1 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 man’s first synoptic view of the Earth’s weather systems.
The manned Gemini and Apollo Programs (1962-72) led to further consideration of space-age remote sensing for study of Earth.
The Earth Resources Technology Satellite, later designated Landsat, provided repetitive multispectral observation of the Earth.
Earth rising
2 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 the 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, narrow frequency bandwidth scanner systems in the visible through thermal-infrared spectral region, and initial use of active and passive microwave systems in Earth resources surveys.
A significant feature of EREP was the use of man to operate the sensors in a laboratory fashion.
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.
3 Landsat Missions
Landsat 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 - ) - MSS, TM (30m, 120m TIR) Landsat 5 (03/01/1984 - ) - MSS, TM (30m, 120m TIR)
Landsat 6 (10/05/1993): ETM
Landsat 7 (04/23/1999 - ) - ETM+ (30m, 60m TIR, 15m Pan)
Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) 2010 ....??????
RBV = Returned Beam Vidicon camera flown on Landsat 1-3 MSS = Multispectral Scanner (flown on Landsat 1-5) TM = Thematic Mapper (flown on Landsat 4-5) ETM+ = Enhanced Thematic Mapper (flown on Landsat 7)
August 17, 2007, The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released the National Land Imaging Program (NLIP) strategy.
This program is designed to meet U.S. civilian moderate resolution land imaging needs to monitor the changes in land surface, Polar Regions, and coastal zones due to the changes in population growth, development and climate changes. It establishes a program office in the DOI to provide focused leadership and management for the nation’s land imaging efforts.
NLIP will focus on maintaining a core, operational government commitment and capability to collect moderate-resolution land imagery through the procurement and launch of a series of U.S. owned satellites thereby ensuring the continuity of U.S. collected and managed Landsat-like data, well into future decades.
4 Spectral Cover of Band 1: 0.45-0.52µm (blue). Landsat Sensors Provide increased penetration of water bodies, as well as supporting analysis of land use, soil, and vegetation characteristics.
Band 2: 0.52-0.60µm (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: 0.63-0.69µm (red). This is the red chlorophyll absorption band of healthy green vegetation and represents one of the most important bands for vegetation discrimination.
• Band 4: 0.76-0.90µm (reflective infrared). This band is responsive to the Spectral Cover of amount of vegetation biomass present in Landsat Sensors the scene. It is useful for crop identification and emphasizes soil-crop and land-water contrasts. • Band 5: 1.55-1.75µm (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: 2.08-2.35µm (thermal infrared) This band measures the amount of infrared radiant flux emitted from surface. • Band 7: 2.08-2.35µm (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.
5 Comparison of Landsat Sensors
Thematic Mapper Enhanced Thematic Multispectral (TM) Landsat 4 and 5 Mapper Plus (ETM+) Scanner (MSS) Landsat 7 Landsat 1-5 Spectral 1. 0.45-0.52 (B) 1. 0.45-0.52 0.5-0.6 (green) Resolution 2. 0.52-0.60 (G) 2. 0.53-0.61 0.6-0.7 (red) (µm) 3. 0.63-0.69 (R) 3. 0.63-0.69 0.7-0.8 (NIR) 4. 0.76-0.90 (NIR) 4. 0.78-0.90 0.8-1.1 (NIR) 5. 1.55-1.75 (MIR) 5. 1.55-1.75 6. 2.08-2.35 (MIR) 6. 2.09-2.35 7. 10.4-12.5 (TIR) 7. 10.4-12.5 8. 0.52-0.90 (Pan) Spatial 30 x 30 15 x 15 (Pan) 79 x 79 Resolution 120 x 120 (TIR) 30 x 30 (meter) 60 x 60 (TIR) Temporal 16 16 18 Resolution (revisit in days) Spatial 185 x 185 183 x 170 185 x 185 coverage (km) Altitude (km) 705 705 915 (Landsat 1,2,3)
Landsat-7 ETM+ Data of Providence
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, 3, 2 in RGB Landsat-7 ETM+ Data (30 m), Bands 4, 5, 3 in RGB
6 Rhode Island: Path 12/Row 31
7 Landsat Ground Stations
8 Landsat Images of the World
https://zulu.ssc.nasa.gov/mrsid/mrsid.pl
1990/2000 Landsat coverage available.
9 Mangroves in the Niger River Delta: 1990 Landsat Image
Over 100 kilometers crisscrossing streams and rivers of the Kibasira Swamp
10 Stiegler’s Gorge section of the Rufiji River
Streams and rivers eroding the banks of the Rufiji river
11 12 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 µm) (250m - 2 bands, 500m - 5 bands, 1000m - 29 bands)
CERES: Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System MISR: Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer MOPITT: Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere.
