Resources for Students and Teachers

Introductions to Remote Sensing

• NASA Tutorial: textbook length, detailed.
• Canadian Tutorial on Remote Sensing: how to acquire, analyze, and understand remote sensing data.
• A Teacher's Guide to Remote Sensing: a brief overview
• UNESCO Bilko system for learning and teaching remote sensing image analysis skills

Educational Games and Activities

• Landspotting: Land Remote Sensing Game for the iPad
• Mercator Map Puzzle - Demonstrates the distortions of the Mercator map projection and allows for country sizes to be compared
• Make a spectroscope (DIY.org)
• Launch a near-space balloon (DIY.org)

How Do I Use This?

Helpful guides to understanding data

• Introduction to Raster Images
• A brief lesson on how image processing can cause data loss
• How to display NAIP images in ArcGIS (courtesy of VermontView)

Freely Available Tools

These tools are available for you to use free of charge. Learn about them here.

• Google Earth, an excellent tool that can be used online or on your destop
• OssimPlanet, a free and open source alternative to Google Earth.  Read an introduction here.
  • OssimPlanet pairs well with ImageLinker, and is bundled into the same program on Windows and Linux.
• Quantum GIS, a free and open source alternative to ArcGIS

Excellent Image and Data Sources

All the information hosted by MichiganView as well as an outline of other good sources can be found on our Data and Images page.  If you're lost about where to start, try the daily MODIS Images or the NAIP Natural Color Imagery.

The Phragmites Mapping Project

In the near future, MichiganView will reach out to local students and teachers to get them involved in low-intensity fieldwork related to mapping invasive species.  This project will be based upon the Phragmites mapping project completed by MTRI.  In the meantime, please view a video (available as Windows Media, Quicktime MOV, and Matroska) that was used to train field researchers on the original project.  Although it's a little dry, you can use it to gauge your potential interest.

Also check out our award winning video about the data collection experience here.