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Stefan-Boltzmann law : Stefan-Boltzmann law defines relationship
between total emitted radiation (E) and temperature
M = total radiant exitance from the surface of a material, watts
W m-2
σ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant, 5.6697x10-8 W m-2 K-4
T = absolute temperature (K) of the emitting material
Wien's displacement law: defines the relationship between the
wavelength of the radiation emitted and the temperature of the
object. wavelength at which a blackbody radiation curve reaches a
maximum, is related to its temperature by
λm = wavelength of maximum spectral radiant exitance, μm
A = 2898 μm K
T = temperature, K
• Radiant exitance is the power of electromagnetic radiation per
unit area radiated by a surface.
• When it is considered for a specific frequency in the spectrum it
is called spectral radiant exitance.
• The peak shifts to shorter wavelengths for higher temperatures,
and the area under the curve grows rapidly with increasing
temperature.
• The Wien’s Displacement law gives the wavelength of the peak
of the radiation distribution, while the Stefan-Boltzmann law
INTERACTIONS WITH THE
gives the total energy being emitted at all wavelengths by the
blackbody. ATMOSPHERE
• Thus, the Wien’s law explains the shift of the peak to shorter
wavelengths as the temperature increases, while the Stefan-
Boltzmann law explains the growth in the height of the curve as
the temperature increases.
• Notice that this growth is very large, since it varies as the fourth
power of the temperature.
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• The interaction of EMR with the atmosphere is
The sun is the source of radiation, and important to remote sensing for two main
electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from the sun
that is reflected by the earth and detected by reasons.
the satellite or aircraft-borne sensor must pass
through the atmosphere twice.
• First, information carried by EMR reflected/
Once on its journey from the sun to the earth emitted by the earth’s surface is modified
and second after being reflected by the surface while traversing through the atmosphere.
of the earth back to the sensor.
Interactions of the direct solar radiation and • Second, the interaction of EMR with the
reflected radiation from the target with the atmosphere can be used to obtain useful
atmospheric constituents interfere with the information about the atmosphere itself.
process of remote sensing and are called as
“Atmospheric Effects”.
• The solar energy is subjected to
modification by several physical
processes as it passes the
• Particles and gases in the atmosphere
atmosphere, viz.
can affect the incoming light and
radiation. These effects are caused by the
mechanisms of scattering and 1) Scattering;
absorption. 2) Absorption, and
3) Refraction
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Scattering Scattering is the redirection of EMR by particles
suspended in the atmosphere or by large
molecules of atmospheric gases.
• Scattering occurs when particles or
large gas molecules present in the Scattering not only reduces the image contrast
atmosphere interact with and cause but also changes the spectral signature of
the electromagnetic radiation to be ground objects as seen by the sensor.
redirected from its original path.
The amount of scattering depends upon the size
of the particles, their abundance, the wavelength
of radiation, depth of the atmosphere through
which the energy is traveling and the
concentration of the particles.
• Theoretically scattering can be divided
into three categories depending upon
• The concentration of particulate matter
varies both in time and over season. • The wavelength of radiation being
scattered;
• Thus the effects of scattering will be • The size of the particles causing the
uneven spatially and will vary from scattering;
time to time.
• Rayleigh Scattering , Mie Scattering ,
Non-selective Scattering .
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Rayleigh Scattering
Rayleigh scattering predominates where
electromagnetic radiation interacts with
particles that are smaller than the wavelength
of the incoming light.
The effect of the Rayleigh scattering is
inversely proportional to the fourth power of
the wavelength.
Shorter wavelengths are scattered more than
longer wavelengths.
• In the absence of these particles Blue Sky
and scattering the sky would appear • The blue color of the sky is caused by the scattering
black. of sunlight off the molecules of the atmosphere.
• This scattering, called Rayleigh scattering, is more
• In the context of remote sensing, effective at short wavelengths (the blue end of the
the Rayleigh scattering is the most visible spectrum).
important type of scattering.
• Therefore the light scattered down to the earth with
respect to the direction of the sun's light is
• It causes a distortion of spectral predominantly in the blue end of the spectrum.
characteristics of the reflected light
when compared to measurements
taken on the ground.
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• the blue of the sky is more saturated
when you look further from the sun.
• The almost white scattering near the
sun can be attributed to Mie
scattering, which is not very
wavelength dependent.
