Remote sensing

Introduction

There is an increasing demand for accurate, timely information on environmental and natural resources, including spatial relationships and temporal changes and trends, local to global. {{Definition|title=Remote Sensing |definition= In the broadest sense, remote sensing is the measurement or acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by a recording device that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object. In practice, remote sensing is the utilization at a distance (as from aircraft, spacecraft, satellite, or ship) of any device for gathering information about the environment . Advantages of this technology are:

• Observation of a large geographical area
• Long-term and fast collection of data
• Lower collecting costs
• "Inaccessible" regions become accessible (e.g. Antarctica)
• Object is not being destroyed

Disadvantages are:

• Lower spatial resolution (depending on the type of sensor)
• Need for the installation of complex systems (which have a long testing phase)
• Captured data need to be calibrated via in-situ data
• Noise caused by another source than the desired one
• Atmospheric effects degrade the quality of the images and need to be corrected

See also

• Theme 9 - Assessment of field observation techniques
• Optical remote sensing
• Oil spill monitoring
• Wikipedia: Clearly represented overview about remote sensing and helpfull links
• Tutorial on remote sensing