REMOTE SENSING & GIS

LECTURE NOTES ON
REMOTE SENSING & GIS
IV B. Tech II semester (JNTU (A)-R13)

C.THEJASWINI VEENA
Assistant Professor

G.PULLAIAH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

CIVIL ENGINEERING

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OBJECTIVES:
1. To introduce the students to the basic concepts and principles of various components of
remote sensing.
OUTCOMES:
On completion of the course the students will have knowledge on
1. Principles of Remote Sensing and GIS
UNIT – II
REMOTE SENSING:
Basic concepts and foundation of remote sensing – elements involved in remote sensing,
electromagnetic spectrum, remote sensing terminology and units. Energy resources, energy interactions
with earth surface features and atmosphere, resolution, sensors and satellite visual interpretation
techniques, basic elements, converging evidence, interpretation for terrain evaluation, spectral
properties of water bodies, introduction to digital data analysis.
TEXT BOOKS:
1 Remote Sensing and GIS by B.Bhatta, Oxford University Press,New Delhi.
2 Fundamentals of remote sensing by gorge Joseph , Universities press, Hyderabad

REFERENCES:
1. Advanced surveying : Total station GIS and remote sensing – Satheesh Gopi – Pearson
publication.
2. Remote Sensing and its applications by LRA Narayana University Press 1999.
3. Basics of Remote sensing & GIS by S.Kumar, Laxmi Publications.
4. Remote sensing and GIS by M.Anji Reddy ,B.S.Pubiliications,New Delhi.
5. GIS by Kang – tsung chang, TMH Publications & Co.,

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UNIT-2

Concept of Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing is defined as the science and technology by which the characteristics of objects of
interest can be identified, measured or analyzed the characteristics without direct contact.
Electro-magnetic radiation which is reflected or emitted from an object is the usual source of
remote sensing data. However any media such as gravity or magnetic fields can be utilized in
remote sensing.
A device to detect the electro-magnetic radiation reflected or emitted from an object is called a
"remote sensor" or "sensor". Cameras or scanners are examples of remote sensors.
A vehicle to carry the sensor is called a "platform". Aircraft or satellites are used as
platforms.The technical term "remote sensing" was first used in the United States in the 1960's,
and encompassed photogrammetry, photo-interpretation, photo-geology etc. Since Landsat-1,
the first earth observation satellite was launched in 1972, remote sensing has become widely
used.
The characteristics of an object can be determined, using reflected or emitted electro-magnetic
radiation, from the object. That is, "each object has a unique and different characteristics of
reflection or emission if the type of deject or the environmental condition is different."Remote
sensing is a technology to identify and understand the object or the environmental condition
through the uniqueness of the reflection or emission.
This concept is illustrated in figure 1.1.1 while figure 1.1.2 shows the flow of remote sensing,
where three different objects are measured by a sensor in a limited number of bands with
respect to their, electro-magnetic characteristics after various factors have affected the signal.
The remote sensing data will be processed automatically by computer and/or manually
interpreted by humans, and finally utilized in agriculture, land use, forestry, geology, hydrology,
oceanography, meteorology, environment etc.

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1.2 Characteristics of Electro-Magnetic Radiation

Electro-magnetic radiation is a carrier of electro-magnetic energy by transmitting the oscillation
of the electro-magnetic field through space or matter. The transmission of electro-magnetic
radiation is derived from the Maxwell equations. Electro-magnetic radiation has the
characteristics of both wave motion and particle motion.
(1) Characteristics as wave motion
Electro-magnetic radiation can be considered as a transverse wave with an electric
field and a magnetic field. A plane wave for an example as shown in Figure 1.2.1 has
its electric field and magnetic field in the perpendicular plane to the transmission
direction. The two fields are located at right angles to each other. The wavelength
, frequency and the velocity have the following relation.

