Geog 589: Emerging Trends in Remote Sensing
Douglas Miller Syllabus
This is a working copy for Doug as he develops the syllabus for his upcoming offering. He will copy the content from this page to node 777 (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog589/syllabus) when he is ready for the material to be live.
Geog 589: Emerging Trends in Remote Sensing
This syllabus is divided into several sections. You can read it sequentially by scrolling down the length of the document.
Instructor
Spring 1, 2021 (January 6 to March 17, 2021)
Douglas Miller
Research Professor, Landscape Science and Informatics
Departments of Geography and Ecosystem Science and Management
Penn State University
- Email: dam8@psu.edu
NOTE: I will read and respond to e-mail and discussion forums once per day at a very minimum. I encourage interactions between all of us in the course. Graduate seminars are an opportunity to learn from each other as well as from the instructor!
Course Overview
GEOG 589 is a graduate seminar focusing on the theory and technology associated with the advanced remote sensing technology. Google Earth Engine (GEE) is now, arguably, the most sophisticated and powerful image processing/image collection platform on the planet. In SP 2021, GEOG 589 will serve as an introduction to the broad capabilities of this tool.
GEOG 589 is one of two electives required to complete the Graduate Certificate in Remote Sensing and Earth Observation. Geography 589 can also be used as an elective in the Certificate of Geographic Information Systems, Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security - Geospatial Intelligence Option or the Master of Geographic Information Systems. The course is specifically designed for adult professionals and is offered exclusively through the World Campus and the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
Students who register in the course for credit will complete eight lessons, participate in online discussions, and complete a semester project.
The course is organized around weekly lessons and a more substantial term project pursued through all ten weeks of the course. Weekly lessons will include hands-on work with Google Earth Engine, associated readings, discussions, and semester project-related homework exercises. NO previous experience in programming will be required for this course.
The term project is intended to allow students to formulate a research problem in a topic area of their own choosing and for which Google Earth Engines unique capabilities can be applied.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for this course are GEOG 480 and GEOG 883.
Students who do not meet these prerequisites may be dis-enrolled during the first 10-day free add-drop period after being informed in writing by the instructor (see Senate policy 34-60, Prerequisites and Concurrent Courses). If you have not completed the listed prerequisites, then promptly consult with the instructor if you have not done so already. Students who re-enroll after being dis-enrolled according to this policy are in violation of Item 15 on the Student Code of Conduct.
Expectations
Our 3-credit online courses normally require a minimum of 12-15 hours of independent student activity per week.
You should get in the habit of checking course email and discussion forums on a daily basis. That is where students and instructors share comments, pose questions, and suggest answers. With only occasional exceptions, instructors check email and forums six days per week and will try to respond to your questions and concerns within 24 hours.
For a more detailed look at what will be covered in each lesson, please refer to the course content that is part of this syllabus (see \"Course Schedule\"). Specific due dates for assignments and activities are posted within the online course management system for registered students.
Course Objectives
Students who excel in this course are able to:
- Navigate the Google Earth Engine platform components
- Adapt existing, and build new, GEE code scripts to accomplish basic image processing tasks
- Complete a semester project, addressing a specific challenge or problem, using GEE and its multi-dimensional image processing capabilities
- Engage in strong peer-to-peer relationships with other students in the course
- Evaluate the utility of Google Earth Engine in their own specialty area of study or professional occupation.
Required Course Materials
Online Lesson Content
All materials needed for this course are presented online through our course website and in Canvas. In order to access the online materials, you need to have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password. If you have any questions about obtaining or activating your Penn State Access Account, please contact the Outreach Helpdesk.
Reserve Materials
This course uses library Electronic Reserves (e-reserves). More information about how to access this content will be presented in the first week of class.
Assignments
This course will rely on a variety of methods to assess and evaluate student learning, including:
- Weekly lessons using the Google Earth Engine platform
- Semi-weekly semester project homework submissions
- A semester project prospectus talk (5 minutes/5 slides) to be presented in ~ Week 3
- A semester-long project using Google Earth Engine to address a problem chosen by the student
- A 15-minute oral presentation in Week 10 on the semester project.
- A semester project final report to be submitted in Week 10
- Correct implementation of citations and references according to the Chicago style, as described in the Academic Integrity and Citation Style Guide.
Due dates for all assignments are posted on the course calendar in Canvas.
Grading
| Assignment | Percent of Grade |
|---|---|
| Weekly Lessons | 45% |
| Semester Project | 35% |
| Semester Project Homework Exercises | 15% |
| Discussion Forum Participation | 5% |
I will use the Canvas grade book to keep track of your grades. Overall course grades will be determined as follows. Percentages refer to the proportion of all possible points earned.
| Letter Grade | Percentages |
|---|---|
| A | 94 - 100 % |
| A- | 90 - 93.9 % |
| B+ | 87 - 89.9 % |
| B | 84 - 86.9 % |
| B- | 80 - 83.9% |
| C+ | 77 - 79.9 % |
| C | 70 - 76.9 % |
| D | 60 - 69.9 % |
| F | < 60 % |
| X |
Unsatisfactory (student did not participate) |
GEOG 589 Course Schedule
Printable ScheduleBelow you will find a summary of the primary learning activities for this course and the associated time frames. This course is ten weeks in length; each of the eight content lessons is one week long. Two weeks are allotted for individual work on final projects and peer-to-peer presentations. See the course calendar in Canvas for specific lesson timeframes and assignment due dates.
Week 1: Introductions; Orientation to the course and Google Earth Engine platform
Week 2: GEE Resources/Collections
Week 3: Land Surface Phenology I
Week 4: Land Surface Phenology II
Week 5: Change Detection I
Week 6: Change Detection II
Week 7: LandTrendr
Week 8: Image Classification
Week 9: Course Synthesis
Week 10: Semester Project Presentations