UCL Department of Geography
GEOGG141 Principles and Practice of Remote Sensing
  
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GEOGG141 Principles and Practice of Remote Sensing

CORE GEOGG141: Principles and Practice of Remote Sensing (15 credits)

Term 1 (2013)

Staff:

Mat Disney (convenor), Jon Iliffe (JI), Dietmar Backes (DB), Jan Boehm (JB), Stuart Robson (SR) all CEGE.

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

mathias.disney@ucl.ac.uk

Course web page

http://www2.geog.ucl.ac.uk/~mdisney/teaching/GEOGG141/GEOGG141.html

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) 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, radiative transfer; 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: principles (MD)
  • Revision (MD)


Assessment:

3 hour unseen 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