EG2211Earth Observation
Applications of
Remote sensing
TOPICS
Quantitative remote sensing Rainfall estimation Land surface temperature Proxy air temperature NDVI, albedo, wind-speed and others Disaster Management Human Health Hydrodynamics
Quantitative remote sensing?
Estimation of a physical quantity Proxy environmental variables Application driven Less science and more operational Makes use of algorithms Interfaces with environmental models
Applications that use quantitative RS
Agriculture– NDVI, temperature, rainfall
Health– NDVI, temperature, rainfall, dust, wind
Hydrology– Rainfall
Climate change– NDVI, temperature, rainfall
Weather forecasting– Winds, rainfall
Rainfall estimation
Cold Cloud Duration (CCD) using Meteosat Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission using
radar (TRMM) Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I)
rainfall measurement using microwave instruments
Rainfall estimation
Pioneered by work of Lethbridge, 1967 Became an operational system thanks to
Milford and Dugdale at TAMSAT (University of Reading)
Based on relationship between period during which convective cloud tops are below a specific threshold and rainfall measured beneath them
Cold Cloud Duration (CCD):
Rainfall estimation
TRMM mission is a joint US/Japan effort coordinated by NASDA (National Space Development Agency of Japan)
TRMM was launched in 1997 – with an initial mission life of 3 years
TRMM data is relayed to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM):
Rainfall estimation
Precipitation Radar (PR) TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy
System (CERES) Lightning Image Sensor (LIS)
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM):
Rainfall estimation
System coordinated by NOAA Became operational in 1987 Uses a 7-channel passive microwave
radiometer
Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I):
Rainfall estimation
Data collected from the SSM/I are used to estimate several geophysical parameters including:
Rainfall Rate Rainfall Frequency Cloud Liquid Water Cloudiness Frequency Total Precipitable Water Snow Cover Sea-Ice Sampling Frequency Ocean Surface Wind Speed (1.0 degree only!)
Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I):
Land Surface Temperature
Thermal infrared images provide an estimate of the magnitude of radiant energy
Radiance (usually expressed as watts per square metre) can be converted to temperature via an instrument-specific algorithm
Energy (and hence temperature) is of the land surface (LST)
LST may be converted to a proxy air temperature by means of a solar correction algorithm
Other quantitative measurements
NDVI Albedo Wind speed Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) Soil moisture Tropospheric humidity
NDVI
•Monitoring•Habitat modelling•Hydrology
VISIBLE
•Albedo•Weather Fcst.
WATERVAPOUR
•Cloud motion•Troposphere
Disaster Management
Uses of RS for Disaster Management
Wildfires Volcanic eruptions Avalanche Tsunami Earthquake Landslides Flooding Extreme weather Drought Disease Refugees Military
Disaster Management
DisasterManagement
PLANNING
MITIGATIONLEARNING
Disaster Management
PLANNING MITIGATION
ModellingAssessmentPredictionContingency
Monitoring situationsDeployment of resourcesDecision-makingPublic relations
COST EFFECTIVENESS !!!
QuickBird used extensively throughout Asian Tsunami Disaster
Human Health
Health and disease often has a spatial component
Climatic, environmental and socio-economic variables affect health
Epidemics and outbreaks spread across a region – either as a function of movement of people or environmental factors
Human Health
Many countries are vulnerable to diseases directly influenced by the environment
Vector-borne diseases (like malaria) Respiratory illnesses (like meningitis) Water-borne diseases (like cholera) Stress illnesses (heat-stroke or hypothermia) Illnesses caused by “mechanical” effects of
extreme weather events
Hydrodynamics
stream stream
stream
stream
riverriver river
estuary
THE SEA
Hydrodynamics
From DeMers, 2002
Hydrodynamics
From DeMers, 2002
Case Studies
Until mid-February we will be examining specific case studies where RS is used
Case studies will be:– Agriculture– Weather Forecasting– Human Health– Disaster Management and Emergencies
Case Studies
Lecture session will provide basic material related to topic – but groups will have to prepare their own material and presentations for the workshop
Everybody will be assigned to a case-study group and will have to turn up to one workshop session following the lecture
Case Studies – Timetable
Topic Lecture/workshop
Week beginning
Agriculture 22/1/2007
Weather forecasting
29/1/2007
Human health 5/2/2007
Disasters 12/2/2007
Case Studies – Timetable
•You will ALL have to attend the second hour (workshop) covering each topic. You will have to take notes from the other groups presenting and record their literature references
•Workshops will be based around Q&A sessions (questions from YOU) and a short group presentation
Further Reading
Cresswell MP, Morse AP, Thomson MC and Connor SJ. (1999). Estimating surface air temperatures from Meteosat land surface temperatures using an empirical solar zenith angle model. International Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol 20 (6), 1125-1132.
Lethbridge M. (1967). Precipitation probability and satellite radiation data. Monthly Weather Review, Vol 95 (7), 487-490
Milford J and Dugdale G. (1990). Estimation of rainfall using geostationary satellite data. In Applications of Remote Sensing in Agriculture. Edited by Steven M and Clark J. Published by Butterworths, London
Dugdale G, Hardy S and Milford J. (1991). Daily catchment rainfall estimated from Meteosat. Hydrological Processes, Vol 5, 261-270
Further Reading
TRMM Website:
http://www.eorc.nasda.go.jp/TRMM/index_e.htm
SSM/I Website:
http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad2/
TAMSAT (CCD Rainfall) Website:
http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/tamsat/