Remote Sensors

Overview

Remote sensing instruments are of two primary types—active and passive. Active sensors,
provide their own source of energy to illuminate the objects they observe. An active sensor emits
radiation in the direction of the target to be investigated. The sensor then detects and measures
the radiation that is reflected or backscattered from the target. Passive sensors, on the other hand,
detect natural energy (radiation) that is emitted or reflected by the object or scene being
observed. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive
sensors.

Active Sensors

The majority of active sensors operate in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum,
which makes them able to penetrate the atmosphere under most conditions. An active technique
views the target from either end of a baseline of known length. The change in apparent view
direction (parallax) is related to the absolute distance between the instrument and target.

Laser altimeter—An instrument that uses a lidar to measure the height of the platform (spacecraft
or aircraft) above the surface. The height of the platform with respect to the mean Earth’s surface
is used to determine the topography of the underlying surface.
Lidar—A light detection and ranging sensor that uses a laser (light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation) radar to transmit a light pulse and a receiver with sensitive detectors to
measure the backscattered or reflected light. Distance to the object is determined by recording
the time between transmitted and backscattered pulses and by using the speed of light to
calculate the distance traveled.
Radar—An active radio detection and ranging sensor that provides its own source of
electromagnetic energy. An active radar sensor, whether airborne or spaceborne, emits
microwave radiation in a series of pulses from an antenna. When the energy reaches the target,
some of the energy is reflected back toward the sensor. This backscattered microwave radiation
is detected, measured, and timed. The time required for the energy to travel to the target and
return back to the sensor determines the distance or range to the target. By recording the range
and magnitude of the energy reflected from all targets as the system passes by, a two-
dimensional image of the surface can be produced.
Ranging Instrument—A device that measures the distance between the instrument and a target
object. Radars and altimeters work by determining the time a transmitted pulse (microwaves or
light) takes to reflect from a target and return to the instrument. Another technique employs
identical microwave instruments on a pair of platforms. Signals are transmitted from each
instrument to the other, with the distance between the two determined from the difference
between the received signal phase and transmitted (reference) phase. These are examples of
active techniques. An active technique views the target from either end of a baseline of known
length. The change in apparent view direction (parallax) is related to the absolute distance
between the instrument and target.
Scatterometer—A high-frequency microwave radar designed specifically to measure
backscattered radiation. Over ocean surfaces, measurements of backscattered radiation in the
microwave spectral region can be used to derive maps of surface wind speed and direction.
Sounder—An instrument that measures vertical distribution of precipitation and other
atmospheric characteristics such as temperature, humidity, and cloud composition.
Passive Sensors

Passive sensors include different types of radiometers and spectrometers. Most passive systems
used in remote sensing applications operate in the visible, infrared, thermal infrared, and
microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Passive remote sensors include the
following:

Accelerometer—An instrument that measures acceleration (change in velocity per unit time).
There are two general types of accelerometers. One measures translational accelerations
(changes in linear motions in one or more dimensions), and the other measures angular
accelerations (changes in rotation rate per unit time).
Hyperspectral radiometer—An advanced multispectral sensor that detects hundreds of very
narrow spectral bands throughout the visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. This sensor’s very high spectral resolution facilitates fine
discrimination between different targets based on their spectral response in each of the narrow
bands.
Imaging radiometer—A radiometer that has a scanning capability to provide a two-dimensional
array of pixels from which an image may be produced. Scanning can be performed mechanically
or electronically by using an array of detectors.
Radiometer—An instrument that quantitatively measures the intensity of electromagnetic
radiation in some bands within the spectrum. Usually, a radiometer is further identified by the
portion of the spectrum it covers; for example, visible, infrared, or microwave.
Sounder—An instrument that measures vertical distributions of atmospheric parameters such as
temperature, pressure, and composition from multispectral information.
Spectrometer—A device that is designed to detect, measure, and analyze the spectral content of
incident electromagnetic radiation. Conventional imaging spectrometers use gratings or prisms to
disperse the radiation for spectral discrimination.
Spectroradiometer—A radiometer that measures the intensity of radiation in multiple wavelength
bands (i.e., multispectral). Many times the bands are of high-spectral resolution, designed for
remotely sensing specific geophysical parameters

Microwave Remote Sensing

Electromagnetic radiation in the microwave wavelength region is used in remote sensing to

provide useful information about the Earth's atmosphere, land and ocean.
A microwave radiometer is a passive device which records the natural microwave emission
from the earth. It can be used to measure the total water content of the atmosphere within

its field of view.

A radar altimeter sends out pulses of microwave signals and record the signal scattered
back from the earth surface. The height of the surface can be measured from the time
delay of the return signals.

A wind scatterometer can be used to measure wind speed and direction over the ocean
surface. it sends out pulses of microwaves along several directions and records the
magnitude of the signals backscattered from the ocean surface. The magnitude of the
backscattered signal is related to the ocean surface roughness, which in turns is dependent
on the sea surface wind condition, and hence the wind speed and direction can be derived.
orne platforms to generate high resolution images of the earth surface using microwave
energy.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging, microwave pulses are transmitted by an

antenna towards the earth surface. The microwave energy scattered back to the spacecraft
is measured. The SAR makes use of the radar principle to form an image by utilising the
time delay of the backscattered signals.

A radar pulse is transmitted from the antenna to the ground The radar pulse is scattered
by the ground targets back to the antenna.
A radar pulse is transmitted from The radar pulse is scattered by the ground targets
the antenna to the ground back to the antenna.

