Remote Sensing of Earth from Space: Role of "Smart Sensors"

The field of remote sensing has expanded, not only in such highly publicized technologies as weather observation and crop forecasting but also in the less publicized fields of military intelligence and pure scientific research, requiring more efficient remote sensing systems. From such need has been born the concept of the "smart" sensor, a sensor that, acting alone or in a set, performs a combination of sensory and data/information processing functions within a single onboard apparatus. By definition, a "smart" sensor can, by means of its data information processing capability, extract much more information than a simple sensor from the received physical signals, disregard or discard data with little or no information content, and handle the large volumes of data to be generated in future spacecraft in an efficient manner. It took at least four important technological breakthroughs to make the development of "smart" sensors possible. The papers in this volume cover a wide range of topics, from user requirements for "smart" sensors to the development of innovative solid-state devices.