1. Overview

Chapter 7 concluded with the statement that the raster approach is well suited not only to terrain surfaces but to other continuous phenomena as well. This chapter considers the characteristics and uses of raster data produced with satellite remote sensing systems. Remote sensing is a key source of data for land use and land cover mapping, agricultural and environmental resource management, mineral exploration, weather forecasting, and global change research.

Objectives

The overall goal of the chapter is to acquaint you with the properties of data produced by satellite-based sensors. Specifically, students who successfully complete Chapter 8 should be able to:

1. compare and contrast the characteristics of image data produced by photography and digital remote sensing systems;
2. use the Web to find Landsat data for a particular place and time;
3. explain why and how remotely sensed image data are processed; and
4. perform a simulated unsupervised classification of raster image data.

"Try This!" Activities

Take a minute to complete any of the Try This activities that you encounter throughout the chapter. These are fun, thought provoking exercises to help you better understand the ideas presented in the chapter.

This textbook is used as a resource in Penn State's Online Geospatial Education online degree and certificate programs. If this topic is interesting to you and you want to learn more about online GIS and GEOINT education at Penn State, check out our Geospatial Education Program Office.