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Active Remote Sensing of Earth and Space

AES Remote Sensing Flyer

Remote sensing is the acquisition of information from an object using sensors that are not in physical contact with the object. In this program the objects are atmospheric molecules, atoms, particles, and plasmas. By sensing the object's influence on known signals, information regarding the object can be retained. Through physical laws that relate the object behavior to their environment, detailed study can be made of the environment, in this case the atmosphere and space. 

Remote sensing measurements are the antithesis of in-situ measurements in that a physical device is not placed in contact with the medium of interest.  Measuring the temperature of a red-hot piece of metal with a thermocouple is an example of in-situ measurement, while measuring the radiation produced by the red-hot piece of metal to determine its temperature is remote sensing.  There are two types of remote sensing, passive and active sensing techniques.  Passive sensing collects information about a medium based on naturally occurring signals that can be received (like the radiation emitted by an object or reflected by an object).  Active remote sensing provides its own radiation and, as such, can be controlled to enable significantly more information to be gathered about the object under study.

ARSENL employs active remote sensing techniques using lasers and RF transmitters to investigate our aerospace environment. Laser radar systems of various types, meteor-scatter radar systems, and incoherent-scatter radar systems are our engineering instrumentation and tools for studying the atmosphere from the ground to geospace.