Electro-magnetic radiation is transmitted in a vacuum of free space with the velocity of light c,

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( = 2.998 x 108 m/sec) and in the atmosphere with a reduced but similar velocity to that in a
vacuum. The frequency n is expressed as a unit of hertz (Hz), that is the number of waves which
are transmitted in a second.
(2) Characteristics as particle motion

Electro-magnetic can be treated as a photon or a light quantum. The energy E is expressed as follow.
E=h

where h : Plank's constant

: frequency
The photoelectric effect can be explained by considering the electro-magnetic radiation as
composed of particles. Electro-magnetic radiation has four elements of frequency (or
wavelength), transmission direction, amplitude and plane of polarization. The amplitude is the
magnitude of oscillating electric field. The square of the amplitude is proportional to the energy
transmitted by electro-magnetic radiation. The energy radiated from an object is called radiant
energy. A plane including electric field is called a plane of polarization. When the plane of
polarization forms a uniform plane, it is called linear polarization.
The four elements of electro-magnetic radiation are related to different information content as
shown in Figure 1.2.2. Frequency (or wavelength) corresponds to the color of an object in the
visible region which is given by a unique characteristic curve relating the wavelength and the
radiant energy. In the microwave region, information about objects is obtained using the
Doppler shift effect in frequency that is generated by a relative motion between an object and a
platform. The spatial location and shape of objects are given by the linearity of the transmission
direction, as well as by the amplitude. The plane of polarization is influenced by the geometric
shape of objects in the case of reflection or scattering in the microwave region. In the case of
radar, horizontal polarization and vertical polarization have different responses on a radar
image.

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1.3 Interactions between Matter and Electro-magnetic Radiation

All matter reflects, absorbs, penetrates and emits electro-magnetic radiation in a unique way. For
example, the reason why a leaf looks green is that the chlorophyll absorbs blue and red spectra and
reflects the green spectrum The unique characteristics of matter are called spectral characteristics .Why
does an object have a peculiar characteristic of reflection, absorption or emission? In order to answer
the question, one has to study the relation between molecular, atomic and electro-magnetic radiation. In
this section, the interaction between hydrogen atom and absorption of electro-magnetic radiation is
explained for simplification.
A hydrogen atom has a nucleus and an electron as shown in Figure 1.3.1. The inner state of an
atom depends on the inherent and discrete energy level. The electron's orbit is determined by
the energy level. If electro-magnetic radiation is incident on an atom of H with a lower energy
level (E1), a part of the energy is absorbed, and an electron is induced by excitation to rise to
the energy level (E2) resulting in the upper orbit.

The electro-magnetic energy E is given as follow.

E = hc /

where h : Plank's constant

c : velocity of light

: wavelength
The difference of energy level

E = E2 - E1 = hc / H is absorbed.
In other words, the change of the inner state in an H-atom is only realized when electro-
magnetic radiation at the peculiar wavelength lH is absorbed in an H-atom. Conversely electro-

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magnetic radiation at the wavelength H is radiated from an H-atom when the energy level
changes from E2 to E1.
All matter is composed of atoms and molecules with a particular composition. Therefore,
matter will emit or absorb electro-magnetic radiation at a particular wavelength with respect to
the inner state.
The types of inner state are classified into several classes, such as ionization, excitation,
molecular vibration, molecular rotation etc. as shown in Figure 1.3.2 and Table 1.3.1, which will
radiate the associated electro-magnetic radiation. For example, visible light is radiated by
excitation of valence electrons, while infrared is radiated by molecular vibration or lattice
vibration.

1.4 Wavelength Regions of Electro-magnetic Radiation

Wavelength regions of electro-magnetic radiation have different names ranging from ray,
Xray, ultraviolet (UV), visible light, infrared (IR) to radio wave, in order from the shorter
wavelengths. The shorter the wavelength is, the more the electro-magnetic radiation is
characterized as particle motion with more linearity and directivity. (see 1.2).

