Remote Sensing And Gis

This book begins with the fundamentals of remote sensing and GIS. As readers go through the chapters of this book, they will learn how remote sensing and GIS can be applied for studying the land, sea, air, and biotic communities that comprise our planets environment.

The book is divided into two parts and comprises 20 chapters and two appendices. Part 1 comprises Chapter 1 through 12 that explain remote sensing techniques, its history, ground truth, photogrammetry, visual and digital analysis, remote sensing applications and its multi approaches. This part concentrates principally upon Indian remote sensing satellites, LANDSAT, and where appropriate on SPOT, but also draws upon a variety of sensors operating from land and sea satellites launched by various government and private industries. Most of these observe in the visible, reflective infrared and microwave spectral intervals, but images from several thermal systems are also included as examples of common space data sets. Part 2 comprises Chapters 13 through 20 that explain the basics of GIS, spatial and attribute data model, the process of GIS, analysis of geospatial data, planning/implementation/management of GIS and the modern trends of GIS.

Appendices are given at the end of the book. Appendix A focuses on the basic concepts of map, coordinate system, and projection. Appendix B comprises the mathematical topics required to understand digital image processing. These will help the beginners to understand geospatial technology better.

A very rich glossary and bibliography at the end are for the benefit of the students.

Not only will readers gain an insight into the applications of remote sensing imagery, they will also develop skills in interpreting these visual displays and data sets by direct inspection and by computer processing. This book provides a clear idea of how remote sensing and GIS can be used to analyse the data and to solve complex management problems. Students will also be able to apply this newly acquired knowledge by doing their own analysis using the software provided in the CD accompanying the book.

Each chapter in the book commences with an introduction, which briefly outlines the topics covered in the chapter, and ends with exercises which help the students to assess their comprehension of the subject matter studied in the chapter. The chapters also contain numerous black and white and colour illustrations that complement the text.

The primary purpose of this book is to be a learning resource for college and university students, as well as for individuals now in the industry who require indoctrination in the basics of remote sensing and GIS. It is hoped that this survey of environmental remote sensing and GIS will attract and inspire a few individuals who might consider a specialized career in this field or in the broader fields allied with Earth System Science (ESS) and the environment.