Remote Sensing Basics

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Oct 19, 2001

During our several-week run through the subject of ecosystem and environmental simulation, one of the recurring kernels of technology that we've encountered is GIS, or Geographic Information System, technology. What GIS offers the scientist is a tool for manipulating and analyzing spatial data on various physical structures. If you poke around on the Internet for very long at all looking for information on GIS, you'll quickly realize that a closely related technology area is that of remote sensing. And, as attentive world observers have noted for years and as almost everyone sees on the nightly news these days, remote sensing is going to play a continually larger role in people's lives, both civilian and military.

Generally speaking, remote sensing involves gathering information about some object without any physical contact with that object. Probably the most familiar form of this type of activity for most of us is radar, wherein radio waves are bounced off some object and the returning waves are interpreted to determine the distance to and perhaps the size and shape of the target. Other forms of remote sensing involve using force fields, other regions of electromagnetic radiation and acoustic energy to carry out the same types of tasks. Some common examples of remote sensing in action include satellite TV transmissions, submarine use of sonar to locate nearby life forms in the ocean or other bodies of water, weather forecasting via the use of Doppler radar and even listening to the radio on your desk.

While most of the applications of remote sensing discussed above relate to our comfort, convenience or entertainment, this technology is clearly becoming of great strategic value to many nations. For instance, various techniques of remote sensing are being used to identify regions of the world which may be rich in important natural resources, such as petroleum and natural gas. It may also be possible for electronic "noses" to sniff out drug locations or crime scenes from the air by detecting minute amounts of certain chemicals. And, probably at the forefront of everyone's consciousness these days, remote sensing can be an invaluable tool in conducting military operations with the minimum possible risk factor.

In the coming weeks, we'll examine in some detail how scientific computing is helping to advance the state-of-the-art in remote sensing. In the meantime, a great place to learn more is the Remote Sensing web page at http://www.remotesensing.org.

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The copyright of the article Remote Sensing Basics in Scientific Computing is owned by Adam Hughes. Permission to republish Remote Sensing Basics in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.