Session 2019-2021
Chemistry of Atmosphere
REMOTE SENSING
ITS CONCEPT AND HOW IT IS USED TO MEASURE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
To:Dr Ariba Farooq
Maimoona Saeed
PCHEM01193002
Semester 2
MPhil Analytical chemistry
The University of Lahore
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What is remote sensing?
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making
physical contact with the object and thus in contrast to on-site observation, especially the Earth.
Or Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance,
typically from aircraft or satellites. Remote sensors collect data by detecting the energy that is
reflected from Earth. Remote sensing is used in numerous fields, including geography, land
surveying and most Earth science disciplines (for example, hydrology, ecology, meteorology,
oceanography, glaciology, geology); it also has military, intelligence, commercial, economic,
planning, and humanitarian applications.
In current usage, the term "remote sensing" generally refers to the use of satellite- or
aircraft-based sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth, including on the
surface and in the atmosphere and oceans, based on propagated signals (e.g. electromagnetic
radiation). It may be split into "active" remote sensing (such as when a signal is emitted by a
satellite or aircraft and its reflection by the object is detected by the sensor) and "passive" remote
sensing (such as when the reflection of sunlight is detected by the sensor).
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Sensors
Sensors, or instruments, onboard satellites and aircraft use the sun as a source of
illumination or provide their own source of illumination, measuring the energy that is reflected
back. Sensors that use natural energy from the sun are called passive sensors; those that provide
their own source of energy are called active sensors.
ACTIVE SENSORS:
They have their own source of light or illumination and its sensor measures reflected
energy. For example, Radarsat-2 (Canadian space Agency) illuminates a target and measures
how much energy bounces back to the sensor. Actually, it’s similar to the flash of a camera as
you can see below.
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PASSIVE SENSORS:
They measure reflected light emitted from the sun. For example, Landsat-8 (NASA
American space agency) measures reflected energy emitted by the sun bouncing off the Earth.
But when the flash is turned off, the source of energy comes from somewhere else such as the
sun or a lamp.
Resolution
Resolution plays a role in how data from a sensor can be used. Depending on the satellite’s orbit
and sensor design, resolution can vary. There are four types of resolution to consider for any
dataset
● Radiometric resolution
● Spatial resolution
● Spectral resolution
● Temporal resolution
Radiometric resolution
is the amount of information in each pixel, i.e. the number of bits representing the energy
recorded. Each bit records an exponent of power 2. For example, an 8 bit resolution is 28, which
indicates that the sensor has 256 potential digital values (0-255) to store information. Thus, the
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higher the radiometric resolution, the more values are available to store information, providing
better discrimination between even the slightest differences in energy. For example, when
assessing water quality, radiometric resolution is necessary to distinguish between subtle
differences in ocean color.
Spatial resolution
is the detail in pixels of an image. While higher spatial resolution means more detail and smaller
pixel size, lower spatial resolution means less detail and larger pixel size
Temporal resolution
is how often revisit times occur, often for satellite data. The height of the satellite above the
Earth surface will determine the time it takes for the orbit to take one complete orbit of the Earth.
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Orbital period increases with satellite height. Geostationary orbits match the Earth’s rate of
rotation. Sun Synchronous orbits keeps the angle of sunlight on the surface of the Earth as
consistent as possible. Polar orbits passes above or nearly above both poles of Earth.
Spectral resolution
is the amount of spectral detail in a band. While high spectral resolution means bands are
more-narrow such as hyper spectral, low spectral resolution are broader bands covering more of
the spectrum.
Remote sensing working
Actually, the secret is that remote sensing isn’t very complicated at all. In fact, your eyes use
remote sensing by reading this page right [Link] mentioned before, remote sensing means you
are acquiring information from a distance. When you’re outside, the sun emits light. And each
object reflects a mix of red, green and blue colors into your eyes. It’s the same for sensors on
board satellite work. But what’s important to know is that there is a whole range of possible
wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum from short wavelengths (like X-rays) to long
wavelengths (like radio waves).
And this is why remote sensing is such a powerful discipline. Because we can see beyond human
vision, this fact alone lets us see things we’ve never seen before. In other words, we can see the
invisible.
Environmental pollution has become more and more serious due to today’s development all
around the world. Environmental pollution is our concern nowadays because all the daily
activities are related to the environment. Air pollution is one of the most important
environmental problems, which concentrates mostly in cities. Air pollution in Asian cities has
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grown with the progressing industrialization and urbanization. Air quality standards often refer
to respirable suspended particulate matter (PM), being aerosols with a diameter smaller than 10
µm (PM10) (UNEP). Fine particles are of the greatest concern since they are capable of being
easily transported over long distances on currents of air. Remote sensing has been widely used
for environmental application such as for air quality and water quality studies. But the
atmosphere affects satellite images of the Earth’s surface in the solar spectrum. So, the signal
observe by the satellite sensor was the sum of the effects from the ground and atmosphere.