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Table 1.4.1 shows the names and wavelength region of electro-magnetic radiation. One has to
note that classification of infrared and radio radiation may vary according to the scientific
discipline. The table shows an example which is generally used in remote sensing.

The electro-magnetic radiation regions used in remote sensing are near UV(ultra-violet) (0.3-
0.4 m), visible light(0.4-0.7 m), near shortwave and thermal infrared (0.7-14 m) and micro
wave (1 mm - 1 m).
Figure 1.4.1 shows the spectral bands used in remote sensing. The spectral range of near
IR and short wave infrared is sometimes called the reflective infrared (0.7-3 m) because the
range is more influenced by solar reflection rather than the emission from the ground surface In
the thermal infrared region, emission from the ground's surface dominates the radiant energy
with little influence from solar reflection.

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Visible light corresponds to the spectral colors. They are, in order from the longer wavelengths
in the visible region, the so called rainbow colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and
violet are located with respect to the wavelength.
Short wave infrared has more recently been used for geological classification of rock types.
Thermal infrared is primarily used for temperature measurement,while micro wave is utilized
for radar and micro wave radiometry. A special naming of k band, X band, C band, L band etc. is
given to the micro wave region as shown in Figure 1.4.1.
1.5 Types of Remote Sensing with Respect to Wavelength Regions
Remote sensing is classified into three types with respect to the wavelength regions; (1)Visible
and Reflective Infrared Remote Sensing, (2)Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing and (3)Microwave
Remote Sensing, as shown in Figure 1.5.1.

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The energy source used in the visible and reflective infrared remote sensing is the sun. The sun
radiates electro-magnetic energy with a peak wavelength of 0.5 m. Remote sensing data
obtained in the visible and reflective infrared regions mainly depends on the reflectance of
objects on the ground surface .Therefore, information about objects can be obtained from the
spectral reflectance. However laser radar is exceptional because it does not use the solar energy
but the laser energy of the sensor.
The source of radiant energy used in thermal infrared remote sensing is the object itself,
because any object with a normal temperature will emit electro-magnetic radiation with a peak
at about 10 m as illustrated in Figure 1.5.1.
One can compare the difference of spectral radiance between the sun (a) and an object with
normal earth temperature (about 300 K), as shown in Figure 1.5.1. However it should be noted
that the figure neglects atmospheric absorption for simplification, though the spectral curve
varies with respect to the reflectance, emittance and temperature of the object.

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The curves of (a) and (b) cross at about 3.0 m. Therefore in the wavelength region shorter than
3.0 m, spectral reflectance is mainly observed, while in the region longer than 3.0 m, thermal
radiation is measured.
In the microwave region, there are two types of micro wave remote sensing, passive microwave
remote sensing and active remote sensing. In passive microwave remote sensing,
the microwave radiation emitted from an object is detected, while the back scattering
coefficient is detected in active micro wave remote sensing.
Remarks: the two curves (a) and (b) in Figure 1.5.1 show the black body's spectral radiances of
the sun at a temperature of 6,000 K and an object with a temperature of 300 K, without
atmospheric absorption.
Digital Data
Images with a continuous gray tone or color, like a photograph are called analog images. On the
other hand, a group of divided small cells, with integer values of average intensity, the center
representing the cell's value, is called a digital image. The spatial division into a group of cells is
called sampling as illustrated in Figure 6.1.1, while conversion of analog images into integer
image data is called quantization as illustrated in Figure 6.1.2 and 6.1.3.

