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GEOGG141 Principles and practice of Remote Sensing
CORE GEOGG141: Principles and Practice of Remote Sensing (15 credits)
Term 1 (2011)
Note the sessions are TBC as of June 2011
Staff:
Mat Disney (convenor), Jon Iliffe, Dietmar Backes
Dr. M. Disney, room 113 Pearson Building, tel. 7679 0592 (x30592)
Course web page
http://www2.geog.ucl.ac.uk/~mdisney/teaching/GEOGG141/GEOGG141.html
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 occasional seminars.
Content:
The module will provide an introduction to the basic concepts and principles of remote sensing. It will include 3 components: i) geometric principles of remote sensing: geodetic principles and datums, reference systems, mapping projections distortions and transformations; data acquisition methods; ii) radiometric principles remote sensing: electromagnetic radiation; basic laws of electromagnetic radiation; absorption, reflection and emission; atmospheric effects; radiation interactions with the surface, fundamentals of radiative transfer in heterogeneous media (vegetation); orbits; 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 geodetic principles and datums (JI)
- Data acquisition and positioning (DB)
- 3D mapping and imaging (DB)
- Introduction to remote sensing (MD)
- Radiation principles, EM spectrum, blackbody (MD)
- EM spectrum terms, definitions and concepts (MD)
- Radiative transfer (MD)
- Spatial, spectral resolution and sampling (MD)
- Pre-processing chain, ground segment, radiometric resolution, scanners (MD)
- LIDAR remote sensing (MD)
- RADAR remote sensing I: principles (MD)
- RADAR remote sensing II: interferometric SAR (MD)
Assessment:
3 hour seen 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
Sessions (TBC as of June 2011)
|
Week |
Date |
Day/Time |
Duration |
Class |
Room |
Lecturer |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
07/10 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Introduction to mapping methods |
XX |
DB/JI |
|
2 |
07/10 |
Fri 14-16 |
2 hrs |
Mapping foundations I |
XX |
JI |
|
3 |
14/10 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Mapping foundations II |
XX |
JI |
|
3 |
14/10 |
Fri 14-16 |
2 hrs |
Data Acquisition 1: GNSS |
XX |
DB |
|
4 |
21/10 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Mapping foundations: III |
XX |
JI |
|
4 |
21/10 |
Fri 14-16 |
2 hrs |
Data Acquisition 2: 3D mapping |
XX |
DB |
|
5 |
28/10 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Introduction, Radiation I |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
5 |
|
|
2 hrs |
|
PBG07 |
MD |
|
6 |
04/10 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Radiation II |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
11/11 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Radiative transfer I |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
7 |
|
Fri 14-16 |
2 hrs |
Radiative transfer II |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
8 |
18/11 |
|
2 hrs |
Spatial, spectral resolution/sampling |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
25/11 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Angular and temporal resolution/sampling |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
02/12 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
Pre-processing, ground segment, scanning |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
10 |
02/12 |
Fri 14-16 |
2 hrs |
LIDAR remote sensing |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
11 |
09/12 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
RADAR remote sensing 1 |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 |
16/12 |
Fri 11-13 |
2 hrs |
RADAR remote sensing 2 |
PBG07 |
MD |
|
12 |
16/12 |
Fri 14-16 |
2 hrs |
RADAR III + revision |
PBG07 |
MD |
Contact time = 34 hours
Key contacts:
MD = Mat Disney (mdisney@geog.ucl.ac.uk)
DB = Dietmar Backes (dietmar@cege.ucl.ac.uk)
JI = Jon Iliffe (jiliffe@cege.ucl.ac.uk )
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 (http://exam-papers.ucl.ac.uk/SocHist/Geog/).
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
Campbell, J. B. (2007) Introduction to Remote Sensing (2nd Ed), London, Taylor and Francis, 4th edn. (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, 5th ed.. (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).
Rees, W. G. (2001, 2nd ed.). Physical Principles of Remote Sensing, Cambridge Univ. Press. (Good general textbook).
Warner, T. A., Nellis, M. D. and Foody, G. M. eds. (2009) The SAGE Handbook of Remote Sensing (Hardcover). Limited depth, but very wide-ranging – excellent reference book.
Web resources
Tutorials
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Front/tofc.html
http://mercator.upc.es/nicktutorial/TofC/table.html
http://earth.esa.int/applications/data_util/SARDOCS/spaceborne/Radar_Courses/
http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/ccrs/learn/tutorials/fundam/fundam_e.html
Other resources
NASA www.nasa.gov
European Space Agency www.esa.int
NOAA www.noaa.gov
Remote sensing and Photogrammetry Society UK www.rspsoc.org
Journals
Remote Sensing of the Environment (via Science Direct from within UCL): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=JournalURL&_cdi=5824&_auth=y&_acct=C000010182&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=125795&md5=5a4f9b8f79baba2ae1896ddabe172179
International Journal of Remote Sensing: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/01431161.asp
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?puNumber=36
+44 (0)20 7679 0500