ENVIRONMENTAL REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (OCMB-6100; CRN 41074) (MEVS-5023; CRN 41073) (CZMT-0639; CRN 41072)

This course assumes that you have an interest in Remote Sensing and large-scale Earth observation. It is not intended to matter whether you consider yourself a chemist, physicist, biologist, geologist or geographer. The intention is to present Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) as a tool for studying the Earth and its processes. The course is designed to be accessible to anyone with a reasonable grounding in the Earth Sciences and is tuned to give a general induction to a wide scope of relevant topics. Nonetheless, you must be prepared to grapple with some basic ideas of Physics. The syllabus introduces electromagnetic radiation principles in the context of Earth observation and presents an overview of the current status of both active and passive air- and space-borne RS systems. Having followed a typical processing-stream required to extract quantitative information from satellite imagery, the student is introduced to the field of GIS through specific environmental case-studies. Image calibration, geo-rectification and classification are dealt with by providing a grounding in the theory underlying image processing. Remote Sensing is not about interesting pictures of the Earth's surface, although there are some spectacular images to be discovered. It is really about careful, precise measurements of surface parameters, including the techniques and methodology, the scientific principles behind the techniques and the 'real-world' application of the technology.

Limited to 20 students.

Lab fee $50

Instructor:	Dr. Sam Purkis
	Assistant Professor
	Email: "Sam Purkis" <purkis barney nova fred edu>

Meets: Monday-Friday, 1-5pm
April 14-25, 2008
Classroom #2