Introduction to Earth Observation Data for AI Training Day - 8th December 2021

 

Welcome!

Welcome to the NEODAAS Introduction to EO for AI training day 2021 website.
This site contains presentations from the course held at PML on the 8th December 2021 as well as some useful links for further reading.

Material from course

Background reading

The following is a list of links we provided as background reading to participants on the 4 day course we ran with the NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility in November 2021 that may be useful.

1. Who are we?
  • Introduction to NERC EO Services and Facilities (NEODAAS, FSF and NAEO) - a talk from NCEO Community needs townhall 2021 (video)
2. Principles of remote sensing
  • NASA Earth Science Applied Science - Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (link) If you are new to EO, this course gives a great background to remote sensing, including concepts like spatial and spectral resolution and data processing levels which we will use in the course.
  • Short training video to revise key remote sensing concepts (video)
  • Short training video to introduce the remote sensing data processing levels and latency (video)
3. Sources of satellite data
There are hundreds of satellites in orbit around the earth carrying a diverse array of sensors. In this course, we will mainly talk about the satellites in the Sentinel series and Landsat series which provide data for free to all users. Below are some resources to introduce these satellites and their capabilities.

The Copernicus Programme and Sentinels
Copernicus is the European Union's Earth Observation Programme. It offers information services based on satellite EO and non-satellite in situ data. The Programme is coordinated and managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies, and Mercator Océan.
Copernicus is served by a set of dedicated satellite missions developed by ESA called the Sentinels. The Sentinel website provides information on each Sentinel mission and application examples. There is also a video linked below which introduces Sentinel 1, 2 and 3.
  • Sentinel 1, 2 & 3: summary of technical capabilities - video
  • The Copernicus Marine Landscape discussion - video - Hayley Evers-King joins Lauren Biermann for an informal discussion to help simplify the Copernicus Marine Landscape, talking through the different missions, mechanisms and agencies. This video has a marine focus but an understanding of the Copernicus landscape is useful for all researchers when it comes to finding out who collects the data you want, where to find it, and who to go to for help.
The Landsat series
The Landsat Programme is a series of EO satellite missions (Landsat 1 to Landsat 9) which are jointly led by USGS and NASA. It is the longest-running continuous series of satellites for moderate-resolution optical remote sensing of earth.
  • Continuing Landsat’s 40-year Legacy - video - This video talks about the Landsat series and specifically Landsat 8. The most recent satellite in the series, Landsat 9, was launched on 27/09/2021. Landsat 9 largely replicates Landsat 8 and means observations are now available every 8 days using the two satellites.

4. Introduction to field spectroscopy
Field spectroscopy involves acquiring accurate data on the spectral reflectance of materials in the field. These measurements can be used to interpret and validate the measurements from airborne and satellite sensors.
  • Progress In Field Spectroscopy (pdf)

5. Introduction to machine learning for remote sensing data
  • Introduction to NEODAAS AI Services (video)
  • When Deep Learning meets satellite imagery (video) This video highlights some of the things to consider when using satellite imagery for ML/AI.
  • Machine Learning for Remote Sensing Data Analysis (video)

Further resources
The following are some optional resources to read and watch that may be of interest.
  • How do we track and trace carbon from space? The Royal Society Summer Science 2021. Paul Palmer, Mat Disney and Gemma Kulk explore how satellites are used at the cutting edge of climate science (youtube)
  • TEDx - Painting by Numbers - Hayley Evers-King. An introduction to Ocean Colour (youtube)
  • TEDx - Taking the pulse of our planet from space - Pierre-Philippe Mathieu (youtube)
  • Earth Observation from Space: the Optical View (homepage) Online training course from ESA with videos introducing a range of applications of satellite EO data.
Plymouth Marine Laboratory NCEO NERC