Application of Remote Sensing, GIS, and GPS Technology on Environment and Earth's Natural Resources Management An Introduction

Abstract

Remote sensing data have been used to derive thematic information of various natural resources and environment.The type and level of information extracted depends on the expertise of the analyst and what he/she is looking for in the data.An application in remote sensing is the practical use to which a series of aerial satellite images are put. The application of remote sensing or earth observation techniques to atmospheric, Earth and environmental sciences can vary according to the final user's requirements.The utilization of remote sensing data can be broadly classified into three categories as a baseline data generator for a variety of environmental resources; as a tool to monitor change detection, Environmental monitoring, and for mapping purposes. Different environmental applications require different frequencies of information updates for monitoring to be effective. Environment phenomena such as weather systems, natural hazards, and other rarely extreme events such as tsunamis; pollution or oceanographic events are very dynamic and rapidly develop over minutes and hours. Therefore for satellite data to be useful in their analysis imaging frequency and data delivery has to be atleast several times a day. At present only low spatial resolution meteorological satellite data can meet this need. Other applications such as crop monitoring require better spatial detail but rates of change occur only over a matter of weeks and therefore image updates need not be more frequent than weekly or monthly. This data can be processed, refined, and managed with the use of advanced tools such as Geographic Information System(GIS) and Geographic Positioning System(GPS).