The aim of the study course is to provide students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the application of remote sensing materials for support of land resource management. The goals of the course are to explain the principles of optical and radar (SAR) image processing and interpretation; to demonstrate applications in solving problems in marine, agricultural, forestry and urban domains; to introduce into various automatic image classification options; to explain quality evaluation of the obtained results. The course focuses on the possibilities of freely available satellite data, with a special focus on the EU Copernicus program Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 satellite data. Course languages: English, Latvian
Course responsible lecturer Zaiga Krišjāne
Results Knowledge 1. knows the peculiarities of interaction of the optical and microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum with the Earth's surface and objects on it; 2. understands the reasons for differences in the spectral properties of plants; 3. describes the most popular remote sensing data acquisition platforms; 4. describes various automatic classification methods; 5. explains the possible causes of changes in SAR image series; 6. is familiar with the use of SAR in marine applications; 7. describes the possibilities of remote sensing in agricultural and forestry monitoring; 8. understands the limitations of remote sensing methods in urban research. Skills 9. retrieves EU Copernicus satellite data from the data repository; 10. visualizes multispectral and hyperspectral images; 11. prepares SAR images for interpretation; 12. analyzes remote sensing images using automatic classification methods; 13. calculates quality indicators of the prepared maps; 14. uses SAR and optical data for operational monitoring of floods, marine pollution, deforestation and rural development; 15. evaluates the economic activity of the region from remote sensing materials. Competences 16. chooses the most appropriate data source and analysis method for solving a specific business problem in a reasoned manner;
17. critically evaluates the results obtained from remote sensing materials and provides reasoned recommendations for improving the results.
Course plan 1.Introduction to applied remote sensing L4, S2, P2 2.Interaction of electromagnetic radiation with living and non-living objects, Earth's surfaceL4, P4 3.Automatic interpretation of imagesL16, P16 4.Quality assessment of image classification L4, P4 5.Basics of synthetic aperture radarL6, P6 6.Synthetic aperture radar applications in marine domain L4, P4 7.Remote sensing opportunities in agriculture and forestryL6,P6 8.Possibilities of remote sensing in urban areas L2, P2 9.Characterization of the sample area from remote sensing data S4 L - lectures; P - practical work; S - seminar.
