Introduction***f you have heard the term "remote sensing" before you may have

asked, "what does it mean?" It's a rather simple, familiar activity that we all do as
a matter of daily life, but that gets complicated when we increase the scale at
which we observe. As you view the screen of your computer monitor, you are
actively engaged in remote sensing.

A physical quantity (light) emanates from that screen, whose imaging electronics
provides a source of radiation. The radiated light passes over a distance, and
thus is "remote" to some extent, until it encounters and is captured by a sensor
(your eyes). Each eye sends a signal to a processor (your brain) which records
the data and interprets this into information.

History of satellites in remote sensing***; In its early stages remote sensing was done
with help of aerial photography but it was just limited to height of 600m above earth but
with advent of space age a whole new dimension was given to itThe first non-photo
sensors were television cameras mounted on unmanned spacecraft and were
devoted mainly to looking at clouds. The first U.S. meteorological satellite,
TIROS-1, launched by an Atlas rocket into orbit on April 1, 1960, looked similar to
this later TIROS vehicle.
While Corona was the 1st manned remote sensing satellite which achieved its mission
success in August 18, 1960.Even India has made its mark in this field Indian Remote
Sensing (IRS) satellite system was commissioned with the launch of IRS-1A, in 1988.
With nine satellites in operation, IRS is the largest civilian remote sensing satellite
constellation in the world providing imageries in a variety of spatial resolutions, spectral
bands and swaths. The data is used for several applications covering agriculture, water
resources, urban development, mineral prospecting, environment, forestry, drought and
flood forecasting, ocean resources and disaster management .CARTOSAT -2 being its
recent achievement

How does it work***A-energy soure

A-energy source

B-sunrays ,atmosphere

C-SUNRAYS AND OBJECTS ON EARTH

D-recording energy by sensor

E-transmission ,reception and processing

F-interpretation and analysis

G - application

Satellites in remote sensing***

In spaceborne remote sensing, sensors are mounted on-board a spacecraft (space shuttle
or satellite) orbiting the earth. At present, there are several remote sensing satellites
providing imagery for research and operational applications. Spaceborne remote sensing
provides the following advantages:

• Large area coverage;

• Frequent and repetitive coverage of an area of interest;
 • Quantitative measurement of ground features using radiometrically
calibrated sensors;
• Semiautomated computerised processing and analysis;
• Relatively lower cost per unit area of coverage.

Satellite imagery has a generally lower resolution compared to aerial photography.

However, very high resolution imagery (up to 1-m resolution) is now commercially
available to civilian users with the successful launch of the IKONOS-2 satellite in
September 24, 1999.

Satellite Orbits
A satellite follows a generally elliptical orbit around the earth. The time taken to
complete one revolution of the orbit is called the orbital period. The satellite traces out a
path on the earth surface, called its ground track, as it moves across the sky. As the earth
below is rotating, the satellite traces out a different path on the ground in each subsequent
cycle. Remote sensing satellites are often launched into special orbits such that the
satellite repeats its path after a fixed time interval. This time interval is called the repeat
cycle of the satellite.

Geostationary Orbits

Geostationary Orbit: The satellite appears stationary with respect to the Earth's surface.

If a satellite follows an orbit parallel to the equator in the same direction as the earth's
rotation and with the same period of 24 hours, the satellite will appear stationary with
respect to the earth surface. This orbit is a geostationary orbit. Satellites in the
geostationary orbits are located at a high altitude of 36,000 km. These orbits enable a
satellite to always view the same area on the earth. A large area of the earth can also be
covered by the satellite. The geostationary orbits are commonly used by meteorological
satellites.

Near Polar Orbits

A near polar orbit is one with the orbital plane inclined at a small angle with respect to
the earth's rotation axis. A satellite following a properly designed near polar orbit passes
close to the poles and is able to cover nearly the whole earth surface in a repeat cycle.

Sun Synchronous Orbits

A near-polar sun synchronous orbit

Earth observation satellites usually follow the sun synchronousorbits. A sun synchronous
orbit is a nearpolar orbit whose altitude is such that the satellite will alwayspass over a
location at a given latitude at the same local solartime. In this way, the same
solarillumination condition (except for seasonal variation) can be achieved for the images
of a given location taken by the satellite.

