GGIT 560

Principles of

REMOTE SENSING
Dr. Ahmet izmeli Dilek Ko San
Geodetic and Geographic Information Technologies

METU GGIT Fall 2008

acizmeli@metu.edu.tr dkoc@metu.edu.tr

Course outline

Concepts and Foundations of Remote Sensing (5 weeks)

Electromagnetic Radiation VIR Imagers Thermal Imagers

Image Analysis (5 weeks)

Elements of Image Analysis Image Preprocessing Image Enhancement Image Transformation Image Classification Supervised Classification Unsupervised Classification

Microwaves (1 week) Advanced Topics (2 weeks)

Hyperspectral scanners Analysis of hyperspectral data Very high spatial resolution images

Assignments Term Project

Remote Sensing
Definition of remote sensing
Remote sensing is the branch of science delivering information about objects through the analysis of data collected by spectral instruments that are not in physical contact with the objects of investigation.

The detection and recording instruments for this technology are known as remote sensors. The object being monitored is called target.

Remote Sensing
Remote sensing platforms
Remote sensing is being practiced by many different types of sensors mounted on various types of platforms.

Remote Sensing
Remote sensing platforms

Remote Sensing
Active and passive remote sensing
In active remote sensing, the sensor emits a signal (electromagnetic, sonar, laser ...) and measures the signal returned by the target.

Active and passive remote sensing

In passive remote sensing, the sensor does not emit any signal. It simply measures the ambient signal in the surrounding medium (air, water, ...).

Remote Sensing
Types of remote sensing data

There are many different sensor designs as far as the spatial, spectral resolutions, coverage area and orbits concerned.

The best type of RS data is determined according the speciall needs of the project.

The trade-off between the possible spatial and spectral resolution and temporal coverage configurations must be considered before chosing a sensor/RS platform.

Electromagnetic radiation
Definition of electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) describes the way in which highfrequency energy (visible light, radio waves, heat, ultraviolet rays and X-rays) is transferred from one object to another through space. All = with the wave theory (Maxwell's this energy radiates in accordance equations).

Electromagnetic radiation
Frequency and wavelength
The frequency of vibration n (in units of Hz) is related with the wavelength of propagation l through :

1 c = = wave period
Where l is the wavelength (in units of nm) and c is the speed of light in vacuum (constant, 2.99792458 m.s-1). The energy of the light beam is computed using :

Q= h
Where Q is the quantized radiant energy (in units of Joules) and h is the Planck's constant (6.626 Joules.s).

Electromagnetic radiation
The radiant flux F is the time rate at which energy passes through a certain location (similar to a flow, in units of Watts).

dQ = dt
Irradiance E is the amount of radiant flux a unit area dA receives. E is in units of Watts.m-2. Similarly, emittance M is the amount of radiant flux a unit area dA emits (same units as E).

d E , M= dA

Also called total incident (emitting) flux per unit area.

Irradiance is an isotropic quantity (direction independent i.e. is the sum of incident/emitting flux per unit area from/at all directions).

Electromagnetic radiation
The radiance L is the directional irradiance. In other terms, it is the irradiance per unit solid angle (in units of W.m-2.sr-1). Radiance, due to its directional nature, is the optical quantity that is most commonly used by the radiometers used in RS; Solid angle W is in units of Steradians (Sr) and depicts the phenomena of light traveling on a range of directions. The solid angle can be expressed by the two one dimensional angles : the zenith q and azimuth f angles. Using simple geometry, one can write :

= sin d d

Electromagnetic radiation

Similarly, the emittance M is expressed as follows :

M = Lo

, ,

cos d

where the subscript o stands for outgoing.

Integrating the same equation over the range q=[0,p/2] yields a hemispherical irradiance. It is also possible to obtain the spherical irradiance by changing the integration limits.

