Copyright, 1998-2013 © Qiming Zhou

GEOG3610 Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation

Remote Sensing ApplicationsRemote Sensing Applications

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Agriculture and forestryResource and environmentUrban and regional developmentOther applications

Remote Sensing Applications

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Agriculture and forestry

Agriculture Resource inventory Monitoring and prediction Management

Forestry Planning and management Environment protection and

management

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Agriculture resource inventoryLandsat TM colour infrared composite showing a marginal agriculture area in Fukang County of Xinjiang, western China. The agriculture and life rely on water supply so that a reliable irrigation system is fundamental for agriculture. Note the existing farmlands are clearly shown on the image. In between there are potential farmlands but currently suffered from lack of irrigation, salinity and sand shifting. The sand dunes are shown in the north with a clear boundary to the farmlands.

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Yield prediction

Cropped area The larger the cropped area, the higher

yield probabilityGrowth condition

temperature water pests control

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Cropped areaLandsat TM image acquired in spring 1998 showing the winter wheat crop land (green colour) in the North China Plain south of Beijing. The Beijing city is shown on the mid-top of the image (dark grey colour). Note during the early spring season, the winter wheat is almost the only green vegetation shown in the area.

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Growth conditions and prediction method

Use historical data over a number of growth seasons to calibrate model. Climate: temperature and rainfall Final harvest yield

Derive NDVI images at key periods of growth Derive relationships between NDVI images,

climatic conditions prior to and at image acquisition and the final yield.

Favourable climate and High NDVI will probably result in high yield.

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Growth conditions

Evaluation of reflectance in NIR will show the variation between healthy and stressed vegetation.

Comparison between vegetation indices acquired during critical growth period will reveal growth status of the crop.

B NIR

Reflectance

Stressed

Healthy

G R Band

Soil

t1

Climate condition

Time

t2

Harvest Yield

NDVI norm

NDVI season

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Precision farming

Precision agriculture is the customization of soil and crop management according to conditions found within fields.

At its core is variable rate technology (VRT), i.e. vary crop inputs according to the need fertilizer water

The key issue is to define the “need” ground sampling remotely sensing

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Reports for agriculture input for GIS models

Soil classificationCrop emergenceWeed pressurePest detectionNutrient problemsWater problemsOther anomaliesChange detection

Site specific crop managementVariable Rate Technology (VRT)

Maps:

YieldSoil propertiesPests

VRT

GPS

Remote sensing images

satellites

aeroplane

Use of remote sensing technology

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Low-altitude aircraft

Ultra-light aircraft, 2 seats, typical flight height: 100-500 metres

Remotely piloted aircraft, typical flight height: 30-100 metres

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Crop conditionsA low-altitude colour infrared airphoto acquired in May 1998 showing an agriculture winter wheat field. Note the variations of the crop growth condition due to the micro-relief, local soil varieties and minor differences in management (fertilising and irrigation).

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Soil conditionsA low-altitude colour infrared airphoto acquired in May 1998 showing an agriculture field with or without winter wheat crops. Note the variations of the soil condition, ploughed or not, also varied in moisture.

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Forestry

Planning and management Timber reserves Log planning

Environment protection and management Forest regeneration Wildlife protection and reserves

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Forest conditionIKONOS 4-m resolution colour infrared composite acquired on 12/10/99 showing the mountains and ski runs near Copper Mountain, Colorado. Note the clear-cut area and forest health difference that can be interpreted by the shade of red colour (the darker the healthier).(courtesy spaceimaging.com)

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Fire detectionThe Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) image shows the Clear Creek fire in Idaho of USA on the morning of 30 August 2000.(courtesy NASA)

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Evaluating fire damageIKONOS 4-m resolution colour infrared composite acquired on 14/6/00 showing the Hi Meadows fire in Jefferson and Park Counties, Colorado. Note the heavily burned areas (dark blue), the haze of smoke and areas not yet burned (red).(courtesy spaceimaging.com)

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Resource and environment

Resource inventory land resources (e.g. farmland) water resources mineral resources

Environment management rangeland management coastal zone management natural hazards and disasters

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Mineral explorationThe composite of Radarsat image and Total Field MAG. The image is produced by rasterising 500m line spacing GSC Survey to 200m pixel spacing and integrated with Radarsat image through IHS as:

Intensity: Radarsat SARHue: MAG Total FieldSaturation: DN=75 (constant)(courtesy Canadian Space Agency)

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Geological structureThe perspective view shows a proportion of the 1200km San Andreas Fault and was generated using data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which flew on NASA's Space Shuttle in February 2000, and an enhanced Landsat TM natural colour composite.(courtesy NASA)

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Low-altitude airphoto pair acquired in July 1997 showing distribution of shrub vegetation and soil erosion features in Fowlers Gap Station at western New South Wales, Australia. The height of the shrubs can be measured using digital photogrammetric methods so that the total volumes of vegetation and biomass can be modelled.

Rangeland vegetation resources

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Rangeland managementLandsat MSS image acquired on 15 December 1989 showing the rangeland environment around Pooncarie, western New South Wales, Australia. A series of ancient dry lakes are clearly shown with the most famous Lake Mango national park - a natural heritage of the world. Note the clear boundaries between properties indicating the management differences between land owners.

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Airborne multispectral images showing coastal zone features such as waves, sand bars, lagoon and landuse features. The image on the left is natural colour composite while the one on the right is the colour infrared composite.

(courtesy Mercator GIS and Environmental Corporation)

Coastal zone management

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Natural hazards and disasters

Airborne multispectral scanner images showing South Padre Island, Texas, USA. The "cuts" shown on the right image were created by Hurricane Bret and the imagery (acquired in September 1999) shows substantial coastal erosion when compared with the one taken in 1996 (left).

