattering Absorption
 Occurs when there are Rayleigh Scattering
particles in the atmosphere, λ  A process by which radiant energy is absorbed and converted into other forms of
several times of the diameter energy.
of the radiation… Gas molecule
 Water droplets, which make Mie Scattering  In our Earth’s atmosphere, following constituents cause the absorption:
up clouds and fog banks,
 Water (H2O),
scatter all wavelengths of
Smoke, Dust  Carbon Dioxide (CO2),
visible light equally well,
 Oxygen (O2),
causing the cloud to appear
Non-Selective Scattering  Ozone (O3), and
white…
 Nitrous Oxide (N2O).
 Scattering have severe effects
on remote sensing images Water vapor  The cumulative effect of the absorption by the various constituents can cause the
where it reduces the atmosphere to close down in certain regions of the spectrum.
information…

Absorption Basic Concepts: Radiance and Reflectance

 Radiance (Lλ) is the radiant flux per unit

solid angle leaving an extended source in
Normal to
a given direction per unit projected surface
Radiant Flux
source area in that direction (Wm-2sr-1)… ɸ (ɸ )
𝐿 π
A cos θ
 In remote sensing, radiant flux in certain
wavelengths (Lλ) leaving the projected θ
source area (A) within a certain direction
(θ) and solid angle (Ω) are important…
Projected source area
 Sensors are designed to operate in these less affected wavelength regions. (Acosθ)
 Steradian- a cone angle in which the unit
 Atmospheric window: Wavelengths less affected by earth’s atmosphere. is a radian or 57 degrees, 17 minutes, 44
 Other wavelengths are blocked (completely/partially) by atmosphere. seconds…
 Basic Concepts Basic Concepts: Reflectance
 The reflectance is defined as the ratio of the radiant flux reflected from a surface
to the radiant flux incident to it (unit less)…
 Transmittance is defined as the ratio of the radiant flux transmitted through a Observed
Radiation
surface to the radiant flux incident to it (unit less)… Incident
Radiation
 Absorption of electromagnetic radiation is the process where the energy of
incident light is taken up by matter… Reflected
Radiation
 Spectral Reflectance?
 Lambertian Surface?
 Diffused reflector?
Natural Condition Lambertian Surface