05-02-2025

Final Year B. Tech (E&TC)

A. Y. 2024-25 (Sem. II)

20PEEC801B
REMOTE SENSING

Course Faculty: Dr. Ashwini Deshpande and Ms. Tejashree Pawar

Disclaimer:
Slides shared are only for indicating the points, refer the books for detail study
Do not share or upload the slides anywhere without permission

• Refer T1, T2, T3 for Unit 1

• From T2 Chapter 1 and 13
• From T3 Chapter 3

Disclaimer:
Slides shared are only for indicating the points, refer the books for detail study
Do not share or upload the slides anywhere without permission

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Unit 1 Introduction to Remote Sensing

○ Remote sensing process, Energy sources, Radiation principles,
Electromagnetic spectrum, Energy Interactions in the Atmosphere –
Scattering, Absorption, Reflection, Energy interaction with Earth surface
features – Spectral reflectance of vegetation, soil and water, Spectral
signature, Atmospheric window
○ Overview of GIS and components of GIS, Spatial data models.

What is Remote Sensing?

"Remote sensing is the science (and to some extent,
art) of acquiring information about the Earth's
surface without actually being in contact with it. This
is done by sensing and recording reflected or
emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and
applying that information."

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Remote Sensing Process

ENERGY SOURCES
• Natural source of energy –Sun
• Artificial energy sources
• Energy is radiated from an external (natural or artificial) source or emitted
from the object itself; it is in the form of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR).
• Electromagnetic energies: Visible light, Radio waves, ultraviolet rays,
radiant heat, and X-rays
• To understand how EMR is produced, how it propagates through space-
(wave theory/model) and how it interacts with other matter (Particle Model)
• This theory describes electromagnetic energy as traveling in a harmonic,
sinusoidal fashion at the “velocity of light” c.

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Wave Theory / model

Particle Theory / model

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ENERGY SOURCES

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ENERGY SOURCES
Radiant exitance is the power of electromagnetic radiation per unit area radiated by a surface. When it
is considered for a specific frequency in the spectrum it is called spectral radiant exitance.

Fig. Spectral distribution of energy radiated from

blackbodies of various temperatures

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Region Wavelength Remarks

Gamma Ray < 0.03 nm Completely absorbed by the upper atmosphere and not available for remote sensing.

X-ray 0.03 to 3 nm Completely absorbed by the upper atmosphere and not available for remote sensing.

Ultraviolet 0.03 to 0.4 µm Wavelengths from 0.03 to 0.3 micrometres absorbed by ozone in the upper atmosphere.

Photographic Transmitted through atmosphere. Detectable with film and photodetectors, but atmospheric scattering is
0.3 to 0.4 µm
Ultraviolet severe. Available for remote sensing the Earth..

Visible 0.4 to 0.7 µm Imaged with film and photodetectors Available for remote sensing the Earth.

Interaction with matter varies with wavelength. Atmospheric transmission windows are separated.
Infrared 0.7 to 1 µm
Available for remote sensing the Earth.

Reflected solar radiations that contains the information about thermal properties of materials. Near
Reflected Infrared 0.7 to 3.0 µm Infrared 0.7 to 0.9 micrometres is detectable with film and is called as the photographic IR band. Available
for remote sensing the Earth.

Principal atmospheric windows in the 8 to 14µm thermal region. Images are acquired by optcal
mechanical scanners and special vidicon system but not by film. Available for remote sensing the Earth.
Thermal Infrared 3.0 to 14 µm
This wavelength cannot be captured with photographic film. Instead, mechanical sensors are used to
image this wavelength band.

Microwave or Longer wavelengths of this band can pass through clouds, fog, and rain. Images using this band can be
0.1 to 30 cm
Radar made with sensors that actively emit microwaves.

