Learning From Paper: Using Printed

Satellite Images
 Persaingan teknologi satelit remote sensing
N

Mid-Res Land Imaging Satellites Hi-Res Land Imaging Satellites

Year
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Landsat 5 OPTICAL 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Landsat 7
LCDM US
EO-1 IKONOS-2 OPTICAL
MTI US
Res. M QuickBird-2
Resolution
RapidEye-A OrbView 3
RapidEye-B GERMANY
2--2.5
RapidEye-C WorldView
RapidEye-D 0.25 M
3--5 NextView
SPOT-2 FRANCE
6--6.6
SPOT-4 Israel 0.4 M
SPOT-5
EROS A1
7--9 EROS B1
IRS 1C INDIA 0.5 m
IRS 1D 10
ResourceSat-1 IRS TES India
Cartosat-1 12--15
ResourceSat-2 0.6 M

CBERS-1
CHINA & BRAZIL 20 Pleiades-1 France
CBERS-2 Pleiades-2 0.7 M
CBERS-3 30--32
CBERS-4
CHINA
36 Resurs DK-1 Russia 1.0 M
Ziyuan-ZY-2A
Ziyuan-ZY-2B
DMC China DMC KOMPSAT-2 Korea 1.8 M
Proba ESA
KOMPSAT-1 KOREA TAIWAN
RocSat2 RADAR
JAPAN
ALOS Germany
TerraSAR X
DMC AlSat-1 ALGERIA
TerraSAR L
DMC NIGERIA
DMC BilSat TURKEY
DMC UK UK
DMC VinSat-1 VIETNAM
COSMO-Skymed-1 Italy
TopSat UK COSMO-Skymed-2
DMC ThaiPhat THAILAND
COSMO-Skymed-3
RADAR COSMO-Skymed-4
ERS-2 ESA
ENVISAT
RadarSat 1 India
RadarSat 2 CANADA Ridsat
ALOS JAPAN
 Overview
 Remote sensing overview
 Value and limitations of working with
paper images
 Visual interpretation methods
 Hands-on image exploration and
interpretation
 Discussion of applications where
printed images can be used
effectively
 Wrap-up
 How can satellite images help
conservation practitioners?

 Observe: land cover, boundaries, threats,

damage, topography (Geology)…
 Monitor: change in forest cover, range condition,
land use…
 Classify: into vegetation and land use
categories, habitats…
 Measure: areas, distances, height/elevation…
 Detect: fires, resource use violations…
 Highlights of Earth Remote Sensing

 Before 1972 - primarily aerial and

satellite photographs
 1972 - First Landsat satellite launched
 1978 - SPOT satellite launched
 1988 - Indian Remote Sensing Satellite
launched
 1995 - Radarsat launched
 1999 - IKONOS satellite launched and
NASA launched Terra satellite
 Today many new satellite and airborne
instruments are being developed and
launched
An image is made up of individual elements called pixels
that are arranged in a grid of rows and columns.
The sensor acquires several images (bands) at once, each
recording a specific color or range of colors. When viewed,
each individual band looks like a black and white
photograph

Landsat band 2 - (wavelength range = 0.52-0.60 µm = blue light)

For each band the intensity of energy for a specific
range of wavelengths (colors) is measured

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Source: http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/education/reference/reflect/ir.html
Spectral signatures
RGB Band Composite
 Pixel color and brightness is
determined by the pixel value
 Certain bands or band combinations are better than others for identifying
specific land cover features.

Landsat TM Red= band 3, Green = Landsat TM Red= band 4, Green =

band 2, Blue = band 1 band 5, Blue = band 4
Landsat ETM+ band 1 (0.45-0.52 µm, blue-green)

 Penetrates water better

than the other bands so it
is often the band of
choice for aquatic
ecosystems
 Used to monitor sediment
in water, mapping coral
reefs, and water depth
 The “noisiest” of the
Landsat bands since short
wavelength blue light is
scattered more than the
other bands
 Rarely used for "pretty
picture" type images
 Landsat ETM+ band 2 (0.52-0.60 µm, green)

 Similar qualities to band 1

but not as noisy.
 Matches the wavelength
for the color green.
 Landsat ETM+ band 3 (0.63-0.69 µm, red)

