APPLICATION OF

REMOTE SENSING
CG 505
Source: NASA
Example Applications
visible / NIR / MIR - day only, no cloud
cover
vegetation presence
geological mapping (structure, mineral /
petroleum exploration)
urban and land use
phytoplankton blooms
meteorology (clouds, atmospheric
scattering)
DEM generation (stereo imagery)
Thermal infrared - day / night, rate of heating /
cooling
heat loss (urban)
thermal plumes (pollution)
mapping temperature
geology
forest fires
meteorology (cloud temp, height)
Example Applications
Active microwave - little affected by
atmospheric conditions, day / night
surface roughness (erosion)
water content (hydrology) - top few cms
vegetation - structure (leaf, branch, trunk
properties)
DEM production (SAR interferometry)
Example Applications
Optical Mechanisms


Pemetaan Kedalaman
Objective : To extract depth information from satellite data, and
to devise a fast and cost-effective alternative
for acquiring depth information
Study Area : Pulau Tioman
Satellite remote sensing data
Landsat Thematic Mapper - band 1
Determination of depth information
Elimination of atmospheric & geometric errors
Computation of depth
Depth information in digital file
Production of Hydrographic Chart
Depth information in digital file Production of
Hydrographic Chart
Digital File of Depth Information Automatic Generation of Hydrographic Chart
Objective : To extract sea bottom information from satellite data and
to devise a fast and cost-effective alternative
for acquiring sea bottom information
Study Area : Langkawi
Determination of sea bottom features
Elimination of atmospheric & geometric errors
Formation of depth invariant index for sea bottom features
Classification of sea bottom features
based on depth invariant
Pemetaan Dasar Laut
Product from Sea bottom feature mapping
Production of Sea bottom features Plan
Sea bottom features
information is vital for :
navigational hazards
monitoring
dredging operation
exploration
offshore engineering
fisheries application
Water Quality
Objective : To map water quality and determine suspended sediment
from satellite data
Study Area : Straits of Klang
Satellite remote sensing data
Landsat Thematic Mapper - band 1
Automatic Production of SSC Maps
Objectives : To develop a suitable methodology for mapping
coastal features and land cover using multi-temporal
ERS-1 SAR satellite data
Study Area : Kuala Terengganu & Baram, Sarawak
Wave Spectra Analysis


Detection of Oil Slicks


Mapping of Natural & Artificial Features

Modeling for Vegetation Backscattering


Modeling Shallow Water Bathymetry
Radar Remote Sensing for Land and Coastal
Applications
Objective : Identifying & analysing biomass for vegetation
mapping
Study Area : Raub, Pahang
Data from Red and Infrared Bands of
Landsat-5 TM and NOAA AVHRR Satellites
Computation of Vegetation Indices
Correlation of index to ground biomass
Vegetation Index Mapping
Objective : To determine sea surface temperature (SST) from
satellite data at regional and sub-regional levels
Study Area : Straits of Malacca & South China Sea surrounding
Peninsular Malaysia
AVHRR Data of NOAA Satellite were used to
derive regional SST coverage of 1000 km
2
.
Landsat-5 TM band 6 was used for sub-regional
SST coverage of 185 km
2
.
Determination of SST
Elimination of noises and errors
Customizing thermal algorithms
Classification of SST
Automatic generation of SST Map
Sea Surface Temperature Mapping
Automatic Generation of Sea Surface Temperature
off coastal waters surrounding Peninsular Malaysia
SST is one of the prime
input into analysis of
fisheries / marine
research.

SST can be associated
with pelagic fish
species, hence, offers
a powerful
forecasting tool in
deep sea fishing
industries of Japan and
Nordic countries.
Biomass
Estimation Map
over study area
JERS-1 SAR
data over Sg.
Pulai, Johore
Mangrove
forest
segmented
from SAR data.
Field verification of
calculated biomass
Retrieval of
tree
parameters for
model
generation
Figure 1 : Measurement of in-situ data for biomass
obsevation.
Figure 2 : Determination of mangrove patches using
specific segmentation algorithm.
Figure 3 : Corrected image of JERS-1 SAR
(Synthetic Aperture Radar ) of study area.
Figure 4 : Biomass estimation map over study area.
Figure 5 : Survey of the study area carried out
jointly with Johore Forestry Department.
Global Rainforest Mapping Activities in Malaysia: Radar
Remote Sensing For Forest Survey and Biomass Indicator
Phytoplankton sampling at
the time of satellite pass in the study area.
Ocean colour mapping
(NOAA satellite)
Phytoplankton
distribution of
Kedah waters
(Landsat
image )
Seagrass
distribution in
Kedah waters
( Landsat image )
Derived sea-grass (a)and ocean colour (b) covering Langkawi island
Ocean colour and seagrass mapping from satellite
remotely sensed data for fisheries application
Spectral Signature : Surface
Surfaces dont reflect all
wavelengths equally. They tend
to absorb certain wavelengths,
while reflecting others.

The percentage of reflectance
across the Electromagnetic
Spectrum that a surface reflects
is called its spectral signature.

Spectral signatures can be
affected by the time of year,
weather, and environmental
factors.

Spectral Signature: Vegetation
For example, vegetation tends
to reflect green light at a higher
reflectivity than blue or red light,
thus plants appear green to our
eyes. Vegetation also has a
high spectral response in the
Near Infrared (NIR) and if our
eyes could see this wavelength,
then plants would appear very
bright to us.
Blue 0.4um-0.5um

Green 0.5um-0.6um

Red 0.6um-0.7um

Near Infrared (NIR) 0.7um-
1.2um

Spectral Signature: Water
The spectral signature for water
exhibits moderate reflectance in
the visible portion of the
Electromagnetic Spectrum, but
plunges to almost nothing in the
NIR.

In images displaying NIR, water
appears black because of its
low reflectivity in the Near
Infrared.

Blue 0.4um-0.5um

Green 0.5um-0.6um

Red 0.6um-0.7um

Near Infrared (NIR) 0.7um-
1.2um