Sensors

ImportantConcepts

Mostremotesensinginstruments(sensors)aredesignedtomeasurephotons.

Thefundamentalprincipleunderlyingsensoroperationcentersonwhathappensinacritical
component thedetector.

Thisistheconceptofthephotoelectriceffect (foundbyAlbertEinstein)

Thissaysthattherewillbeanemissionofnegativeparticles(electrons)whenanegatively
chargedplateofsomeappropriatelightsensitivematerialissubjectedtoabeamofphotons.

Theelectronscanthenbemadetoflowasacurrentfromtheplate,arecollected,andthen
countedasasignal.

Akeypoint:Themagnitudeoftheelectriccurrentproduced(numberofphotoelectronsperunit
time)isdirectlyproportionaltothelightintensity.

Thus,changesintheelectriccurrentcanbeusedtomeasurechangesinthephotons
(numbers; intensity)thatstriketheplate(detector)duringagiventimeinterval(integrationtime).

Thekineticenergyofthereleasedphotoelectronsvarieswithfrequency(orwavelength)ofthe
impingingradiation.

But,differentmaterialsundergophotoelectriceffectreleaseofelectronsoverdifferent
wavelengthintervals;eachhasathresholdwavelengthatwhichthephenomenonbeginsanda
longerwavelengthatwhichitceases.

Now,withthisprincipleestablishedasthebasisfortheoperationofmostremotesensors,letus
summarizeseveralmainideasastosensortypes(classification)intwodiagrams:

Ternarydiagramofthe
classesofsensors

Radiometer isageneraltermforanyinstrumentthat
quantitativelymeasurestheEMradiationinsome
intervaloftheEMspectrum.
Whentheradiationislightfromthenarrowspectral
bandincludingthevisible,thetermphotometer can
besubstituted.Ifthesensorincludesacomponent,
suchasaprismordiffractiongrating,thatcanbreak
radiationextendingoverapartofthespectruminto
discretewavelengthsanddisperse(orseparate)
thematdifferentanglestoanarrayofdetectors,itis
calledaspectrometer.
Thetermspectroradiometer isreservedforsensors
thatcollectthedispersedradiationinbands rather
thandiscretewavelengths.Mostair/spacesensors
arespectroradiometers.

Thisisafunctionaltreatmentofseveralclassesof
sensors,plottedasatrianglediagram,inwhichthe
cornermembersaredeterminedbytheprincipal
parametermeasured:Spectral;Spatial;Intensity.

SirIsaacNewtondiscoveredthat
whitelightcouldbedispersedinto
itsspectralcomponentsbypassing
itthroughaprism.

Thesecondcoversawider
arrayofsensortypes:

Classificationofsensors

Thetwobroadestclassesofsensors:

Passive (energyleadingtoradiationreceivedcomesfromanexternalsource,e.g.,
theSun);Passivesensorsoperateinthevisiblewaveband,thermalIRandmicrowave
domains.

Active (energygeneratedfromwithinthesensorsystem,beamedoutward,andthe
fractionreturnedismeasured).Activesensorsonsatellitealloperateinthe
microwave.

NotethatactivesensorsoperatinginthevisiblewavebandareknownasLIDAR.

Sensorscanbe:

Nonimaging (measurestheradiationreceivedfromallpointsinthesensedtarget,
integratesthis,andreportstheresultasanelectricalsignalstrengthorsomeother
quantitativeattribute,suchasradiance)

Imaging (theelectronsreleasedareusedtoexciteorionizeasubstancelikesilver
(Ag)infilmortodriveanimageproducingdevicelikeaTVorcomputermonitorora
cathoderaytubeoroscilloscopeorabatteryofelectronicdetectors);sincethe
radiationisrelatedtospecificpointsinthetarget,theendresultisanimageora
rasterdisplay.

Natureofspacebornesensorsandtheirapplicability
Passivesensors

Wavelength

Information

Visible/NearInfrared
wavelengthradiometers

400nm 1m

Solarradiationreflected
byocean/land

ThermalInfrared(TIR)
radiometers

about10m

Thermalemissionofthe
ocean/land

Microwaveradiometers

1.5 300mm

Thermalemissionofthe
ocean/landinthe
microwave

Altimeters

3 30GHz

Seasurfacetopography

Scatterometers

3 30GHz

Seasurfaceroughness

Syntheticapertureradars

3 30GHz

Sea/landsurface
roughnessandmovement

Activedevices

Visible/NearInfraredRemoteSensing

Theobservationmethodtoacquirevisiblelightandnearinfraredraysofsunlight
reflectedbyobjectsontheground.
Byexaminingthestrengthofreflection(atdifferentwavelengths),wecan
understandaconditionsoflandsurface,e.g.,distributionofplants,urbanareas,
rivers,seas.
Duringperiodofdarkness,Thismethodcannotmakeobservation.Also,clouds
blockthereflectedsunlight,sothismethodcannotobserveareasunder
clouds.

