Instructions: The objective of the course project is twofold. First, students will gather and interpret remotely sensed imagery. Second, students will apply image interpretation, remote sensing technology, and data analysis to complex problems in environmental management and/or land use planning.
Students will select a geographic area of interest (AOI) for this assignment, choosing an area you are familiar with or any area in which you have an interest. Note that imagery of the lower 48 states may be the easiest to acquire, though students interested in imagery of Alaska, Hawaii, or international areas are encouraged to seek out appropriate materials. Select a feature or AOI that is identifiable from the satellite imagery such as we have been viewing on the homework assignments throughout the term, since you will be acquiring the imagery from those sites among others on the web.
Within the geographic AOI, students must select a minimum of three ground control points (GCPs). See our course for further details on acceptable GCPs. Next, students should acquire a minimum of six different raster remotely sensed images for their selected geographic AOI. Appropriate images may include, but are not limited to, aerial photography, LANDSAT imagery, radar images, and/or lidar images. Some images may be available from the same data source (e.g. LANDSAT) showing different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Listed below are suggested websites for image acquisition. Also refer to the GIS viewers we used throughout the homework assignments, including GLOVIS, Wetlands Mapper, GIS Direct, and Radarsat-2.
NASA
MODIS
European Space Agency
Weather Channel
Weather Underground
Satellite Meteorology
USGS Earthshots
Note that some of the sites listed above present both raster remotely sensed images and vector data layers (like points, polygons, and lines). Students may present such vector data layers of the geographic AOI, but these will not count toward the minimum of six raster remotely sensed images (e.g., visible, near infrared, radar). Students are also encouraged to explore city, county, state, or federal environmental resource management websites that cover their selected geographic AOI, as these organizations, as well as private and non-profit conservations groups, often have imagery available. The list above is in no way comprehensive or all-inclusive. Our course textbook also provides websites for image acquisition throughout the text.
Students must properly document the source of each image. Note that it is not the intent of this project that students purchase remotely sensed imagery, as students will find free remotely sensed imagery on the web, given sufficient exploration. In addition, because this course format does not support GIS software, students should seek out JPG, GIF, TIF, or similar format images that can be viewed using standard software already available to them on the computer they are using.
In a 15+ slide presentation (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint, Google slides, OpenOffice.org Impress), students will present their finding. A sample project outline is presented below. Each number represents a section that should be included in the presentation.
1 COVER SLIDE
Title, student name, course, date
2 DESCRIPTION OF AREA OF INTEREST (AOI)
Information presented may vary based on selected area but should include information such as city, county, state, country, latitude and longitude, township, range, section, political boundary, geographic description, etc. This information should be sufficient for someone unrelated to the project to locate the AOI. Cite all sources consulted in APA style.
3 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CONTEXT
Reason to select the AOI in the context of environmental management and/or land use planning. Information presented will vary, but the reasoning behind selection should be clear. Example questions to answer include: Is it an area of historic significance? Has there been significant environmental change in the past? Is there expected to be significant environmental change in the future? What is the presenter’s experience with or interest in the geographic AOI? Is this an area of environmentally sensitive land (e.g. does it host listed species)? What is the predominant land use within the geographic AOI? Has there been environmental change in the recent past (e.g., wildfire, flooding, wind damage)? Clearly all questions will not be relevant to each project, but an explanation of the selection of the geographic AOI in the context of environmental management and/or land use planning is expected.
4 GROUND CONTROL POINTS (GCPs)
You will select a minimum of three suitable ground control points for the selected AOI. Review our readings and lectures on this topic to make sure your choices are suitable. Include a description of GCPs (e.g., if it is a point, what are the coordinates; if an intersection, where is the cross; etc.). What features distinguish the GCPs and how will you use them for identification to register the different remotely sensed images acquired for the project?
5 IMAGERY
A minimum of six different types of raster based remotely sensed images each displaying the geographic area of interest, the GCPs, and a description of the image to include data source, date acquired, passive or active sensors used, and the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum used.
6 SUMMARY TABLE
A table presenting details of the different images acquired for this project and a column providing an explanation of the utility of each in addressing the environmental management and/or land use planning as outlined in section 3 above.
7 DISCUSSION
Discussion of project including applications of remote sensing technology to environmental management and/or land use planning.
8 SUMMARY
Project summary
9 REFERENCES
List of references used, presented in APA citation style. BE SURE THAT EACH IMAGE IS CITED ON THE SLIDE ITSELF. Then, list the complete reference citation here in the references list. You *must* properly document the source of the imagery and information presented.
Images are a requirement in this presentation. Note that sometimes images will be rather large. Students can compress images within PowerPoint.
Be sure to properly cite the sources used in preparing the presentation in a final references slide and use appropriate citations throughout the presentation for each image, fact, or figure shown. Be sure to edit your final presentation for typos, and to maintain a scientific and professional tone throughout.
Note that the intent of this project is to encourage students to understand and apply what they have learned in remote sensing to the field of environmental science and to appreciate the application and limitations of technology in the field of remote sensing.
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Extra instructions: Coursehero has some samples of this project incase that is helpful.
