Geography
Remote Sensing
Remote sensing refers to the process of collecting data about an object or area from a distance, typically using satellites or aircraft. It involves the use of sensors to gather information about the Earth's surface, atmosphere, and oceans. This technology is widely used in geography to study and monitor changes in the environment, land use, and natural resources.
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11 Key excerpts on "Remote Sensing"
eBook - PDF- John A Agnew, David N Livingstone, John A Agnew, David N Livingstone, SAGE Publications Ltd(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
13 Remote Sensing Y o n g w e i S h e n g Remote Sensing AND GEOGRAPHIC INQUIRIES Remote Sensing is the art, science and technology of obtaining reliable information about the Earth (or other physical objects) and its environment through the process of acquir-ing, recording, analyzing and interpreting imagery and other representations of energy patterns derived from non-directly-contact sensor systems by means of electromagnetic radiation. 1 With electromagnetic radiation traveling at the speed of light, the sensors col-lect information of the remote objects through an instantaneous process. Reading is such a process, in which our eyes (i.e. the sensors) sense the reading materials (the objects) from about one foot away through the light reflected from the materials (Lillesand et al. 2007). Our brain (the mental computer) analyzes the sensed image and recognizes a collection of letters, words and sentences from the dark areas on the materials, and further interprets the information that the sentences convey. In contrast to the reading process, remote sens-ing typically senses objects on or near the Earth’s surface. In order to obtain synoptic views of objects on the Earth, the sensor needs to be operated on a moving platform (usually aircraft and spacecraft) high above the surface. As such, Remote Sensing offers important advantages over field-based obser-vations in terms of greater spatial coverage and multi-temporal monitoring capabilities. Remote Sensing allows us to collect informa-tion repeatedly over remote or dangerous regions and even the entire globe at reasona-bly low costs and without gaining a direct access. The synoptic coverage that Remote Sensing provides allows us to discern geo-graphic patterns and processes not easily rec-ognizable from the ground. The shape of the Earth and the distribution of continents, which had puzzled human beings for thousands of years, would become obvious to be readily discovered from geostationary satellite imagery.
- Solange Uwera(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Delve Publishing(Publisher)
The definition of Remote Sensing (Joseph, 2004) read as: “Remote Sensing is the science of making inferences about objects from measurements, made at a distance, without coming into physical contact with the objects under study”. Therefore, without having touched the object, with Remote Sensing method, it can be used to gather information about an object. In terms of resource management, the extensive applications of Remote Sensing can be explained and the definition which is used by the United Nations, (as part of the general assembly resolutions A/RES/41/65 , 95th Plenary meeting, 3 December, 1986) is an appropriate definition of Remote Sensing, according to them “Remote Sensing means sensing of the earth ‘s surface from space by making use of the properties of electromagnetic wave emitted, reflected or diffracted by the sensed objects, for the purpose of improving natural resource management, land use an d the protection of the environment.” The system used for Remote Sensing is set up using various equipment which includes, a source of electromagnetic radiation like Sun, a sensor device which collects and measures the radiations, either emitted or reflected from the earth and a carrier like Rocket or a satellite or it could even be a ground- based stand which transmits these radiations through the atmosphere. The sensors used as an instrument in the process of Remote Sensing could be of two types, the sensor that measures naturally emitted radiations are known as Passive sensors and the sensor that measures radiations of a specific wavelength to illuminate Earth’s surface are called Active sensors . Remote Sensing Techniques and GIS Applications in Earth and Environmental Studies 4 1.1.1. History of Remote Sensing The history of the Remote Sensing goes back to the year 1859, when Gaspard Tournachon, a French photographer, took an oblique image of a small village situated near Paris from a balloon.
