Textbooks:
TR 8:00-9:00 EST 344
Textbooks:
Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and AirPhoto Interpretation, by Thomas Eugene Avery and Graydon Lennis Berlin. Required.
Earth Online: An Internet Guide for Earth Science; by Michael E. Ritter. Recommended.
Instructor: Dr. Mary Catherine Prante
Office: EST 362
Hours: 7:00-8:00 MTWR(F); 8:00-9:00 (F); 10:00-11:00 MW; 10:15-12:45 TR(F); and by appointment
Phone: 745-5981 (Office), 843-8162 (Home)
e-Mail:
mary.prante@wku.edu
Geographic information systems and computer mapping programs. Introduction to the graphic terminal, plotter, hard copy unit, and digitizers. While knowledge of computer programming is not required, a course such as CS 240 would be useful. --WKU Bulletin, pg. 156.
GRADUATE STUDENTS PLEASE NOTE: This section is graduate-level course; graduate-level work is expected. Students in this section will find that reading assignments, projects, quizzes, and examinations vary in some respects from the undergraduate section, and require a graduate-level effort.
Week 1: August 25, 27.
Introduction. Overview of Remote Sensing. Cameras, Films, Filters. Introduction to E-Mail. Introduction to SSURGO.
Reading Project 1. Due Tuesday, September 1.
Applications of Air Photography. Due Tuesday, December 1.
Avery and Berlin: Preface. Chapters 1-2; Ritter: Preface. Chapters 1-2.
Week 2: September 1, 3.
Principles of AirPhoto Interpretation.
Reading Project 2. Due Tuesday, September 8.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 3.
Ritter: Chapter 1-2.
Week 3: September 8, 10.
Quiz 1. Tuesday, September 8.
Principles of AirPhoto Interpretation (continued).
Reading Project 3. Due Tuesday, September 15.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 3.
Ritter: Chapter 3.
Week 4: September 15, 17.
Principles of Photogrammetry. Acquisition of Aerial Photographs.
Reading Project 4. Due Tuesday, September 22.
Avery and Berlin: Chapters 4-5.
Ritter: Chapter 4.
Week 5: September 22, 24.
Quiz 2. Tuesday, September 22.
Electro-Optical Sensors. Microwave and Acoustical Sensors.
Reading Project 5. Due Tuesday, September 29.
Avery and Berlin: Chapters 6-7.
Ritter: Chapter 5.
Week 6: September 29, October 1.
GIS, and Land Use and Land-Cover Mapping.
Reading Project 6. Due Tuesday, October 6.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 8.
Ritter: Chapter 6.
Week 7: October 6.
Midterm Examination. Tuesday, October 6.
Reading Project 7. Due Tuesday, October 13.
Week 8: October 13, 15.
Prehistoric and Historic Archeology.
Reading Project 8. Due Tuesday, October 20.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 9.
Week 9: October 20, 22.
Quiz 3. Tuesday, October 20.
Agriculture and Soils.
Reading Project 9. Due Tuesday, October 27.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 10.
Week 10: October 27, 29.
Forestry Applications.
Reading Project 10. Due Tuesday, November 3.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 11.
Week 11: November 3, 5.
Quiz 4. Tuesday, November 3.
Geology Applications.
Reading Project 11. Due Tuesday, November 10.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 12.
Week 12: November 10, 12.
Engineering Applications.
Reading Project 12. Due Tuesday, November 17.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 13.
Week 13: November 17, 19.
Quiz 5. Tuesday, November 17.
Urban-Industrial Applications.
Reading Project 13. Due Tuesday, November 24.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 14.
Week 14: November 24.
Military Applications. Digital Image Processing. SSURGO Project.
Reading Project 14. Due Tuesday, December 1.
Avery and Berlin: Chapter 15.
Week 15: December 1, 3.
Quiz 6. Tuesday, December 1.
Interrelationships: Remote Sensing, GIS, Computer Cartography.
Reading Project 15. Due Tuesday, December 8.
Ritter: Chapter 7-8.
Week 16: December 8, 10.
Presentation of Reports.
*** Final Examination: Wednesday, December 16, 8:00-10:00 a.m.
Grading Scheme. Scores for all course requirements will be assigned on the basis of performance/merit/quality of product, subject to rewards/penalties for timeliness of submission. Grades are compiled in a forward chronological sequence only, based on due dates and dates events are scheduled to occur.
Letter-grades for the course represent 10% increments of a general 600-point total:
| A | = | 540 - |
| B | = | 480 - 539 |
| C | = | 420 - 479 |
| D | = | 360 - 419 |
| F | = | Below 360 |
| 15 Reading Projects | x | 10 points | = | 150 points |
| 1 Applications of Air Photography (Practicum) | x | 150 points | = | 150 points |
| 1 Applications of Air Photography (Report) | x | 25 points | = | 25 points |
| 6 Quizzes | x | 25 points | = | 150 points |
| 1 Midterm Examination | x | 50 points | = | 50 points |
| 1 Final Examination | x | 75 points | = | 75 points |
Majors and Minors in the Department of Geography and Geology: The Board of Regents has mandated that an evaluation be required of all seniors. As part of this evaluation, the faculty have decided to require a Portfolio of all graduating students. The Portfolio should contain your research papers, skill course outputs, and other material relevant to your program of study. Students are strongly encouraged to use the research material generated in this course as part of their Senior Assessment Portfolio. We believe that assembling these materials will assist you in obtaining employment and in establishing a coherent theme in your course of study. See your major advisor for more information about the Senior Assessment and the Portfolio requirement.
You should consider using your best exercises, as well as your Applications Report, as part of your portfolio; feel free to consult with your instructor concerning your individual portfolio.
Makeups for Examinations: In the event you must miss an exam, it is YOUR responsibility to arrange an appointment with your instructor to make it up. Under ALL circumstances, specific details regarding any examination, including makeups, are left to the discretion of the instructor.
Makeups for Quizzes: Under no circumstances will makeups for quizzes be administered; in the event you must miss a quiz, you will earn 0 points for that quiz. Quizzes are intended to insure that you are studying properly, and timing of quizzes is important; therefore, no makeups for quizzes will be available. Since attendance in this course is expected and entirely your responsibility, the consequences of missing quizzes are your responsibility, also.
Whenever possible, students missing quizzes will be provided with unmarked copies of the quizzes administered to the class; obtaining these from the instructor remains the responsibility of the individual student.
Submission of Course Requirements: Projects that are completed outside of class are due on the front table by 8:00 a.m. on the date the assignment is due. These constraints will be strictly enforced; class timekeeping is determined by the instructor. Keep this syllabus; the instructor is not obligated to remind students of due dates or upcoming exams.
Early assignments may be submitted during class periods by placing them on the front table in Room 344; however, a student may choose to submit projects outside of class periods by placing them in the instructor's mailbox in the department office, or directly to the instructor: Assignments left on the front table outside of class periods or slid beneath the instructor's office door will receive no credit; assignments left in the instructor's box during class periods will be considered late. Projects which have not been successfully submitted to the instructor will receive no credit, are fully the responsibility of the student, and will not be returned to the student.
Under no circumstances will late projects that were to be completed outside of class be accepted or given credit (Nota bene: This includes the written component of the Applications Report.). In the event of unforeseen events deemed significant by the instructor, however, the instructor reserves the authority to extend general deadlines for projects; reduced access to resources necessary to complete these projects is NOT considered sufficiently significant. No individual requests for extensions will be considered.
Performance Expectations: Prompt, regular physical attendance is expected. Students who are physically present in the classroom during class sessions are necessarily obligated to direct their undivided attention to legitimate classroom activities only. Reading assigned material is expected. Successful students are prompt and regular in attendance, respectful and cooperative in the learning process, and consistently come prepared for class.
From time to time, we will have outside professional aerial photography experts contribute to our class meetings; these fine individuals are giving freely of their very limited time and resources to this class. Everyone in this class must treat these professionals with the respect and appreciation they deserve.
The University has formally stated: "Registration in a course obligates the student to be regular and punctual in class attendance." If you miss class, the instructor will assume that some serious circumstance beyond your control has caused you to miss the class. Students should consider that all absences are unexcused, as the instructor retains the right to make that determination.
In previous semesters, poor scores have inevitably accompanied poor preparation, attendance, and participation. Each class period not attended in its entirety, or during which active participation is not demonstrated, may result in a penalty of 5 points.
It must be understood that the student alone is held responsible for any absence from class. Lectures in their entirety will not be repeated for the benefit of students who have been absent from class, nor will the instructor's notes be made available to students who must be absent, for any reason. Under no circumstances will student grades be discussed over the phone, or via e-mail.
Classroom protocol: Enrollment in this course presumes that you realize what this entails, and agree to abide by university and ethical standards. Students not conforming to such standards will be subject to immediate assessment against their score for the course. Such assessments will be levied in the amounts of 10, 25, 50, and 100 points. Assessments will be made without explicit notification from the instructor. Under no circumstances will any such assessment be mitigated by the instructor.
Students who do not desire to comply to terms as specified are strongly advised to drop the course.
Copyright: The contents of both lectures and distributed materials remain the property of the instructor and her sources, and should be considered protected under copyright law. Use of these materials by persons other than those enrolled in this particular course and this particular semester is NOT considered fair use; therefore, further distribution and/or publication of all materials, including handouts, class notes, and projects, without prior authorization, is expressly prohibited.
Schedule Change Policy: The Department of Geography and Geology strictly adheres to University policies, procedures, and deadlines regarding student schedule changes. It is the sole responsibility of the student to meet all deadlines in regard to adding, dropping, or changing the status of a course. Only in exceptional cases will a deadline be waived. The Student Schedule Exception Appeal form shall be used to initiate all waivers. This form requires a written description of the extenuating circumstances involved and the attachment of appropriate documentation. Poor academic performance, general malaise, or undocumented general stress factors are not considered as legitimate circumstances.
Amendments to the Syllabus: The instructor reserves the authority to amend this syllabus; any amendments will be announced in class whenever possible.
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This page last updated on 8/17/02