LSVRS501-Fundamental Principle of Remote Sensing
Introduction
Remote sensing is the term composed of two words: “remote” and “sensing”.
Remote means not in contact with the target/object.
Sensors are common devices used to detect a change in a physical state and
quantify the measurement results in a particular scale or range.
Therefore, remote sensing is the science of acquiring information about the earth using
instruments which are remote to the earth's surface, usually from aircraft or satellites.
Instruments may use visible light, infrared or radar to obtain data from earth's surface.
Remote sensing offers the ability to observe and collect data for large areas relatively
quickly, and is an important source of data for Geographic Information System.
The remotely collected data can be of many forms, including variations in force
distributions, gravity, acoustic wave distribution or electromagnetic (EM) energy
distributions.