Some classified radars with very long wavelengths operate in this region. Not normally used for remote
Radio > 30 cm
sensing the Earth.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

● Before radiation (used for remote sensing) reaches the

Earth's surface it has to travel through some distance of the
Earth's atmosphere.
● Particles and gases in the atmosphere can affect the
incoming light and radiation.
● These effects are caused by the mechanisms of
○ Scattering
○ Absorption
○ Reflection

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

1. Absorption:
● Absorption is the process by which radiant energy is absorbed and converted into
other forms of energy. Absorption results in the effective loss of energy to atmospheric
constituents.
● Ozone, carbon dioxide, and water vapour are the three main atmospheric
constituents which absorb radiation.
● Ozone serves to absorb the harmful (to most living things) ultraviolet radiation from
the sun. Without this protective layer in the atmosphere our skin would burn when
exposed to sunlight.
● Carbon dioxide referred to as a greenhouse gas.
● This is because it tends to absorb radiation strongly in the far infrared portion of the
spectrum - that area associated with thermal heating - which serves to trap this heat
inside the atmosphere.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

1. Absorption:
● Water vapour in the atmosphere absorbs much of the incoming and outgoing
shortwave infrared and longwave microwave radiation (between 22μm and 1m).
● The presence of water vapour in the lower atmosphere varies greatly from location to
location and at different times of the year.
● For example, the air mass above a desert would have very little water vapour to absorb
energy, while the tropics would have high concentrations of water vapour (i.e. high
humidity).
● Because these gases absorb electromagnetic energy in very specific regions of the
spectrum, they influence where (in the spectrum) we can "look" for remote sensing
purposes.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Atmospheric Windows:
● Parts of the spectrum which are not severely influenced by atmospheric
absorption are useful to remote sensors, are called atmospheric windows.
● The visible portion of the spectrum, to which our eyes are most sensitive,
corresponds to both an atmospheric window and the peak energy level of the
sun.
● Energy emitted by the Earth corresponds to a window around 10 μm in the
thermal IR portion of the spectrum.
● The large window at wavelengths beyond 1 mm is associated with the
microwave region.

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Figure: Spectral characteristics of (a) energy sources, (b) atmospheric transmittance,

and (c) common remote sensing systems. (Note that wavelength scale is logarithmic.)
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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

2. Scattering:
● Atmospheric scattering is the unpredictable diffusion of radiation by particles in the atmosphere.
● It occurs when particles or large gas molecules present in the atmosphere interact with and cause
the electromagnetic radiation to be redirected from its original path.
● How much scattering takes place depends on several factors including:
○ the wavelength of the radiation,
○ the diameter of particles or gaseous molecules, and
○ the distance the radiation travels through the atmosphere.
● The amount of scattering is inversely proportional to fourth power of wavelength of radiation.
● There are three (3) types of scattering which take place.
1. Rayleigh scatter
2. Mie scatter (Water vapor and dust are major causes of Mie scatter)
3. nonselective scatter

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

2.1 Rayleigh Scattering:
● Rayleigh scattering occurs when particles are very small compared to
the wavelength of the radiation.
● These could be particles such as small specks of dust or nitrogen and
oxygen molecules.
● Rayleigh scattering causes shorter wavelengths of energy to be
scattered much more than longer wavelengths.
● Rayleigh scattering is the dominant scattering mechanism in the upper
atmosphere.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

2.2 Mie Scattering:
● Mie scattering occurs when the particles are just about the same
size as the wavelength of the radiation.
● Dust, pollen, smoke and water vapour are common causes of Mie
scattering which tends to affect longer wavelengths than those
affected by Rayleigh scattering.
● Mie scattering occurs mostly in the lower portions of the
atmosphere where larger particles are more abundant, and
dominates when cloud conditions are overcast.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

2.3 Nonselective / Geometric scattering:
● This occurs when the particles are much
larger than the wavelength of the
radiation. Water droplets and large dust
particles can cause this type of
scattering.
● Nonselective scattering gets its name
from the fact that all wavelengths are
scattered about equally. This type of
scattering causes fog and clouds to
appear white (blue + green + red light =
white light) to our eyes.
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ENERGY INTERACTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

3. Atmospheric Reflection:
● Atmospheric reflection is the process whereby radiation ‘bounces off’ an
object like the top of a cloud.
● A considerable amount of incident radiant flux from sun is reflected from
the top of clouds and other materials in the atmosphere.
● This result in recording of extra amount of energy by the sensor in addition
to reflected energy from the target. Blurred images and appearance of cloud
on the imagery are the main associated with atmospheric reflection

