IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2018 - 12

B.Sc. level will not add much new information to M.Sc.-level
investigation. For this reason, our attention concentrated on
graduate degrees.
Looking at the M.Sc. level, it is clear that there is a different level of homogeneity between tracks in aerospace on
the one hand and tracks on Earth observation and remote
sensing on the other.
We are able to say that the
rationale of aerospace courses
eArth observAtion And
is that of shaping engineers
remote sensing usuAlly
who are capable of understandrepresent the mAin
ing, analyzing, and designing
topiC of A Course And
aircraft and spacecraft. This
is something already found at
only rArely Are found
the European level [4], where
in Courses simply As
this type of track was termed
tools for other
hardware; specific aspects and
AppliCAtions.
issues connected to the design
and operation of what we remote-sensing scientists call
platform are investigated in depth. These tracks show a wide
base of shared courses.
Earth observation and remote sensing are instead rarely
found as specific tracks; most often, such subjects appear
integrated into tracks treating a broader range of topics.
These broader tracks fall into three main categories.
◗ Geoscience/geodesy: The purpose of observing the Earth
is to evaluate aspects like atmosphere, climate change,
geophysics, geodesy, mapping, and so on. There often
seems to be a risk-assessment factor in these courses,
mostly in terms of natural risks, including weather- and
pollution-related risk.
◗ Geoinformatics/geomatics and similar topics: These courses
are broader in scope than those in geoscience/geodesy.
Typical branches of geoinformatics include geodesy,

The United States

The Gulf
of Mexico
figure 2. The spatial distribution of institutions considered in
the United States and Canada: the University of Maryland; the
University of Colorado at Boulder; the University of California, Los
Angeles; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Toronto; the University of Alberta; the University of British
Columbia; and the University of Calgary. The location of each
institution is marked with a yellow star.

geoscience, remote-sensing, navigation and positioning, phogrammetry, spatial analysis, cartography, and
digital imaging. These courses teach students about collecting data concerning the Earth's surface along with
their analysis and characterization, with the aim of generating models that can be exploited for further analysis
(i.e., meteorological, geological, urban, and so on).
◗ Civil engineering and geographic information systems (GIS):
Some universities include remote sensing and Earth observation within GIS in the civil and environmental engineering paths, with the aim of carrying out analyses
in those respective contexts. These data can be useful for
urban planning and management, land management
and land cover change assessment, and so.
masTer-LeveL degrees
As expected, it is not trivial to find common patterns in remote sensing, Earth observation, and aerospace education
worldwide; however, a few facts could be observed and
noted. The first is that aerospace is a more self-contained
area than Earth observation and remote sensing, the former
being defined as platform design, building, and operation,
while the latter includes Earth observation and remote sensing as tools for a diverse range of applications. Earth observation and remote sensing usually represent the main topic of
a course and only rarely are found in courses simply as tools
for other applications.
exampLes and specIaL cases
To better illustrate how the investigated key areas find
their way into M.Sc. academic courses, we cite a few significant examples. The first is the Polytechnic of Munich,
Germany. Two specific courses are taught on cartography
and land management/land tenure having significant remote-sensing contributions. The same university also offers
a specific M.Sc. degree in Earth-oriented space science and
technology, covering Earth system science, remote sensing, and navigation. The Pierre et Marie Curie University in
Paris offers a master's degree course in ocean, atmosphere,
climate, and space observation, addressing issues related to
climate, remote sensing, oceanography, physics, and atmosphere. This is a typical example of remote sensing applied
to information collection for environmental monitoring
applications. Still, in Europe, an example of how remote
sensing merges into a geography course is the geography
and geoinformatics course at the Kobenhavns Universitet
in Copenhagen, Denmark. The course offers three possible areas of specialization: geomorphology (processes and
landscapes), remote sensing of the biogeosphere (optical
and thermal infrared remote sensing, environmental monitoring and modeling, satellite data processing and analysis), and Earth observation.
With respect to geomatics, there is the geomatics and
navigation master's degree at the Universitat Politecnica de
Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. The topics covered include
Earth observation, geographic information gathering,
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2018