The Forms of Remote Sensing - Research Paper Example

? Remote sensing techniques al Affiliation: Introduction Remote sensing refers to the process of acquiring information about a phenomenon or an object without making contact physically with the object. In the contemporary society, this is generally a process meant for detecting and classifying objects through the use of aerial sensor methodologies of technology. The objects to be detected and classified in this case, include those that are on the surface of the earth, in the oceans and other water bodies and those that are within the atmosphere. There are signals that are used specifically for this process referred to as propagated signals. There are two major forms of remote sensing. They are: Passive remote sensing. Active remote sensing. Passive remote sensing involves detection of natural radiation that is reflected or emitted by the surrounding areas or the object. Passive remote sensors’ examples are radiometers and film photography. Active remote sensing on the other hand, involves a process of emitting energy that is to be used in scanning objects where a sensor detects and takes the measure of the radiation reflected from the target the examples of this active sensor collection are LiDAR and RADAR. Geography refers to the science that learns more about land, features, inhabitants and generally the phenomena of the globe. Remote sensing in geography therefore, refers to the process of gathering information about a place including the features in it, without necessarily visiting the place in person. This collection technique is done from a distance. In this equipment that is used for gathering information are mainly the cameras which can be based on aircrafts, satellites or on the ground. In the modern society, information obtained is stored up and manipulated in computers. Computers work with software therefore, the software used in remote sensing is ESRI, ERMapper, MapInfo and ERDAS Imagine. Remote sensing is a procedure which must follow certain steps. The steps involved in this process are: A supply of electromagnetic rays. Conduction of energy from the resource to the earth’s surface through the atmosphere Contact of EMR with the surface of the earth. Conduction of power from surface to Remote Sensor build up on a display place, through the atmosphere. Detection of power by the sensor. Conduction of sensor information to ground location Processing and scrutiny of the sensor information Final information output for a range of applications Remote sensing in geography started way back in the year 1858 where photographs were taken aerially from a hot air balloon. This was initiated by Tournachon Gaspard-Felix where he took photographs of Paris. Since then, remote sensing has developed and an example where it was performed after the initiation was in the United States of America. It was undertaken during the civil war where kites, unmanned balloons and messenger pigeons containing cameras were flown over areas where the enemies dwelled. This essay will specifically discuss about remote sensing in geography. This means that information contained therein will be on processes used to gather information on phenomenon and various features of the earth. In the modern society, remote sensing has become part of daily activities as it is highly used to gather information on geographical trends. Most of the organizations in the contemporary society take the initiative to learn more about geographical trends and get to know more about the environment generally. For these organizations to make effective research and gather enough information on phenomena, they have to use lots of cash on this field. This is one among many fields that is considered to be important in current years. The reasons as to why this field is considered important include: 1. Many individuals especially, students, researchers and other common citizens have developed interest in learning more about the environment. In this case, talking about the environment refers to the geographical space around the individuals in question and the activities that take place around those areas. This gives a clear impression that since the remote sensing process is undertaken everyday because research on the environment is undertaken n daily basis by different individuals. The facilities required should therefore be available on daily basis for the researchers and other personnel to undertake effective research. This is the reason why high amounts of money are used in purchasing the equipment to be used. 2. Development in complicated space technology with the declining expenses of computer software and hardware has made remote sensing to many individuals in the society. The fact that there has been development in technological space that can provide spatial data makes it easier for those carrying out the research to access information faster. The costs of computer hardware and software on the other hand, have made it possible for many individuals to have access to information on the environment as they are able to afford the facilities required. The increasing number of users has in turn increased the amount of money being used in this field. Mohamad is one of the researchers who have made efforts to know more about the environment. In his article he talks of the process in which satellite segmentations can be improved using evolutionary computation. With the current situation where many people are interested in knowing more about the environment, individuals are finding ways in which they can improve on the facilities required in gathering information. Here Mohamad is undertaking a study on how satellite segmentations can be improved. He states that segmentation refers to the division of disjoint regions (Mohamad, 2013). It is an important duty as the success of the object recognition depends on the efficiency of the process of segmentation. He therefore intends to find out how the best segmentation process can be undertaken so that researchers, students and individuals who are willing to gather information on the environment may