451-312 GIS and Remote Sensing for Environmental Science

Credit Points:

Coordinator:

Timetable:

Contact:

Objectives:

By the end of the subject students should:

• be familiar with the basic principles and procedures of digital image processing;

• have an understanding of the acquisition of remotely sensed imagery;

• have developed basic practical skills in the interpretation and use of remotely sensed data;

• have an introductory knowledge of the range of GIS applications;

• understand the fundamental role of GIS in decision making;

• be familiar with the basic principles and procedures associated with GIS;

• have developed basic practical skills in the use of GIS software.

Content:

Remote Sensing Component: Principles of remote sensing, electromagnetic radiation, human vision, space borne and airborne sensors, introduction to digital image processing including stretching, digital filters, arithmetic manipulations, image classification, rectification and geocoding.

Geographic Information Systems Component: Introduction to the information society and information management; definition of GIS; the range of GIS applications; applications; the use of GIS for decision making; integration of GIS with other technologies; geographic referencing methods; geographic data structures and models; relationships between geographic features; database definition and modelling; introduction to the technology associated with GIS.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

• Burrough, P.A, Principles of Geographic Information Systems for Land Resources Assessment, (Oxford University Press: New York 1986).
• Lillesand, T.M. and Keifer, R.W, Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation, (Wiley and sons: New York 2nd ed 1987).