ESTIMATING THE DEPTH OF BURIED HOT FEATURES FROM THERMAL IR REMOTE-SENSING DATA - A CONCEPTUAL-APPROACH

Estimating the depth of buried thermal features from remotely sensed d ata is a difficult problem. The theoretical basis discussed in this le tter shows that if the time of initiation of the heat source is known, then utilizing two sets of thermal Infrared (IR) data of different ti me instances for the same anomaly area, the depth of the buried heat s ource can be computed. However, if the thermal IR data are collected a t time intervals close to the time of initiation of heat source, the k nowledge of initial conditions of heat source is obviated. In this lat ter case, a double ratioing technique, utilizing three sets of thermal IR remote sensing data, acquired at different times for the same area , can be used for estimating the depth of buried heat source. Respecti ve sample sets of characteristic curves designed for depth estimation are presented along with results of sensitivity analysis tests, perfor med on simulated data.