Geob 373

INTRODUCTORY REMOTE SENSING

Landsat 7 15 m image highlighting the geology of Oman

http://www.satimagingcorp.com/gallery-landsat.html

THE MACKENZIE RIVER IN CANADA SEEN FROM SPACE.

THE LENA RIVER IN RUSSIA

ADDING COLOUR TO THE UNSEEN

The colours we see.

Green

RedBlueRadio

wave

Infra red

The ‘colours’ we don’t

ASTER 15 m SWIR image, Escondida Mine, Chilehttp://www.satimagingcorp.com/satellite-sensors/aster.html

ASTER 15 m SWIR image, Mexicali

ASTER 15 m image, Las Vegas

MODIS 50 m hyperspectral image, Alaska

http://airbornescience.nasa.gov/instrument/instruments.html

GOALS OF THE COURSE • Overview of basics of remote sensing:

• Electromagnetic spectrum (energy), spectral responses of objects (e.g., trees, buildings, crops)

• Platforms/Sensors: where / how they capture the energy

• How this energy gets converted into images (A2D)

• Development of technical / theoretical skills for reading, enhancing and processing remotely sensed data in ArcMap (DIP)

• Use of remotely sensed imagery in (e.g.) environmental change detection, urbanization, desertification, deforestation, forest fire monitoring, natural hazards

• Become aware of the uses of remotely sensed data in a Geographic Information System

GOALS OF THE COURSE• At the end of the course you should be able to, for a particular

environmental problem (e.g., examining the effects of mountain pine beetle in BC):• Determine what data is available,

• identify what data is relevant (resolution, spectral response, temporal aspects),

• load and process data in remote sensing software (georectification, enhancement, classification),

• conduct change analysis, and

• understand error.

• That is, know which imagery can be applied to which environmental problem, and what information you can obtain from the analysis.

COURSE PARTICULARS

• Web site: http://www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/geob373• Contains:

• Syllabus (marking scheme, etc.)• Class and lab schedule• Lab instructions• Project description

• Laptops okay, but, please

WHAT IS REMOTE SENSING?

• Remote sensing is the art and science of acquiring information about the Earth's surface without actually being in contact with it. This is done by sensing and recording reflected or emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and applying that information.

WHAT IS REMOTE SENSING?• Platforms

• Data types

• Analog (mainly older aerial photographs, some very old satellite imagery)

• Digital (satellite images, now aerial photography as well, LIDAR, RADAR)

• Science: Physics (in particular for RADAR)

• Art: Subjective interpretation

• Data qualities

• Fine resolution--Large scale analyses

• Coarse resolution--Small scale studies

• Data sources: Visible light (sun, lasers), ‘heat’ (IR), radio waves (radar)

• and much more.

PLATFORMS• Different platforms (the

object that holds/contains the remote sensing device) are used, depending on the budget and scale of the study.

Drone

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

• Stereo-effect: pairs of images that are displaced produce a 3-D effect.

• Allows for measuring elevation, and for correcting for the distortions created by elevation (and perspective projections).

COLOUR AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Shinnecock Bay, Long Island, NY highlighting submerged aquatic vegetation

INFRARED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH

Airborne thermal IR (25 cm resolution) of homes highlighting energy loss

http://www.imagingnotes.com/go/article_free.php?mp_id=181

OBLIQUE AERIAL PHOTOS

Eagleview

SATELLITE IMAGERY: OCEAN MONITORING

Eddies off of Haida Gwaii

SeaWiFS (1 km) data June 13, 2002.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=2536

DROUGHT MONITORING

JULY 2001 JULY 2002LANDSAT THEMATIC MAPPER (30 m) (SOURCE: CCRS 2002)

(Healthy vegetation is bright red)

MODIS imagery (200 m) showing Myanmar before

and after being hit by a cyclone.

DISASTER MONITORING

http://movingimages.wordpress.com/2008/05/

LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING

Forest canopy (1st return)

Using many rapid small bursts of laser light, an aircraft-borne apparatus records reflection

from multiple sources.

Ground surface (last return)

LIDAR

Archaeology

Oceanography

PHODAR?• PhoDAR is a portmanteau word that joins the words “photography” and “LiDAR.” The

technology creates 3D point clouds by processing high-res imagery.

• PhoDAR is another name for structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry. It’s misleading to call this 3D mapping process “PhoDAR,” since it doesn’t use ranging hardware as the “DAR” part of the name would indicate. Like other photogrammetric methods, it uses simple camera hardware.

RADAR – MONITORING SEA ICE

(30 m)

LECTURE REVIEW

• This is just a brief overview of the various sensors and applications that we will cover in greater detail throughout the course.

• The notes will supplement the text, while the labs will complement the lecture material by exposing you to real-world data and applications.