Geospatial knowledge has become important in almost every profession and in private life as well. Satellite images have become familiar due to their extensive use in the media and as background for mapping on the World Wide Web, and web-based software for viewing image data is also widely available. However, much more value can be extracted from image data than simple viewing software can provide. Unfortunately, the software for more advanced processing of remote sensing data tends to be both expensive and to require considerable expertise. "Learning Remote Sensing" offers a straightforward, hands-on treatment of the core concepts in remote sensing and raster GIS analysis. Readers with limited knowledge of physics or geography can use this book not only to acquire an understanding of remote sensing fundamentals but also to begin applying geospatial analysis to their own problems. With a target audience that includes undergraduate and graduate students, teachers (especially in secondary schools) and interested individuals, this is a practically-oriented textbook with example exercises that illustrate how the powerful analysis capabilities of Dragon and its free variant OpenDragon can be applied. The book is provides a single, concise, self-contained volume that combines basic theory with practice.
About the Author: Kurt T. Rudahl holds a Bachelors degree in mathematics from New York University and a Masters in computer science from the University of Wisconsin Madison. He spent many years as a consultant developing both custom hardware and software for a wide range of U.S. companies. Along with Dr. Goldin, he created Dragon/ips(R), the first remote sensing image processing system to run on off-the-shelf personal computers. Mr. Rudahl spent two years in Thailand as an Assistant Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, teaching in the Asian Regional Remote Sensing Training Center. He has served in the Department of Computer Engineering at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) in Thailand since 2003. Sally E. Goldin earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Brown University and her Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University. After spending several years as a researcher at the Rand Corporation, she turned her attention to real-world software development. She has more than twenty years experience as a software engineer and project leader, working with both start-ups and major U.S. corporations. Her areas of special expertise include user interface design, software process paradigms, and geoinformatics algorithms. In the mid-nineteen-eighties, Dr. Goldin was seconded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to teach geographical applications of digital image processing theory and practice at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand. Since 2003, she has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Computer Engineering at KMUTT, teaching, advising, and conducting research.