CORE GEOGG141 – Principles and practice of Remote Sensing

(15 credits)

Term 1 (2016-17)

Staff:

Dr. Mat Disney (convenor) (MD), Prof. Philip Lewis (just Lewis, PL), Dr. Jose Gomez-Dans (JGD), all Geography.

Dr. M. Disney, room 113 Pearson Building, tel. 7679 0592 (x30592)

Course web page

Including PDF of lecture notes and journal article links.

Aims:

  • To provide knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts, principles and applications of remote sensing, particularly the geometric and radiometric principles;
  • To provide examples of applications of principles to a variety of topics in remote sensing, particularly related to data collection, radiation, resolution, sampling, mission choices.
  • To introduce the principles of the radiative transfer problem in heterogeneous media, as an example application of fundamental principles.
  • To provide some background to remote sensing organizations and policy through seminars.

Content:

The module will provide an introduction to the basic concepts and principles of remote sensing. It will include 3 components: i) radiometric principles underlying remote sensing: electromagnetic radiation; basic laws of electromagnetic radiation; absorption, reflection and emission; atmospheric effects; radiation interactions with the surface, radiative transfer; ii) assumptions and trade-offs for particular applications: orbital mechanics and choices; spatial, spectral, temporal, angular and radiometric resolution; data pre-processing; scanners; iii) time-resolved remote sensing including: RADAR principles; the RADAR equation; RADAR resolution; phase information and SAR interferometry; LIDAR remote sensing, the LIDAR equation and applications.

  • Introduction to remote sensing (MD)
  • Radiation principles, EM spectrum, blackbody (MD)
  • EM spectrum terms, definitions and concepts (MD)
  • Radiative transfer principles and assumptions (MD, PL)
  • Spatial, spectral resolution and sampling (MD,PL, JGD)
  • Pre-processing chain, ground segment, radiometric resolution, scanners (MD)
  • LIDAR remote sensing (MD)
  • RADAR remote sensing: principles (MD)
  • Revision (MD)

Assessment:

3 hourunseen examination, which takes place at the start of Term 2.

Format:

The course is based upon lectures, with occasional seminars provided by outside speakers from industry, government etc.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course students should:

  • Have knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts, principles and applications of remote sensing.
  • Be able to derive solutions to given quantitative problems particularly related to geometric principles, EM radiation, LIDAR and RADAR systems
  • Have an understanding of the trade-offs in sensor design, orbit, resolution etc. required for a range of applications
  • Have an understanding of the propagation of radiation transfer in vegetation, and be able to explain the problem, and propose mathematical solutions

Class schedule:

This module runs in Term 1. Note that not all afternoon sessions will be used.

Week / Date / Day/Time / Len / Class / Room / Staff
6 / 04/10 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Introduction, Radiation Principles: I / PB G07 / MD
7 / 11/10 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Radiation Principles: II / PB G07 / MD
8 / 18/10 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Spatial, spectral sampling / PB G07 / MD
8 / 18/10 / Tue 14:00 / 2 / Radiative transfer: I / PB G07 / MD
9 / 25/10 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Angular, temporal, radiometric sampling / PB G07 / PL/JGD
10 / 01/11 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Pre-processing, ground segment / PB G07 / MD
10 / 01/11 / Tue 14:00 / 2 / Radiative transfer: II / PB G07 / MD
11 / 08/11 / Reading Week
12 / 15/11 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Active RS I: LIDARintro / PB G07 / MD
13 / 22/11 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Active RS II: LIDAR applications / PB G07 / MD
14 / 29/11 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Active RS III: RADAR intro / PB G07 / MD
15 / 06/12 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Active RSIV: RADAR interferometry / PB G07 / MD
16 / 13/12 / Tue 11:00 / 2 / Revision & problem class / PB G07 / MD

NOTE: text in red denotes PM sessions

Contact time = ~30 hours

Key contacts:

MD = Mat Disney ()

PL = Philip Lewis ()

JGD = Jose Gomez-Dans ()

Examinations

The examination will be a combination of essay-type and problem-solving questions. Candidates will answer three questions on this part of the course from a choice of four in 2 hours. The PPRS MSc module (CEGE046) has run with different module codes in the past, so the past papers are: CEGE046 (2008-2010); GEOMG017 (2007-8), GEOGRSC1 (2005-6), GEOGGR01 (2007 referred/deferred paper). Past exam papers are kept in the library (

NOTE: The course has been modified for the 2011 academic year and now contains the radiative transfer elements of the Vegetation Science option module from previous years (CEGEG065). Exam papers. The course also changed significantly in 2005 and 2007 so you should ignore Q4 on the 2006 GEOGRSC1 paper, Q1 on the 2005 GEOGRSC1 paper, and Q3 on the 2007 GEOGGR01 paper.

Course material

All teaching notes are available from the course webpage and moodle.

Books

Remote Sensing principles

Campbell, J. B. (2007) Introduction to Remote Sensing (2nd Ed), London, Taylor and Francis, 4thedn. (a good general textbook covering theory with a little bit on image interpretation).

Jensen, John R. (2006) Remote Sensing of the Environment: an Earth Resources Perspective, Hall and Prentice, New Jersey, 2nd ed. (an excellent, slightly more advanced textbook covering theory and applications but not image processing. A solid investment).

Jones, H. and Vaughan, R. (2010, paperback) Remote Sensing of Vegetation: Principles, Techniques, and Applications, OUP, Oxford. (A graduate-level textbook covering theory and applications related to vegetation – more specialized but a very good primer in the field).

Liang, S. (2004) Quantitative Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, Wiley-Blackwell (an excellent, advanced textbook covering radiation transfer, theory and algorithms. Expensive, so try the library).

Lillesand, T., Kiefer, R. and Chipman, J. (2004) Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation. John Wiley and Sons, NY, 5thed.. (Good general textbook with image processing as well).

Monteith, J. L and Unsworth, M. H. (1990) Principles of Environmental Physics, Edward Arnold: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, NY, 2nd ed. (an excellent book covering basic physics – lots of useful parts here on radiation, surface energy budgets, modelling etc. – a real gem).

Purkis, S. J. and Klemas, V. V. (2011) Remote Sensing and Global Environmental Change, Wiley-Blackwell (a good account of various remote sensing applications, strong on ocean and coral reefs).

A longer list of journal articles is provided on the course web page