ES 775 Requirements

This course is laboratory based. It consists of biweekly lab exercises, associated background reading, an individual image-processing project, and a practical final examimation. All lab exercises are provided via the Web, and digital datasets may be downloaded using file transport protocol--see FTP.

Course Procedures

Six lab exercises given at two-week intervals during semester. Students conduct exercises based on the provided datasets and Idrisi software. Each lab requires both written responses to questions as well as creation of digital imagery. Each lab exercise is graded on a 20-point scale. Labs are worth 40% of total grade.
Exercise reports should be turned in via e-mail. Text files are accepted in plain (ascii) "txt" and rich text format "rtf" only. Image files may be submitted separately in "bmp," "gif," or "jpg" format. Labs turned in late may receive a grade penalty. Note: all lab exercises are due before Thanksgiving.
Image challenge. Periodically during the semester, students will be given a challenge to identify the location, subject, and attributes of unknown images. Response to the image challenge will count toward class participation (below).
Individual project that involves processing of original (raw) digital data. Projects may be developed for any geographic region and any type of remotely sensed data--airphotos, Landsat, AVHRR, Ikonos, etc. Processing techniques should be designed to achieve some kind of specific objective for image interpretation. Nature of each project will be developed in consultation with the instructor. Each student will present his/her project during the last week of classes.
Presentations must include an abstract and cite appropriate references, as well as relevant images and a brief summary of processing procedures. Reports may be in the form of a poster presentation suitable for a conference presentation (mounted paper or pdf file) or a webpage. PowerPoint slide shows are not acceptable. Students are encouraged to utilize creative display techniques including clickable map, before-and-after imagery, animation, video, photostory, etc. Projects will be evaluated based on accurate scientific content and creativity of display; project is worth 25% of course grade.

See instructions for preparation and submission of student reports.
Note: The project must be original and unique work created by the student's own effort and submitted for ES 775 only. Project results, images, text or other components of the report may not be utilized for other earth science courses without prior permission of the instructor.
Final examination. The exam will be a practical exercise in image processing, in which students apply techniques learned during the course. At the beginning of finals week, students will receive instructions for downloading satellite imagery of a specific location or setting. Students will process the imagery to depict certain phenomena or events. Exam is worth 25% of course grade.
Class participation. On-campus students are expected to attend lab sessions on a regular basis. All students should contribute appropriate items for the course blog periodically during the semester. In addition, all students are expected to respond to the image challenges within the specified timeframes. Participation is 10% of the total grade.
All students should review the departmental policy on plagiarism. See ES 775 grading scale.
ADA statement: Emporia State University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students need to contact the Director of Disability Services and the professor as early in the semester as possible to ensure that classroom and academic accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. All communication between students, the Office of Disability Services, and the professor will be strictly confidential.