Graduation Year

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.E.E.

Degree Granting Department

Electrical Engineering

Major Professor

Thomas Weller, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Wilfrido Moreno, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Tom Ricard, Ph.D.

Keywords

coaxial probe, Peplinski model, brightness temperature, Wilheit model, horn antenna, sand characterization

Abstract

With global warming on the rise and the urge for conserving our natural resources, it becomes very important that proper steps are taken to protect our natural resources and utilize them efficiently. Forest fires are one of the many issues on the charts towards protection of natural resources. The catastrophic aftermaths caused by forest fires are known to all. The causes for these fires could be known/unknown natural causes or human intervention. Remote sensing techniques use the electromagnetic radiation in the RF/Microwave region, emitted from an object. The amount of energy emitted from an object depends on its present conditions, primarily its temperature and its emissivity. The sensing devices used in such measurements are classified into active and passive sensors. Herein, passive radiometry is used to investigate a model for the propagation of subsurface radiation from underground forest fires through upper ground layers of soil till the land-air interface. Passive radiometry involves capturing the radiation incident on a radiometer antenna aperture directly or deflected from several objects. The energy emitted from sources above 0K is collected and is compared with the calibration standards to estimate the physical quantity under test. Detecting forest fires is one of the potential applications of passive radiometry investigated here.

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