have an ample time while doing their research. This is one of the modern methods on advancements used to develop facilities required for research activities especially remote sensing implementation. The use remote sensing techniques have changed with time comparing the techniques that were used in the past to those that are applied in the recent years. Taking a look at the old days, there were no facilities such as the computers. Today the computers are widely used in gathering information on the environment. This denotes that there has been a change of methodologies used in gathering information. Vierling in his article explains hoe the LiDAR assessment method is implemented. He points out that the Sagebrush-steppe ecological units in the United States of America are experiencing functional and structural changes. In this case, effective technological measures have to be implemented in order to understand these changes clearly. The capacity of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been tested in order to enable the researchers to have perfect determination of the structural information of each and every shrub. The current airborne systems of LiDAR are known to have constraints technologically. This is the reason why this group of researchers has decided to use the TLD data as it does not limit its utility in areas where there are many shrubs compared to LiDAR (Vierling, 2012). This is one method of data collection that was not used in the past because these facilities used were not present then. Chen is another researcher who has gathered information on how geographical information can be gathered in the modern society. There have been lots of changes in methodologies implemented in gathering information on the environment. In this case, Chen gives an illustration on the interpretation of the use of urban land from solitary high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image. This methodology involves two steps. These steps are urban degree demarcation and urban terrain use mapping. In the first step, two common classes which are the urban and the rural are mapped with the use of an existing approach that involves scrutiny of tarnish features and intensity facts. In the second step, more comprehensive urban use of land categorization is undertaken on the basis of scrutiny of sectional radar backscatter models in terms of density of: bright features, dark linear characters and urban contextual facts. Density scrutiny conducted in this case is carried out in there levels. These levels are individual building which involves the roads, urban block and suburban money-making which is an industrial process. Building size, density and the distance between constructions and parking spaces are contextual information (Chen, 2012). This SAR implementation is an approach used in the modern society as it was not I the past. This is because the equipment used for this type of analysis had not been developed in the past meaning there was no way in which it could be implemented. In order to make changes on land so as to improve on things that need to be worked on, Townshend provides information on how these changes can be made in the contemporary society. It is easy to make changes enabling individuals to make developments in various aspects of land. This is after research is done information has been gathered and after it has been analyzed. Changes cannot be made without knowing which specific areas require to be transformed. After research, this is where the issues that affect the environment in a negative what can be worked on. In places where there are many problems faced under the issue of land, researchers usually devote their time to seek information on the affected areas so as to know which steps to take in order to make positive changes. In the modern society it is easy to note the problems faced environmentally as there has been development of various equipment used to carry out research. Looking at the old days where there were no equipment used for fast retrieval of information, it took time for researchers to have full information required in order to know what challenges faced these regions. It is therefore clear that with the development of these equipment, these undertakings have been made easier and effective enough to find solutions to environmental problems. (Townshend, 1988) Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that problems related to the environment in the past were solved after struggling so much to have information required for analysis. This gives a clear impression that it was not easy for early researchers to carry out their undertakings effective enough. In the modern society, things have changed a lot due to development of facilities that make it easier for researchers and other people to gather information on the environment. This has in turn increased the number of individuals who engage in practices intended to gather information about the environment. In this case, it is clear that in the modern society may people know more about their surroundings compared to the number of people who had knowledge on the environment in the past. It is therefore clear that the use of technology has helped a great deal in making people know more about where they reside which helps them to live knowing what happens around. References Chen, Z., et.al. (2012). Urban land use mapping using high resolution SAR data based on density analysis and contextual information. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing. 38(6), 738-749. Mohamad, M. (2013). Improving Satellite Image Segmentation Using Evolutionary Computation. American Journal of Remote Sensing. 1(2), 13-20. Townshend, J., Justice, C. (1988). Selecting the Spatial Resolution of Satellite Sensors Required for Global Monitoring of Land Transformations. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 9(2), 187-236. Vierling, A, L et. al. (2012) Shrub characterization using terrestrial laser scanning and implications for airborne LiDAR assessment. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing. 38(6), 709-722. Read More