Remote sensing, in simplest words,
means acquiring information about an object without touching the object itself.
Conventionally, however remote sensing has come to imply that the sensor and
the target are located remotely apart and the electromagnetic radiation serves
as a link between the sensor and the object, the sun being the major source of
energy illuminating the earth. The part of this energy is reflected, absorbed
and transmitted by the surface. A sensor records the reflected energy.
Remote
Sensing is performed using an instrument, often referred to as a sensor.
Most of the remote sensing instruments record electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
that travels at a velocity of 3x108 ms-1 from
the source, directly through the vacuum of space or indirectly by reflection or
reradiation to the sensor. The EMR represents an extremely efficient high-speed
communication link between the sensor and the remotely located objects. Changes
in the amount and the properties of the EMR become, upon detection by the
sensor, a valuable source of data for interpreting important properties of the
phenomena.
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| Photography is also Remote Sensing |
Remote sensing can then be defined as-
The technique of acquiring information
about an object by a recording device (sensor) that is not in physical contact
with the object by measuring portion of reflected or emitted electromagnetic
radiation from the earth’s surface.
Trivia-
["Your Eye is also a Remote Sensing Device".. never thought this right? So what about a mobile camera or DSLR?? ]
