Remote Sensing and GIS glossary

A microwave band with a wavelength (frequency) interval ranging from 30 - 15 cm (1 - 2 GHz) in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Multispectral, earth-orbiting satellites developed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) that gather imagery for land-use inventory, geological and mineralogical exploration, crop and forestry assessment, and cartography.

A geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth's surface.

In radar images, the geometric displacement of the top of objects toward the near range relative to their base.

Active optical remote-sensing technique that uses laser light to densely sample the surface of the earth, producing highly accurate x,y,z measurements.

A geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface.

The angle between the vertical plane containing a radar antenna and the direction of radar propagation. Complementary to the depression angle.

Direction/angle defined in the horizontal plane with reference to north, in which pulses of microwave energy are transmitted or received by a radar system.

A mathematical formula expressed as a table used to convert one distribution of data to another.

Data compression that has the ability to store data without changing any of the values, but is only able to compress the data at a low ratio (typically 2:1 or 3:1). In GIS, lossless compression is often used to compress raster data when the pixel values of the raster will be used for analysis or deriving other data products. See also lossy compression, LERC.