In real aperture radar imaging, the ground resolution is limited by the size of the
microwave beam sent out from the antenna. Finer details on the ground can be resolved by
using a narrower beam. The beam width is inversely proportional to the size of the
antenna, i.e. the longer the antenna, the narrower the beam.

The microwave beam sent out by the antenna illuminates an area on the ground
(known as the antenna's "footprint"). In radar imaging, the recorded signal strength
depends on the microwave energy backscattered from the ground targets inside this
footprint. Increasing the length of the antenna will decrease the width of the footprint.

It is not feasible for a spacecraft to carry a very long antenna which is required for high
resolution imaging of the earth surface. To overcome this limitation, SAR capitalises on the
motion of the space craft to emulate a large antenna (about 4 km for the ERS SAR) from
the small antenna (10 m on the ERS satellite) it actually carries on board.
Imaging geometry for a typical strip-mapping synthetic aperture radar imaging system.
The antenna's footprint sweeps out a strip parallel to the direction of the satellite's ground
track.

Interaction between Microwaves and Earth's Surface

When microwaves strike a surface, the proportion of energy scattered back to the sensor
depends on many factors:

• Physical factors such as the dielectric constant of the surface materials which also
depends strongly on the moisture content;

• Geometric factors such as surface roughness, slopes, orientation of the objects

relative to the radar beam direction;

• The types of landcover (soil, vegetation or man-made objects).

• Microwave frequency, polarisation and incident angle.

Click here to read more about microwave frequency, polarisation and incident angle in
SAR imaging.

All-Weather Imaging

Due to the cloud penetrating property of microwave, SAR is able to acquire "cloud-free"
images in all weather. This is especially useful in the tropical regions which are frequently
under cloud covers throughout the year. Being an active remote sensing device, it is also
capable of night-time operation.

Microwave Frequency

The ability of microwave to penetrate clouds, precipitation, or land surface cover depends on its
frequency. Generally, the penetration power increases for longer wavelength (lower frequency).

The SAR backscattered intensity generally increases with the surface roughness. However,
"roughness" is a relative quantity. Whether a surface is considered rough or not depends on the
length scale of the measuring instrument. If a meter-rule is used to measure surface roughness,
then any surface fluctuation of the order of 1 cm or less will be considered smooth. On the other
hand, if a surface is examined under a microscope, then a fluctuation of the order of a fraction of
a millimiter is considered very rough. In SAR imaging, the reference length scale for surface
roughness is the wavelength of the microwave. If the surface fluctuation is less than the
microwave wavelength, then the surface is considered smooth. For example, little radiation is
backscattered from a surface with a fluctuation of the order of 5 cm if a L-band (15 to 30 cm
wavelength) SAR is used and the surface will appear dark. However, the same surface will
appear bright due to increased backscattering in a X-band (2.4 to 3.8 cm wavelength) SAR
image.

The land surface appears smooth to a long wavelength

radar. Little radiation is backscattered from the
surface.

The same land surface appears rough to a short

wavelength radar. The surface appears bright in the
radar image due to increased backscattering from the
surface.

Both the ERS and RADARSAT SARs use the C band microwave while the JERS SAR uses
the L band. The C band is useful for imaging ocean and ice features. However, it also finds
numerous land applications. The L band has a longer wavelength and is more penetrating than
the C band. Hence, it is more useful in forest and vegetation study as it is able to penetrate
deeper into the vegetation canopy.
 The short wavelength radar interacts
mainly with the top layer of the forest
canopy while the longer wavelength
radar is able to penetrate deeper into
the canopy to undergo multiple
scattering between the canopy, trunks
and soil.

Microwave Polarisation in Synthetic Aperture Radar

The microwave polarisation refers to the orientation of the electric field vector of the transmitted
beam with respect to the horizontal direction. If the electric field vector oscillates along a
direction parallel to the horizontal direction, the beam is said to be "H" polarised. On the other
hand, if the electric field vector oscillates along a direction perpendicular to the horizontal
direction, the beam is "V" polarised.

Microwave Polarisation: If the electric field

vector oscillates along the horizontal direction,
the wave is H polarised. If the electric field
vector oscillates perpendicular to the horizontal
direction, the wave is V polarised.

After interacting with the earth surface, the polarisation state may be altered. So the
backscattered microwave energy usually has a mixture of the two polarisation states. The SAR
sensor may be designed to detect the H or the V component of the backscattered radiation.
Hence, there are four possible polarisation configurations for a SAR system: "HH", "VV", "HV"
and "VH" depending on the polarisation states of the transmitted and received microwave
signals. For example, the SAR onboard the ERS satellite transmits V polarised and receives only
the V polarised microwave pulses, so it is a "VV" polarised SAR. In comparison, the SAR
onboard the RADARSAT satellite is a "HH" polarised SAR.
Incident Angles

The incident angle refers to the angle between the incident radar beam and the direction
perpendicular to the ground surface. The interaction between microwaves and the surface
depends on the incident angle of the radar pulse on the surface. ERS SAR has a constant incident
angle of 23o at the scene centre. RADARSAT is the first spaceborne SAR that is equipped with
multiple beam modes enabling microwave imaging at different incident angles and resolutions.

The incident angle of 23o for the ERS SAR is optimal for detecting ocean waves and other ocean
surface features. A larger incident angle may be more suitable for other applications. For
example, a large incident angle will increase the contrast between the forested and clearcut areas.

Acquisition of SAR images of an area using two different incident angles will also enable the
construction of a stereo image for the area.