 Since vegetation absorbs

nearly all red light (it is
sometimes called the
chlorophyll absorption
band) this band can be
useful for distinguishing
between vegetation and
soil and in monitoring
vegetation health
Landsat ETM+ band 4 (0.76-0.90 µm, near infrared)

 Since water absorbs

nearly all light at this
wavelength water bodies
appear very dark. This
contrasts with bright
reflectance for soil and
vegetation so it is a good
band for defining the
water/land interface
 Sensitive to vegetation
cover
 Less affected by
atmospheric
contamination
Landsat ETM+ band 5 (1.55-1.75 µm, mid-infrared)

 Very sensitive to
moisture and is
therefore used to
monitor vegetation
water stress and soil
moisture.
 Useful to differentiate
between clouds and
snow
Landsat ETM+ band 6 (10.40-12.50 µm, thermal infrared)

 Measures surface
temperature.
 Geological applications
 Differentiate clouds from
bright soils since clouds
tend to be very cold
 The resolution is twice as
course as the other bands
(60 m instead of 30 m)
Landsat ETM+ band 7 (2.08-2.35 µm mid-infrared)

 Can detect high surface

temperatures
 Also used for vegetation
moisture although
generally band 5 is
generally preferred for
that application
 Commonly used in
geology
Landsat ETM+ bands 3,2,1 – Landsat ETM+ bands 4,3,2 –
Penetrates shallow water and Peak chlorophyll, land/water
shows submerged shelf, water boundary, urban areas
turbidity
Landsat ETM+ bands 4,5,3 – Landsat ETM+ bands 7,4,2 –
Land/water boundary, Moisture content in vegetation
Vegetation type and condition, and soils, geological mapping,
soil moisture vegetation mapping
MODIS (500m) – Composited using imagery
acquired from June – September 2001
Landsat ETM+ (30m) - 2 April 2002
ASTER (15m) - 8 November 2003
CORONA (5m) – 4 March 1967
IKONOS (1m) – 29 April 2002
IKONOS zoomed
Advantages of using paper imagery

 No need for a computer or fancy

equipment
 Inexpensive to create
 Very portable and easy to carry in the field
 Easy to show other people and often a
more effective communication tool
 Looks nice on the wall
Limitations of using paper imagery

 Ancillary data obscures image data

 Not possible to zoom into the image
 Not possible to change the image
enhancement
 Can not easily overlay other data layers
 Generally more difficult to locate oneself
on the image since GPS tracking is not
possible
 LANDSAT
• First started by NASA in
1972 but later turned over
to NOAA
• Since 1984 satellite
operation and data
handling are managed by a
commercial company
EOSAT
•LANDSAT-7 launched in
1999; developed scan line
error in 2003
• Only 5 is still working; Source: http://www.sci-ctr.edu.sg/ssc/publication/remotesense/landsat.htm

outdated
 Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT
•LANDSAT 4 and 5 had two types of sensors,
MSS (multi-spectral scanner) and TM (thematic
mapper):
•MSS:Started on LANDSAT 1, terminated in late
1992. 80 m resolution with four spectral bands
from the visible green to the near-infrared (IR)
wavelengths. Only Landsat 3’s MSS sensor had
a fifth band in the thermal-IR.
 LANDSAT Thematic Mapper
• Spatial and spectral resolution
• Radiometric resolution: 8 bits (256 DNs)
• Temporal resolution: 16 days.

* Mid infra red

 LANDSAT TM
•An example:August 14, 1999 (left) and October 17, 1999
(right) images of the Salt Lake City area
• Differences in color due to growing season
 LANDSAT 7
•Uses a new sensor called
Enhanced Thematic
Mapper Plus (ETM+)
•Stressed continuity with
LANDSAT 4 and 5 in that
uses similar orbit and
repeat patterns, as well as
a similar 185 km swath
width for imaging
Source:
http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/IAS/handbook/handbook_htmls/chapter2/chapter2.html

•Check out the movie

 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus
• Characteristics of ETM+: Band wavelength
spectrums are slightly different from LANDSAT 5 TM