eBook - PDF- Joseph P. Stoltman(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
59 Remote Sensing The Earth From Afar PAUL R. BAUMANN State University at Oneonta A geOgraPher works with a variety of tools in studying Earth's physical and human landscapes. Traditionally, these tools are cartography, aerial photography, statistical methods, and field surveying. These tools form the building blocks for a more recent set of tools associated with digital technology. These new tools are geographic information systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, spatial modeling, and global positioning systems (GPS). Collectively, these tools are referred to as the geospatial technologies. This chapter centers on Remote Sensing, one of these new technologies. The chapter covers the development, application, and future of Remote Sensing and focuses on nonmilitary satellites and imagery. Remote Sensing is both the art and science of observing and measuring phenomena from afar. Aircraft and satel- lites provide the most common platforms from which remotely sensed information about Earth's surface is col- lected. From these platforms, cameras and scanners detect and record both spatial and spectral variations in electro- magnetic energy. Such energy includes wavelengths in the light, heat, and radio portions of the spectrum. Typical wavelengths used in Remote Sensing cover visible, near- infrared, mid-infrared, thermal, and microwave energy. Hence, Remote Sensing provides geographers as well as other specialists the ability to see more clearly things occurring on the face of Earth, especially things that the human eye frequently cannot visualize. Airborne and space-borne sensors are identified as either "active" or "passive." An active system provides its own electromagnetic energy, whereas a passive system depends on naturally occurring energy, such as reflected solar radiation. Active Remote Sensing technologies include radar and airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) sen- sors.
eBook - PDFAgrometeorology
Principles and Applications of Climate Studies in Agriculture
- Harpal S. Mavi, Graeme J. Tupper(Authors)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
145 146 AGROMETEOROLOGY Remote Sensing Remote Sensing is defined as the science of obtaining and interpreting in-formation from a distance, using sensors that are not in physical contact with the object being observed. Animals (including people) use Remote Sensing via a variety of body components to obtain information about their environment. The eyes detect electromagnetic energy in the form of visible light. The ears detect acoustic (sound) energy, and the nose contains sensi-tive chemical receptors that respond to minute amounts of airborne chemi-cals given off by the materials in our surroundings. Some research suggests migrating birds can sense variations in the earth’s magnetic field, which helps explain their remarkable navigational ability. At its broadest, the science of Remote Sensing includes aerial, satellite, and spacecraft observations of the surfaces and atmospheres of the planets in our solar system, although the earth is obviously the most frequent target of study. The term Remote Sensing is customarily restricted to methods that detect and measure electromagnetic energy, including visible light, which has interacted with surface materials and the atmosphere. Remote Sensing of the earth is used for many purposes, including the pro-duction and updating of planimetric maps, weather forecasting, and gather-ing military intelligence. The focus in this chapter is on Remote Sensing of agriculture and the associated environment and resources of the earth’s sur-face. It explores the physical concepts that underlie the acquisition and in-terpretation of remotely sensed images, the characteristics of images from different types of sensors, and common methods of processing images to enhance their information content. For additional information on Remote Sensing refer to for a useful tutorial on re-mote sensing of the environment.
eBook - PDF- Arthur P. Cracknell(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
1 1 An Introduction to Remote Sensing 1.1 Introduction Remote Sensing may be taken to mean the observation of, or gathering of information about, a target by a device separated from it by some distance. The expression “Remote Sensing” was coined by geographers at the U.S. Office of Naval Research in the 1960s at about the time that the use of “spy” satellites was beginning to move out of the military sphere and into the civilian sphere. Remote Sensing is often regarded as being synonymous with the use of artificial satellites and, in this regard, may call to mind glossy calendars and coffee-table books of images of various parts of the Earth (see, for example, Sheffield [1981, 1983]; Bullard and Dixon-Gough [1985]; and Arthus-Bertrand [2002]) or the satellite images that are commonly shown on television weather forecasts. Although satellites do play an important role in Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing activity not only precedes the expression but also dates from long before the launch of the first artificial satellite. There are a number of ways of gathering remotely sensed data that do not involve satellites and that, indeed, have been in use for very much longer than satellites. For example, virtually all of astronomy can be regarded as being built upon the basis of Remote Sensing data. However, this book is concerned with terrestrial Remote Sensing. Photogrammetric techniques, using air pho-tos for mapping purposes, were widely used for several decades before satellite images became available. The idea of taking photographs of the surface of the Earth from a platform elevated above the surface of the Earth was originally put into practice by balloonists in the nineteenth century; the earliest known photograph from a balloon was taken of the village of Petit Bicêtre near Paris in 1859. Military reconnaissance aircraft in World War I and, even more so, in World War II helped to substantially develop aerial photographic techniques.
