2d ESA Advanced Training Course on Land Remote Sensing 2009

The European Space Agency is organising a series of advanced thematic training courses devoted to train the next generation of EO Principal Investigators (PIs) to exploit data from ESA and Third Party EO Missions for science and applications development.

In 2009 PhD students, post-doctoral and research scientists from European countries and Canada interested in Land remote sensing applications were invited to apply to attend a 6 day advanced training course on the subject. The 2009 course was organised by the Czech Space Office and ESA and was hosted by the Faculty of Science, Charles University and Czech Technical University.

Objectives:
The advanced land training course aimed at:

• Training the next generation of European and Canadian Principal Investigators (PIs)
• Introducing available tools and methods for the exploitation of ERS, Envisat, Third Party Mission (TPM) and Explorers satellite data
• Stimulating and supporting the exploitation of ESA EO and Third Party Mission remote sensing data for land applications

Contents:
This advanced training course focused on land remote sensing theory and applications. It was organised around four main components:

• Theoretical fundamentals of SAR, Optical and Thermal remote sensing,
• ESA and Third Party Missions and products
• EO land applications lectures (urban planning, land cover, damage assessment)
• Practicals using ESA toolboxes (BEAM, BEST, POLSARPRO) on land resources monitoring.

All four components addressed both SAR and Optical/Thermal remote sensing. The training course included formal lectures by leading scientists as well as hands-on computing exercises exposing students to remote sensing applications. Practicals used ESA software tools for the exploitation of EO data, with a focus on Envisat, ERS, Explorers (SMOS) and TPM (PROBA, ALOS) data products for land applications.

Access here below the full programme.