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Sunset
• If the air is polluted with small particles,
natural or otherwise, the sunset will be more
• When the air is clear the sunset will red.
appear yellow, because the light from
• Sky around the sun is seen reddened, as
the sun has passed a long distance well as the light coming directly from the sun.
through air and some of the blue light This is because all light is scattered relatively
has been scattered away. well through small angles, but blue light is
• Sunsets over the sea may also be then more likely to be scattered twice or
more over the greater distances, leaving the
orange, due to salt particles in the air,
yellow, red and orange colours.
which are effective Tyndall
scatterers.
Mie Scattering
Mie scattering occurs when the wavelength
of the incoming radiation is similar in size
to the atmospheric particles.
These are caused by aerosols: a mixture of
gases, water vapor and dust.
It is generally restricted to the lower
atmosphere where the larger particles are
abundant and dominates under overcast
cloud conditions.
It influences the entire spectral region from
ultra violet to near infrared regions.
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Non-selective Scattering
This type of scattering occurs when the
particle size is much larger than the
wavelength of the incoming radiation.
Particles responsible for this effect are
water droplets and larger dust particles.
The scattering is independent of the
wavelength, all the wavelength are
scattered equally.
• The most common example of non-
selective scattering is the
appearance of clouds as white.
• As cloud consist of water droplet
particles and the wavelengths are
scattered in equal amount, the
cloud appears as white.
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• Occurrence of this scattering • However, the effect of heavy haze
mechanism gives a clue to the i.e. when all the wavelengths are
existence of large particulate scattered uniformly, cannot be
matter (…haze-clarity of sky) in the eliminated using haze filters.
atmosphere above the scene of
interest which itself is a useful • The effects of haze are less
data. pronounced in the thermal infrared
region.
• Using minus blue filters can • Microwave radiation is completely
eliminate the effects of the immune to haze and can even
Rayleigh component of scattering. penetrate clouds.
Atmospheric Absorption The gas molecules present in the
atmosphere strongly absorb the
• Absorption is the other main EMR passing through the
mechanism - when electromagnetic atmosphere in certain spectral
radiation interacts with the bands.
atmosphere.
Mainly three gases are responsible
for most of absorption of solar
• In contrast to scattering, this radiation, viz.
phenomenon causes molecules in
the atmosphere to absorb energy at ozone,
various wavelengths. carbon dioxide and
water vapour.
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Ozone
• Ozone serves to absorb the harmful (to
most living things) ultraviolet radiation
from the sun. Without this protective
layer in the atmosphere our skin would
burn when exposed to sunlight.
• Ozone absorbs the high energy, short
wavelength portions of the ultraviolet
spectrum (λ < 0.24 μm) thereby
preventing the transmission of this
radiation to the lower atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide Water vapour
• Carbon dioxide referred to as a
greenhouse gas. • Water vapour in the atmosphere
• it tends to absorb radiation strongly in absorbs much of the incoming
the far infrared portion of the spectrum long wave infrared and shortwave
• The area (spectrum) associated with microwave radiation.
thermal heating, which serves to trap
this heat inside the atmosphere.
• Carbon dioxide is important in remote • Two most important regions of
sensing as it effectively absorbs the water vapour absorption are in
radiation in mid and far infrared bands 5.5 - 7.0 μm and above 27
regions of the spectrum. μm.
• It strongly absorbs in the region from
about 13 to 17.5 μm.
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• Presence of water vapour in the lower Atmospheric Windows
atmosphere varies greatly from
location to location and at different
• It is the general atmospheric
times of the year. transmittance across the whole
• For example, the air mass above a spectrum of wavelengths.
desert would have very little water
vapour to absorb energy, while the • The atmosphere selectively
tropics would have high
transmits energy of certain
concentrations of water vapour (i.e.
high humidity). wavelengths. The spectral bands
• Absorption relatively reduces the for which the atmosphere is
amount of light that reaches our eye relatively transparent are known as
making the scene look relatively duller. atmospheric windows.
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• Atmospheric windows are present
in the visible part (.4 μm - .76 μm)
and the infrared regions of the EM
spectrum.
• In the visible part transmission is
mainly effected by ozone
absorption and by molecular
scattering. The atmosphere is
transparent again beyond about
λ= 1mm, the region used for
microwave remote sensing.
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Refraction
The phenomenon of refraction, that is bending of
light at the contact between two media, also
occurs in the atmosphere as the light passes
through the atmospheric layers of varied clarity,
humidity and temperature.
These variations influence the density of
atmospheric layers, which in turn, causes the
bending of light rays as they pass from one layer
to another.
The most
common
phenomena are
the mirage.
Various kinds of mirages in one location
taken over the course of six minutes
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