Part I: Fundamentals (Sources of energy, Interactions between energy and atmosphere, Interactions between energy and surface).
Part II: Sistems (Multispectral and thermal scanners, Imaging spectrometers, Basic concepts of remote sensing image processing, Satellites and instruments operating in visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR) e thermal infra-red (TIR), LiDAR systems, Microwave remote sensing (active and passive)).
Parte III: Applications.
John A. Richards, Xiuping Jia, REMOTE SENSING DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS: AN INTRODUCTION, 4th Edition, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2006
Luciano Alparone, Bruno Aiazzi, Stefano Baronti, Andrea Garzelli, REMOTE SENSING IMAGE FUSION, CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, 2015
Learning Objectives
Goal of this course is providing knowledge of physics, systems and methodologies to address typical problems of environmental remote sensing and Earth observation, with emphasis on new and upcoming missions.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites of the course are basic knowledges of electromagnetisms, optoelectronics, and digital signal/image processing.
Teaching Methods
Class lectures with aid of slides
Further information
The slides of course and a selection of tutorial on specific subjects of systems and/or data processing are available to students.
Type of Assessment
A typology of instrument and related platform is firstly focused. The physical fundamentals of the instrument are examined. Then, a practical problem of general use is addressed and possible solution, in terms of both sensor and data processing, are discussed.
Course program
Part I: Fundamentals
Energy sources
Definition of remote sensing. Elements of a remote sensing system. Sources of energy and radiation principles. Electromagnetic spectrum. Black body laws. Emission spectra of Sun and Earth. Radiative balance of Earth. Interactions between energy and atmosphere. Constituents and structure of atmosphere. Scattering and absorption phenomena. Atmospheric windows. Interactions between energy and surface. Modality of interaction of energy with matter. Spectral reflectance of the different elements of Earth’s surface. Emissivity of bodies. Radiance temperature and kinetic temperature.
Part II: Systems
Multispectral and thermal scanners
Energy detected by sensors. Characteristics of multispectral sensors: “modulation transfer function” (MTF). Scan type. Spatial, radiometric and spectral resolution. Thermal infrared scanners. Radiometric calibration. Noise sources.
Imaging spectrometers
Characteristics of hyperspectral sensors. Frequency bands. Scan type. Spatial, radiometric and spectral resolution. Radiometric calibration. Atmospheric corrections.
Basic concepts of remote sensing image processing
Multiband image storage (BSQ, BIL and BIP). Geometric corrections. Removal of disturbances. Techniques for improving interpretation. Spatial filtering. Relationship between bands and vegetation indices. Classification principles.
Satellites and instruments operating in VIS, NIR and TIR
Geostationary and sun-synchronous satellites. Meteorological satellites (MeteoSat 1 – 3), and for terrestrial resources: Landsat 1 – 8, SPOT (1 - 5), Sentinel 2. EnviSat (MeRIS), Terra (ASTER). Very high spatial resolution (VHR) multispectral scanners: IKONOS, QuickBird, Geo-Eye, Pléiades, WorldView-2/3/4. Satellite hyperspectral sensors: (HYPERION-ALI, EnMap, PRISMA).
The LIDAR
Features and operating principles. Application examples.
Microwave remote sensing
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Operating principles Geometric characteristics of SAR images. Resolution in range and azimuth. Interpretation of SAR images. Missions and instruments: ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat (ASAR), TerraSAR-X/Tandem-X, COSMO-SkyMed. RasarSat (1-2-3). Notes on SAR interferometry. Passive microwave sensors (radiometers).
Part III: Applications
1) “Pansharpening” fusion between multispectral and panchromatic images
2) Processing and analysis of SAR images: “despeckling” and “change-detection”
3) Analysis of hyperspectral image data