This course will provide a thorough introduction to remote sensing theory, technology, and application. The emphasis in this course is on understanding the underlying principles of acquiring and interpreting data from imaging systems covering the electromagnetic spectrum from the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, thermal, to microwave and applying them. The first part of the course is devoted to understanding the techniques for data collection and the interaction of electromagnetic energy with the Earth's surface. The second part will be devoted to applications. Remote sensing is now the technique of choice for mapping land, ocean, and atmosphere of Earth and for exploring other planets and satellites (such as Mars and Moon). Commercial use in precision farming and city and county planning is being promoted by high spatial resolution imagery (meters to sub-meter) provided by companies such as SpaceImaging, DigitalGlobe, and Resource21.

No prerequisites, though basic math, physics, and computer skills required, GIS background a plus.

Instructor:  

Dr. Hongjie Xie , Email: hongjie.xie@utsa.edu, Tel: 210-458-5445
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UTSA, http://www.utsa.edu/LRSG

Lab assistant: Mr. Xianwei Wang (xianwei.wang@utsa.edu, 458-7815)

Thursday 1:30-3:30 pm or by appointment at room of SB 2.02.16

Lecture and Lab:

Lecture: 8:00 - 9:40 am, Saturday at room SB 2.01.02

Lab: 10:00 - 12:00 noon, Saturday at room SB 2.01.02

You are required to attend all lectures and labs except you have a good excuse (you should let me know prior to the class).

Textbook:

Required: Remote Sensing for GIS Managers, Stan Aronoff, 2005. ESRI Press (ISBN number is 1589480813). You can get this book from UTSA Book Store or from online bookstores such as http://amazon.com and http://www.addall.com/

 

Supplemental:  

Introduction to the physics and techniques of remote sensing (2nd edition), Elachi and van ZYL, 2006. Wiley Press (ISBN number is 0471475696).

 

Remote Sensing of the Environment: An Earth Resource Perspective, John R. Jensen, 2000, Prentice Hall press (ISBN number is 0134897331). 

Grade Policy:

The final grade for the course will be determined as below:

Lab exercises    40%
Midterm exam   15%

Final exam         25%
Term project     20% 

• Active class participation and exceptional performance in term project will be rewarded with extra credits. However, if you miss a class without permission (prior to the class), you will loss 1 point (based on 100 points) per missing class.
• Final grade will be 90-100 (A), 80-89 (B), 70-79 (C), 60-69 (D), and less than 60 (F).
• October 24 is the last day to drop an individual course or withdraw from all classes and receive an automatic grade of "W".

Lab exercise:

Lab exercise will be assigned on Saturday and due right before the Saturday class in the following week. Late exercise is unacceptable, unless you do have an good excuse. No make-up lab exercise. Email submission is unacceptable unless you have to miss the class (you should let me know in advance). All lab exercises should use MS Word or others, please no handwriting (it is difficult to read). Lab exercise is very important for you to actually understand the remote sensing concepts,  to use image processing software package, and to prepare you to solve real world problems

Term project:  

A fair portion (20%) of this class is a term project. You (or up to 2 persons) will submit a complete proposal (5%) (no less than 2 pages, double space, 12 font) on October 14, including a title, student name(s), introduction or question statement, data and methods to be used, and expecting results. Each student (or group) will have a 15 minutes class presentation (7%) and will submit a final project paper (8%) (no less than 5 pages, single space, 12 font). Instructor will also give some topics for your reference. More details will be given in the Term Project Assignment on Oct 5.  You are always very welcome to discuss with me about your project. You are encouraged to review the class projects carried out by your fellow students who took this class (PowerPoint presentations and final papers are all available through my teaching website).

Academic dishonesty policy:

All works must be original. Plagiarizing or cheating in any form will be reported and a failing mark will be assigned.

Tentative Schedule: