ISRO’s free online course on remote sensing, GIS and GNSS technologies and their applications is offered to students

ISRO’s free online course is currently offered to students as well as interested professionals and researchers on the Swayam platform. The free online course entitled Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can be completed in 15 weeks and is delivered by the Indian Institute for Remote Sensing ( IIRS), ISRO. The course comprises 75 hours of learning spread over four modules, namely the basics of remote sensing, the global navigation satellite system, the geographic information system and the applications of geospatial technology.

The course is led by Dr Poonam S Tiwari, Scientist and Professor at Indian Institute for Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dehradun. She holds a master’s degree in technology in remote sensing and GIS. She obtained her doctorate at IIT, says Roorkee of the Swayam platform. The professor has over 20 years of research and teaching experience in photogrammetric applications, laser data analysis, and automated feature extraction.

What will ISRO’s free online course on remote sensing cover?

Course participants will be introduced to the basics of remote sensing, Earth observation sensors and platforms, thermal remote sensing, spectral signatures of different land cover features and visual interpretation of images. and hyperspectral remote sensing technology. The modules that will be covered are as follows:

1. Remote sensing and digital image analysis: Basic principles of remote sensing, Earth observation sensors and platforms, spectral signature of the different characteristics of land use, image interpretation, thermal and micro remote sensing -wave, digital image processing: basic concepts of rectification and recording, enhancement, classification and accuracy assessment techniques.

2. Global Navigation Satellite System: Introduction to GPS and GNSS, Receivers, Processing Methods, Errors and Accuracy.

3. Geographic information system: GIS, databases, topology, spatial analysis and open source software.

4. RS and GIS applications: Agriculture and soils, forestry and ecology, geosciences and geohazards, marine and atmospheric sciences, urban and regional studies and water resources.

ISRO Free Online Course Certificate

Course participants will also receive ISRO certificates provided they show up for an assignment or quiz at the end of each module and pass the final exam which will be taken at the end of the course. The ISRO certificate will be issued on the basis of the internal and final marks obtained by the participants.

Important details of ISRO’s free online course

Interested participants will need to register for the course on the official website, and the course will run from January 24 to May 9, 2022. The course also has 4 credit points, which may be beneficial for students. Participants will need to complete the course on a laptop or desktop computer, as free and open source software will be used as a platform for demonstrations and development.