Undergraduate courses:
Graduate courses:
   

 

GGR 337H1S Environmental Remote Sensing

Instructor: J. Chen
Office: Rm. 305, 45 St. George St.
Telephone: 416-978-7085
E-Mail: chenj@geog.utoronto.ca

 

Lectures

Mon. 10am-12pm, SS 2125

Lab Instructions

Tuesday 10-12 am; Thursday 10-12 am; Thursday 5-7 pm, CQUEST Lab (basement) Physical Geography Building (students should be available on one of these time slots)

Prerequisite

101Y/107Y/233Y

Outline

Environmental remote sensing has been an increasingly exciting subject as many new satellite sensors have recently been successfully launched and many are still forthcoming. The unprecedented abundance of earth observation data will allow us to address many pressing environmental issues. This course will prepare the students for the basics of using remote sensing data for environmental studies. In addition to learning the basic concepts, terminology, and theories of remote sensing science and applications, students will have the opportunity to acquire hand-on experience in digital image processing using the image analysis system PCI. A series of laboratory works are designed to lead the students through the keys steps in processing satellite images and in extracting quantitative information about the environment of the Earth's surface.

Evaluation

  • 5 Lab assignments ____ 50%
  • Mid-term exam ____ 10%
  • Final exam ____ 40%

Late lab reports will be penalized at 10% of the portion of the lab for each day of delay, i.e., a multiplying factor of 0.9 will be used for 1-day delay, and 0.8 for 2-day delay, etc.

Required Reading

Text Book

  • Lillesand, T. M., R. W. Kiefer, and J. W. Chipman, 2004. Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation. Fifth edition. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0-471-45152-5

Other References (in order of importance)

  • Campbell, J. B., 1996. Introduction to Remote Sensing, Guilford Press, (2nd Ed.)
  • Verbyla, D. L., 1995. Satellite Remote Sensing of Natural Resources. Lewis Publishers, New York.

Lecture Schedule

Date Lecture subject Reading Labs
Jan 09 Introduction to remote sensing principles, lab facility, computer accounts, etc. LKC: Chapter 1  
Jan 16 Electromagnetic radiation and remote sensing terminology LKC: Chapter 1.1-1.3 Lab. #1, 5%
Jan 23 Spectral characteristics of ground targets LKC: Chapter 1.4; JC: Chapter 16  
Jan 30 Satellite orbits and sensors JC: Chapters 6, 7 and 8; LKC: Chapters 5 and 6 Lab. #1 report due
Feb 06 Digital data handling and geometric corrections JC: Chapter 4; LKC: Chapter 5.9-5.10 Lab. #2,
10%
Feb 13 Image enhancement and filtering JC: Chapter 5; LKC: Chapter 7.3-7.5 Lab. #3,
10%
Feb 20 Reading week    
Feb 27 Color display techniques, mid-term exam (1 hour) LKC: Chapters 2.7 and 7.6 Lab. #2 report due
Mar 06 Radiometric corrections LKC: Chapters 1.4 and 5.8 Lab. #4,
10%
Mar 13 Multispectral transformations of image data and vegetation indices LKC: Chapter 7.11; JC: Chapters 16 Lab. #3 report due
Mar 20 Clustering and unsupervised classification

LKC: Chapter 7.11

JC: Chapter 11

 Lab, #5,
15%
Mar 27 Supervised classification techniques and accuracy LKC: Ch. 7.8; JC: Ch. 11, 12 and 13 Lab, #4 report due
Apr 03 Remote sensing applications:Forestry, agriculture, climate change, urban environment, etc. JC: Chapters 14 and 16 Lab, #5 report due
Apr 10 Introduction to advanced remote sensing application tools   Review Term paper due for GGR1911 and MSA9220

Note JC is the reference book of James Campbell, and LKC is the textbook of Lillesand, Kiefer and Chipman.

Additional Readings

To be provided in class

GGR1911 and MSA9220 - Remote Sensing, Graduate Course

All graduate students should attend the classes and finish the first four assignments as undergraduate students. The score percentages for the assignments are the same for graduate students as for undergraduate students. Graduate students will also write the same mid-term and final exams. A term paper (less than 10 double-spaced pages, excluding figures and tables) on a chosen remote sensing topic will be required as a replacement for Lab # 5 in the undergraduate course. A list of topics for the term papers will be given before the reading week. The topic can also be self-chosen. In the final exam,graduate students will be asked to answer one additional question worth about 3%.

Evaluation:

  • 4 Lab assignments_____ 35%
  • Mid-term exam _____ 10%
  • Term paper _____ 25%
  • Final exam _____ 30%

Late lab reports and term paper will be penalized at 10% of the portion of the lab for each day of delay, i.e., a multiplying factor of 0.9 will be used for 1-day delay, and 0.8 for 2-day delay, etc.

Additional reference for graduate students

Elachi, C., 1987. Introduction to the Physics and Techniques of Remote Sensing. Wiley, New York. (G 70 .4 E43 1987 )