This course explores the theory, technology, and applications of remote sensing. It is designed for individuals with an interest in GIS and geospatial science who have no prior experience working with remotely sensed data. Lab exercises make use of the web and the ArcGIS Pro software. You will work with and explore a wide variety of data types including aerial imagery, satellite imagery, multispectral imagery, digital terrain data, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), thermal data, and synthetic aperture RaDAR (SAR). Remote sensing is a rapidly changing field influenced by big data, machine learning, deep learning, and cloud computing. In this course you will gain an overview of the subject of remote sensing, with a special emphasis on principles, limitations, and possibilities. In addition, this course emphasizes information literacy, and will develop your skills in finding, evaluating, and using scholarly information.
You will be asked to work through a series of modules that present information relating to a specific topic. You will also complete a series of lab exercises to reinforce the material. Lastly, you will complete paper reviews and a term project. We have also provided additional bonus material and links associated with surface hydrologic analysis with TauDEM, geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA), Google Earth Engine (GEE), and the geemap Python library for Google Earth Engine. Please see the sequencing document for our suggested order in which to work through the material. We have also provided PDF versions of the lectures with the notes included.