Provisional Land Cover Product June 01
MODIS data from Jul 00– Jan 01
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13 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 sensors a 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.
14 Hyperspectral data Hyperion sensor on board the EO-1 Satellite
Spectral profile in a single pixel location from 0.4 to 2.5 µm at 10 nm interval for a continuous coverage over 220 bands
EO-1 launched November 21, 2000
EOS AM Constellation / Ground Tracks
15 SPOT satellites SPOT 5 was successfully launched on May 3, 2002
SPOT 4 - March 24, 1998
SPOT-4 VEGETATION SPOT 3 - Sept. 25, 1993
SPOT 2 - Jan. 22, 1990
SPOT 1 - Feb. 21, 1986
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.
16 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.
Launched: September 24, 1999
Ground resolution: 1 meter panchromatic (0.45-0.90 µm), 4 meters multispectral (same as Landsat TM bands 1 - 4) (Band 1: 0.45-0.52 µm Blue) (Band 2: 0.52-0.60 µm Green) (Band 3: 0.63-0.69 µm Red) (Band 4: 0.76-0.90 µm Near IR)
17 18 On October 19, 2001 DigitalGlobe launched the QuickBird satellite.
19 September 3, 2003 QuickBird Satellite Panchromatic Images (0.6-m Spatial Resolution)
Concepts of Spatial Resolution
September 3, 2003 QuickBird Satellite True-color and Pseudo-color Images 2.5-m Spatial Resolution
Concept of Multispectral Or spectral resolution
20 QuickBird-2 Satellite (Launched: Oct. 19, 2001) Spatial Resolutions: 0.61 meter panchromatic; 2.5 meters multispectral
EnhancedMultispectral Multispectral Image Panchromatic Image Image2.5 m (0.6 Spatial m Spatial Resolution 0.6 m Spatial Resolution Resolution)
Resolution Merge?
21 EnhancedEnhanced MultispectralMultispectral ImageImage (0.6(0.6 mm SpatialSpatial Resolution)Resolution)
QuickBird Enhanced Spatial Resolution True Color Orthophoto True Color Satellite Image (0.6 m) (0.5 m Spatial Resolution) (Band 3, 2, 1 in RGB) Comparable Spatial Resolution
22 QuickBird Enhanced Spatial Resolution True Color Orthophoto Pseudo Color Satellite Image (0.6 m) (0.5 m Spatial Resolution) (Band 4, 2, 1 in RGB) More Spectral Coverage
Comparison of Enhanced Spatial Resolution QuickBird Multispectral Image and True Color Orthophoto
23 DigitalGlobe WorldView I First Images (Houston and Yokohama)
WorldView I, launched September 2007, collects 0.5-meter resolution imagery with an average revisit time of 1.7 days.
WorldView II, is anticipated to launch in late 2008. 0.5-meter panchromatic resolution and 1.8- meter multispectral resolution, an average revisit time of 1 day.
GeoEye-1 0.4-meter Spatial Resolution Data (simulated) vs. 1-meter Data
24 GeoEye-1, a Google sponsored satellite, was successfully launched September 6, 2008.
October 13, 2008, GeoEye released its first image, awaiting NGA (National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the largest customer of GeoEye-1) approval.
GeoEye's next satellite, GeoEye-2, is in a phased development process for an advanced, third-generation satellite capable of discerning objects on the Earth’s surface as small as 0.25-meter (9.75 inch) in size.
The company expects to contract with a satellite builder in 2008 and launch the satellite approximately three years after work begins under that contract.
25 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), February 11-22, 2000, obtained the high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth
Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895 m)
Tanzania/ Kenya Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in GIS Coastal Zone
SeaWiFS October 2001
SeaWiFS October 1997
Credit line for all images: Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and ORBIMAGE
26 Landsat Images of the World
The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical applications. SeaWiFS was launched on August 1, 1997.
Instrument Bands Band Wavelength 1 402-422 nm 2 433-453 nm 3 480-500 nm 4 500-520 nm 5 545-565 nm 6 660-680 nm 7 745-785 nm 8 845-885 nm
Mission Characteristics Orbit Type Sun Synchronous at 705 km Equator Crossing Noon +20 min, descending Orbital Period 99 minutes Spatial Resolution 1.1 km LAC, 4.5 km GAC Revisit Time 1 day Digitization 10 bits
27 Examples Of SeaWiFS Images
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