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Land Surface Emissivity

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Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definitions

Land surfaceemissivity (LSE). Average emissivity of an element of the surface of the Earth calculated from measured radiance and land surface temperature (LST) (for a complete definition, see Norman and Becker, 1995).

Atmospheric window. A spectral wavelength region in which the atmosphere is nearly transparent, separated by wavelengths at which atmospheric gases absorb radiation. The three pertinent regions are “visible/near-infrared” (∼0.4–2.5 μm), mid-wave infrared (∼3–5 μm) and long-wave infrared (∼8–14 μm).

Blackbody. An ideal material absorbing all incident energy or emitting all thermal energy possible. A cavity with a pinhole aperture approximates a blackbody.

Brightness temperature. The temperature of a blackbody that would give the radiance measured for a surface.

Color temperature. Temperature satisfying Planck’s law for spectral radiances measured at two different wavelengths.

Contrast stretch. Mathematical transform that adjusts the way in which acquired...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, 4000 15th Avenue NE, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

    Alan Gillespie

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  1. Alan Gillespie
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Correspondence to Alan Gillespie .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

    Eni G. Njoku

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Gillespie, A. (2014). Land Surface Emissivity. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_77

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