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An individual divided cell is called a pixel (picture cell). The shape of the cell is usually square for
easy use in a computer, though triangular or hexagonal can also be considered.
A digital image has coordinates of pixel number, normally counted from left to right, and line
number, normally counted from top to bottom.
The most important factor in sampling is pixel size or sampling frequency. If the pixel size is large
or the sampling frequency is long, the appearance of the image becomes worse, while in the
reverse case the data volume becomes very large. Therefore the optimum sampling should be
carefully considered.
Shannon's sampling theorem, for specifying the optimum sampling, is given as follows.
"There will be no loss of information if sampling is taken with a half frequency of the maximum
frequency involved in the original analog frequency wave."
Let the analog intensity be f and the unit intensity v(>0) as divider in quantization. Let the
quantized intensity be fd, fd is given by n as illustrated in Figure 6.1.2. The difference between f
and fd is called quantization error.
The question is how to determine the number of quantization levels or the unit intensity as
divider. If the number of levels is too small, the quantization error will increase. In the reverse,
the data volume increases with informationless data because of the noise level, as shown
in Figure 6.1.3.
For example in Figure 6.1.3, the quantization should be divided by a level larger than that of the
noise. In this example, four levels would be an appropriate quantization.
Information Extraction in Remote Sensing
Information extraction in remote sensing can be categorized into five types as shown in Table
7.1.1. Classification is a type of categorization of image data using spectral, spatial and temporal
information. Change detection is the extraction of change between multi-date
images. Extraction of physical quantities corresponds to the measurement of temperature,
atmospheric constitutients, elevation and so on, from spectral or stereo information. Extraction
of indices is the computation of a newly defined index, for example, the vegetation index from
satellite data. Identification of specific features is the identification, for example, of disaster,
lineament, archaeological and other features, etc.

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Table 7.1.2 provides a comparison between human and computer information extraction. As
seen in the table, human and computer methods supplement each other, so that they both may
offer better results when combined. For example in geology, computers will produce an
enhanced image, from which humans can interpret the geological features.

A computer system with an interactive graphic display through which humans and computers
can interactively work together is called "a man-machine interactive system".
Because human interpretation is time consuming, as well as expensive, a special computer
technique, with the ability of human interpretation, is being developed. For example, an expert
system is a computer software system with a training ability to use the interpreter's knowledge
for information extraction.
Image Interpretation
Image interpretation is defined as the extraction of qualitative and quantitative information in
the form of a map, about the shape, location, structure, function, quality, condition,
relationship of and between objects, etc. by using human knowledge or experience. As a narrow
definition, " photo-interpretation " is sometimes used as a synonym of image interpretation.
Image interpretation in satellite remote sensing can be made using a single scene of a satellite
image, while usually a pair of stereoscopic aerial photographs is used in photo-interpretation to

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provide stereoscopic vision using, for example, a mirror stereoscope. Such a single photo-
interpretation is discriminated from stereo photo-interpretation.
Figure 7.2.1 shows a typical flow of the image interpretation process.

Image reading is an elemental form of image interpretation. It corresponds to simple

identification of objects using such elements as shape, size, pattern, tone, texture, color,
shadow and other associated relationships. Image reading is usually implemented with
interpretation keys with respect to each object.
Image measurement is the extraction of physical quantities, such as length, location, height,
density, temperature and so on, by using reference data or calibration data deductively or
inductively.
Image analysis is the understanding of the relationship between interpreted information and
the actual status or phenomenon, and to evaluate the situation.
Extracted information will be finally represented in a map form called an interpretation map or
a thematic map.
Generally the accuracy of image interpretation is not adequate without some ground
investigation. Ground investigations are necessary, first when the keys are established and then
when the preliminary map is checked.
Interpretation Elements
The following eight elements are mostly used in image interpretation; size, shape, shadow, tone,
color, texture, pattern and associated relationship or context.(see Figure 7.4.1[Size, Shape,
Shadow, Tone], Figure 7.4.2
(1) Size:
A proper photo-scale should be selected depending on the purpose of the interpretation.
Approximate size of an object can be measured by multiplying the length on the image by the
inverse of the photo-scale.
(2) Shape:
The specific shape of an object as it is viewed from above will be imaged on a vertical
photograph. Therefore the shape looking from a vertical view should be known. For example,

