Fundamentals of

Remote Sensing

Prof. Anjana Vyas

School of Planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad
anj.vyas@gmail.com
(m)098255 22844
Major Components of Remote Sensing Technology:

1). Energy Source:

• Passive System:
@irradiance from earth's materials; sun,

• Active System:
@irradiance from artificially generated energy
sources such as radar.

2). Platforms:
• Vehicle to carry the sensor
• e.g. truck, aircraft, space shuttle, satellite, etc.

3). Sensors:
• Device to detect electro-magnetic radiation
• e.g. camera, scanner, etc.
4). Detectors:
• Handling signal data
• Photographic, digital, etc.

5). Processing:
• Handling Signal data
• Photographic, digital etc.

6). Institutionalization:
• Organization for execution at all stages of remote-
sensing technology:
• International and national organizations, centers,
universities, etc.
Remote Sensing is the science
and art of obtaining information
about a phenomenon without
being in contact with it.
Remote Sensing deals with the
detection and measurement of
phenomena with devices
sensitive to electromagnetic
energy.
 Perhaps the most novel
platform at the end of the
last century is the
famed pigeon fleet.
It operated in Europe.
Remote sensing began in
the 1840s as balloonists
took pictures of the
ground using the newly
invented photo-camera.
DATA COLLECTION
METHODS
 METHODS OF DATA
COLLECTION

TRADITIONAL METHOD OF GROUND SURVEY

ADVANCED AND SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUE OF

REMOTE SENSING
 DRAWBACKS OF
TRADITIONAL METHOD
UNFAVOURABLE WHEATHER
INACCESSIBLE AREAS
TIME CONSUMING
WIDE GAP BETWEEN DATA
COLLECTION AND UTILISATION
DATA OBSOLETION
MONITORING BECOMES
UNECONOMICAL
 ADVANTAGES OF
REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUE
SYNOPTIC VIEW
PERMANENT DATA RECORDING
UNBIAS DATA
REAL TIME DATA
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY USE
FASTER DATA ACQUISITION & ANALYSIS
TEMPORAL AVAILABILITY OF DATA
UNIQUE CAPABILITY OF DATA RECORDING
– VISIBLE & INVISIBLE
– ULTRA VIOLET; REFLECTED INFRARED;
THERMAL INFRARED; MICROWAVE; ETC…..
Stages in the Remote
Sensing Process
DATA COLLECTION
and
DATA ANALYSIS
DATA COLLECTION

PLATEFOMS
GROUND BORN

AIR BORNE

SPACE BORNE
Types of Platforms
from 36,000 km
Platform is a
stage to mount
to
the camera or
sensor to
1 km height
acquire the
information.
 Automated
Data
collection
platform
instrumented
to provide
data on
3-Channel Radiometer taking measurement
stream flow
of Soil and Crops characteristics

A reflectance
spectrometer
mounted on a truck’s
Hand sized GPS
cherry picker
instruments
NORMAL COLOUR
PHOTOGRAPH
FALSE COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH
FIND THE DIFFERENCE!!!
Lava Observed on the face of Kilauea Volcano, Jan. 22,
1971;12:15pm
Normal Color
Lava Observed on the face of Kilauea Volcano, Jan. 22,
1971;12:15pm

Color infrared

• The orange
tone – infrared
energy
emitted from
the flowing
lava

• The pink
tones –
sunlight
reflected from
the living
hotographs showing lava on the face of Kilauea Volcano,
nuary 22, 1971, 12:15 PM
Normal Color

Color infrared

• The orange
tone –
infrared
energy
emitted from
the flowing
lava

• The pink
tones –
sunlight
reflected from
the living
 Simulated
normal color
Photograph

Simulated color
infrared
Photograph
SPACE BORNE
SATELLITE AS OBSERVED
IKONOS Satellite
QuickBird Satellite
 2003

IRS-1C (1995) LISS-3 (23/70M, RESOURCESAT-1

IRS-1D (1997) LISS-3 (23/70M,
STEERABLE PAN (5.8 M);
STEERABLE PAN (5.8 M);
WiFS (188M)
WiFS (188M)
LISS3 - 23 M; 4 XS
LISS4 - 5.8 M; 3-XS
AWIFS - 70 M; 4-XS
2003

IRS-P3 (1996)
WiFS MOS CARTOSAT - 1
IRS-P2 (1994) X-Ray, PAN - 2.5M, 30 KM,
IRS-P4 (1999) F/A 2004
LISS-2
OCEANSAT OCM, MSMR

IRS-1A & 1B ( 1988 & 91) LISS-1&2 (72/36M, CARTOSAT-2

PAN - 1M
4 BANDS; VIS & NIR)

