Using Online Resources to Teach Remote Sensing

I discussed online texts that I and others have successfully used in teaching GIS. Now let’s discuss what resources might be useful to teach Remote Sensing. I have used Dr Nicholas Short’s Remote Sensing Tutorial for many years; even though much is a decade old, the fundamental theories are unchanged and are clearly presented. The Tutorial covers history, applications, image processing, and applications in geology, vegetation, urban, land use, regional studies, and more. Fundamentals of Remote Sensing from the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing is another perennial favorite—I particularly find the sections on image interpretation and analysis helpful. ITT VIS has developed a comprehensive resource with exercises and downloadable data.

Barry Rice offers a
primer that covers some ground that the others do not. Dr
Winterbottom’s tutorial includes exercises on a variety of topics, and Ned
Horning’s work at the American Museum of Natural History is very helpful. GIS Development
provides a handy overview, and the International Center for Remote Sensing
Education created a remote
sensing core curriculum a few years ago. The American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) provides
a wide variety of fundamental and special-topic remote sensing books, including
Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation by
Lillesand, Kiefer, and Chipman, through which many of us were introduced to the
field in our university courses. The
ASPRS, the International Society for
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Teaching with Spatial Technology
(formerly the Conference on Remote Sensing in Education), the ESRI Education
User Conference, and the ESRI User
Conference provide excellent networking opportunities and professional
development in Remote Sensing.

As GIS and Remote Sensing share more common ground, this
will shape into an exciting decade for those who came into the geospatial
community from the Remote Sensing side as well as those who entered from the
GIS side. As ESRI
Director of Imagery Solutions Lawrie Jordan explained recently in ArcNews, ArcGIS 9.4 will for the
first time include true remote sensing functionality. The remote sensing courses from ESRI will continue to expand.

What resources do you make use of when you teach Remote
Sensing?