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the crown of a conifer tree looks like a circle, while that of a deciduous tree has an irregular
shape. Airports, harbors, factories and so on, can also be identified by their shape.
(3) Shadow:
Shadow is usually a visual obstacle for image interpretation. However, shadow can also give
height information about towers, tall buildings etc., as well as shape information from the non-
vertical perspective-such as the shape of a bridge.
(4) Tone:
The continuous gray scale varying from white to black is called tone. In panchromatic
photographs, any object will reflect its unique tone according to the reflectance. For example
dry sand reflects white, while wet sand reflects black.In black and white near infrared infrared
photographs, water is black and healthy vegetation white to light gray.
(5) Color:
Color is more convenient for the identification of object details. For example, vegetation types
and species can be more easily interpreted by less experienced interpreters using color
information. Sometimes color infrared photographs or false color images will give more specific
information, depending on the emulsion of the film or the filter used and the object being
imaged.
(6) Texture:
Texture is a group of repeated small patterns. For example homogeneous grassland exhibits a
smooth texture, coniferous forests usually show a coarse texture. However this will depend on
the scale of the photograph or image.
(7) Pattern:
Pattern is a regular usually repeated shape with respect to an object. For example, rows of
houses or apartments, regularly spaced rice fields, interchanges of highways, orchards etc., can
provide information from their unique patterns.
(8) Associated relationships or context:
A specific combination of elements, geographic characteristics, configuration of the
surroundings or the context of an object can provide the user with specific information for
image interpretation.

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Satellite Sensor Resolutions

Spatial resolution
Spatial resolution is the measure of smallest object that can be detected by a satellite sensor. It
represents area covered by a pixel on the ground. Mostly, it is measured in meters.
For example, CARTOSAT-1 sensor has a spatial resolution of 2.5x2.5 m , IRS P6 LISS IV sensor has
a spatial resolution of 5.6x5.6 m for its multispectral bands and LISS III has spatial resolution of
23.5x23.5 m in its first three bands. The smaller the spatial resolution, the greater the resolving
power of the sensor system.
That's why one can detect even a car in the satellite image acquired by IKONOS (spatial
resolution 1x1 m) but can see hardly even a village in a satellite image acquired by AVHRR
(spatial resolution 1.1x1.1 km).

SPECTRAL RESOLUTION:
Spectral resolution refers to the specific wavelength intervals in the electromagnetic spectrum
for which a satellite sensor can record the data. It can also be defined as the number and
dimension of specific wavelength intervals in the electromagnetic spectrum to which a remote
sensing instrument is sensitive. For example, band 1 of the Landsat TM sensor records energy
between 0.45 and 0.52 µm in the visible part of the spectrum.The spectral channels containing
wide intervals in the electromagnetic spectrum are referred to as coarse spectral resolution and
narrow intervals are referred to as fine spectral resolution. For instance the SPOT panchromatic
sensor is considered to have coarse spectral resolution because it records EMR between 0.51
and 0.73 µm. on the other hand; band 2 of the ASTER sensor has fine spectral resolution
because it records EMR between 0.63 and 0.69 µm.
Radiometric resolution
Radiometric resolution defined as the sensitivity of a remote sensing detector to differentiate in
signal strength as it records the radiant flux reflected or emitted from the terrain. It refers to the
dynamic range, or number of possible data-file values in each band. This is referred to by the
number of bits into which the recorded energy is divided. For instance, ASTER records data in 8-
bit for its first nine bands, it means the data file values range from 0 to 255 for each pixel, while

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the radiometric resolution of LISS III is 7-bit, here the data file values for each pixel ranges from
0 to 128.
Temporal resolution

The temporal resolution of a satellite system refers to how frequently it records imagery of a
particular area. For example, CARTOSAT-1 can acquire images of the same area of the globe
every 5 days, while LISS III doest it every 24 days.
The temporal resolution of a satellite sensor is very much helpful in change detection. For
instance, agricultural crops have unique crop calendars in each geographic region. To measure
specific agricultural variables it is necessary to acquire remotely sensed data at critical dates in
the phenological cycle. Analysis of multiple-date imagery provides information on how the
variables are changing through time. Multi-date satellite images are also used to detect change
in forest cover.
Satellite sensors:
LANDSAT
Landsat satellite sensors are one of the most popular remote sensing systems, the imagery
acquired from these are widely used across the globe.

