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Introduction to

Satellite Remote Sensing

Remote sensing of the Earth from orbital altitudes was recognized in the mid-1960’s as a potential technique for obtaining information important for the effective use and conservation of natural resources.

The studies began when the Tiros satellites (1960) provided first synoptic view of the Earth’s weather systems.

The manned Gemini and Apollo Programs (1962-1972) led to further consideration of space-age remote sensing for study of the planet Earth.

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Earth rising over the lunar surface, one of the most famous images of the 20th century.

The photo was taken by astronaut William Anders from Apollo 8 in December 24, 1968.

This is how Anders saw the image.

As Apollo 8 raced backward away from the Earth,Anders snapped a picture of “a fist-sized fuzzy little ball of color against the immense backdrop of space.” (Parker, RI News, Providence Journal, Oct. 24, 2010)

(Anders lived in Barrington RI for about 5 years in 1980s as an executive at RI-based Textron. He was inducted Into Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame for his role on Apollo 8.)

Earth rising

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Skylab, the largest manned space station placed at low Earth orbit at the time, was lunched in May 14, 1973 and carried into space the Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP).

EREP was designed to view the Earth with sensors that recorded data in visible, infrared, and microwave spectral regions. EREP became another step in space exploration by testing the high spatial resolution camera systems with film return capability.

A significant feature of EREP was the use of man to operate the sensors in a laboratory fashion.

Command/Service Module (CSM)

Landsat represents the world's longest (since 1972) continuously acquired collection of space-based land remote sensing data.

The instruments on the Landsat satellites have acquired millions of images. The images, archived in the United States and at Landsat receiving stations around the world, are a unique resource for global change research and applications in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education and national security.

The Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS), later designated Landsat, provided repetitive multispectral observation of the Earth.

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Digital Data Acquisition

Spatial Resolution(Pixel size)

Spectral Resolution(Bands)

Multispectral Digital Image

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Landsat MissionsLandsat 1 (07/12/1972 - 01/06/1978) - RBV, MSS (80m)Landsat 2 (01/22/1975-07/27/1983) - RBV, MSS (80m)Landsat 3 (03/05/1978-09/07/1983) - RBV, MSS (80m)Landsat 4 (07/16/1982 - 2001) - MSS, TM (30m, 120m TIR)Landsat 5 (03/01/1984 – 06/2013) - MSS, TM (30m, 120m TIR)Landsat 6 (10/05/1993): ETM ???Landsat 7 (04/15/1999 – ) ETM+ (30m, 60m TIR, 15m Pan)Landsat 8 (February 11, 2013 -) OIL, TIRS (30m, 100m TIRS15m Pan ) Landsat 9 (Scheduled launch time: 2021)

ETM+: Enhanced Thematic Mapper PlusMSS: Multispectral ScannerOLI: Operational Land ImagerPan: PanchromaticRBV: Return Beam Vidicon Camera TIR: Thermal InfraredTIRS: Thermal Infrared SensorTM: Thematic Mapper

Landsat-1, 2, 3

Landsat-4, 5

Landsat-7

Landsat-8

Band 1: 0.45-0.52m (blue) Provide increased penetration of water bodies, as well as supporting analysis of land use, soil, and vegetation characteristics.

Band 2: 0.52-0.60m (green)This band spans the region between the blue and red chlorophyll absorption bands and therefore corresponds to the green reflectance of healthy vegetation.

Band 3: 0.63-0.69m (red)This is the red chlorophyll absorption band of healthy green vegetation and represents one of the most important bands for vegetation discrimination.

Spectral Cover ofLandsat Sensors(TM, ETM+)

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• Band 4: 0.76-0.90m (Near-infrared). This band is responsive to the amount of vegetation biomass present in the scene. It is useful for crop identification and emphasizes soil-crop and land-water contrasts.

• Band 5: 1.55-1.75m (Mid-infrared)This band is sensitive to the amount of moisture in plants and therefore useful in crop draught and in plant vigor studies.

• Band 6: 10.4-12.5m (Thermal infrared) This band measures the amount of infrared radiant flux emitted from surface.

• Band 7: 2.08-2.35m (Mid-infrared) This is an important band for the discrimination of geologic rock formation. It is effective in identifying zones of hydrothermal alteration in rocks.

Spectral Cover ofLandsat Sensors(TM, ETM+)

Multispectral Scanner (MSS)Landsat 1-5

Thematic Mapper (TM) Landsat 4 & 5

Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)

Landsat 7

Spectral Resolution (m)

• 0.5-0.6 (green)• 0.6-0.7 (red)• 0.7-0.8 (NIR)• 0.8-1.1 (NIR)

1. 0.45-0.52 (B)2. 0.52-0.60 (G)3. 0.63-0.69 (R)4. 0.76-0.90 (NIR)5. 1.55-1.75 (MIR)6. 10.4-12.5 (TIR)7. 2.08-2.35 (MIR)

1. 0.45-0.52 2. 0.52-0.60 3. 0.63-0.69 4. 0.77-0.90 5. 1.55-1.75 6. 10.4-12.5 7. 2.09-2.35 8. 0.52-0.90 (Pan)

Spatial Resolution(meter)

79 x 7930 x 30

120 x 120 (TIR)15 x 15 (Pan)

30 x 3060 x 60 (TIR)

Temporal Resolution (revisit days)

18 (Landsat 1,2,3) 16 16

Comparison of Landsat 1-7 Sensors

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Landsat-7 ETM+ Data of Providence

Landsat-7 ETM+ Data (30 m), Bands 4, 3, 2 in RGB

Landsat-7 Panchromatic Data (15 m) Landsat-7 ETM+ Data (30 m), Bands 3, 2, 1 in RGB

Landsat-7 ETM+ Data (30 m), Bands 4, 5, 3 in RGB

Landsat-7 ETM+ Scan Line Corrector (SLC) Data

Landsat 7 ETM+ SLC-off data refers to all Landsat 7 images collected after May 31, 2003, when the Scan Line Corrector (SLC) failed.

These products have data gaps, but are still useful and maintain the same radiometric and geometric corrections as data collected prior to the SLC failure.

Fix Landsat 7 SLC error using Landsat Toolbox in ArcMap and other software.

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Landsat Data Continuity Mission / Landsat-8

Landsat 8 Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqVKR9OnqqA

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Landsat-8 Sensors: Operational Land Imager (OLI)

OLI spectral bands ETM + spectral bands

# Band width (μm)

GSD (m) # Band width (μm)

GSD (m)

1 0.433–0.453 30

2 0.450–0.515 30 1 0.450–0.515 30

3 0.525–0.600 30 2 0.525–0.605 30

4 0.630–0.680 30 3 0.630–0.690 30

5 0.845–0.885 30 4 0.775–0.900 30

6 1.560–1.660 30 5 1.550–1.750 30

7 2.100–2.300 30 7 2.090–2.350 30

8 0.500–0.680 15 8 0.520–0.900 15

9 1.360–1.390 30

Landsat-8 Sensors: Operational Land Imager (OLI)

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Landsat-8 Sensors: Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)

TIRS Sensors measure land surface temperature in two thermal bands.

Band # Center wavelength (μm) Spatial resolution (m)

10 10.6-11.2 100

11 11.5-12.5 100

Multispectral Scanner (MSS)

Landsat 1-5

Thematic Mapper (TM) Landsat 4 & 5

Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)

Landsat 7

Operational Land Imager (OLI) / Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)

Landsat 8

Spectral Resolution (m)

• 0.5-0.6 (green)• 0.6-0.7 (red)• 0.7-0.8 (NIR)• 0.8-1.1 (NIR)

1. 0.45-0.52 (B)2. 0.52-0.60 (G)3. 0.63-0.69 (R)4. 0.76-0.90 (NIR)5. 1.55-1.75 (MIR)6. 10.4-12.5 (TIR)7. 2.08-2.35 (MIR)

1. 0.45-0.52 2. 0.52-0.60 3. 0.63-0.69 4. 0.77-0.90 5. 1.55-1.75 6. 10.4-12.5 7. 2.09-2.35 8. 0.52-0.90 (Pan)

1. 0.43-0.45 2. 0.45-0.51 3. 0.53-0.59 4. 0.64-0.67 5. 0.85-0.88 6. 1.57-1.65 7. 2.11-2.29 8. 0.50-0.68 (Pan)9. 1.36-1.3810. 10.60-11.19 (TIRS)11. 11.50-12.51 (TIRS)

Spatial Resolution(meter)

79 x 7930 x 30

120 x 120 (TIR)15 x 15 (Pan)

30 x 3060 x 60 (TIR)

15 x 15 (Pan)30 x 30

100 x 100 (TIRS)

Temporal Resolution (revisit days)

18 (Landsat 1,2,3) 16 16 16

Comparison of Landsat Sensors

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Example of Landsat 8 imagery (Fort Collins, Colorado, March 18, 2013)

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Rhode Island: Path 12/Row 31

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Landsat Ground Stations

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Collections of Landsat Images of the World

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Mangroves in the Niger River Delta: 1990 Landsat Image

Mangrove Forests On Landsat Images

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Over 100 km crisscrossing streams and rivers of the Kibasira Swamp

Streams and rivers eroding the banks of the Rufiji river

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Stiegler’s Gorge section of the Rufiji River

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Throughout the history of the Landsat Program, the cost and access to imagery has always limited our ability to study our planet and the way it is changing. Beginning with a pilot program to provide “Web-enabled” access to Landsat 7 images of the United States that were collected between 2003 and this year, the USGS now plans to provide top-quality image products for free upon request for the entire U.S. archive, including over 2 million images back to Landsat 1 (1972).

Images from Landsat satellites and agricultural survey programme are freely available to scientists - for now.

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USGS EROS Data Centerhttp://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

Monthly true color CONUS browse images, each pixel is shown generalized from 17 × 17 30 m Landsat pixels to provide an approximate spatial resolution of 500 m.

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Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD): Annual (December 2007 to November, 2008) Landsat ETM+ composited mosaics of the conterminous United States (Roy et al., 2010)

Monthly Landsat composites, processed 75000 scenes

Dec. 2009

March 2010

June 2010

Sept. 2010 Oct. 2010 Nov. 2010

Jan. 2010

April 2010

July 2010

Feb. 2010

May 2010

August 2010

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

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TERRA (EOS AM) - Launched December 18, 1999

The following instruments fly on TERRA:

ASTER: Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (15m - 3 bands in VNIR;30m - 6 bands in SWIR; 90m - 5 bands in TIR)

MODIS: Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (0.4 - 14.4 m)(250m - 2 bands, 500m - 5 bands, 1000m - 29 bands)

CERES: Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy SystemMISR: Multi-angle Imaging SpectroradiometerMOPITT: Measurements of Pollution in

the Troposphere.

Provisional Land Cover Product June 01

MODIS data from Jul 00–Jan 01

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The MODIS Global Vegetation Phenology product (MOD12Q2) provides estimates of the timing of vegetation phenology at global scales. As such, MOD12Q2 identifies the vegetation growth, maturity, and senescence marking seasonal cycles.

EO-1: successfully launched on November 21, 2000

ALI - Advanced Land Imager consists of a 15° Wide Field Telescope (WFT) and partially populated focal plane occupying 1/5th of the field-of-view, giving a ground swath width of 37 km.

Hyperion – Hyper-spectral sensorsa grating imaging spectrometer having a 30 meter ground sample distance over a 7.5 kilometer swath and providing 10nm (sampling interval) contiguous bands of the solar reflected spectrum from 400-2500nm.

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Hyperspectral dataHyperion sensor on board the EO-1 Satellite

Spectral profile in a single pixel location from 0.4 to 2.5 m at 10 nm interval for a continuous coverage

over 220 bands

EO-1 launched November 21, 2000

NASA Operating Missions (as of 2011)

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EOS AM Constellation / Ground Tracks

National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project, or NPP, satellite was launched October 28, 2011. This marks the start of the next generation of space-based weather and climate observations.

NPP becomes one of NASA’s newest eye in the sky to keep tabs on the ozone, improve hurricane science, and maintain steady records of the changing climate -and will fill the void if any of the current polar satellites should fail.

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Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) was launched February 27, 2014.

GPM makes frequent (every 2–3 hours) observations of Earth’s precipitation to improve the forecasting of extreme events and studying global climate. GPM builds on the notable successes of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) serves an essential role in the near-global-coverage and frequent-revisit-time requirements of GPM .

GPM passed over the northeastern U.S. on Oct. 29, 2017 at 8:36 p.m. EDT. The approximate location of the storm's center at the time of the GPM pass is shown with a large red "L". A large area of intense rain was located in the Atlantic east of the low's center. GMI estimated that rain in that area was falling at rates of greater than 2 inches (51 mm) per hour.