eBook - PDF- Thomas Lillesand, Ralph W. Kiefer, Jonathan Chipman(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Remote Sensing can be thought of as the “eyes” of such systems providing repeated, synoptic (even global) visions of earth resources from an aerial or space vantage point. Remote Sensing affords us the capability to literally see the invisible. We can begin to see components of the environment on an ecosystem basis, in that Remote Sensing data can transcend the cultural boundaries within which much of our current resource data are collected. Remote Sensing also transcends dis- ciplinary boundaries. It is so broad in its application that nobody “owns” the field. Important contributions are made to—and benefits derived from—Remote Sensing by both the “hard” scientist interested in basic research and the “soft” scientist interested in its operational application. There is little question that Remote Sensing will continue to play an increas- ingly broad and important role in the scientific, governmental, and commercial sectors alike. The technical capabilities of sensors, space platforms, data commu- nication and distribution systems, GPSs, digital image processing systems, and GISs are improving on almost a daily basis. At the same time, we are witnessing the evolution of a spatially enabled world society. Most importantly, we are becoming increasingly aware of how interrelated and fragile the elements of our global resource base really are and of the role that Remote Sensing can play in inventorying, monitoring, and managing earth resources and in modeling and helping us to better understand the global ecosystem and its dynamics. 1.10 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) We anticipate that the majority of individuals using this book will at some point in their educational backgrounds and/or professional careers have experience with geographic information systems. The discussion below is provided as a brief introduction to such systems primarily for those readers who might lack such background.
- Hosetti, B B(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
Changing or unusual ice conditions can have a serious impact on the lives of these massive mammals. Geographers and environmental scientists also use Remote Sensing. Geographers use the technology to look for changes on the Earth’s surface that need to be mapped and environmental scientists to detect, identify, and follow the movement of pollutants such as oil slicks on the ocean. Introduction In the broadest sense, Remote Sensing is the short or large-scale acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by the use of either recording or real-time sensing device(s) that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object (such as by way of aircraft, spacecraft, satellite, buoy, or ship). In practice, Remote Sensing is the stand-off collection through the use of a variety of devices for gathering information on a given object or area. Thus, Earth observation or weather satellite collection platforms, ocean and atmospheric observing weather buoy platforms, monitoring of a pregnancy via ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and space probes are all examples of Remote Sensing. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of imaging sensor technologies including but not limited to the use of instruments aboard aircraft and spacecraft, and is distinct from other imaging-related fields such as medical imaging. There are two kinds of Remote Sensing. Passive sensors detect natural energy (radiation) that is emitted or reflected by the object or surrounding area being observed. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive sensors. Examples of passive remote sensors include film photography, infra-red, charge-coupled devices and radiometers. Active collection, on the other hand, emits energy in order to scan objects and areas whereupon a passive sensor then detects and measures the radiation that This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed.
- Andreas Vassilopoulos, Niki Evelpidou, Oliver Bender, Alenka Krek, Andreas Vassilopoulos, Niki Evelpidou, Oliver Bender, Alenka Krek(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
The aim is to help to overcome constraints to the application of this relatively new high reso-lution satellite data in the field of geocultural landscape research. 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Remote Sensing and geoarchaeology The observation of geocultural heritage is a relatively new application area of Remote Sensing. It is part of interdisciplinary research in geoar-chaeology which combines the contents and methods of physical geog-raphy, human geography, and geosciences with archaeological sciences as well as historical sciences and ancient oriental studies (Brückner 2006). The modern techniques of Remote Sensing may assist in two Remote Sensing: science of acquiring, process-ing and interpreting images that record the interaction between electromagnetic energy and matter (Sabins 1996). 68 Geoinformation Technologies for Geocultural Landscapes: European Perspectives ways: Firstly, remotely sensed images and their processing methods help to detect and interpret discernible historical geocultural structures such as archaeological sites and ancient agricultural systems. Secondly, the imagery may be combined with additional data such as sedimen-tary profiles, pollen analyses, or historic maps to generate and visual-ise palaeo-environmental information. The second approach does not allow for the direct identification of geocultural structures. Hence, this article addresses primarily the detection and interpretation of archaeo-logical features and ancient field structures. For that purpose especially ultra-high resolution satellite imagery is needed. In the past, the medium resolution of the satellites like Landsat or SPOT was insufficient to cap-ture archaeological sites at a detailed scale for an adequate interpretation.
