Monitoring Water Pollution By Remote Sensing

Imaging remote sensing techniques can be effectively utilized as a water pollution monitoring tool if the advantages of imaging remote sensing as applied to other fields are understood as well as how electromagnetic energy reacts with water. The advantages of imaging remote sensing are that: (1) They provide an overall view at one instant of time; (2) they provide a detailed time record which provided means of detecting change with time; and (3) they can expand the limits of the human eye and sense where the eye cannot see. With regard to how electromagnetic energy reacts with water it appears that short wavelengths of UV and blue energy reflect from the surface without much penetration, while green energy penetrates to a maximum extent, and IR energy is absorbed by only a few inches of water.