Applications of Remote Sensing

• To determine the characteristics of an area.  Aerial photographs from aircraft and satellite are the most common form of remote sensing.
• a method of visualizing the radiative properties of the Earth's surface using instrumentation mounted in satellites or aircraft. Remote sensing instrumentation measures the radiation reflected and emitted from the earth at different wavelengths, primarily at those wavelengths not absorbed by the atmosphere. Remotely sensed data can be converted to maps showing the visible or thermal properties of an area.
• Used for gathering data on a large or landscape scale which do not involve on-the-ground measurement.
• Non-intrusive survey methods used to find archaeological sites; these may include aerial reconnaissance and geophysical techniques such as magnetometry, radar, resistivity, and conductivity.

• Vegetation
     - Mapping
     - Physiological State
• Soil/Rocks
     - Mineral Exploration
     - Land Subsidence
     - Acid Mine Drainage
• Manmade Structures
     - Change Detection
     - Pipelines

• Night-time Lights
• Particulate and Chemical Mapping

• Mapping of Aquatic Vegetation
• Oil Spill Detection-Radar
• Oil Spill Detection-Multispectral
• Paper Mill Effluent Mapping
• Coral Reef Mapping
• Ocean Color
• Nutrient Measurements
• Aquatic Sediment Load Mapping

• cameras on satellites and airplanes take pictures of large areas of the Earth's surface, allowing us to see much more than we can standing on the ground

• sonar systems on ships can be used to create images of the ocean floor without needing to travel to the bottom of the ocean

• cameras on satellites can be used to make pictures of temperature changes in the oceans - an impossibly long task if we had to travel all over the ocean in a boat!

Specific jobs that can be helped with remote sensing pictures:

• large forest fires can be mapped from space, allowing rangers to see a much larger area than from the ground

• tracking clouds to help predict the weather or watch erupting volcanos, and help watch for dust storms

• tracking the growth of a city and changes in farmland or forests over several years or even decades

• mapping the ocean bottom - mountains, volcanos, and canyons that are higher, bigger, and deeper than any on land exist on the ocean floor!
  

Some examples are: 

• cameras on satellites and airplanes take pictures of large areas of the Earth's surface , allowing us to see much more than we can standing on the ground

• sonar systems on ships can be used to create images of the ocean floor without needing to travel to the bottom of the ocean

• cameras on satellites can be used to make pictures of temperature changes in the oceans - an impossibly long task if we had to travel all over the ocean in a boat!

• large forest fires can be mapped from space, allowing rangers to see a much larger area than from the ground

• tracking clouds to help predict the weather or watch erupting volcanos , and help watch for duststorms

• tracking the growth of a city, and changes in farmland or forests over several years or even decades

• mapping the ocean bottom. Mountains, volcanos, and canyons that are higher, bigger, and deeper than any on land exist on the ocean floor!

pictures courtesy of:www.geo.unizh.ch & www.mcps.k12.md.us