PLATFORMS FOR REMOTE SENSING
Conventional types are
1. Aircraft
2. Satellites
Non-conventional types are
1. Towers
2. Balloons
3. Kites etc
AIRCRAFT:
• Very convenient platform
• Range of heights: meters to several kilometers
• Speed: 0 – 300 m s-1
• Capacity: 50 kg to many tons
1. Operational aspects
• Height determines scale, coverage, linear resolution
• Speed determines linear sampling rate
2. Navigation
Electronic navigation system gives the aircraft’s true position
• LORAN surface based radio transmitter
• OMEGA surface based radio transmitter
• GPS satellite based radio transmitter
(cm range accuracy)
3. Ground control points
• Natural features of know location
• Markers fixed to the ground (MW, Radar)
Advantages and Disadvantages of Aircraft Platform:
As the altitude of the aircrafts could be varied, so images of
different scales could be produced for different ground resolutions
for specific uses. The resolution of aerial photograph and imagery
is much higher than that of the satellite imagery.
It is expensive to operate the aircraft. Aerial photography depends
on the season. It is severely limited in the rainy season especially
in peninsular India, coastal zones and valleys. It takes much time
to get defence clearance to photograph certain strategic areas.
The photographic capabilities are restricted to the film length in
the spool.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM:
The Global Positioning System, usually called GPS (the US
Military refers to it as NAVSTAR GPS - Navigation Signal
Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System), is the only
operational satellite navigation system. The Global Positioning
System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a
network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of
Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but
in the 1980s, the government made the system available for
civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in
the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup
charges to use GPS.
GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit
and transmit signal information to earth. GPS receivers take this
information and use triangulation to calculate the user's exact
location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal
was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The
time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is.
The 24 satellites that make up the GPS space segment are
orbiting the earth about 12,000 miles above us. These satellites
are traveling at speeds of roughly 7,000 miles an hour. GPS
satellites are powered by solar energy. They have backup
batteries onboard to keep them running in the event of a solar
eclipse, when there's no solar power. Small rocket boosters on
each satellite keep them flying in the correct path. Here are some
other interesting facts about the GPS satellites (also called
NAVSTAR, the official U.S. Department of Defense name for
GPS):
• The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978.
• A full constellation of 24 satellites was achieved in 1994.
• Each satellite is built to last about 10 years. Replacements are
constantly being built and launched into orbit.
• A GPS satellite weights approximately 2,000 pounds and is
about 17 feet across with the solar panels extended.
• Transmitter power is only 50 watts or less.
Satellite Platforms:
The development of the artificial satellites and their launching in
the orbit began in the fifties primarily for defence purposes. Later
on, they were begun to be utilized for civil purpose. Fundamentally
artificial satellites are of two varieties e.g. geostationary and sun-
synchronous. Geostationary satellites have been launched at an
altitude of 36000 km. They move at the same angular velocity at
which the earth rotates on its axis. Consequently, they remain
stationery over certain areas. As one geostationary satellite
covers about one-third of the surface of the earth, so three of
them are required to cover the entire surface area of the earth.
The orbit plane of the sun Synchronous satellite is nearly polar at
an angle with the axis of the earth. It makes an angle of 37.50 with
the line joining the centre of the earth with that of the sun. It has
been launched at latitude to enable it to pass over all the places
on earth having the same altitude twice daily at the same local
time.
The space-borne remote sensing platforms cover either the entire
surface of the earth or any part of it at the specific interval of time.
Synoptic coverage of the earth on a periodic basis with low
maintenance expenses is very useful for the natural resource
management. However, their initial establishment cost is very
high.
