GEOGG128 Environmental Geoscience

15 credits

Staff: Dr Jian Guo Liu and Dr Philippa Mason

Prerequisites: GEOGG140 Image Processing and GIS

Aims
Provide essential and comprehensive knowledge and skills for remote sensing and GIS applications in earth science and environmental study.

Objectives
• Learn how to use and process various remotely sensed image datasets (multi-spectral, thermal, hyper-spectral, SAR and SAR Interferometry), to extract information relating to geology and environment.
• Use GIS to integrate and analyse multi-source data for thematic mapping and research in geology and environmental studies.

Examination: 2 hour exam (50%) and 1 piece of coursework (50%)

Learning outcomes
On successfully completing this course unit, students will have gained the following skills:

Knowledge and understanding
• Focused application of image processing and GIS to themed geoscientific projects
• Thermal and spectral analysis of major minerals and ground objects
• SAR and InSAR technology for terrain analysis

Technical Skills
• Advanced image processing and hyper-spectral data processing
• Geological and environmental mapping using remote sensing
• Terrain change and deformation detection and measurement
• Project development using image processing and GIS software

Transferable skills
• Independent project work and self assessment
• Communication skills (presentation and discussion in classroom and in field)
• Computing skills for data processing, presentation and management.

Syllabus/Lecture timetable
Lectures cover the following topics:
• Review of remote sensing in earth science and outline of image analysis  
• Reflective and thermal spectral analysis for earth environment and minerals  
• Advanced image processing techniques       
• Advanced spatial analysis and Multi-source data integration   
• Radar (SAR) remote sensing and geo-applications     
• Radar interferometry and applications for geohazard study    
• Hyper-spectral data processing       
• Application case studies in earth sciences      

Course work:
• Each student will chose one of the assignment topics on geological/environmental mapping and applications in SE Spain. An instruction sheet and a dataset of remote sensing images, DEMs and maps will be provided with each assignment topic.
• At the guidance of the instruction sheet, a student will work independently on the dataset given to produce a thematic map and report of about 2000 words via general image enhancement, multi-spectral analysis, image interpretation and map composition. Students are encouraged to develop their own approach and techniques rather than rigidly follow the instruction sheet.
• Students will take part in a remote sensing field trip in SE Spain (in May), to ground-check their individual project results. Performance in the field will be assessed