Radiative Transfer (P00794)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : GEO-P-RSRT

Radiative transfer is the theory that describes how electromagnetic radiation propagates through and interacts with matter. The varied imprints of these interactions on top-of-atmosphere radiance spectra are the data that make possible much remote sensing. Account also needs to be taken of the transfer of radiation through the observing instrument to its detectors. The aim of this course is therefore that students understand radiative transfer theory at a level of detail sufficient to underpin remote sensing of surface characteristics and of the state of the atmosphere.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Available only to postgraduate students Maths at degree or equivalent level for non-RSIP students

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences), (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
22/09/2006	10:00	11:50	Room 301, Crew Building	KB

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Friday	10:00	12:00	KB

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

In this course we shall confine our attention
to remote sensing of planetary atmospheres and surfaces using electromagnetic radiation, using
instruments carried on satellites. Many of the techniques thus covered are of relevance in other
applications however.
A major advantage of remote sensing is global coverage; a polar orbiting satellite typically makes
14 orbits per day while the earth rotates underneath, so that the sub-satellite point passes within
about o 15 longitude of any point twice per day. Another advantage is uniformity; in situ
measurements suffer from the fact that different observations are made with different instruments
so that variations in calibration may be difficult to remove. Remotely sensed data from a single
satellite instrument are relatively free from this difficulty.
To be able to be able to interpret the signals from satellite instruments in terms of the geophysical
entities which were ultimately responsible for them it is necessary to understand how radiation is
emitted, scattered and absorbed by the surface and the atmosphere. This understanding is the
subject of radiative transfer theory. This theory can be conveniently divided into two parts, the
forward problem, namely, for a given state of the surface and atmosphere calculate what would be
observed by the satellite, and the inverse problem, namely for a given measurement at the satellite,
deduce what state of surface and/or atmosphere produced it. Ability to solve the forward problem is
a pre-requisite for the inverse problem. Accordingly this is considered first in Radiative Transfer (Semester 1).
Discussion of the inverse problem is given in Inverse Theory (Semester 2).