2012

REMOTE SENSING
DILKASH
The use of satellites to search for and the collect information about the earth.

Remote Sensing
Remote Sensing, any method used to obtain information about an object or area from a distance. Cameras and other instruments that collect and record this information are called sensors. Remote sensing often involves the use of aircraft or artificial satellites that carry various types of sensors. These remote sensing systems are commonly used to survey, map, and monitor the resources and environment of the Earth. They also have been used to explore other planets (see Space Exploration). Most remote sensors record the amounts of electromagnetic energy that objects radiate or reflect (see Electromagnetic Radiation). The most familiar form of electromagnetic energy is light. When film in a camera is exposed to light, it is recording electromagnetic energy. Many remote sensing systems take photographs. Others record invisible electromagnetic energy, such as infrared radiation and microwaves. Cameras are among the most common remote sensors. Since the late 1930s, scientists have regularly taken photographs of the Earth's surface from aircraft. These photographs have been used to create maps, record changes in soils or forests, plan cities, and observe military operations (see Aerial Survey; Photogrammetry; Photographic Techniques). Special sensors called multispectral scanners provide data electronically for multiple portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Remote sensing scientists often use computers to improve the quality of images, or to assist in automated information gathering and mapping. Infrared sensors and microwave sensors record invisible electromagnetic energy. The heat of objects can be measured by the infrared energy radiated. Infrared sensors create images that show temperature variations in an area. Scientists use infrared images to determine the condition of vegetation, survey temperature changes in bodies of water, locate damage in underground pipelines, and map certain geographic features above and below ground. Microwave sensors, such as radar, transmit electromagnetic waves towards objects and record how they reflect these waves. Unlike other sensors, microwave sensors can collect information about an area through clouds. By scanning an area with radar and processing the data by computer, scientists can create radar maps. The surface of Venus, which is entirely shrouded by dense clouds, has been mapped in this way. Radar has also been used for ocean navigation, mapping geological features, and even estimating the moisture content of soil. Satellites have proved extremely useful in the development of remote sensing systems. The United States, the European Space Agency (ESA), India, Japan, and Russia have launched Earth-observing satellites. US Landsat satellites have provided an enormous amount of information about the Earth. The first, Landsat-1, was launched in 1972. Landsat-5 produces images of most of the Earth's surface every 16 days. Each Landsat image covers more than 31,000 sq. km (11,970 sq. mi) and reveals objects as small as 900 sq. m (9,700 sq. ft.). French

SPOT (System Probatoire observation de la Terre) satellites produce images showing objects as small as 100 sq. m (1,100 sq. ft.). Meteorological satellites, such as those operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), use remote sensing systems to produce images used in weather forecasting (see Meteorology). Remote sensors on weather satellites can track the movement of clouds and record temperature changes in the atmosphere.

Global Greenness Image

The United States NOAA-11 meteorological satellite carries an instrument called the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) that senses the Earths environmental makeup. Scientists use AVHRR images to observe the entire globe, and they analyse images compiled over the years for evidence of global climate changes. This AVHRR chart integrates images acquired between June 21 and 30, 1992, and transforms the data into a greenness index. Colours on the map signify areas of differing photosynthetic activity, including dense vegetation (dark green); less vegetation (lighter green and yellow); snow, ice, or clouds (white); water (blue); and barren terrain (brown).

Satellite Photograph of Western Europe

The outline of Western Europe can be seen clearly in this SPOT satellite image. Artificial colours have been superimposed on to the image to enable a clearer distinction between different surface features. Here, the sea is blue, while land masses have been represented in green or yellow, depending upon the level of vegetation. White mountainous areas, such as the Alps, to the north of Italy, are also evident.

Remote Sensing Photography

United States Landsat satellites orbit the earth at an altitude of 900 km (560 mi) and carry multispectral scanners that detect electromagnetic radiation emitted from the ground. This type of scanner serves as a remote sensing device and delineates such geological and natural features as bare rock, soil, and mud (grey), bodies of water (dark blue), forests (dark reddish-brown), and crops and grasslands (lighter red). These three Landsat satellite images used remote sensing to show Mount St Helens, Washington, and its surrounding areas at three different timesseven years before, three years after, and eight years after the volcano (centre of each image) erupted on May 18, 1980.

Deep Space Remote Sensing

The Hubble Space Telescope, despite its troublesome early life in space, is one of the most sophisticated and productive remote-sensing instruments ever made. This image of the core of Galaxy 4C41.17 was made by Hubble in January 1994. The galaxy is 14 billion light years from Earth.

Specialized Earth Sensing

Remote-sensing satellite images may be highly specialized, showing or emphasizing only one type of feature of the Earth's surface. This image highlights the mineralogy of the Painted Desert in Arizona. The exaggerated colours correspond to the various mineral formations that make up the Earth's surface in this region. With geographic information systems (GIS), such images may be overlain with images depicting other types of formations, such as underground water supplies, to give a complex picture of the Earth and its many interrelated aspects.

Sensor devices and transducers

Measurements of mechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical quantities are made by devices called sensors and transducers. The sensor is responsive to changes in the quantity to be measured, for example, temperature, position, or chemical concentration. The transducer converts such measurements into electrical signals, which can be fed to instruments for the readout, recording, or control of the measured quantities. Sensors and transducers can operate at locations remote from the observer and in environments unsuitable or impractical for human beings. Some devices act as both sensor and transducer. A thermocouple has two junctions of wires of different metals; these generate a small electric voltage that depends on the temperature difference between the two junctions. A thermistor is a special resistor, the resistance of which varies with temperature. A variable resistor can convert mechanical movement into an electrical signal. Specially designed capacitors are used to measure distance, and photocells are used to detect light (see Photoelectric Cell). Other devices are used to measure velocity, acceleration, or fluid flow. In most instances, the electric signal is weak and must be amplified by an electronic circuit.

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