midterm Flashcards
Atmospheric Window
regions that are not blocked by the earth’s atmospheric gases, so we can see the surface from space
*H20, CO2 and O3 are the main gas species that absorb photons in the VIS-TIR and block our view
*energy is interacting with gases and particulates, so no atmospheric window is 100% clear
remote sensing
the non-contact recording of information from the electromagnetic spectrum by means of instruments on platforms such as spacecraft, and the analysis of the acquired information by means of visual and digital image processing (1)
advantages of remote sensing
-unobtrusive (passive)
-unbiased data collection
- non-single point data
-data collected on site (1)
disadvantages of remote sensing
- not a solution for everything
- human-introduced errors
- emit EM radiation (active)
- uncalibrated data over time
- expensive (1)
what can remote sensing measure?
- x,y geographic location
- topographic location
- vegetation health: chlorophyll content, water, % biomass, phytoplankton
- surface/sea temperature
- soil moisture & evaporation
- atmosphere: chemistry, temperature, water %, wind speed, precipitation, clouds
- other: snow/ice, volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, land use, ocean health (1)
what are the two types of remote sensing?
passive and active (1)
what is passive sensing?
detection of energy from natural illumination or emission
(ex. camera, visible near-infrared sensors, thermal infrared sensors) (1)
what is active sensing?
detection of energy reflected back to the sensor after providing the illumination
(ex. camera w flash, flashlight and your eye, radar, lasers) (1)
what are the five types of energy/matter interaction that can take place?
reflected, scattered, transmitted (refracted), absorbed, emitted (1)
energy is reflected. what does that tell you?
- energy returned from the surface with an angle reflection equal and opposite to angle of incidence
- caused by surfaces “smooth” relative to the incident wavelength (1)
energy is scattered. what does that tell you?
- deflection of energy in multiple directions
caused by surfaces “rough” relative to the incident wavelength (1)
energy is transmitted. what does that tell you?
-energy passes through the material
- a change in density (index of refraction) between two materials causes the velocity of the incident wave to change (1)
energy is absorbed. what does that tell you?
- energy is transformed (usually to longer wavelength heating) (1)
energy is emitted. what does this tell you?
- release of energy from the material (it is now the source) (1)
properties of EM waves
- waves have a constant velocity in a vacuum
- waves vary in wavelength and frequency by the following equation: v = c/λ
– c=speed of light, v= frequency, λ=wavelength
-E=hv
– E= energy of the wave, h=Planck constant, v=frequency - SMALLER WAVELENGTHS (HIGHER FREQUENCIES) HAVE HIGHER ENERGY
– ex. X-rays penetrate deeper and are more damaging to your body than radio waves (1)
what are the units of v in v=c/λ
Hz
(frequency)
what are the units of λ in v = c/λ
m
what are the units of E in E = hv?
Joules (J)
gamma rays
-produced by change in the energy state of the neutron/protons
-best for measuring variations in elements (light ones) (1)
x-rays
photons absorbed by the inner shell of electrons (1)
UV
-photons emitted/absorbed by the outer shell of electrons
-information on transition metals and chlorophyll
– Fe, Cu
(1)
VIS
photons emitted/absorbed by the outer shell of electrons (1)
NIR
photons emitted/absorbed by the outer shell of electrons (1)
SWIR
vibrational structure of certain materials
– OH- (hydroxide)
– CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) (1)
TIR
- info on the molecules and bond strength
- excellent for surface mineralogy
- information on surface temperature (1)
microwave (radar)
-radar wavelengths good for remote sensing
-little information about composition, but a lot about the particle size and surface roughness (1)
color theory (key point of general theory)
-color display and mixing is different than common (1)
contrast ratio (CR)
tells you how easily you can separate gray-scale values
-human eyes can only distinguish about ~30 shades of gray
- white = 255, black = 1
(1)
primary or additive colors
-red, green, blue
- R+B+G=white, -R-G-B=black (1)
true color vs. false color
-true color: RGB corresponds to the actual RGB wavelengths that your eye sees
-false color: RGB is used to display other wavelength regions (1)
secondary colors
three secondary colors formed by the subtraction of one color from white
-R = cyan
-G = magenta
-B = yellow (1)
what plant chemicals/colors tell us
-Chlorophyll reflects green and NIR
-Anthocyanin reflects red/yellow (wavelengths longer than green)
-a graph of a healthy plant shows a small peak in green and a large peak in NIR (1)
how do chemical components of objects interact with incoming light
-the light is altered and reflected back as a continuous spectrum at all wavelengths
-the spectrum are averaged together and captured by the satellite sensor
-the sensor can’t capture al wavelengths (spectral resolution)
-putting it in the computer produces color (1)
what two things determine the interaction with EM wavelengths and the surface
the sensor and the surface material (composition texture) (1)
function of the sensor in interacting with the surface
-the spatial resolution (depends on the altitude and the instrument characteristics)
-the sensitivity of the detector
-number of wavelength bands (1)
function of the surface being sensed
chemical composition, roughness, temperature, distance from the sensor (1)
imaging characteristics (pixels)
-the quantized spatial resolution of the image
-displayed as a square as the image is zoomed in
-value is recorded as DNs (1)
image display
able to display only 1, 8-bit image in each of the 3 primary colors
-the mixing of these colors produces all other colors (1)
spatial resolution
-the size of the pixel
-determined by height of the sensor and instantaneous field of view (1)