Map making***Throughout most of history the only tools that map makers had to help
them understand and portray the shape of the Earth and its continents were the map
maker’s writing implements, and their own two legs. It is truly amazing how accurate
maps were considering their limited technology. However, maps could vary greatly
depending on who created them. Which map makers map was more accurate? It was
impossible to know. In recent decades technologies have improved dramatically. These
technologies allow cartographers, or map makers to use remote sensing to measure the
Earth, and create precise maps.
Remote sensing is any technology that can be used to create maps, without having to
physically touch the territory being described. These remote sensing technologies are
often deployed from satellite. Geographers use a variety of maps, photographs and Earth
scans to help them study and better understand our small blue planet. Because of the
many modern technologies available today, geographers are able to depict the Earth more
accurately than has ever been possible before. By using both technology and hands on
exploration and field study a clear picture of the world we live in begins to emerge.

Hydrological Modeling

GIS hydrological models can provide a spatial element that other hydrological models
lack, with the analysis of variables such as slope, aspect and watershed or catchment area.
[24]
Terrain analysis is fundamental to hydrology, since water always flows down a slope.
[24]
As basic terrain analysis of a DEM involves calculation of slope and aspect, DEMs are
very useful for hydrological analysis. Slope and aspect can then be used to determine
direction of surface runoff, and hence flow accumulation for the formation of streams,
rivers and lakes. Areas of divergent flow can also give a clear indication of the
boundaries of a catchment. Once a flow direction and accumulation matrix has been
created, queries can be performed that show contributing or dispersal areas at a certain
point.[24] More detail can be added to the model, such as terrain roughness, vegetation
types and soil types, which can influence infiltration and evapotranspiration rates, and
hence influencing surface flow. These extra layers of detail ensures a more accurate
model.

CARTOGRAPHIC MODELING

The term "cartographic modeling" was (probably) coined by Dana Tomlin in his PhD
dissertation and later in his book which has the term in the title. Cartographic modeling
refers to a process where several thematic layers of the same area are produced,
processed, and analyzed. Tomlin used raster layers, but the overlay method (see below)
can be used more generally. Operations on map layers can be combined into algorithms,
and eventually into simulation or optimization models.
Flora fauna detection***Infrared Sensing

As illustrated by this diagram, the human eye can only see a small portion of the light or
electromagnetic spectrum. The colors we see are those that we commonly associate with
a rainbow. As the wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum becomes too high, or too
low, it becomes invisible to the human eye.

Infrared sensing provides many advantages. Using infrared sensing cartographers can
detect the temperatures of different objects on the ground. This can help when mapping
living objects, such as plant and animal distribution. Living organisms generate heat,
while dead objects generally do not. For this reason infrared sensing is commonly used
when studying crops, and the health of different habitats.
Disaster Management
The use of remote sensing and GIS has become an integrated, well developed and successful
tool in disaster management, as we are having our own earth observation programs, and the
requirement for hazard mitigation and monitoring rank high in the planning of new satellites. A
very powerful tool in combination of these different types of data is GIS. It is defined as a
"powerful set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming and displaying spatial
data from a real world for a particular set of purpose". GIS allows the combination of different
kinds of data using models. GIS allows for the combination of the different kinds of spatial data,
with non-spatial data, attribute data and use them as useful information in the various stages of
disaster management.

A complete strategy for disaster management is require to effectively reduce the impact of natural
disaster, which is as referred to as disaster management cycle. Disaster management consists of
two phases that takes place before disaster occurs, disaster prevention and disaster
preparedness, a three phases that happens after the occurrence of a disaster i.e. disaster relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction. In disaster prevention phase, GIS is used to manage the large
volume of data needed for the hazard and risk assessment. In disaster preparedness phase it is a
tool for the planning of evacuation routes, for the design of centers for emergency operations, and
for integration of satellite data with other relevant data in the design of disaster warning systems.
In the disaster relief phase, GIS is extremely useful in combination with Global Positioning
System in search and rescue operations in areas that have been devastated and where it is
difficult to orientate. In the disaster rehabilitation phase GIS is used to organise the damage
information and the post-disaster census information, and in the evaluation of sites for
reconstruction. Hence, GIS is the useful tool in disaster management if it is used effectively and
efficiently (Pearson et al., 1991).

Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) under National Remote Sensing Centre,
Department of Space, Govt. of India is a premier training and educational institute set up for
developing trained professional in the field of Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics and GPS
Technology for Natural Resources, Environmental and Disaster Management.