ENVR/GEOS455/555: Remote Sensing Login Page

"Remote sensing" implies measurement of the properties of the Earth's surface at a distance, usually from above. This means observations by aircraft and satellite-mounted sensors. It is a rapidly-growing area with many opportunities. Geoscience majors will need this, as will anyone interested in mapping and monitoring the environment, whether over large areas or for local- or regional-scale urban and suburban settings.

Remote Sensing is at the forefront of technological developments and applications in Earth Science. There is almost no geoscience, geographic, or ecological discipline which has not benefited from the application of Remote Sensing:

...from earthquake prediction, monitoring and impact assessment to oceanography;
...forestry to volcanology;
...coral reef mapping to the assessing the hole(s) in the ozone layer;
...crop yield estimation to coastal erosion;
...urban landscape mapping with GIS to water quality monitoring;
...geological prospecting to determination of rangeland productivity;
...estimating building energy (heat) loss to invasive species mapping...
...measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, NOx, tropospheric ozone, and aerosol loadings to the global energy budget...

...the list goes on and on and is broadening with the advent of new technologies such as lidar, imaging spectroscopy, polarimetric radar interferometry, and very high resolution imagery.

EAES 311 provides an introduction to Remote Sensing, including state-of-the-art aerial and satellite platforms and sensing technologies and techniques; a look at the wide range of applications in Earth Science and Geography; and a great deal of hands-on work with digital and printed materials. The lectures will introduce you to basic principles and applications (1st half of sessions); practical work will use information from orbiting satellites, aerial platforms, and various types of digital and photographic imagery, maps and charts (2nd half of sessions). EAES 511 is available for students who have some experience with Remote Sensing and/or GIS.