Objective:

Remote sensing has emerged as one of the most fascinating subjects over the past decades. It is continuously evolving due to improvements in sensors and data collection platforms, and the progress of digital image processing. The goal of this course is to prepare graduate students in understanding the basic physical principles and concepts underlying remote sensing data collection and image analysis, reading and synthesize information from scientific literatures, and effective communication with practitioners in the remote sensing area.

The specific objectives of this course are:

1) to explain the physical principles underlying remote sensing systems,

2) to understand the primary remote sensing data collection systems;

3) to introduce the methods of analyzing remotely sensed data; and

4) to provide insight concerning the applications of remote sensing in understanding and monitoring the environments on Earth.

 

Outline and Expectations:

The course will be divided into two parts. In the first part, important basic knowledge about remote sensing will be introduced. The topics to be covered including the physical basis of remote sensing, sensing technology commonly employed, aerial photography, characteristics of most frequently used satellites, and concepts for digital image processing and analysis.

In the second part, applications of remote sensing on vegetation, water, soil & geomorphology, and land use/land cover classification will be focused. These four focus area should have covered many tasks conducted for Earth resources monitoring.

This is a graduate level course. Students are expected to thoroughly explore the subjects through extra reading materials, homework, group discussion handout preparation, and a mini research proposal submitted at the end of the semester.

All assignments and group discussions must be submitted/conducted via iLearning, and are due on Saturday 23:59 (Taiwan Time) the designated week. The term paper is due on Monday 8:00 (Taiwan Time) the final week.

 

Grading Policy: 

Items	Distribution
Class Participation	20%
Assignments	20%
Quiz	10%
Mid Exam	20%
Term Paper	30%
TOTAL	100%

 

Class Participation:

Students are expected to attend class on the weekly basis, participate in discussion and provide feedback and constructive criticism. Each meaningful idea sharing will earn 1 point, max 20 points.

 

Assignments:

• Two points for each assignment submitted.
• Joining a discussion group and make significant contribution to group discussion handout will earn extra 5 points.

 

The group discussion handout should include following points:

1. Introduction:  A brief introduction explaining the nature of the problem that you are interested in and its importance. Your introduction should clarify: 1) what is the problem? 2) what is the goal of this study? 3) who may benefits and how?
2. Data and Analysis Methods: descriptions about the 1) Sources of the RS and auxiliary data (if needed) used and imagery acquisition channels, 2) theories, concepts, and methods used to analyze the data. It would be very useful to offer the classmates a "road map" i.e. a simple schematic illustration of the data that has been used, methodologies for analysis, and results to be accomplished.
3. Results and Discussion: Summarize and discuss findings in the articles/papers referenced.
4. Conclusion: Try to draw some conclusions from your own analysis.  Provide a list of still unanswered questions and indicate the direction of future work in your chosen area.
5. References:  You may use electronic sources but avoid web-based sources. Use sources that, although, available online they exist in some kind of print form.

 

All assignments (individual homework and group discussion handouts) must be turned in before Saturday 23:59 (Taiwan Time) of their designated week. Late assignments will lose points as determined by the instructor. Incompletes can be arranged with the instructor only due to extraordinary circumstances.

 

Quiz:

There will also be occasional quizzes embedded in the lecture videos.

 

Mid Exam:

This exam will cover not only materials taught in the lecture videos, but also those in supplementary materials.

Exam may only be taken on assigned date and time (will negotiate with class first). Permission to take the exam on a different date will be granted only under extraordinary circumstances. You must make arrangements ahead of time to take the exam on a different date/time.

 

Term Paper:

• Each student will submit a mini research proposal as term paper (20 points, grade by peers (50%) and instructor (50%)).
• Each student will grade proposals by other students and provide written critique of these proposals (1 points/proposal, +1 for providing constructive comments, max: 10)

 

Each student will write one term paper during the semester to continue some aspect of the current research or to meet personal interests.  The topic could be initially broad and then narrowed down after group discussions. At the end of Mid Exam Week, each student will provide a written justification (i.e. significance) of their research proposal and a list of at least 5 scientific papers related to the topic. The outline of the proposal is due a week after the discussion is presented in the class. The final version will be due on Monday 8:00 (Taiwan Time) of the final week. Submit the files electronically on iLearning in Word format (NOT pdf).

The final version of term paper should include following points:

1. Title
2. Summary
3. Background introduction that justifies the proposed project,
4. Specific Aims and science-based strategies for the project,
5. Discussion of required RS and auxiliary data (if needed) and potential data sources and acquisition channels,
6. Describe theories, concepts, and methods used to analyze the data, 
7. Description of expected outcomes and Significances to the society, and
8. References. 

 

Required Textbook: 

None: Be sure to have access to iLearning (http://lms.nchu.edu.tw  login with NCHU ID).

 

Important Rules and Policies:

• Plagiarized assignments or term paper will receive an automatic zero grade in the course and will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs.
• Students who miss an assignment due to a valid medical excuse need to provide a doctor’s note. The grade of exams missed because of a valid excuse will be determined on a case-by-case basis.