2005

IRS
IRS MEGHA-TROPIQUES
SAPHIR

SERIES
SCARAB &

SERIES MADRAS
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

A. Energy
Source or
Illumination
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

B. Radiation
& Atmosphere
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

C. Interaction
with Target
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

D. Recording
of Energy by
the Sensor
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

E.
Transmission,
Reception,
and
Processing
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

F. Interpretation
And
Analysis
 Seven Elements of Remote
Sensing

G. Application
Our eyes can
directly
perceive only
a small
portion of the
electromagnet
ic spectrum
(EMS).
We can
gather more
information
by using
other
portions of
the EMS,
such as
infrared.
 SATELLITE
CHARACTERISTICS
GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE
ORBIT
 sun-
synchr
onous
SWATH
REVISIT PATH
Ascending and Descending
Passes
SWATH OF ADJACENT PATH
 SWATH OF ADJACENT PATH
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite
In 24hrs satellite makes 13.9545 revolutions around the earth. The orbit on
the second day (15th orbit) is shifted westward from orbit No.1 by about
130 km. The ground traces repeat after every 307 orbits in 22 days.
Latitude

11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12

15
Orbit Number

Longitude
IKONOS- Maha Kumbh
IKONOS- Airport
IKONOS- Statue of Liberty
RESOLUTON
Pixel:
“picture
element”
Pixel size determines
resolution

82,000 Tiny 88 Giant

Pixels Pixels
File size: 99.3 kb How much resolution
you need depends upon
how much detail you
need. More resolution
means more
information: more data
to look at, but also
more to store.
File size: 4.1 kb
RESOLUTIONS
SPATIAL
RADIOMETRIC
SPECTRAL
TEMPORAL
SPATIAL RESOLUTION

1.COARSE OR LOW

2. FINE OR HIGH
COARSE OR LOW RESOLUTION
FINE OR HIGH RESOLUTION
SPECTRAL RESOLUTION
Multisp
ectral -
20m

Panchro
matic -
10m

Merged
(multispectral
+panchromati
c)
Simulated SPOT Images, Sherbrooke, Quebec June 1982

Multisp
ectral -
20m

Panchro
matic -
10m

Merged
(multispectral
+panchromati
c)
IRS LISS II 36.25 m IRS LISS III 23.5 m

IRS PAN 5.8 m

TEMPORAL RESOLUTION
Temporal Resolution
Satellite

IRS 1C IRS 1D
 Sensors
IRS-1C & IRS-1D

Instrument image Resolution Swath (km)

PAN 5.6 70

LISS 3 23 142-148

WiFS 188 774

Scenes
 PAN

Band 1
Wavelength 0.50-0.75
Region (µm)
Resolution 6
(m)
 LISS III

Band Wavelength Region (µm)

1 0.52 - 0.59 (green)

2 0.62 - 0.68 (red)
3 0.77 - 0.86 (near-IR)
4 1.55 - 1.70 (mid-IR)
 WiFS 140 km

Band Wavelength Resolution

Region (µm) (m)
10.62-0.68 (red) 188

20.77-0.86 188
(near-IR)
VISUAL IMAGE INTERPRETATION
Image Interpretation

Image Interpretation Key:

•Shape
•Size
•Shadow
•Pattern
•Tone
•Texture
•Association
•Location
Built Up land - Urban LISS III

Tone: Cyan

Texture: Coarse

Size: Variable

Shape: Variable

Shadow: Observed

Pattern: Regular

Association: Mixed with

building
Built Up land - Urban PAN
Built Up land – Settlement
Built Up Land -- ?????

Tone: White

Texture: Medium

Size: Variable

Shape: Rectangle

Shadow:

Pattern: Regular

Association: with Open land

Air Strip
Built Up land –Transportation -- Road

Tone: Dark Grey

Texture: Medium

Size: Variable

Shape: Straight with bends

Shadow:

Pattern: Linear

Association: with pink tone

Agricultural Land -- Crop Land

Tone: Pinkish Red

Texture: Fine

Size: Variable

Shape: Variable

Shadow:

Pattern: Scattered

Association:
Agricultural Land -- Fallow

Tone: Whitish blue

Texture: Coarse

Size: Variable

Shape: Variable

Shadow:

Pattern: Scattered

Association:
Agricultural Land – ?????

Tone: Dark pink

Texture: Smooth

Size: Variable

Shape: Variable

Shadow:

Pattern:

Scattered

Association:
Water -- River

Tone: Dark Blue Texture: Smooth

Size: Variable Shape: Variable

Shadow: Pattern: Scattered

Water -- Reservoir
Water-- Reservoir -- Canal
Range Land
Wasteland -- Ravines
Waste Land -- Beaches -- Mud Flats

Tone: Light Cyan with pink

Texture: Coarse

Size: Variable

Shape: Variable

Shadow:

Pattern: scattered

Association:
Waste Land - Coastal features
Waster Land -- Saltpan

Tone: Bright White

Texture: Smooth

Size: Uniform

Shape: Rectangle

Shadow:

Pattern: contiguous

Association:
Waste Land – Rock/Strip Mines/ Stone Quarries

Tone: Whitish cyan Texture: Coarse

Size: Variable Shape: Variable

Shadow: Pattern: Scattered

Geological features
Hills
?????
 Any
Questions?
Survey of India

Toposheets
SHEET NO. 63 A/7

63 A/2 63 A/6 63 A/10

63 A/3 63 A/7 63 A/11

63 A/4 63 A/8 63 A/12

63A
A E I M
1:250000

B F J N
63
C G K O

D H L P
1 5 9 13

2 6 10 14
63
3 7 11 15

4 8 12 16
 SOI Map Indexing

56 A E I M
( 1 deg x 1 deg)

B F J N
NW NE

SW SE
1 5 9 13
C G 2 6 10 14 O
3 11 15
4 8 12 16

D H L P
 1:50 000
Indexing scheme
1:250 000

1: 100 000

1:25 000
Features as seen Their symbols
Features Names on Toposheet
from satellite image

Airport

Different shapes of Building

Chimney

Light House

Town
Masonry/Earth fill Dams

Mosque/Temples

Overhead Tanks

Walls

Play grounds etc.