Electromagnetic radiation
In remote sensing, the radiances are usually measured at a viewing direction with a zenith angle > 0. This zenith angle qv is called the viewing angle; qi is called the incident angle;

The effect of this viewing angle is generally incorporated in the radiometric equations with the term cos(qv), projecting the unit area dA onto the viewing direction.

Electromagnetic radiation
The reflectance
The reflectance is a key quantity for the remote sensing. It is the ratio of the amount of light being reflected by a target to the amount of light incident to the target.

E r Eu R= = Ei Ed
Reflectance is a unitless quantity; Its varies strongly with wavelength; Reflectance of objects usually vary strongly with the angle; The angular dependence of the reflectance is denoted by the Bidirectional Reflectance Distibution Function BRDF.

Electromagnetic radiation
The electromagnetic spectrum

The EMR varies along a frequency spectrum with infinite bounds; The frequency range measurable and usable by remote sensors vary within more than 9 orders of magnitude ~[0.1 mm 100 m]; The physical principles of interaction of the EMR with targets are different over each spectral range.

Electromagnetic radiation

The visible spectral domain

The spectral range over which the EMR is perceptible to the human naked eye is only a tiny portion of the usable overall range; The human eye is generally sensitive between the [0.4-0.8] nm range. The ultraviolet zone is mostly opaque due to the atmosphere (for the protection of life on earth), hence is generally unusable for the RS applications;

In RS, it is common practice to use the visible domain with the near-infrared domain since the underlying physical interactions are similar. The EMR in NIR which is not perceptible by the human eye : The VNIR region.

Electromagnetic radiation

The atmospheric transmission

There is no spectral window where the atmosphere is 100% transparent; The ionosphere is 100% opaque at frequencies below 10 Mhz; Some parts of the spectra are 100% opaque in the visible range. No RS is possible in this range; The atmosphere can be completely opaque at some wavelengths and partially opaque at some others.

Electromagnetic radiation
The atmospheric transmission

The atmosphere absorbs and scatters the EMR. Atmospheric opacity is largely due to absorption by molecules like H20, O2, O3, water etc; Light is also scattered by the atmospheric molecules and particles (dust, aerosols); The partial transparency of the atmosphere has to be accounted for by a procedure called atmospheric correction of the digital RS images.

Electromagnetic radiation
The interaction of the EMR with the target
The EMR reaching the target enters in some physical interactions

with it; The most common processes are the absorption, scattering, reflection, transmission, refraction and reemission;

Many other more

uncommon processes also exist; The occurrence of these events depend on the type of the target, the physical geometry and the wavelengths
involved.

Electromagnetic radiation

Inherent and Apparent Properties

Optical properties of a medium can be divided in two categories : inherent optical properties (IOP) and apparent optical properties (AOP); IOPs are independent of illumination conditions. They do not change whether there is ambient light or not;

IOPs usually depend only on the molecular characteristics of the substances and their number density (concentration). They are inherent to the medium thus can be used in the inversion models;

IOPs are usually unitless quantities (as far as radiometry concerned);

Electromagnetic radiation

Reflection

Reflected light does not enter the medium. In theory, the intensity of the reflected light is equal to the intensity of the incident beam; The zenith angle of the reflected beam is equal to that of incident beam : v= i ; Light reflection usually happens when the reflecting surface can optically be considered as flat (as compared with the wavelength of the light beam);

Electromagnetic radiation

The refraction and transmission

A portion of light beam entering a new medium is being reflected out while the rest enters the medium; The amount of light entering the medium as described by the quantity transmittance; The direction of light beam traveling in the medium is different than the incident direction of propagation. This process is called refraction; Snell's law dictates the relationship between the initial and the refracted light beam directions;

n2 sin = n1 sin

1 2

Electromagnetic radiation
The atmospheric transmission windows

The primary RS windows are depending on the atmospheric molecules. Absorption by these molecules make the atmosphere opaque; Even at the atmospheric windows, the opacity still exist at some degrees, depending on the wavelength; Scattering by the molecules is also a source of error for remote sensors; The design of RS instruments must be done according to these windows.