LANDSAT-7 ETM+ BAND CHARACTERISTICS

Nominal Ground
Band Spectral Range Data Lines Data Line
spectrum Resolution
Number (µ) Per Scan Length (bytes)
(m)
1 Blue .450 to .515 30 16 6,600
2 green .525 to .605 30 16 6,600
3 red .630 to .690 30 16 6,600
4 Near IR .775 to .900 30 16 6,600
5 mid IR 1.550 to 1.750 30 16 6,600
6 Thermal IR 10.40 to 12.50 60 8 3,300
7 mid IR 2.090 to 2.35 30 16 6,600
8 panchromatic .520 to .900 15 32 13,200
 Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT TM: applications

Band Nominal Spectral applications
location
1 Blue Water body penetration, soil-water discrimination,
forest type mapping, cultural feature ID
2 Green Green reflectance peak of veg, for veg ID and
assessment of vigor, cultural feature ID
3 Red Chlorophyll absorption region, plant species
differentiation, cultural feature ID
4 Near infra red Veg types, vigor and biomass content, dilineating water
bodies, soil moisture assessment
5 mid infra red (1.55- Veg moisture, soil moisture, diff of soil from clouds
1.75 mm)
6 Thermal infra red Veg stress analysis, soil moisture, thermal mapping

7 mid infra red(2.08- Discriminating mineral and rock types, veg moisture
2.35 mm)
 Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT
•Its repeat cycle is about 16 days and always
crosses equator at around 10 AM.
•Orbit takes about 99 minutes (14.5 per day)
•Distance between ground tracks of consecutive
orbits is 2752 km at equator because of the
earth’s rotation
•By following earth’s rotation with each pass, it
can keep crossing the equator at the same time
 LANDSAT
•Swath is 183 km
wide, although that
includes overlap,
since data frame is
170 km
•233 orbits, for
each 16-day cycle

Source: http://eosims.cr.usgs.gov:5725/DATASET_DOCS/landsat7_dataset.html
 LANDSAT
•Scenes are then indexed by the path and a
row

Source: http://eosims.cr.usgs.gov:5725/DATASET_DOCS/landsat7_dataset.html
 LANDSAT 7
• LANDSAT 7 has an excellent mission coverage archive

Source:
http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/IAS/handbook/handbook_htmls/chapter6/chapter6.html
 LANDSAT Products
•All data older than 2 years return to "public domain" and are
distributed by the Earth Resource Observation System (EROS)
Data Center of the US Geological Survey
•Available at
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/products/satellite/landsat7.html

•The LANDSAT Reference system catalogues the world into

57,784 scenes, each 115 miles (183 kilometers) wide by 106
miles (170 kilometers) long.
 LANDSAT Imagery
• Composite of Red, Green and Blue. Shows manmade features as well as
densely forested areas and agricultural lands.
 LANDSAT Imagery
• Composite of NIR, Red and Green. Shows manmade features as well as
densely forested areas and agricultural lands.

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
 LANDSAT Imagery
• Composite of shortwave infrared, Near-Infrared and Red. Shows manmade
features as well as densely forested areas and agricultural lands

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT Imagery

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
 Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT Imagery
Composite of shortwave infrared, Near-Infrared and Red. Shows manmade
features as well as densely forested areas and agricultural lands

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
 Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT Imagery
Same bands: shows wetlands, urban, open water, forest

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
 Introduction to GIS

LANDSAT Imagery
Same bands: light yellow-green color represents northern hardwood forest.
The dark green patches represent various conifer species

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
 SPOT
•Launched by France
• Stands for Satellite Pour
l'Observation de la Terre
•Operated by the French Space
Agency, Centre National
d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).
 SPOT
• SPOT 1 launched 1986, decommissioned and the
reactivated in 1997
• SPOT 2 launched 1990, still going
• SPOT 3 launched 1993 and stopped functioning
1996
• SPOT 4 launched in 1998, still going
• SPOT 5 launched in 2002
 SPOT
• Each SPOT satellite carries two
HRV (high-resolution visible)
sensors, constructed with
multilinear array detectors, or
“pushbroom scanners”
• These record multispectral
image data along a wide swath

