Saturday, 30 November 2013

Thermal Remote Sensing


Thermal Remote Sensing is described as the acquisition of image data in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It uses the radiations that are emitted by the surface itself. Thermal infrared is emitted energy that is sensed digitally. Thermal remote sensing is used on areas to assess the heat island, to perform land cover classifications and as an input for models of urban surface atmosphere exchange. Thermal Remote Sensing is a special case of reserving land surface temperature which varies in accordance to the surface energy balance.


Thermal data are usually acquired in sequences, where the first image is taken at night and the second is taken during the day. The image that is taken at night is used to monitor the raw emission of the surface and the second image that is taken during the day is used to see what part of incident shortware solar radiation is transformed to thermal radiation and then emitted to the surface.

This principle is used quite often in geological applications and we can study the presence of different rocks based on their thermal capacity. Whereas the domain of visible and near infrared (VNIR) radiation is suitable for monitoring the presence of metallic minerals such as hematite, the shortwave infrared domain (SWIR) is used for the detection of minerals containing OH- functional group. But none of these domains is suitable for observing the major constituents of igneous rocks, silica and feldspar.

In addition to the geological applications, Thermal Remote Sensing image data can be used for :

  • Studying the transformation of shortware solar radiation into longware thermal radiation and and evapo transpiration in the case of vegetation.
  • Detection of heat loss in buildings
  • Detection of the damages of steam pipelines and caliduct
  • Detection of the subsurface fires

More Knowledge Contact :- Spatial IT Solutions

No comments:

Post a Comment