PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING

The NASA LangleyResearch Center summerproject objective was to research the various uses of remote sensing. Through use of the internet and various books, information was analyzed on seven research topics. The research done on these seven topics resulted in a compilation of data that suggests numerous ways in which remote sensing can benefit both people and industries. The imagery collected was retrieved from satellites such as the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar, LANDSAT, and the TOPEX/Poseidon. INTRODL'CTION TO REMOTE SENSING Remote sensing is rapidly becoming a widely used tool for people in all areas of worle. It is used to record information from space and send it to computers where this analog information is then translated into digitalnumbers. From this, satellite imagery is produced that can report many different findings from all types of places. Remote sensing is commonly used today as an aid for map making and for observing phenomena that cannot be seen through ordinary aerial photography. Sensors using thermal infrared, radar, and false color infrared are used to give feedback on differentphenomena taking place above and below the earth's surface. Thermal infrared is used to look at fires, weather patterns, water pollution, and energy conservation issues. Radar can be used to map OUthe geography of an area that is usually blocked from vision by clouds. False color infrared is used in crop analysis and investigatingdifferent vegetation growths. There are two types of sensors that can be used to take these photographs: passive and active. Passive sensors are used to sense radiation from areas illuminated by the sun or other them1alsources. Active sensors, more commonly known as radar, can generate their own iThmnrurrion.These pulses of energy are directed to the target area and are then sensed as fracCODSof the total energy returned. A radar system uses round trip travel times of a directed be3m of energy pulses spread out over specific distances to measure actual distances far away. This means that radar can be used to determine the location and separatoo distancesfrom the instrument to a target. The intensity of this received signal indicates rnfferentsurface characteristics [14]. Today, remote sensing is still most popular among non<ommercial areas such as education and research. While this is true, it is also becoming increasinglyuseful in commercial areas such as companies that specializein mapp.ng. energy studies, environmental research, weather research, and natural resources. This study of remote sensing investigates the many ways that satellite imagerycan be used to i::-. ~gare all geographicalareas. Seven differentareas with varying global conditions wi: be ~)-zed by satellite imagery in search of data for differing reasons. The seven regions ";f; here different focuses were made are the Pacific Islands, the United States of Amen.ca. the Pacific Ocean, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In the Pacific T~I~-1<:. ~'f"llite imagery was used as an aid in the search for Amelia Earhart's lost Loc~ H~E Electra. Satellite imagery of an airplane graveyard in Arizona, USA was e. %~m'~ to see how aircraft appear on a satelliteimage. In the Pacific Ocean, this tec~ology was used to study the.weather patterns of El Nino. In Asia, a study was done ro ,iPr~~~ some of China's availablemineral resources and to visualize the effect of mh:L"! ~~,00 ill rural areas. Satellite imagery was also used to analyze the effects of the ~. obj: nuclear power plant accident in the Ukraine. In this study there are before and ar.er~coes lOpictoriallyrepresentthe detrimentaleffect that the radiation had upon the ~ . _~~;. y, Z m-ea.Satellite images of the Sahara Desert in Africa were used to visually p~:u. '"'ethe I'P.f'I1'Iinc:: of a lost civilization located underneath the desert. The final topic of ~ ~. i.PLi in an analyzationof images of the Rub al-Khalidesert in the Middle East to ~ ~: frankincense trading outposts.