Satellite Images:
Advantages: Disadvantages:
Covers large areas Needs ground verification
Cost effective Doesn’t offer details
Time efficient Not the best tool for small areas
Multi-temporal Needs expert system to extract data
Multi-sensor
Multi-spectral
Overcomes inaccessibility
Satellites Orbits:
A normal orbit forms an ellipse with the center of the earth an one
focus, characterized by an apogee (A; point farthest from the
earth), perigee (P; point closest to the earth), ascending node
(AN; point where the satellite crosses the equator moving south to
north) and descending node (DN; point where the satellite crosses
the equator passing North to south). For graphical simplicity, the
inclination (i) is shown in fig: as the angle that a satellite track
forms with respect to the equator at the descending node fig:
(More precisely, the inclination should be defined as thee angle
between the earths axis at the North Pole and a line drawn
perpendicular to the plane of the satellite orbit, viewed such that
the Satellite follows a counterclockwise trajectory).
The time required for a satellite to complete one orbit (its period)
increase with altitude. At an altitude of about 36000 km, a satellite
has the same period as the earth’s surface, so (if positioned in the
equatorial plane) it remains stationary with respect to the earth’s
surface- it is in a geostationary orbit.
Geostationary Orbit:
• Circular orbit above the equator (35,800 km)
• Nodal period is not equal 24 hours
Geostationary orbits are ideal for meteorological or
communications satellites designed to maintain a constant
position with respect to a specific region on the earths surface.
e.g. METEOSAT, GOES
Geosynchronous
• Orbit traces its figure-of-height at an approximately uniform rate
• For half a day in the NH and visa versa
• Nodal time equals 24 hours
Sun-synchronous
• The orbital plane rotates about the polar axis with the angular
speed of 1.991 x10-7 s-1
• The satellite will cross the a given latitude at the same solar time
every day
• Orbital height = 1500 km, inclination > 96°
• Landsat, SPOT, NOAA, DMSP, ERS-1
Advantages of satellites in orbit are:
• Increased platform speed
• Continuity of mission
• Better data coverage
• Homogeneous data set for +5 years
• No legal problems with political boundaries
Land Observation Satellites:
the first satellite designed specifically to monitor the Earth's
surface-
Landsat-1, was launched by NASA in 1972. Initially referred to as
ERTS-1, (Earth Resources Technology Satellite), Landsat was
designed as an experiment to test the feasibility of collecting multi-
spectral Earth observation data from an unmanned satellite
platform. Since that time, this highly successful program
has collected an abundance of data from around the world from
several Landsat satellites.
Originally managed by NASA, responsibility for the Landsat
program was transferred to NOAA in 1983. In 1985, the program
became commercialized, providing data to civilian and
applications users.
Landsat's success is due to several factors, including: a
combination of sensors with spectral bands tailored to Earth
observation; functional spatial resolution; and good areal coverage
(swath width and revisit period).
Chronological Launch and Retirement History of the Landsat Satellite Series
Jensen, 2000
Landsat Multispectral Scanning System (MSS) Orbit
Orbit 16, day 2
Orbit 2, day 1
Orbit 15, day 2
Orbit 1, day 1
185 km wide
2875 km 159 km
at equator
Jensen, 2000
Orbit Tracks of Landsat 1, 2, or 3
During A Single Day of Coverage
75Þ
4
60Þ 3
45Þ
30Þ
15Þ
2 1 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6
Latitude
0Þ
15Þ
15 orbit
number
30Þ
5
45Þ
60Þ
75Þ
Jensen, 2000
Spectral and Spatial Resolution of the Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS),
Landsat 4 and 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic
Mapper Plus (ETM+), SPOT 1, 2, and 3 High Resolution Visible (HRV), and
SPOT 4 High Resolution Visible Infrared (HRVIR) Sensor Systems
Jensen, 2000
SPOT
SPOT (Système Pour l'Observation de la Terre) is a series of
Earth observation imaging satellites designed and launched by
CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) of France, with
support from Sweden and Belgium. SPOT-1 was launched in
1986, with successors following every three or four years.
Chronological Launch History of the SPOT Satellites
Jensen, 2000
All satellites are in sun-synchronous, near-polar orbits at
altitudes around 830 km above the Earth, which results in orbit
repetition every 26 days. They have equator crossing times
around 10:30 AM local solar time. SPOT was designed to be a
commercial provider of Earth observation data, and was the first
satellite to use along-track, or pushbroom scanning technology.
