TIME SCALE AS SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM FOR REMOTE SENSING 
(AN EXAMPLE OF SOME PHENOMENA AND PROCESSES OF COASTAL ENVIRONMENT) 
H.G.Gierloff-Emden, Institut für Geographie der Universität 
München, Federal Republic of Germany 
Some natural processes are of such time scale that a change of 
the phenomena is going on meanwhile. Sensor system works on data 
acquisition. Example: Flood-tidal water does cover tidal flats 
with a current velocity of 1 to 2 m/sec, i.e. during 30 sec a 
surface of a distance up to 60 m. This is a space dimension of 
a size more than that of 1 pixel of Landsat-MSS and a change in 
the scene during less as the 30 sec scanning time for one scene 
of the sensor data acquisition system. 
Waves and breakers with a time scale of a 6 sec period are of 
the same time scale as the pathway of the nadir of Landsat: the 
change detection of such a coastal phenomenon cannot be taken 
with this very MSS-system. The author is working on this kind 
of problem. 
A preliminary matrix of relationship of time scale of processes 
versus time scale of data acquisition system is to be published 
at this place. Some proposals are annoted. 
Annex: Tables 1, 2 and 3.