THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELING

Course objectives

The module aims at providing a general background on the remote sensing systems for Earth Observation from airborne, and espe-cially space-borne platforms that operate in different regions of the electromagnetic spectra. It provides the fundamental knowledge about the physical bases for remotely sensing the Earth, and in particular the electromagnetic foundation and models describing the emission, absorption and scattering of the radiation by natural media (atmosphere, sea, land) which are required for data interpretation. It describes, using a system approach, the characteristics of the system to be specified to fulfil the final user requirements in different application domains. It reviews the technical principles of the main sensors operating in different ranges of the electromagnetic spec-trum and illustrates the constraints due to the system (sensor, orbit, etc) in matching the user requirements. It provides an overview of the most important applications and bio-geophysical parameters (of the atmosphere, the ocean and the land) which can be re-trieved in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It reviews the most important techniques for data processing and prod-uct generation and proposes practical exercises using the computer to introduce the main processing steps. Finally, it provides an overview of the main Earth Observation satellite missions and the products they provide to the final user.

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FERDINANDO NUNZIATA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Introduction to Remote Sensing: definition, history, advantages and applications. Electromagnetic energy: definition and fundamental physical laws. Interactions between electromagnetic energy and the atmosphere: atmospheric windows and absorption and diffusion phenomena. Interaction between electromagnetic energy and surfaces: reflection, absorption and transmission. Characteristics of observation systems for Earth observation. Operational characteristics of data: scale and resolution. Digital sensors for Earth observation: active and passive sensors. Types of satellites for Earth observation. Optical sensors Microwave sensors Image processing techniques: radiometric enhancement, geometric pre-processing and radiometric pre-processing. Satellite programs with open access data (Landsat, Copernicus, …). Applications
Prerequisites
Although no formal prerequisites are required, it is desirable that the student approaches the module with a basic knowledge of Mathematical Analysis and Physics.
Books
F.T. Ulaby and D.G Long. Microwave radar and radiometric remote sensing The University of Michigan press, Ann Arbor, 2014. W. Emery and A. Camps Introduction to Satellite Remote Sensing Elsevier, 2017, Netherlands.
Frequency
NA
Exam mode
The exam consists of an oral test and a written paper. The exam will consist of two parts: an oral one and a written one in the form of a paper that the students will have to prepare and present individually or in small groups (maximum three people). The report, which must be delivered 1 week before the exam date, in the form of a ppt file, must be used to demonstrate the application of the concepts, methods and analyses presented during the course. The written document must be a descriptive and self-explanatory text, designed to provide a complete overview of the objectives, methods and results. All the topics covered during the course, and their application using the adopted software, are an integral part of the oral exam. The evaluation criteria used to compose the final grade include the evaluation of: ability to produce a concise, coherent and effective presentation (50%) ability to clearly expose the contents of the report and theoretical knowledge relating to the topics covered during the lessons (50%)
Lesson mode
The teaching is organized in theoretical lessons (40 hours) and exercises (20 hours) carried out using the SNAP software and software developed in the classroom in a Matlab/Python environment. The former are dedicated to the presentation of the theoretical and methodological aspects of the phenomena examined; the latter are aimed at understanding, from an operational point of view, the methods of management, processing and extraction of information from data acquired by sensors placed on board satellite platforms.
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseSpace and astronautical engineering
  • CurriculumSpace payloads and applications for telecommunication, navigation, and Earth observation
  • Year1st year
  • Semester2nd semester
  • SSDING-INF/02
  • CFU3