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● Radiation that is not absorbed or scattered
in the atmosphere can reach and interact
with the Earth's surface.
● There are three forms of interaction that
can take place when energy strikes, or is
incident (I) upon the surface.
● These are: Absorption (A); Transmission
(T) Reflection (R)
● The total incident energy will interact with
the surface in one or more of these three
ways. The proportions of each will depend
on the wavelength of the energy and the
material and condition of the feature.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● In remote sensing, we are most interested in measuring the radiation
reflected from targets.
● We refer to two types of reflection, which represent the two extreme ends of
the way in which energy is reflected from a target:
○ Specular reflection and
○ Diffuse reflection.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● When a surface is smooth we get specular or mirror-like reflection where all (or
almost all) of the energy is directed away from the surface in a single direction.
● Diffuse reflection occurs when the surface is rough and the energy is reflected
almost uniformly in all directions.
● Most earth surface features lie somewhere between perfectly specular or perfectly
diffuse reflectors.
● Whether a particular target reflects specularly or diffusely, or somewhere in
between, depends on the surface roughness of the feature in comparison to the
wavelength of the incoming radiation.
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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● If the wavelengths are much smaller than the surface variations or
the particle sizes that make up the surface, diffuse reflection will
dominate.
● For example, fine grained sand would appear fairly smooth to long
wavelength microwaves but would appear quite rough to the
visible wavelengths.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● Leaves: Chlorophyll strongly absorbs
radiation in the red and blue wavelengths
but reflects green wavelengths.
● Leaves appear "greenest" to us in the
summer, when chlorophyll content is at its
maximum.
● In autumn, there is less chlorophyll in the
leaves, so there is less absorption and
proportionately more reflection of the red
wavelengths, making the leaves appear red
or yellow (yellow is a combination of red
and green wavelengths).

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● The internal structure of healthy leaves act
as excellent diffuse reflectors of near-
infrared wavelengths.
● If our eyes were sensitive to near-infrared,
trees would appear extremely bright to us
at these wavelengths.
● In fact, measuring and monitoring the
near-IR reflectance is one way that
scientists can determine how healthy (or
unhealthy) vegetation may be.

Green : 0.500 - 0.578 μm

IR : 0.7 μm to 3.0 μm

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● Water: Longer wavelength visible and
near infrared radiation is absorbed more
by water than shorter visible wavelengths.
● Thus water typically looks blue or blue-
green due to stronger reflectance at these
shorter wavelengths, and darker if viewed
at red or near infrared wavelengths.
● If there is suspended sediment present in
the upper layers of the water body, then
this will allow better reflectivity and a
brighter appearance of the water.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

● Water: Suspended sediment (S) can be easily
confused with shallow (but clear) water, since
these two phenomena appear very similar.
● Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more of the blue
wavelengths and reflects the green, making the
water appear more green in colour when algae
is present.
● The topography of the water surface (rough,
smooth, floating materials, etc.) can also lead
to complications for water-related
interpretation due to potential problems of
specular reflection and other influences on
colour and brightness.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

Spectral signature:
● By measuring the energy that
is reflected (or emitted) by
targets on the Earth's surface
over a variety of different
wavelengths, we can build up
a spectral response for that
object.
● By comparing the response
patterns of different features
we may be able to distinguish
between them.

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ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH SURFACE

Spectral signature:
● For example, water and vegetation may
reflect somewhat similarly in the visible
wavelengths but are almost always
separable in the infrared.
● Spectral response can be quite variable,
even for the same target type, and can also
vary with time (e.g. "green-ness" of
leaves) and location.
● Understanding the factors which influence
the spectral response of the features of
interest are critical to correctly interpreting
the interaction of electromagnetic
radiation with the surface.
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Refer to solved numerical for practice based on above topics

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GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

Geographic information system is a systematic integration of computer
hardware, software, and spatial data, for capturing, storing, displaying,
updating manipulating, and analysing, in order to solve complex
management problems.

● Data
● Information
● Database
● Database management System (DBMS)
● Database System
● RDBMS

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Components of GIS

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GIS -data
● Data have- three modes / dimensions
○ Spatial
○ Thematic / non-spatial / attributes
○ Temporal

● Ex. a fire station at Karvenagar works with a capacity of 5 fire engine

and 15 staff members
○ Spatial data in textual form: location of fire station i.e.
Karvenagar
○ Thematic / non-spatial / attributes: describe the characteristics of
spatial data : No. of fire engine and staff members
○ Temporal: record when the data were collected (date/ time)

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GIS data layers

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Triangulated Irregular Network

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Vector vs raster

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