Environment through Remote Sensing

Environmental Changes:

• Inherent type: seasonal & other natural changes including the changes caused by natural disasters – positive or negative

• Induced type: due to human use and abuse – negative only

Environmental Changes:

• Local:

village, district level

• Regional:

state, national level

• Global:

continental, world level

Our concern is to:

• Map, Measure and Monitor

> the natural & man-made world;

> locally, regionally and globally

on a periodical & real-time basis

Global MonitoringGlobal Monitoring

Environmental features monitored includeEnvironmental features monitored include:• Global vegetation cover• Ocean productivity• Global biosphere• Ocean Temperature• Ozone levels• Snow and ice• Atmospheric pollutants• Wave height and direction

Ozone Levels

• Depletion develops in

October

• Changes seasonally

• Gradually getting

larger over time

Global Vegetation Cover

Ocean Temperature

• Water is a good approximation of a black body

• Monitoring climatic events, eg. El Nino

• Monitor long term climatic change

Remote Sensing ApplicationsRemote Sensing Applications

Mineral and Rock Spectral MappingMineral and Rock Spectral Mapping

data model

Local Environmental MonitoringLocal Environmental MonitoringDe-forestationDe-forestation

Bush Fire - Detection using smoke

Bush Fire - Detection using smoke

Remote sensing platforms: LIDAR

• Canopy surface

Remote sensing platforms: SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)

• SAR image of Washington, DC

• textures are easily differentiated_

Remote sensing platforms: SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)

• SAR image of Amazon Basin

• previous river channels clearly visible