Discussion

1
Discussion

• We will start each class with a discussion this
  will be on one of two things
• Remote sensing of the days weather
• Interesting remote sensing image of the day
• You will be responsible for this
• I will do some (like today)
• I will draw up a schedule for you
• You will do this once/twice (depending upon
  numbers)

2
REMOTE SENSING

• ATMS 4510
• Neil Fox

3
Schedule

• Here - McReynolds
• MWF 1200-1250
• Full schedule coming up

4
Contact details

• Me
• My office
• Office hours
• My email
• My phone

5
Learning outcomes

• At the end of the class students should be able
  to
• Understand the theory behind remote sensing
  observations and be able to select suitable data
  sources to investigate conditions in the
  atmosphere and on the Earths surface.
• Identify large-scale meteorological features from
  examination of single satellite images.
• Describe the development of synoptic and
  mesoscale atmospheric conditions from a series of
  satellite images.
• Discover features of clouds and the Earths
  surface from the analysis of combinations of
  satellite images taken at different wavebands.
• Understand how the science of remote sensing is
  developing and will be used in the future

6
Assessment

• Tests in class
• Attendance (quizzes and in-class exercises)
• Homeworks Assigned questions and article
  reviews.
• Group project Essay on chosen application of
  remote sensing (from a list) and presentation
  describe the application, how it works and show
  some images if possible.
• Satellite image interpretation Select a
  satellite image from the day in question and
  relate the features of the image to other
  meteorological data available. (Weather Briefing)
• Individual term paper

7
Books - Satellites

• Conway / Maryland An introduction to satellite
  image interpretation Nice (and reasonably
  priced), but little theory and no natural
  resources
• Lillesand and Kiefer Remote sensing and Image
  interpretation Good but little atmospheric
  science
• Jensen Remote sensing of the environment
  Little theory and very little atmospheric science
• Kidder and Vonder Haar Satellite Meteorology
  very thorough, but heavy and no natural resources

8
Books - Radiation

• Petty A first course in Atmospheric Radiation
  (strongly recommended for the interested student)

9
Websites Satellite mostly

• http//rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Front/overview.html
• http//lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/climateresourc
  esother.htmlSATELLITE
• http//www2.ncdc.noaa.gov/docs/podug/index.htm
• http//www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite/
• http//www.nottingham.ac.uk/meteosat/graphif.shtml
  
• http//liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/JTrack/Space
  craft.html
• http//www5.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/hsei/hsei.pl?dir
  ectivewelcome
• http//www2.ncdc.noaa.gov/docs/klm/
• http//www.osei.noaa.gov/

10
What is remote sensing?
11
RS is

• Remote sensing is the observation and measurement
  of something without coming into physical
  contact.

12
Why do remote sensing?

• Non-invasive (can sample things without damage,
  e.g. x-rays)
• Can do it continuously (dont need to keep
  launching sondes)
• Can cover wide areas

13
What can we measure with RS?

• Todays in-class exercise
• In groups of 5 think up as many uses for remote
  sensing as you can.
• Write them on a big piece of paper with pens
  provided

14
RS is useful for

• In theory almost any environmental application
• In practice limited by
• Coverage
• Temporal
• Spatial
• Technological constraints
• Money

15
Examples

• Sea surface temperature
• Ozone monitoring
• Cloud and precipitation amounts
• Crop production
• Iceberg tracking
• Archaeological remains
• Astronomy
• Etc etc etc etc etc etc

16
Typical met obs

• Temperature
• Precipitation
• Humidity
• Cloud cover
• Soil moisture and evaporation
• Wind speed and direction
• All these, and more, can be found from remote
  sensing

17
Activity and Passivity

• There are two types of learning and two types of
  RS instrument
• Active
• Passive
• Active learning is learning by doing and what I
  will try to get as much of into this class as
  possible.
• Passive learning is where you sit and listen and
  is not so effective

18
Passive instruments

• These are instruments that simply receive
  radiation.
• Eg radiometer, camera, retina
• Most satellite instruments are passive

19
Active instruments

• These send out a signal and measure what is
  returned to them
• Eg radars, lidars
• We will spend some time thinking about these
  toward the end of the semester
• And throughout the class we will try to present
  examples of both active and passive images for
  discussion

20
Other classifications

• We can also classify instruments by their
  position
• Ground based
• Fixed
• Mobile
• Airborne
• Satellite borne
• Geostationary
• Other orbits

21
Ground based

• Most common is radar, but also profilers,
  ceilometers etc
• Advantages?
• Disadvantages?

22
Satellite borne

• Mostly passive visible and radiometers
• Advantages?
• Disadvantages?

23
This Class

• Will concentrate on satellite remote sensing
• Will hardly mention radar at all
• Next year

24
Schedule
25
Tests

• 3 tests
• Evenly spaced
• The last one is not a final and is worth no more
  than the other two!
• You should have a pretty good idea of your grade
  before the last test

26
Project Presentation

• Choose an application of remote sensing
• From the list or not (in consultation)
• Meteorological or not
• In groups of 3
• Prepare an essay
• How it works
• What use it is
• Presentation with pictures!