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
Source: http://www.sci-ctr.edu.sg/ssc/publication/remotesense/spot.htm
© 2007
 SPOT
• The position of each HRV unit
can be changed by ground control
to observe a region of interest
that is at an oblique angle to the
satellite—up to ±27º relative to
the vertical.
• Off-nadir viewing allows for
acquisition of stereoscopic
imagery (because of the parallax
created) and provides a shorter
revisit interval of 1 to 3 days. Source: http://www.sci-ctr.edu.sg/ssc/publication/remotesense/spot.htm
 SPOT
• Oblique viewing capacity
– Greatly improve the viewing frequency (temporal
resolution): allows it to image any area within a
900 kilometer swath; can be used to increase the
viewing frequency for a given point during a given
cycle. For a given location, the interval ranges from
a maximum of 4 days to a minimum of 1 day.
– Any point on 95% of the earth may be imaged
any day by one of the three satellites.
Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
Source:http://www.spot.com/home/system/introsat/acquisi/welcome.ht
m
except where noted
© 2007
 SPOT
• Two modes: panchromatic and multispectral

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
Source: © 2007
http://www.spotimage.fr/html/_167_224_555_233_.php
 SPOT
•Some examples: mosaic false color tiles of Australia

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
SPOT

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
© 2007
 IKONOS
• Developed by Space Imaging, launched
1999
• Has sun-synchronous orbit and crosses
equator at 10:30 AM
• Highly maneuverable: can point at a new
target and stabilize itself in seconds,
enabling it to follow meandering features
• The entire spacecraft moves, not just the
sensors
 IKONOS
• Can collect data at angles of up to 45°from
the along track and across track axes: allows for
side by side and fore and aft stereoscopic imaging
• At its nadir it has 11 km swath width
• 11 km by 11 km image size, but user specified
strips and mosaics can be ordered
• Employs a linear array scanner
 IKONOS
• Resolutions
– Panchromatic band (.45 to .90 mm) at 1 m spatial
resolution.
– Four multispectral bands at 4 m spatial resolution.

• Blue (.45 to .52 mm) green (.51 to .60 mm) , red (.63 to .70
mm), near IR (.76 to .85 mm)

– Radiometric resolution: 11 bits, or 2048 values.

– Temporal: Ground track repeats every 11 days.
–For a gallery of images, see:
http://www.satimagingcorp.com/gallery-ikonos.html
 IKONOS data
• Here is 1m IKONOS view of suburbs, near winter Olympics

Source:
spaceimaging.com
 IKONOS data
•1m IKONOS view of Dubai

Source: spaceimaging.com
 IKONOS data
•1m IKONOS pan image of Rome

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
Source: © 2007
 IKONOS data
•1m image of “Survivor” camp in Africa

Materials by Austin
Troy and Weiqi Zhou
except where noted
Source: © 2007
 Some other satellite platforms

 Quickbird
 IRS system: from India
 ERS: European remote sensing satellite
 Aster: a USGS sensor flying on Terra
Satellite
 AVHRR: radar
 ASTER DEM & Draped Image

Bands 1,2,3 Composite ASTER DEM ASTER DEM with Contours

Oblique View of Band 1,2,3

composite draped over DEM

John Berry Assocs.

5000 Beverly Hills Dr.
AUSTIN, TX 78731
+1- 512 - 452 - 8068
[email protected]
Comparison of ASTER Bands (bottom) with TM bands
(top). Note multiple narrow ASTER bands where TM
has one broad band in SWIR and TIR.
 Bands 7,3,1, ASTER Composite

Khoy Area: 7-3-1 ASTER composite compared to

Geological Map. Note the greater amount of detail on the
image in the Ultramafics at lower left
3 NW-trending
Nappes
Tectonic Ultramafi
Mélanges c Rocks

Basalts

Khoy
Left: 7,3,1 Composite. Red Box outlines area of next 2
slides. Blue Box outlines the slide after that
Right: 4/7-3/4-2/1 Abram Band Ratio Composite
KHOY, IRAN: 7-3-1 Composite, showing
Tectonic Windows and Related Folds
KHOY, IRAN:

ASTER Band Ratios, showing

Tectonic winows and related Folds
 OIB

Band Ratio 4/7-3/4-2/1

composite distinguishes
Ocean Island Basalt (OIB)
from mid-Ocean Ridge E-MORB
(MORB) Basalt