EOS 753
Observing the Earth and its environment
Spring 2009 Semester
(January - May 2009)
Every Thursdays from 19:20 to 22:00
Research 1- Room 302
Guido Cervone
gcervone@gmu.edu
Abstract
This course will provide the requisite materials to understand and apply techniques of remote sensing to study the Earth and its environment. The course is targeted to graduate students in Earth Science, Geoinformatics, Geospatial Intelligence, Computer Science, Engineering, and related fields. No prior knowledge of remote sensing is required nor expected. Basic computer skills, including the ability to analyze data, generate maps and plots will be discussed and demonstrated.
Every day numerous satellites from different countries acquire and transmit multispectral high resolution data of the Earth and its environment. Such data are used for a variety of operational and research applications, such as weather forecasting, national security, natural hazards, navigation, land use and land cover, surface temperature, climate change, urban planning and many others. Massive amounts of data are received, processed, stored and distributed by several centers around the world, giving an unprecedented access to global high resolution information. Such information can give new insights to study the complementary nature of different parameters of the Earth’s environment.
Using remote sensing data requires understanding measurements and limitations of satellites and their sensors, and studying the algorithms used to generate products and analyze them. In fact, raw satellite data do not usually provide information ready to be used, and they must be processed using specific algorithms to calibrate the measurements, generate meaningful physical products, and geolocate the generated products onto the irregular surface of the Earth.
The first part of the course discusses remote sensing methodologies, products availability and characteristics, data types and formats, and basic programming to analyze data, generate maps and plots. The methodologies survey includes a systematic study of how each part of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to gather data about the Earth. The limitations imposed by satellite engineering and sensor limitations on data gathering are discussed. Data reduction and analysis techniques specific to remote sensing applications are covered.
The second part of the course discusses remote sensing applications for specific tasks including natural hazards, global change, seasonal and inter-annual studies. Current research issues will be illustrated, including examples pertaining to the atmosphere, land masses, and oceans, and concluding with a survey of some problems that are at the current frontiers of remote sensing. Programs will be provided in R (www.r-project.org) to automatically download, analyze and map different data sources.
The format of the course is a 110 minutes of lecture, followed by a 60 minutes in class discussion. The class discussions are based on assigned readings related to the topic of lecture. Each student is expected to read the assigned readings before each class, and be able to provide a critical analysis of the work, and engage in an in depth discussion.