(courtesy Mercator GIS and Environmental Corporation)

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Flood

Classified Radarsat (C-band) image for mid-reach of Yangtze River flooded area (near the city of Wuhan) on 22/8/1998.

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Volcano activity Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) natural colour composite acquired on 13 February 2000 showing the active Kagoshima Volcano, Japan. There are many people living in close proximity to the volcano (top left) regardless the inconvenience of the high density of volcano ash and potential danger.(Courtesy USGS)

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Earthquake

In radar interferometry, two or more radar images are combined to give measurements of surface height and surface change, making it useful for the detection of earthquake centre. This can be seen on the right image showing 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan.

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Geologicalhazards

Zhou Qu landslide and mudflow (August 2010): high-resolution images were used to detect the change of land cover for the assessment of the damage.

- Courtesy of State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping,

China, and PanSpace

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Urban and regional development

Regional landuse change detectionUrban expansionLiving conditions and housing

standardsPlanning

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Regional development

TM image for Pearl River Delta, one of the most rapidly developed region in the world. Note the five international airports in a very closed proximity (A: Hong Kong, B: Shenzhen, C: Macau, D: Zhuhai and E: Guangzhou). How many more are there to be built?

A

B

C

D

E

311988 1998

Landsat TM images acquired in 1988 and 1998 showing the dramatic landuse change in Dongguan City at eastern Pearl River Delta. Note the industrial belt from Humen to Dongguan shown on the 1998 image did not exist at all on the image acquired 10 years ago.

Landuse and land cover change

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Urban planning

Airphotos showing urban area change in Hong Kong in the last 50 years. The up photo shows Central in 1945 and right photo shows Wanchai in 1999.

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Other applications

Weather forecastingGlobal studies: El Nino and La Nina

phenomenaMilitary interestAstronomic studies and exploration

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Weather forecasting

Cloud imagery is now the default part for TV weather report

Tropical cyclone (typhoon) warningSandstorm forecasting

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Tropical cyclone

Meteorological satellite image showing a tropical cyclone hitting Hong Kong.

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Sandstorm

Meteorological satellite image showing a sandstorm swiping North China on 22 March 2010.

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Sandstorm forecasting

17 March 2000 22 March 2000 27 March 2000

6 April 2000 8 April 2000 9 April 2000

Images showing the progress of the sandstorm over North China in spring 2000. The image acquired on 9 April was from Chinese Fengyun meteorological satellite. The rest were acquired from NOAA meteorological satellites.

(courtesy Institute of Remote Sensing Applications of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

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Global studies

OceanographyEl nino and La Nina phenomenaGlobal warmingThe global carbon circulation (CO and

CO2 emission)

Ozone layer monitoring

El Nino phenomenon shown by NOAA satellite image. Note the high temperature current along equator.

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Ocean temperature

The global ocean temperature distribution by NOAA satellites.(courtesy NOAA)

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Ocean current

CZCS image of the Gulf Stream and northeastern coast of the US. Several large Gulf Stream warm core rings are visible in this image.(courtesy daac.gsfc.nasa.gov)

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Changing global land surface

The carbon cycleEvapotranspiration and greenhouse

warmingPlants on the moveSnow and ice

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Global climatic change

GERES images showing the global short-wave (upper) and long-wave (lower) radiation, measuring the balance of solar energy received by the Earth and the energy reflected and emitted back into space. Understanding the energy balance of the Earth system is critical for assessing scientific models of climatic change.

(courtesy terra.nasa.gov)

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DeforestationLandsat image showing deforestation in the Amazon region, taken from the Brazilian state of Para on 15 July 1986. The dark areas are forest, the white is deforested areas, and the grey is re-growth. The pattern of deforestation spreading along roads is obvious (lower part of the image).(courtesy terra.nasa.gov)

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Snow and ice

These Landsat images, acquired 13 years apart, show the retreat of the Muir Glacier (A) in southeastern Alaska. Between 12 September 1973 (left image) and 6 September 1986 (right image), the Muir Glacier retreated to the northwest more than 7 km.

(courtesy terra.nasa.gov)

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Military interestA digital orthophoto quadrangle image showing a "parking yard" of B52 bombers located 17km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, USA. The image was acquired on 5 December 1994, while the most B52s retired from military service.(courtesy USGS)

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Target recognition

Airphotos showing objects of military interest. Above: pentagon building (US Department of Defence), Right: a battle ship (USS Intrepid) at New York City Harbour.(courtesy USGS)

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IKONOS 1-m resolution images showing downtown Grozny, Chechnya. The left image was acquired on 16 December 1999 and the right image was acquired on 16 March 2000. It is evident that several buildings surrounding Minutka Square (lower-right) have been severely damaged.

(courtesy spaceimaging.com)

Damage caused by war

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Military campaign assessment

Military spy satellite images showing the Heart Airfield, Afghanistan during the anti-terrorism strike by the U.S. military force in October 2001. The left is the pre-strike image and the left is the post-strike image. The damage on the parking aircraft is clearly shown on the post-strike image.

(courtesy sina.com.cn)

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Astronomic Studies and Exploration

Remote sensing technology does not only look down the earth, but also look out the universe. Right: surface of the moon; Top left: the Jupiter; Top: the Saturn.(courtesy spaceimaging.com)

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Summary

Remotely sensed data have been widely used in many fields of applications.

In early dates, because of the low resolution, remote sensing images were mostly used in environment and natural resource studies.

With the largely improved availability of high resolution data, the technology is now widely used in urban and regional applications, as well as management.

The technology will soon become an important part of daily life.