Electromagnetic radiation

Attenuation, absorption and scattering

A light beam traveling in a non-vacuum media is attenuated.
From energy conservation principle, the attenuation is either

due to absorption or to scattering :

=a

a, b and c are coefficients of absorption and scattering and attenuation respectively. All three are in units of m-1; Just like most optical quantities, all three quantities are strongly wavelength dependent; In a mixed medium, the sum of the absorption (scattering, etc) of all individual components is equal to the total absorption (scattering) of the medium; The same additive rule does not hold for radiometric quantities (AOP).

Electromagnetic radiation

The absorption

In the context of remote sensing the absorption can be considered as a process where there is a loss of EMR; Indeed, energy is not lost. It is transformed into heat energy and is stored in the atomic structure of the absorbing molecules; Absorbed EMR changes the vibration level of the molecules; The absorption coefficient is directly related with the dielectric constant of the molecules; The refraction index of an absorbing medium is a complex number where the complex component is described by the dielectric constant. For non-absorbing medium, the dielectric constant is equal to 0; Light absorption has important significance as far as the global heat balance calculations concerned : global warming;

Electromagnetic radiation
The spectral absorption coefficient
The absorption coefficient of seawater is higher in red/infrared and significantly sensitive to particles in water in the blue region.

Electromagnetic radiation
Effect of the absorption on transmission
The absorption of light has an influence on the percentage of light that can be transmitted through a medium; Absorption and transmission are inversely proportional; Absorbed photons are not able to travel anymore;

In case of seawater, the higher the light absorption by dissolved organic matter in the blue (shown by increasing Jerlov water types), the the lower the transmittance of the water.

Electromagnetic radiation

The scattering

Scattering is the change of photon direction due to interaction with a target; Scattering is a directional (angular) phenomena [0 2p]; The volume scattering function b(q,,) describes the intensity distribution with respect to scattering angle; The portion of light scattered in the backward direction is relevant for the remote sensing; It is described by the backscattering coefficient bb(); All scattering coefficients are wavelength dependent most of the times. Sometimes this may not be true.

Electromagnetic radiation

Types of scattering

Type of scattering is determined according to the wavelength relative to the mean particle particle size of the medium : Rayleigh scattering (particle diameter << wavelength)

MIE scattering (particle diameter ~ wavelength)

Non-selective scattering (particle diameter >> wavelength)

The scattering type also determines the angular dependence of the scattered light intensity (volume scattering function, b);

Electromagnetic radiation

Rayleigh scattering

Also called molecular scattering; Consists of scattering from atmospheric molecules; Dominant at elevations of 9 to 10 km above the surface; 4 Follows a wavelength dependency of ~ It is the Rayleigh scattering that causes the blue color of the sky and the red color at sunset.

Electromagnetic radiation

Rayleigh scattering

Scattering increases as the wavelength becomes shorter; Blue light is scattered about four times as much as red light and UV light about 16 times as red light; Very well known and easily modelable (not dependent on particle size);

Electromagnetic radiation

MIE scattering

This type of scattering occurs when (average) the particle diameter is on the same order of magnitude as the wavelength; Mie theory, also called Lorenz-Mie theory or Lorenz-MieDebye theory is the complete analytical solution of Maxwell's equations for spherical particles; Mie theory is a complete solution: unlike Rayleigh scattering, it is valid for all diameter/wavelength ratios; The solution of Mie let us compute the volume scattering function (angular dependence of scattering). The inputs are (real and complex) refractive index and the particle size (distribution);

Electromagnetic radiation

MIE scattering

MIE scattering is very complex and non-linear. Although approximations exist, one normally has to solve the whole equation to get the compete picture; The shape of the resulting VSF (is strongly dependent of not only the particle size, but also on the refraction index; In some applications, the naturally available particle size ranges are divided into small and large particle categories. Although it helps, this is only an approximation.

