1. Introduction to Remote Sensing

Welcome to the first unit in ‘Remote Sensing for Earth Observation’. In this first unit, we have included 3 sections of learning materials. The very first section (1.2) presents an outline of the course that follows and explains the intended scope of the course. Necessarily, we have included some aspects of remote sensing but excluded others because of the limited time available. We follow this with a look at the discipline of remote sensing, explaining the history of the technology as well as the meaning of the term itself. In the third part of Unit 1, we move on to look at the many ways that remote sensing technology is used to solve ‘real world’ problems, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.

Note that there are no pieces of work in this first section of materials that count towards your overall course grade.

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Activity

In preparation for this first set of materials, we recommend that you read Chapter 1 and 2 of one of the two course textbooks, namely:

Campbell, J. B. and Wynne R.H (2011) Introduction to Remote Sensing, Fifth edition, The Guilford Press, London.(Chapter 1 and 2)

Mather P. M. and Koch M (2011) Computer processing of remotely-sensed images, Fourth edition, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester (Chapter 1)

You should find it useful to read these textbooks alongside the materials presented here to broaden your understanding of remote sensing.

Other useful books include: 

Warner, T., Nellis, M.D., Foody, G.M., 2009. The SAGE Handbook of Remote Sensing. SAGE publications, Los Angeles.

Lillesand T.M. Kiefer R.W. & Chipman, J.W., 2015 Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation. 7th Edition J. Wiley & Sons, NJ

Journals for general reference include:

• Remote Sensing of Environment
• International Journal of Remote Sensing
• Remote Sensing (Open Access)
• Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing