Bob Ford Home	Earth System Science Core Courses - LLU-SST - EBS
	SPOL 665 Info-Tech.	BIOL 549 Biodiv. & Conser.	SPOL 624 Nature-Soc. Thought	SPOL 554 Env. Eq. Eco. Dev. Policy	ESSC 401-2 ES-Sci.	ESSC 541-2 Remote Sensing	ESSC 575  Field Practicum

Robert E. Ford Instructor - Email: rford@llu.edu

TAKE-HOME TEST & REVIEW QUESTIONS

I. Write an essay (1-2 pages maximum) on ONE of the following questions:

a)  Write 1-2 pages summarizing and and critiquing Chapter one of the book Regions at risk: comparisons of threatened environments. Edited by Jeanne X. Kasperson, Roger E. Kasperson, and B. L. Turner II. United Nations University, 1995. 

QUESTION: What are the key concepts and ideas in the above chapter that helsp us understand what global change is and how we might study its impacts on human and natural environments?

b) Study the online module Human Impacts on Land Use/Land Cover and write a 1-2 page summary and critique. 

QUESTION: What are the key concepts and ideas in the above online module that help us understand what is the relationshp between land use/land cover change (LULC) and the human dimensions of global change (HDGC)?

c)  Write 1-2 pages summarizing and and critiquing the book National Academy of Sciences. 1998. People and Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science. Washington DC . URL: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309064082/html/

QUESTION: What are the key concepts ideas that attracted you, what things don't you like (explain why), how does it help explain how "social policy, health, Earth, and biological science problems" can be studied using Remote Sensing?

d) Write 1-2 pages summarizing and and critiquing the book National Academy of Sciences, 2002. Down to Earth: Geographic Information for Sustainable Development in Africa, Committee on the Geographic Foundation for Agenda 21, Committee on Geography, Mapping Science Committee, National Research Council. See also:

• GSDI - Global Spatial Data Infrastructure
• GSDI - Cookbook Index - SDI Newsletters
• OGC - OpenGeospatial Association

QUESTIONS:

-What are the key concepts ideas that attracted you, what things don't you like (explain why), how does it help explain how "social policy, health and related sustainable development problems can be studied using Remote Sensing?

-What is SDI (Spatial Data Infrastructure) and what are the key barriers to its implementation in regions such as Africa?

-What benefits can it provide--give some examples.

e) Summarize and critique the following DOCUMENTS from NASA on ESE (Earth System Education)--the Science of the Earth System Enterprise -(Science Roadmaps) -and answer the questions below:

See resources such as the NASA - Approach to Earth System Science + Read the Document (2.3 MB, PDF) - see also NASA January 6, 2005 draft of the Earth Science Research Plan.

QUESTIONS:

-What is the Earth Science Enterprise?
-What are the key NASA Earth System Enterprise research themes and scientific questions it is pursuing. See "research themes" cross-cutting themes, etc--described as Science Roadmaps)?
-Why is ESE important?
-Why do you think these themes were chosen as the research focus by NASA?
-Choose a specific theme and describe how NASA tools and data are being used to solve/study that problem or research area?

f) Critique/summarize and evaluate the 2nd edition of the textbook--The Blue Planet: Introduction to Earth System Science, 1999, John Wiley & Sons.  Study specifically Chapter 1--The Earth System and answer the questions - you may also use the following online modules from SERC (Science Education Research Center):

• ESS in a Nutshell
• Using and Earth System Approach
• Teaching with Data
• Teaching with Models
• Investigative Case-Based Learning
• Bretherton Diagram - ESSE
• Earth Science Enterprise System Components - NASA ("coins chart")
• ESS Pyramid

    QUESTIONS:

-What is a model?
-What is a system?
-What types of systems do earth systems scientists study?
-Why are models useful to study earth systems?
-What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of modeling earth systems? (consider your own experience as well as what books say)
 

a)  SHORT ESSAYS (2-3 paragraphs each):

• What is remote sensing?

 
• What is the difference between passive and active sensors - give THREE examples of each type?

 
•  What parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are used most often in remote sensing - give specific examples.   Draw a simple diagram of the spectrum showing major bands/wavelengths, atmospheric windows, etc.

 
•  What happens to solar energy as it interacts with the atmosphere?

 
•   In aerial photography and remote sensing much "image interpretation/information extraction" involves analysis of a series of key visual elements.  List/discuss at least SIX of these elements.

b)  KEY TERMS AND PHRASES (2-3 sentences each):

        -Pixel vs. line. vs. node vs. polygon
        -Image vs. photograph
        -Geostationary orbit vs. Sun-Synchronous orbit vs. polar orbit
        -Platform vs. Sensor
        -Nadir vs. zenith
        -Supervised vs. unsupervised classifications
        -Ground control points
        -Image histogram
        -Foreshortening
        -Surface roughness
        -Look direction or aspect angle
        -Speckle
        -algorithms
        -Transponders
        -Interferometry
        -Azimuth
        -SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)
        -Revisit period
        -Multispectral vs Multitemporal imaging
        -Land Use vs Land Cover
        -Planimetry
        -Stereogrametry
        -Scatterometer
        -Polarization & radar (polarimetry)
        -AVHRR
        -NOAA
        -GIS/LIS
        -DEMs
        -TM (Thematic Mapper)
        -NDVI
        -SPOT
        -MSS
        -ERTS
        -LANDSAT
        -GOES
        -Analog vs digital data
        -Monochrome
        -CZCS
        -SIR-C
        -Thermal vs Reflected IR
        -Rayleigh vs Mie Scattering
        -Atmospheric windows
        -Spectral signature
        -Channel or Band
        -Swath
        -Spatial vs. temporal vs. radiometric resolution
        -2-bit vs. 8-bit vs. 16-bit image
        -Normal color vs false color photograph
        -Oblique vs vertical aerial photo
        -flight line
        -Photogrammetry
        -Georeferencing
        -Projection
        -Scale (large vs small)  and RF vs Graphic
        -UTM
        -PLSS

Bob Ford Home	Earth System Science Core Courses - LLU-SST - EBS
	SPOL 665 Info-Tech.	BIOL 549 Biodiv. & Conser.	SPOL 624 Nature-Soc. Thought	SPOL 554 Env. Eq. Eco. Dev. Policy	ESSC 401-2 ES-Sci.	ESSC 541-2 Remote Sensing	ESSC 575  Field Practicum

Last Revised: August 22, 2007 - Robert E. Ford Instructor - Email: rford@llu.edu