Electromagnetic radiation

Non-selective scattering

Non-selective Scattering happends when the diameters of the particles are much larger than the wavelength; This type of scattering is not wavelength dependent; For example, water droplets (5-to-100 m in diameter) causes equal scattering at all visible, NIR and mid-IR wavelengths non-selective; Non-selective scattering is the primary cause of atmospheric haze; Thanks to its non-selective nature, it is considerably easier to model this type of scattering using mathematical functions.

Electromagnetic radiation
Scattering by natural hydrosols and aerosols

Scattering by atmospheric particles (aerosols) and inwater particles (hydrosols) obey the laws of MIE scattering; VSF measurements from different locations show that the magnitude is sensitive to particle concentration whereas the shape of the VSF curve is depends on the particle type.

Electromagnetic radiation
Scattering by natural hydrosols and aerosols

Seawater molecules are responsible for the scattering of light; The VSF curve of the seawater is thus symmetrical about 90o. This is the theoretical shape of the Rayleigh VSF;

Electromagnetic radiation
Scattering is weakly wavelength dependent

In contrast with absorption, the scattering varies only weakly with respect to wavelength; Most of the time the general shape of the VSF curve does not change considerably with varying wavelengths. It is much easier to model the wavelength dependence (shape of the spectra) of scattering using mathematical

Electromagnetic radiation
Different types of surface reflection :
A surface reflecting the radiance isotropically is called a Lambertian surface. For a Lambertian surface one can write :

E=

Yours to prove it!

Electromagnetic radiation
Remember the different types of surface reflection :

In real world, most of the object are not perfect specular/diffuse reflectors. At best, they are nearperfect reflectors.

Electromagnetic radiation

Reemission

Reemission of EMR by objects (targets) is dependent on the level of vibration of the molecules making up that object; All objects always emit some EMR; Reemission in the thermal infrared is dependent on the internal temperature of the object;

Electromagnetic radiation
Thermal Radiation
Every object with a positive temperature (T > -273.15OC) emits radiation. The thermal energy contained within the molecules is converted to radiant energy which is emitted. This radiation is available in nature and is measurable by remote sensors.

Black-body :

A black-body in thermal equilibrium absorbs all radiation it receives from the surrounding media and emits exactly the same energy it absorbs. Moreover, it emits exactly the same wavelengths it absorbs. It is thus said to be a perfect emitter of thermal energy as radiation. The radiation emitted by a perfect black-body depends only of its temperature and is independent of the molecules making up the object.

Electromagnetic radiation
The black-body radiation :
In the lab, the black-body radiation is simulated by opening a cavity inside an object. The entrance of the cavity is very small as compared to the volume of the so all light entering it will undergo multiple reflections on the internal surface and thus eventually be absorbed. This configuration approximates a black-body and the radiation inside the black body is called the black-body radiation. Most of the natural objects, however are not as efficient emitters as a black body. Their efficiency relative to a black body is defined as the e(l), the spectral emissivity factor.

Lb

Where L is the radiance of a real object (non-perfect emitter) and Lb is the radiance of a black-body at the same temperature;
The emissivity is inherent to the molecules of the object and thus can be used in the identification of the objects from a distance.

Electromagnetic radiation
The black-body radiation :
It is the radiation inside a closed cavity made within an object. The spectral distribution of this radiance of a black body with temperature T was described by Planck using 20th century quantum mechanics :

2 h c2 hc / kT e 1

Where h is the Planck's constant, k is the Boltzmann constant.

Electromagnetic radiation
Total black-body radiance over all wavelengths :
Integrating the same equation over all wavelength gives :

L= L
0

2 k 4 d = T = 2 3 15 c h
M b= T

T4

Since the thermal radiation is isotropic, M=pL. Substituting, one obtains Stefan's law : 4 4

M=

where s is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant ~ 5.67 x 10-8 W.m-2.K-4. M is the total power over all wavelengths emitted by a black body at a temperature T. One computes lmax, the wavelength of maximum emission is calculated using :

A max = T
where A is a constant with the value of 2.898 10-3 K.m.