Tropospheric aerosols act to significantly alter the Earth’s radiation budget, but quantification of
the change in radiation is difficult because atmospheric aerosol distributions vary greatly in type,
size, space and time (Penner, et al. 2002). Surface reflectance is a key to the retrieval of
atmospheric components from remotely sensed data. Optical atmospheric effects may influence
the signal measured by a remote sensor in two ways: radiometrically and geometrically. This
means that they can modify the signal’s intensity through scattering or absorption processes and
its direction by refraction
The problem of particulate pollution in the atmosphere has attracted a new interest with the
recent scientific evidence of the ill-health effects of small particles. Aerosol optical thickness in
the visible (or atmospheric turbidity), which is defined as the linear integral of the extinction
coefficient due to small airborne particles, can be considered as an overall air pollution indicator
in urban areas (Sifakis, et al., 1998). Air pollution has long been a problem in the industrial
nations of the West. It has now become an increasing source of environmental degradation in the
developing nations of East Asia. The lack of detailed knowledge of the optical properties of
aerosols results in aerosol being one of the largest uncertainties in climate forcing assessments.
Monitoring of atmospheric aerosol is a fundamentally difficult problem. The problem of
particulate pollution in the atmosphere has attracted a new interest with the recent scientific
evidence of the ill-health effects of small particles. Air pollution is one of the most important
environmental problems, which concentrates mostly in cities. Aerosols are liquid and solid
particles suspended in the air from natural or man-made sources (Kaufman, et al., 1997).
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The main objective of the present study is to test the performance of our proposed algorithm for
mapping PM10 using Landsat satellite images. In situ measurements were needed for algorithm
calibration. We used a DustTrak Aerosol Monitor 8520 to collect the in situ data. We collected
the PM10 data simultaneously during the satellite Landsat overpass the study area. An algorithm
was developed to determine the PM10 concentration on the earth surface. The efficiency of the
proposed algorithm was determined based on the correlation coefficient (R) and
root-mean-squares deviation, RMS. Finally, the PM10 map was generated using the proposed
algorithm. In addition, the PM10 map was also geometrically corrected and colour-coded for
visual interpretation
Remote sensing is a technique for collecting information about the earth without taking a
physical sample of the earth’s surface or
touching the surface using sensors placed on a
platform at a distance from it. A sensor is
used to measure the energy reflected from the
earth. This information can be displayed as a
digital image or as a photograph. Sensors can
be mounted on a satellite orbiting the earth, or
on a plane or other airborne structure.
Because of this energy requirement, passive
solar sensors can only capture data during
daylight hours. The major applications of
remote sensing include environmental
pollution, land cover/use mapping, urban
planning, and earth management. We have to
understand the basic concept of
electromagnetic waves well enough for
applying to the remote sensing techniques in
our studies. We classify electromagnetic
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energy by its wavelength. This electromagnetic radiation gives an energy source to illuminate the
target except the sensed energy that is being emitted by the target. There are two basic types of
sensors: passive and active sensors. Passive remote sensors detect reflected energy from the sun
back to the sensor; they do not emit energy itself. But active sensors can emit energy or provide
its own source of energy and detect the reflected energy back from the target.
Atmospheric remote sensing can be used to measure levels of some air pollutants. Remote
sensing data come from satellites. These data can be used in combination with other data to help
us better understand when and where air pollution is happening. This is important because air
pollution can cause health problems. Knowing more about when and where air pollution is
happening can help public health officials and others do more to protect our health
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Compliance with air pollution standards usually is measured through the use of EPA's Air
Quality System monitors. These monitors are on the ground and are placed around the country,
mainly in large cities. Data from these monitoring stations are considered the "gold standard" for
determining outdoor air pollution. However, this information is limited because the monitoring
stations are usually near big cities and may take air samples only every three days or during
periods when air pollution is very high. Read more about air monitoring here. Using remote
sensing data from satellites can help fill in the gaps that exist from air monitors on the ground.
Although atmospheric remote sensing data can help estimate air pollution levels, these data have
limitations especially if used on their own. Satellite data are not always available. For example, it
is nearly impossible to collect satellite data on a cloudy day. Clouds can interfere with the
satellite's ability to collect data which can cause a gap in the information that comes from them.
This is one reason why atmospheric remote sensing data should be used in addition to
monitoring and modeled air data.
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References:
● Howard, A.; et al. (19 August 2015). "Remote sensing and habitat mapping for bearded capuchin
monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus): landscapes for the use of stone tools". Journal of Applied Remote
Sensing. 9 (1): 096020. doi:10.1117/[Link].9.096020
● Campbell, J. B. (2002). Introduction to remote sensing (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press. ISBN
978-1-57230-640-0.
● Jensen, J. R. (2007). Remote sensing of the environment: an Earth resource perspective (2nd
ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-188950-7.
● Jensen, J. R. (2005). Digital Image Processing: a Remote Sensing Perspective (3rd ed.). Prentice
Hall.