The SPOT satellites each have twin high resolution visible
(HRV) imaging systems, which can be operated independently
and simultaneously. Each HRV is capable of sensing either in
a high spatial resolution single-channel panchromatic (PLA)
mode, or a coarser spatial resolution three-channel multispectral
(MLA) mode. Each along-track scanning HRV sensor consists of
four linear arrays of detectors: one 6000 element array for the
panchromatic mode recording at a spatial resolution of 10 m, and
one 3000 element array for each of the three multispectral bands,
recording at 20 m spatial resolution. The swath width for both
modes is 60 km at nadir. The accompanying table illustrates the
spectral characteristics of the two different modes.
IRS
The Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series, combines
features from both the Landsat MSS/TM sensors and the SPOT
HRV sensor. The third satellite in the series, IRS-1C, launched in
December, 1995 has three sensors: a single-channel
panchromatic (PAN) high resolution camera, a medium resolution
four-channel Linear Imaging Self-scanning Sensor (LISS-III), and
a coarse resolution two-channel Wide Field Sensor (WiFS). The
accompanying table outlines the specific characteristics of each
sensor.
THEN:
Quickbird:
Ikonos:
Aster:
The most widely used active remote sensing systems
include:
• active microwave (RADAR), based on the transmission of long-
wavelength microwaves (e.g., 3 – 25 cm) through the atmosphere
and then recording the amount of energy back-scattered from the
terrain;
• LIDAR, which is based on the transmission of relatively short-
wavelength laser light (e.g., 0.90 mm) and then recording the
amount of light back-scattered from the terrain; and
• SONAR, which is based on the transmission of sound waves
through a water column and then recording the amount of energy
back-scattered from the bottom or from objects within the water
column.
Radar Principles:
Radar is an active sensor. A radar unit transmits short pulses or
bursts of microwave radiation and then receives reflections of the
signal from a target (echo or backscatter). The tonal record of a
radar image is a measure of microwave echo strength.
Active Microwave (RADAR) Commonly Use Frequencies:
Band Designations
(common wavelengths Wavelength () Frequency ()
shown in parentheses) in cm in GHz
K 1.18 - 1.67 26.5 to 18.0
Ka (0.86 cm) 0.75 - 1.18 40.0 to 26.5
Ku 1.67 - 2.4 18.0 to 12.5
X (3.0 and 3.2 cm) 2.4 - 3.8 12.5 - 8.0
C (7.5, 6.0 cm) 3.8 - 7.5 8.0 - 4.0
S (8.0, 9.6, 12.6 cm) 7.5 - 15.0 4.0 - 2.0
L (23.5, 24.0, 25.0 cm) 15.0 - 30.0 2.0 - 1.0
P (68.0 cm) 30.0 - 100 1.0 - 0.3
Primary Advantages of RADAR Remote Sensing
1. Active microwave energy penetrates clouds and can be an all-
weather remote sensing system.
2. Synoptic views of large areas, for mapping at 1:25,000 to
1:400,000; cloud-shrouded countries may be imaged.
3. Coverage can be obtained at user-specified times, even at
night. Permits imaging at shallow look angles, resulting in different
perspectives that cannot always be obtained using aerial
photography.
4. Senses in wavelengths outside the visible and infrared regions
of the electromagnetic spectrum, providing information on surface
roughness, dielectric properties, and moisture content.
Secondary Advantages of RADAR Remote Sensing
• May penetrate vegetation, sand, and surface layers of snow.
• Has its own illumination, and the angle of illumination can be
controlled.
• Enables resolution to be independent of distance to the
object, with the size
of a resolution cell being as small as 1 x 1 m.
• Images can be produced from different types of polarized
energy (HH, HV, VV, VH).
• May operate simultaneously in several wavelengths
(frequencies) and thus has multi-frequency potential.
• Can measure ocean wave properties, even from orbital
altitudes.
• Can produce overlapping images suitable for stereoscopic
viewing and radargrammetry.
• Supports interferometric operation using two antennas for 3-
D mapping, and analysis of incident-angle signatures of
objects.
