Abstract
Abstract. Remote sensing is a popular technique that is using in the mapping and monitoring of earth features. Early remote sensing was predominantly passive, i.e. it depends upon the sun for energy. Till the last decade, optical imaging is mainly used in remote sensing works. Over the time, significant innovations and improvements have been made in the active remote sensing which resulted in the form of sophisticated imaging techniques like Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) and Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR). These advancements promoted the use of multi-sensor and multi-source data in remote sensing projects. This highlights the need to review these imaging techniques. Therefore, this review work is carried out. In this review, different imaging techniques are discussed and compared. Optical, SAR and LiDAR techniques are first summarized and then they are compared on the basis of technical specification and working. Finally, an in-depth assessment is made on the applicability of these imaging techniques in different fields.
Highlights
For observation of the earth, remote sensing is a crucial technique through which data is gathered without coming in the physical contact of the object (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2008)
Several papers are available, that performs the comparison among the imaging techniques, but most of the existing comparative studies are focused on some specific application
The objective of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis of imaging techniques, i.e. optical, Synthetic Aperture RAdio Detection And Ranging (RADAR) (SAR) and Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) on the baseline of their technical specification, working and application areas
Summary
For observation of the earth, remote sensing is a crucial technique through which data is gathered without coming in the physical contact of the object (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2008). With launch of Landsat in 1972, satellite data become readily available (Hansen and Loveland, 2012) This has increased the number of applications that rely on remote sensing. SAR uses the microwave range for remote sensing It works on the longer wavelength range as compared to optical images. LiDAR scanning is generally performed for the generation of the three dimensional (3D) profile of the terrain It uses near-infrared pulses for topographic applications and green light for bathymetric applications. Several papers are available, that performs the comparison among the imaging techniques, but most of the existing comparative studies are focused on some specific application. The objective of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis of imaging techniques, i.e. optical, SAR and LiDAR on the baseline of their technical specification, working and application areas. An exhaustive list of application is given, based on which comparison is performed
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