GEOG5003: Environmental Remote Sensing

Credit points: 6
Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Richard Murphy
Session: Semester 1
Classes: 2 one hour lectures and a 4 hour practical per week
Assumed knowledge: Knowledge or experience equivalent to GEOG5001 (Geographic Information Science A)
Assessment: Assignments, practicals (100%)
Campus: Camperdown/Darlington
Delivery Mode: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) Day

The unit of study explores how remote sensing has enabled the science of Earth Observation to become the most valuable and widely-used tool for characterising and quantifying Earths vegetation, geology and marine ecosystems. The study introduces the physical processes that influence how light interacts with materials of the Earth's surface, which is the basis for Earth Observation. The course uses state-of-the-art, industry-standard software to introduce many different techniques in the analysis and interpretation of remotely sensed data. We will explore different kinds of remotely sensed data, starting from a simple colour photograph to multispectral and hyperspectral data gathered from satellites and aircraft. Earth Observation is becoming an essential skill for anyone interested in the natural environment - skills which are applicable across a wide range of science and environmental disciplines. Starting off simply, you will acquire the skills and knowledge to enable you to map and quantify vegetation and geology using image data acquired in different parts of the world. The objective of this course is to ‘demystify’ the use of satellite data and to provide the essential theoretical and practical skills to enable students to process data acquired by Earth Observation satellites and aircraft.