GEO-SCI426/626 Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation

Department of Geosciences

University of Massachusetts - Amherst

3 cr, Spring 2013

Class schedule table Syllabus in PDF

Notes, lab and assignments will be updated on the Moodle.

Lecture TuTh 9:30-10:45 pm    Morrill Sci. Ctr. II 126

Instructor

Qian Yu, Ph.D,	Morrill 267	qyu@geo.umass.edu
	Office hour	TuTh 11-12pm or by appointment
TA: Jiwei Li	Morrill IV 264	jiwei@geo.umass.edu,
	Office hour	MF 10:30-11:30am or by appointment

Course description

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of remote sensing. Class lectures will focus on a range of concepts and techniques key to understanding how remote sensing data are acquired, displayed, restored, enhanced, and analyzed. Topics include remote sensing principles, aerial photography, image interpretation, major remote sensing systems, image display and enhancement, information extraction, accuracy assessment, and remote sensing in environmental research and applications. First half of the semester focuses on theory of remote sensing. In the second half, we have several hands-on computer labs to gain experience using the image processing software ITT ENVI. We will also explore a range of practical issues related to the application of remote sensing to solve real world problems. Overall, this class emphasizes remote sensing theory and knowledge.

Course purpose

To provide you with an introduction to the principles and practices of photo interpretation and digital remote sensing for use in environmental monitoring, measurements of structural parameters, and natural resource management.

Course objectives

This class will insure students have knowledge on these aspects:

1.  the properties and characteristics of aerial photographs.

2.  remote sensing systems: a) how to define the type of remote sensing needed to fulfill the user's stated objectives, b) where existing remote sensing data which fulfills his/her objectives may be located, and c) how to obtain new aerial photography, if necessary.

3.  digital image processing: a) basic concepts on non-photographic remote sensing, b) general principles of digital image processing for remote sensing applications, and c) future applications of remote sensing to natural resource management and related fields.

4.  remote sensing information extraction: a) which characteristics of land cover types can be mapped/measured from remote sensing, b) different techniques available for mapping and measuring these land cover types, and c) how accurately these land cover characteristics can be mapped from remote sensing.

Prerequisites:  High school Algebra and Geometry

Required textbook for lectures 

Jensen, John R., 2007, Remote Sensing of the Environment: An Earth Resource Perspective, Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2^nd ed. ISBN 0-13-188950-8

Reference book for lectures

1. Jensen, John R., 2005, Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective, Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 3^rd ed. ISBN 0-13-145361-0

2. Lillesand, Thomas M., 2007, Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation, Wiley. ISBN-13: 978-0470052457, 6^th edition

3. Gong, Peng, Remote Sensing and Image Analysis http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~gong/textbook/

Grading and evaluation

Exams will cover key concepts from lecture, article and laboratory activities. All written assignments must be handed in on time.

Exercises and assignments Mid-Term Exam Final Exam/Project Presentation Class participation& Course portfolio

25%  30% 30%  5% 10%

626 students:      1. Present a journal paper about remote sensing application in your field;

2. Choose your own topic for final project.

Laboratory activities and assignments: We will work through some laboratory activities specified in additional documents to aid in understanding technical concepts taught in lectures. We will also explore some of the technical facets of ITT ENVI software, which will help manipulate images. 

Policy on attendance and due-dates for assignments:

· Attendance to both lecture and lab is required in the normal circumstances and forms a portion of your grade. Failure to meet course requirements due to illness will require documentation for alternate arrangements to be made. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain any materials (i.e. notes) from other students in the event the student cannot attend class for some reasons.   

· All exercises must be turned in by the date the exercises are due.  Submission within one week of the due date will be considered as late submission. Each student will have one chance of late submission (within one week of the due date) with full score. Any consecutive late submission within one week without advance permission by the instructor will cause a grade deduction by half. No exercise will be accepted after one week following the due date.

· No make-up exams will be given unless PRIOR arrangements have been made with instructor and documentation of an illness is provided.

· Missing mid-term exam, final exam/project, presentation, or >=3 homework will result in an F for the course.

Academic Honesty Policy:

· All work submitted must be your own in presentation. You may discuss homework and final project with other students (you are encouraged to so), but the homework and project writeup must be your work.

· Exams are closed-book and no outside help is allowed. Any cheating on an exam will result in an F for the course.

· Copying is not allowed, and collaboration so close that it looks like copying is not allowed. Violation will be reported to the UMass Academic Honesty Board.

· If you make use of a printed or on-line source as reference, you need to cite it and mention it in your writeup.

Class Schedule (subject to change according to the progress)

This table will be updated through the semester. You can direct access by the following URL. This URL is also posted in Moodle. http://www.geo.umass.edu/courses/geo426/

Week	Class	Arrangement	Topic	Reading
1 Jan 21	Tu	Lecture 1	Introduction	Jense’s ch1
	Th	Lecture 2.1	Physic basis of remote sensing: Electromagnetic radiation principles (1)	Jensen’s ch2 p37-47
2 Jan 28	Tu	Lecture 2.2	Physic basis of remote sensing: Light-atmosphere and light-terrain interaction(2)	Jensen’s ch2 p47-60
	Th	Lab 1	Spectral curve, spectroradiometer	Due 2/14
3 Feb 4	Tu	Lecture 3.1	Aerial photography: vantage point, cameras (1)	Jensen’s ch4 Skip p101-104, 116-122
	Th	Lecture 3.2	Aerial photography: color theory, filter, and film development (2)
4 Feb 11	Tu	Lab 2	Stereo-airphoto interpretation	Jensen’s ch6 p162-167 Due 2/26
	Th	Lecture 4.1 (Lab 1 due)	Multispectral remote sensing systems: concepts: digital images, resolution, orbits, platform, types of system	Jensen’s ch7 Skip 1) Indian Remote Sensing System p229 -231, 2) Digital frame cameras bases on Area Arrays p244-246
5 Feb 18	Tu		Monday schedule
	Th	Lecture 4.2	Multispectral remote sensing systems: Landsat and SPOT
6 Feb 25	Tu	Lecture 4.3 (Lab 2 due)	Multispectral remote sensing systems -AVHRR, EOS, High resolution
	Th	Lecture 4.4	Continue…
7 Mar 4	Tu	Lab 3	Image display and multispectral remote sensing System	Due 3/19
	Th	Lecture 5.1	Thermal infrared remote sensing	Jensen's ch8, Skip 1)250-252 (History of Thermal RS) 2) p260-261 (Thermal properties of terrain)
8 Mar 11	Tu	Lecture 5.2	Thermal infrared remote sensing, cont
	Th	Lab 4	Thermal infrared remote sensing interpretation	Due 3/21
9 Mar 18	Spring break
10 Mar 25	Tu	Lecture 6	Image enhancement	slides
	Th		Mid-term
11 Apr 1	Tu	Lab 5	Image enhancement	Due 4/9
	Th	Lecture 7	Information extraction:  classification	slides
12 Apr 8	Tu	Lab 6	Classification	Due 4/19
	Th	Lab 7	Object-based information extraction
13 Apr 15	Tu	Lecture 7	Cont, classification accuracy assessment
	Th	Lecture 8	Active remote sensing
14 Apr 22	Tu	Selective topics
	Th	Selective topics
15 Apr 29	Tu		Presentation
May 9			Final project report due