NASA’s Landsat satellite programme was started in 1972. It was formerly known as ERTS (Earth
Resource Technology Satellite) programme. The first satellite in the Landsat series Landsat-1
(formerly ERTS-1) was launched on July 23, 1972 .Since then five different types of sensors have
been included in various combinations in Landsat mission from Landsat-1 through Landsat-7.
These sensors are Return Beam Vidicon (RBV), the Multispectral Scanner (MSS), the Thematic
Mapper (TM), the Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) and the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus
(ETM+). Landsat ETM (or Landsat 6) was launched in 1993 but it could not achieve the orbit. Six
year later in 1999 Landsat ETM+ (or Landsat 7) was launched and it is the recent one in the
series.

Landsat ETM+ contains four bands in Near Infrared-visible (NIR-VIS) region with 30mx30m
spatial resolution, two bands in Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) region with same resolution, one in
Thermal Infrared (TIR) region with spatial resolution of 60mx60m and one panchromatic band
with resolution. Its revisit period is16 days.

SPOT
SPOT (Systeme Pour l’Observation de la Terre) was developed by the French Centre National
d’ Etuded Spatiales with Belgium and Sweden. The first satellite of SPOT mission, SPOT-1 was
launched in 1986. It was followed by SPOT-2 (in 1990), SPOT-3 (in 1993), SPOT-4 (in 1998) and
SPOT-5(in2002).

There are two imaging systems in SPOT-5- HRVIR and Vegetation. The HRVIR records data in
three bands in VIS-NIRregion with 10mx10m spatial resolution, one band in SWIR region with
20mx20m spatial resolution and one panchromatic band with 5mx5m resolution. The
Vegetation instrument is primarily designed for vegetation monitoring and related studies. It

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acquires images in three bands in VIS-NIR region and in one band in SWIR region (all with
1000mx1000m) spatial resolution.

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)

Several generations of satellites have been flown in the NOAA-AVHRR series. NOAA-15 is the
recent in the series. The sensor AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution radiometer) contains
five spectral channels two in VIS-NIR region and three in TIR. One thermal band is of the
wavelength range 3.55-3.93 mm, meant for fire detection. Spatial resolution of AVHRRis
1100mx1100m. NOAA-AVHRR mainly serves for global vegetation mapping, monitoring land
cover changes and agriculture related studies with daily coverage.

Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites

The Indian Remote Sensing programme began with the launch of IRS-1A in 1988. After that IRS-
1B (1999), IRS-1C (1995) and IRS-1D (1997) was launched. IRS-1D carries three sensors: LISS III
with three bands of 23.5mx23.5m spatial resolution in VIS-NIR range and one band
in SWIR region with 70.5x70.5 m resolution, a panchromatic sensor, with 5.8mx5.8m resolution
and a Wide Field Sensor (WiFs) with 188mx188m resolution. WiFS is extensively used for
vegetation related studies.

ISRO’s IRS-P6 (RESOURCESAT-1) is very advanced remote sensing system. It was launched in
2003. It carries high resolution LISS IV camera (three spectral bands in VIS-NIR region) with
spectral resolution of 5.8mx5.8m which has capability to provide stereoscopic imagery. IRS-
P6 LISS III camera acquires images in VIS-NIR (3 spectral bands) andSWIR (one spectral band)
with spatial resolution of 23.5mx23.5m. IRS-P6 AWiFS (Advanced Wide Field Sensor) operates
inVIS-NIR (3 spectral bands) and SWIR (one spectral band) with spatial resolution of 56mx56m.

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