Week 2: Remote Sensing Fundamentals

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We will move on to learning about remote sensing in more detail, since remotely sensed data are a major component of most environmental databases. This will be an overview of some of the most important principles relevant to remote sensing, to get you started on your data journey!

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Topics We Will Cover:

• Basic properties of electromagnetic radiation
• Satellite orbits
• Spectral bands
• Using spectral band data to create true- and false-color images
• Satellite data processing levels and retrieval algorithms
• Coordinate reference systems and map projections

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Lecture Slides (10/4)

Lecture Slides (10/6)

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Suggested Readings

• Esmaili Chapter 7, “Creating Effective and Functional Maps”
• Esmaili Chapter 9, “Meaningful Visuals Through Data Combination”
• Use Data section 5, “Introduction to Multispectral Remote Sensing in Python”
• Planet story on NDVI and the Russian River watershed
• Use Data section 4, “Coordinate Reference Systems”

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Additional Resources

• spatialreference.org
• The True Size