- Paul M. Mather, Magaly Koch, Magaly Koch(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
Chapter 7 is an introduction to classification ( pattern recognition ) techniques that produce labelled images in which each category of land use, for example, is represented by a numerical label (for example, 1 = broad-leaved forest, 2 = water, and so on.). These labelled images can provide free-standing informa-tion or can be combined with other spatial data within a GIS. Properties of Earth surface materials, such as soil moisture content, sea surface temperature (SST), or bio-mass can be related to remotely sensed measurements using statistical methods. For instance, a sample of meas-urements of soil moisture content can be collected close to the time of satellite overpass, and the corresponding ground reflectance or surface temperature values that are recorded by the satellite’s instruments can be related via regression analysis to the field measurements. This sample relationship can then be applied to the entire image area of interest. These biogeophysical variables are used in envi-ronmental modelling, often within a GIS. Elevation mod-els are another form of remotely sensed spatial information that is used in a GIS. Digital elevation models (DEMs) can be derived from optical imagery using two sensors, for example one pointing down and one pointing obliquely backwards (this is the case with the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflective Spectrometer [ASTER] sensor, discussed in Chapter 2). Another way of producing 1 Remote Sensing: Basic Principles 2 Computer Processing of Remotely-Sensed Images elevation models is by the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry, which is mentioned in Chapter 2 and dealt with in more detail in Chapter 8. The increasing cooperation between Remote Sensing specialists and GIS users means that more products are available to GIS users and the more spatial information is combined with remotely sensed data to produce improved results. This is an example of synergy (literally, working together).
eBook - PDFGeoinformation
Remote Sensing, Photogrammetry and Geographic Information Systems, Second Edition
- Gottfried Konecny(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Earth observation technologies, satellite communication, and satellite navi-gation are important elements in these tasks. A remarkable voluntary program is the International Charter for Disasters program agreed upon by the international space agencies around the globe under the United Nations Office of Outer Space to provide rapid Remote Sensing information free of charge to the disaster areas. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) UAVs are navigated and operated by steering controls from the ground without an onboard flight crew. Such systems have been developed mainly for military interests (e.g., the RQ-4B Northrop Grumman Global Hawk or the Air Robot AR 100-B in the United States). Such UAVs can carry lightweight digital cameras. With these, aerial pho-togrammetric imagery may be recorded and restituted after recovery or trans-mission of the data by methods used with digital aerial mapping cameras. Recently, UAVs have become available for civilian operators at an affordable cost. However, the legislation for the use of UAVs in different countries of the globe is still vague. Nevertheless, successful and cost-effective applications have been demonstrated for local areas and for special purposes (e.g., archaeology). IMAGE INTERPRETATION The image generated by a Remote Sensing sensor is subject to interpretation, before the Remote Sensing data can become information. Although there is research look-ing at an automation process for the information extraction procedure, currently all practical interpretations are based on the human eye–brain system. The Human Eye The eye performs the task of optical imaging, while the brain performs the analysis of the perceived optical data. Figure 2.73 describes the composition of the human eye. The eye possesses a lens that can change its curvature for focusing a near or far object onto the retina, creating an image. This change of focus is achieved by the movement of a muscle. The incoming light intensity on the retina is
No longer available |Learn more- Ph.D., Prasad S. Thenkabail(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
†† Th en, it requires states to share “information… that is capable of averting any phenomena harmful to the Earth’s natural environment.” Th e second obligation is surprisingly narrow in application. It requires only that these data should be shared when the information is “ capable of averting ” the envi-ronmental harm. Post-incident information as well as cumula-tive data that might give indications as to environmental trends is not included in this sharing regime. ‡‡ While compliance with this provision is di ffi cult to monitor, it seems that the narrow-ness is likely unimportant. With the amount of available data and expanding access, states are increasingly able to get the information they need to manage the domestic environmental concerns. Indeed, state practice indicates that states are actively engag-ing in environmental monitoring through Remote Sensing and increasingly making that data openly available. Japan has adopted the policy that Remote Sensing satellites should be used as “ Th e Guardian of the Environment” (Aoki, 2010, 345, 348). §§ Korea uses Remote Sensing for “environmental protection pur-poses” (Lee, 2010, 419, 423–424), and China uses satellites for “environmental monitoring” (Ling, 2010, 439, 451–452). An EU directive mandates that “all information held by public authori-ties relating to imminent threats to human health or the envi-ronment is immediately disseminated to the public likely to be a ff ected” (EU Directive 2003/4/EC, 2003; see Harris, 2008, 37). State practice will continue to evolve in relation to this principle as the international community seeks to deal with global envi-ronmental problems. ¶¶ In particular, as the climate change debate intensi fi es, Remote Sensing technologies will likely be critical in both engineering and monitoring responses to climate change. Th ese technologies will gather the evidence that will underlay the political debates surrounding the existence of, scope of, and responses to the problem.
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