EG5503 GIS

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EG5503GIS Earth Observation

• Applications

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TOPICS

• Quantitative remote sensing
• Rainfall estimation
• Proxy Air Temperature
• Agriculture
• Disaster Management
• Human Health
• Hydrodynamics

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Quantitative remote sensing?

• Estimation of a physical quantity
• Proxy environmental variables
• Application driven
• Less science and more operational
• Makes use of algorithms
• Interfaces with environmental models

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Applications that use quantitative RS

• Agriculture
• NDVI, temperature, rainfall
• Health
• NDVI, temperature, rainfall, dust, wind
• Hydrology
• Rainfall
• Climate change
• NDVI, temperature, rainfall
• Weather forecasting
• Winds, rainfall

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Rainfall estimation

• Cold Cloud Duration (CCD) using Meteosat
• Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission using radar
  (TRMM)
• Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) rainfall
  measurement using microwave instruments

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Rainfall estimation
Cold Cloud Duration (CCD)

• Pioneered by work of Lethbridge, 1967
• Became an operational system thanks to Milford
  and Dugdale at TAMSAT (University of Reading)
• Based on relationship between period during which
  convective cloud tops are below a specific
  threshold and rainfall measured beneath them

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Rainfall estimation
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)

• TRMM mission is a joint US/Japan effort
  coordinated by NASDA (National Space Development
  Agency of Japan)
• TRMM was launched in 1997 with an initial
  mission life of 3 years
• TRMM data is relayed to NASA Goddard Space Flight
  Center (GSFC)

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Rainfall estimation
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)

• Precipitation Radar (PR)
• TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI)
• Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS)
• Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System
  (CERES)
• Lightning Image Sensor (LIS)

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Rainfall estimation
Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I)

• System coordinated by NOAA
• Became operational in 1987
• Uses a 7-channel passive microwave radiometer

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Rainfall estimation
Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I)

• Data collected from the SSM/I are used to
  estimate several geophysical parameters
  including
• Rainfall Rate
• Rainfall Frequency
• Cloud Liquid Water
• Cloudiness Frequency
• Total Precipitable Water
• Snow Cover
• Sea-Ice
• Sampling Frequency
• Ocean Surface Wind Speed (1.0 degree only!)

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Proxy Air Temperature

• LST (land surface temperature) may be converted
  to a proxy air temperature by means of a solar
  correction algorithm
• Knowing the position of the Sun at the time an
  image is acquired allows the LST to be
  transformed into a proxy for air temperature
  (approx 1m above the ground)

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Introduction

• Agriculture is big business
• A nations food supply affects both its economic
  status and political stability
• In Europe and the US the greatest concern is
  profit and getting crops to market and obtaining
  a good price whilst staying cheap
• In the developing world the issue is food
  security and the wellbeing of the population

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Introduction

• Monitoring of crops from space or aircraft aids
  decision making
• When to irrigate and what fertilizer is needed
• Management of crop rotation and set-aside
• Most large-scale commercial farms are so large
  that monitoring cannot be made on foot so remote
  sensing is the clear choice

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Spectral signatures of sugar cane species.
Source Galvao et al, 2005
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Disaster Management
Uses of RS for Disaster Management

• Wildfires Volcanic eruptions
• Avalanche Tsunami
• Earthquake Landslides
• Flooding Extreme weather
• Drought Disease
• Refugees Military

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Disaster Management
PLANNING
MITIGATION
Monitoring situations Deployment of
resources Decision-making Public relations
Modelling Assessment Prediction Contingency
COST EFFECTIVENESS !!!
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Disaster Management
PLANNING
Disaster Management
MITIGATION
LEARNING
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QuickBird used extensively throughout Asian
Tsunami Disaster
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Human Health

• Health and disease often has a spatial component
• Climatic, environmental and socio-economic
  variables affect health
• Epidemics and outbreaks spread across a region
  either as a function of movement of people or
  environmental factors

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NOAA-AVHRR station Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
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Rainfall maps from Cold Cloud Duration - Meteosat
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NDVI and proportion of children testing positive
for P. falciparum
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Ancilliary geographical information
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Malaria Model prevalence and ERA rainfall
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Hydrodynamics
stream
stream
stream
river
river
river
stream
estuary
THE SEA
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Hydrodynamics
From DeMers, 2002
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Hydrodynamics
From DeMers, 2002
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Further Reading
Cresswell MP, Morse AP, Thomson MC and Connor SJ.
(1999). Estimating surface air temperatures from
Meteosat land surface temperatures using an
empirical solar zenith angle model. International
Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol 20 (6),
1125-1132. Lethbridge M. (1967). Precipitation
probability and satellite radiation data. Monthly
Weather Review, Vol 95 (7), 487-490 Milford J
and Dugdale G. (1990). Estimation of rainfall
using geostationary satellite data. In
Applications of Remote Sensing in Agriculture.
Edited by Steven M and Clark J. Published by
Butterworths, London Dugdale G, Hardy S and
Milford J. (1991). Daily catchment rainfall
estimated from Meteosat. Hydrological Processes,
Vol 5, 261-270
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Further Reading
TRMM Website http//www.eorc.nasda.go.jp/TRMM/ind
ex_e.htm SSM/I Website http//nsidc.org/data/docs
/daac/ssmi_instrument.gd.html/ TAMSAT (CCD
Rainfall) Website http//www.met.reading.ac.uk/ta
msat/