ThermalInfraredRemoteSensing

Theobservationmethodtoacquirethermalinfraredrays,whichisradiatedfrom
landsurfaceheatedbysunlight.Alsoitcanobservethehightemperatureareas,
suchasvolcanicactivitiesandfires.
Byexaminingthestrengthofradiation,wecanunderstandsurfacetemperatures
oflandandsea,andstatusofvolcanicactivitiesandforestfires.
Thismethodcanobserveatnightwhenthereisnocloud,butcannotmake
observationundercloudyconditions.

MicrowaveRemoteSensing
Microwavesensorsreceivemicrowaves,whichislongerwavelengththanvisible
lightandinfraredrays,andobservationisnotaffectedbyday,nightor
weather.
Therearetwotypesofobservationmethodsusingmicrowavesensor:activeand
passive.

Activetype
Thesensoraboardearthobservationsatelliteemitsmicrowavesand
observesmicrowavesreflectedbysea(orland)surface.Itissuitableto
observelandandseaareas
Passivetype
Thistypeobservesmicrowavesnaturallyradiatedfromlandsurface.Itis
suitabletoobserveseasurfacetemperature,snowaccumulation,thicknessof
ice.

**Microwavealtimeterandscatterometerarenonimagingtypesofsensorsthat
comeunderactivesensors.Theirobservationsarenotaffectedbyday,nightor
weather.

OceanSensorsandtheirapplicability

Schematicillustratingthedifferentremotesensingmethodsandclassesof
sensorsusedinoceanremotesensing,alongwiththeirpotentialapplications

Past,presentandnearfutureoceansatellitemissions

Past,presentandnearfutureoceansatellitemissionscontd

Past,presentandnearfutureoceansatellitemissionscontd

Past,presentandnearfutureoceansatellitemissionscontd

Past,presentandnearfutureoceansatellitemissionscontd

PresentStatus
SeriesofOperationalandR&Dsatellitesensorsforoceanographyhas
beenandwillbefunctioningmorethantenyears
Altimeter
Scatterometer
SSTsensor
Icesensor
Oceancolour Sensor

LandRemoteSensors

Bands with AVHRR

Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite Sensors

Sensor

Resolution SwathWidth
(m)
(km)

LinearImagingSelf
ScanningSystemI(LISSI)

72

148

LinearImagingSelf
ScanningSystemII(LISSII)

36

74

LinearImagingSelf
ScanningSystemIII(LISSIII)

HighResolutionLinear
ImagingSelfScanning
SystemIV(LISSIV)
WideFieldSensor(WiFS)
AdvancedWideField
Sensor(AWiFS)

23

142

50

148

70

5.8

24 70

188

774

5670

370740

Sensor
Channels
LISSI1
LISSI2
LISSI3
LISSI4
LISSII1
LISSII2
LISSII3
LISSII4
LISSIII2
LISSIII3
LISSIII4
LISSIII5
PAN
LISSIV2
LISSIV3
LISSIV4
WiFS1
WiFS2
AWiFS1
AWiFS2
AWiFS3
AWiFS4

SpectralBands(m)
0.450.52(blue)
0.520.59(green)
0.620.68(red)
0.770.86(nearIR)
0.450.52(blue)
0.520.59(green)
0.620.68(red)
0.770.86(nearIR)
0.520.59(green)
0.620.68(red)
0.770.86(nearIR)
1.551.70(midIR)
0.50.75
0.520.59(green)
0.620.68(red)
0.770.86(nearIR)
0.620.68(red)
0.770.86(near IR)
0.520.59(green)
0.620.68(red)
0.770.86(nearIR)
1.551.70(midIR)

Multi-angle Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MISR)
Onboard Terra

Hyperspectral sensors:
Airborne
hyperspectral
sensors:
1. AVIRIS
2. CASI
Satellite
hyperspectral
sensor:
Hyperion

IFOV and FOV

The IFOV and FOV can be calculated using trigonometry

(d is the detector size, f is the focal length).
The general unit of IFOV is milliradians
(10-3 radians).
1= 0.01745 radians = 17.45 milliradians
1 milliradian= 0.057

Thetermscanning canbeappliedbothto
movementoftheentiresensorforlight
gathering.
Twobroadcategoriesofmostscannersare
definedbytheterms"opticalmechanical"and
"opticalelectronic
(b)opticalmechanical containinganessential
mechanicalcomponent(e.g.,amovingmirror)
thatparticipatesinscanningthescene
TheCrossTrack modenormallyusesarotating
(spinning)oroscillatingmirror(makingthesensor
anopticalmechanicaldevice)tosweepthescene
alongalinetraversingtheground.Thisis
sometimesreferredtoastheWhiskbroom mode
fromthevisionofsweepingatablesidetosideby
asmallhandheldbroom.

(c)opticalelectronic havingthesensed
radiationmovedirectlythroughtheopticsonto
alinearortwodimensionalarrayofdetectors
(CCDs).
TheAlongTrack Scannerhasalineararrayof
detectorsorientednormaltoflightpath.TheIFOV
ofeachdetectorsweepsapathparallelwiththe
flightdirection.Thistypeofscanningisalso
referredtoaspushbroom scanning(fromthe
mentalimageofcleaningafloorwithawidebroom
throughsuccessiveforwardsweeps).

Characterization of optical sensors (visible, NIR and TIR)