The remnants of tropical storm Philippe on the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy

Credits: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce

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NASA Planned and New Missions (2011-2022)

SPOT satellites

SPOT 2 - Jan. 22, 1990

SPOT 3 - Sept. 25, 1993

SPOT 4 - March 24, 1998

SPOT 1 - Feb. 21, 1986

SPOT-4 VEGETATION

SPOT 5 was launched on May 4, 2002SPOT 6 was launched on September 9, 2012SPOT 7 was launched on June 30, 2014

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The SPOT Sensor

The position of each HRV entrance mirror can be commanded by ground control to observe a region of interest not necessarily vertically beneath the satellite. Thus, each HRV offers an oblique viewing capability, the viewing angle being adjustable through +/- 27degrees relative to the vertical.

Two spectral modes of acquisition are employed, panchromatic (P) and multispectral (XS). Both HRVs can operate in either mode, either simultaneously or individually.

SPOT 4-VEGETATION:

This program marks a significant advance to monitor crops and the continental biosphere. The VEGETATION instrument flying on Spot 4 provides global coverage on an almost daily basis at a resolution of 1 kilometer, thus making it an ideal tool for observing long-term environmental changes on a regional and worldwide scale.

With a swath width of 2,250 kilometers, the VEGETATION instrument covers almost all of the globe's land masses while orbiting the Earth 14 times a day. Only a few zones near the equator are covered every day. Areas above 35°latitude are seen at least once daily.

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Sentinel Satellites (ESA) Initiate New Era in Earth Observation

Sentinel Satellites (European Space Agency)

Satellite Purpose Date

Sentinel-1A Sentinel 1B

Radar satellite that can see the Earth’s surface in all weathers (two satellites to complete the RADAR pair)

April 3, 2014April 25, 2016

Sentinel-2 Multi-wavelength detectors to study principally land changes

June , 2015

Sentinel-3 Similar to S2, but tuned to observe ocean properties and behavior

March 25, 2016

Sentinel-5 Precursor

The forerunner of Sentinel-5 to provide timely data on a multitude of trace gases and aerosols affecting air quality and climate.

March 7, 2017

Sentinel-4 High-orbiting atmospheric sensor to give a global perspective on gases such as ozone

Scheduled 2021

Sentinel-5 Low-orbiting, high-resolution atmospheric sensor to help monitor air quality

Scheduled 2021 / 2022

Sentinel-6 Future European name for the Jason sea-surface height mission with the US. It will carry a radar altimeter to provide high-precision and timely observations of the topography of the global ocean

Scheduled 2020

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Ground resolution:1 meter panchromatic (0.45-0.90 m), 4 meters multispectral (same as Landsat TM bands 1 - 4)

(Band 1: 0.45-0.52 m Blue)(Band 2: 0.52-0.60 m Green)(Band 3: 0.63-0.69 m Red)(Band 4: 0.76-0.90 m Near IR)

Launched: September 24, 1999

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On October 19, 2001 DigitalGlobe launched the QuickBird 2 satellite.

September 3, 2003 QuickBird Satellite Panchromatic Images (0.6-m Spatial Resolution)

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September 3, 2003

QuickBird Satellite

True-color and

Pseudo-color Images

2.5-m Spatial Resolution

Concept of Multispectral

Or spectral resolution

GeoEye-1, a Google sponsored satellite, launched 9/6/2008.

Camera Modes• Simultaneous panchromatic and multispectral (pan-sharpened) • Panchromatic only • Multispectral only

Resolution• 0.41 m / 1.34 ft* panchromatic • 1.65 m / 5.41 ft* multispectral

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WorldView-3 satellite imagery

30-cm Natural Color June 8, 2015

Mt. Kilimanjaro

(5,895 m)

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) February 11-22, 2000, obtained the high-resolution

digital topographic database of the Earth

Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

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SRTM Kilimanjaro Video

SeaWiFS

October 2001

SeaWiFS

October 1997

SeaWiFS (Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor) was a satellite-borne sensor designed to collect global ocean biological data. Active from Sept. 1997 to Dec. 2010, its primary mission was to quantify chlorophyll produced by marine phytoplankton (microscopic plants).

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Chlorophyll concentrations are derived from images of the ocean’s color (i.e., the greener the water, the more phytoplankton are present in the water, and the higher the chlorophyll concentrations).

Examples Of SeaWiFSImages

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Sensors and Sensing Society

Over 1,000 satellites in space …Over 10,000 air crafts (including UAVs) …Over millions of ground based survey vehicles …Over tens of millions of video sensors …Over hundreds of millions of smart phones …… …Artificial Intellingence?

Landsat-1, 2, 3

Landsat-4, 5

Landsat-7

Landsat-8

Satellites in Space?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wonder/how-many-satellites-are-currently-orbiting-earth/vi-AAv8uZz