Ponds
Perennial Dry
 Roads: Metalled

Roads: Unmetalled
Cart-Track & Footpath with Bridge

Bridge: with piere; without

Causeway & ford/ferry

Railway: broad-gauge: Double; single with station; under construction

Railway: other gauge: Double; single with station; under construction

Cutting with tunnel

ADMINISTRATIVE INDEX

HARDOI

SITAPUR
Map sources
Mapping Agency Scale Remarks
Survey of India 25 000 40% coverage –10 m CI
50 000 Entire India – 20, 40m,.. CI
250 000 Compiled from 50K maps
** Everest, Polyconic
Mil. Survey of India 50 000 Inputs from various sources;
Satellite data based updation
** Everest, Polyconic, Mil Grid
Russian maps 10 000 Limited coverage
100 000 40 m contours
200 000 80 m contours
** Krassovisky, TM

DCW from ESRI 1M Sourced from ONC maps

1000 ft CI
 So
Get Set for the
Hands On
Digital Image Processing

DIP is a:
Computer-based
manipulation and
interpretation of digital
images.
 Digital Image Processing
Five broad types of computer assisted operation:

1.Image rectification & restoration (preprocessing)

2.Image enhancement
3.Image classification
4.Data merging and GIS integration
5.Hyperspectral image analysis
 Image Rectification
& Restoration

Preprocessing to correct
distorted or degraded image
data
– Geometric distortions
– Radiometric calibration
– Elimination of noise
 Image Enhancement
To more effectively display or
record the data, increasing the
visual distinctions between
features in a scene

Contrast manipulation: stretching

 Image Enhancement
Spatial feature manipulation:
– Filtering
– Convolution
– Edge enhancement
– Fourier

Enhancement involving multiple bands of

an image
 Image Classification
The overall objective of
classification is to categorize all
pixels in a digital image into one of
several land cover classes

Themes  thematic maps

 Supervised Classification

Common Classifiers:
– Parallelpiped
– Minimum distance to mean
– Maximum likelihood
 Supervised Classification
Supervised classification requires the
analyst to select training areas where
Mean Spectral
he/she knows what is on the ground The computer then creates...
Signatures
and then digitize a polygon within that
area… Conifer

Known Conifer
Area

Water
Known Water
Area

Deciduous

Known Deciduous
Area

Digital Image
 Supervised Classification
Mean Spectral Information
Signatures Multispectral Image (Classified Image)

Conifer

Deciduous

Water Unknown
Spectral Signature
of Next Pixel to be
Classified
The Result is Information--in this case a Land Cover map...

Land Cover Map

Legend:
Water
Conifer
Deciduous
 Supervised Classification
Parallelepiped Approach 45
40

Pros: 35
30

– Simple

Band 4
25

20
15

– Makes few assumptions 10

5
about character of the 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

classes Band 3
 Supervised Classification:
Statistical Approaches
Minimum distance to mean 45

– Find mean value of pixels of

40
35
30

training sets in n- 25

Band 4
20

dimensional space 15

10

– All pixels in image classified

5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

according to the class mean Band 3

to which they are closest

Supervised Classification:
Minimum Distance

Minimum distance
– Pros:
All regions of n-dimensional
space are classified
Allows for diagonal boundaries
(and hence no overlap of
classes)
 Supervised Classification:
Maximum Likelihood
Maximum likelihood classification: another statistical approach
Assume multivariate normal distributions of pixels within classes
For each class, build a discriminant function
– For each pixel in the image, this function calculates the
probability that the pixel is a member of that class
– Takes into account mean and covariance of training set
Each pixel is assigned to the class for which it has the highest
probability of membership
Maximum Likelihood Classifier
Mean Signature 1
Relative Reflectance

Candidate Pixel

Mean Signature 2

It appears that the candidate pixel is

closest to Signature 1. However, when
we consider the variance around the
signatures…

Blue Green Red Near-IR Mid-IR

Maximum Likelihood Classifier
Mean Signature 1
Relative Reflectance

Candidate Pixel

Mean Signature 2

The candidate pixel clearly belongs to

the signature 2 group.

Blue Green Red Near-IR Mid-IR

 Supervised Classification
Maximum likelihood
– Pro:
Most sophisticated; achieves good separation of
classes
– Con:
Requires strong training set to accurately describe
mean and covariance structure of classes
GCPs
Resample
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Thanking
You All…