Abstract

Remote sensing is defined as the process leading to acquisition of information about the state of a target by a sensor that is not in physical contact with it. The remote sensing facilities found its valued additions with realizing the importance of aerial photography in earth surface mapping. Flying platforms, as Balloons, pigeons and kites, were the base granted a patent the idea of using aerial photographs in mapping and surveying. Aerial photography has practical applications in different fields, as geologic branches, Archeology, Disaster Assessment, Monitoring the Environmental aspects. Remote sensing data, from lighter-than-air balloons to aircraft platforms and satellite imagery reconnaissance, proved to serve war monitoring activities and environment. They played an effective role in military operations, providing information concerning enemy missiles, troop deployments and military positioning using photographic images and finally satellite remote sensing imagery. Moreover, academic researchers use such advanced technology for examining war impacts. Remotely sensed ground truth extracted information is obtained either via visual interpretation or digital image processing of aerial photographs and satellite images, based on image nature. Visual analysis of remote sensing imagery involves the identification of various targets in an image, and those targets may be environmental or artificial features which consist of points, lines, or areas. Targets may be defined in terms of the way they reflect or emit radiation. Concerning digital image processing, image analysis software is used to enhance, identify or quantify features in an image by breaking down or applying digital image filters. Remote sensing is an advantageous tool characterized by a multiconcept approach. This approach provides users with multi-scale, thematic, and temporal mapping, facilitating change detection tasks. The current chapter highlights some Egyptian case studies and cites other published applications. It can be confirmed that remote sensing may be considered as an urgent need to understand the specialized capabilities of an ever-expanding array of image sources and analysis techniques for natural resource managers. In this review, various applications of remote sensing and GIS tools are demonstrated can be used for natural resource management (agriculture, water, forest, soil, natural hazards).

Keywords

remote sensing, visual interpretation, digital analysis, multi concept, spatial analyses, spectral signature, change detection