Electromagnetic radiation
Exercise :
Compute lmax, the wavelength of maximum black-body radiation of the following black bodies : A black body at room temperature; A black body at T = 3500 oC ; Sun (T = 5800 K); A black body at 7000 oC; Any comments?

Electromagnetic radiation
Gray bodies :
The sun is very close to be a black-body with esun=0.99; The spectral shape of e sun is flat, therefore it is said to be a grey-body; The emissivitiy of most of the real world objects are rather spectrally flat; This leads to the grey-body assumption which is commonly used in real-world applications.

Electromagnetic radiation
Spectral variation of the EMR
Naturally occurring EMR intensities are significantly variable across different wavelengths. The plot of an optical quantity with respect to the wavelength is called its spectra; For the ultraviolet-visible infrared domains, the wavelength is expressed in nanometers nm. In the far-infrared, the micrometers mm (microns) while in microwave and radio domains, centimeters (or frequencies in GHz) are used.

It is through the spectral variations that many different types of inferences can be drawn on targets; There exists analytical, semianalytical and purely empirical algorithms that are able to infer the material type of the target as well as its concentration and many other attributes.

Electromagnetic radiation
Radiance paths
Before being measured by an RS, the EMR undergoes many opto-physical processes; Part of the EMR is reflected back into space while it enters the atmosphere. Another part is reflected by clouds;

The EMR travels in the earth atmosphere and interacts with the target. A part of it travels the atmosphere again after it is reflected back towards the sensor; At each step, the magnitude of the radiance decreases due to absorption and scattering; The signal measured by the sensor also contains components from unwanted sources. These are additive signals and must be subtracted from the apparent (measured) signal.

Electromagnetic radiation
Radiance paths
The signal measured by the sensor is a combination of EMR from various different sources : Component 1 : path radiance: radiation scattered by the atmosphere Component 2 : reflected radiation from the viewed pixel Component 3 : radiation reflected by the neighborhood and scattered into the view direction (adjacency effect) Only component 2 contains information from the viewed pixel. Atmospheric correction consists of the elimination of components 1 and 3.

Electromagnetic radiation
Radiance paths
The topography has an influence on the atmospheric correction as well. The more variable the topography, the more complex the environmental effects.
Component 1 : path radiance: radiation scattered by the atmosphere (photons without ground contact). Component 2 : reflected radiation from the viewed pixel. Component 3 : adjacency radiation: ground reflected from the neighborhood and scattered into the view direction. Component 4 : terrain radiation reflected to the pixel (from opposite hills, according to the terrain view factor). Only component 2 contains information from the viewed pixel.

Electromagnetic radiation
Radiance paths
In case of water remote sensing, the situation is more complicated. a) The light path of the water-leaving radiance. b) Shows the attenuation of the water-leaving radiance. c) Scattering of the water-leaving radiance out of the sensor's FOV. d) Sun glint (reflection from the water surface). e) Sky glint (scattered light reflecting from the surface). f) Scattering of reflected light out of the sensor's FOV. g) Reflected light is also attenuated towards the sensor. h) Scattered light from the sun which is directed toward the sensor. i) Light which has already been scattered by the atmosphere which is then scattered toward the sensor. j) Water-leaving radiance originating out of the sensor FOV, but scattered toward the sensor. k) Surface reflection out of the sensor FOV which is then scattered toward the sensor. Lw Total water-leaving radiance. Lr Radiance above the sea surface due to all surface reflection effects within the IFOV. Lp Atmospheric path radiance.

Electromagnetic radiation
Different natural processes revealed at different wavelengths
N

TT_elachi_2.2_p47 FF_elachi_2.16_p46