Remote Sensing & Geographic Information Systems
About
Are you a fresh graduate looking to enter GIS-related employment for the first time, or add remote sensing and GIS to your skillset to enhance employability or change career; or a professional already in remote sensing/GIS-related employment and want to broaden and deepen your remote sensing and GIS knowledge and skills with a view to making better use of spatial technologies, or want to enhance your career and promotion prospects? This course is for you.
This online course delivers contemporary content on remote sensing and GIS integrating theoretical and practical learning activities encompassing acquisition, analysis and interpretation of geospatial data. Course participants will develop skills in a range of areas including:
- Remote sensing and photogrammetry
- Spatial data analysis
- Programming for GIS and remote sensing
There has been considerable growth within the UK and European Space Industry which has led to the provision of a host of new remote sensing technologies that offer great potential to map and monitor terrestrial and marine environments across the world on a rapid basis. The UK Government set ambitious targets to capture 10% of the global £400bn commercial space activity by 2030. The European Space Agency and UK Space Agency are releasing vast amounts of data that can be used for a diverse range of applications ranging from monitoring glacial melt in the Arctic to mapping land cover change and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The Remote Sensing and GIS course at Ulster University provides training in capturing, storing, analysing, and interpreting spatial data.
We are an established provider of online distance learning postgraduate courses. With around 25 years' experience of teaching GIS, and 20 years via online distance learning, we have a long and successful track record in GIS education. We enjoy imparting knowledge, skills and confidence that enhance employment prospects with our innovative and career-focused modules and research. Ulster’s strong provision and expertise in the GIS sector makes it an excellent choice for local students who are keen to up-skill for careers in key growth areas in the NI Economy.
Our Remote Sensing and GIS programme offers flexible learning through part-time education – while each module has coursework deadlines, you study at a time and pace that suits you.
Term dates
23 September 2024 - April 2025 (30 weeks taught). Please note the application deadline to apply for this programme is Monday 16 September 2024.
Attendance
Typically, the course will have around 5 hours of taught content per week. Participants should expect to spend around 25 hours per week on the course.
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
This course is delivered through BlackBoard Ultra, an online Virtual Learning Environment, through which we provide teaching materials, assignment instructions, links to electronic library resources and other reading materials, as well as discussion boards and other communication tools. Teaching materials consist mainly of lectures in various formats (e.g., as illustrated documents or podcasts) and practical exercises (written instructions with screenshots or screencasts), which may be supplemented by additional reading or video content, tutorial exercises, quizzes, etc. The format of delivery provides you with the flexibility to study at your own pace, any place and at any time, and you are not required to attend the campus at any stage during the course. Once registered, you will be able to use the University's extensive online library resources of electronic journals, e-books, and databases. In addition, you will also gain access to different remote sensing, GIS, and statistics software packages.
Learning is supported by lecturers and e-tutors via discussion forums, email, phone, or video-conferencing tools. Discussion forums encourage participation from the whole class and offer opportunities for you to learn about issues and problems from different perspectives as well as getting to know your fellow students.
You will be assessed by coursework only and there are no sessional examinations. Assessment involves a mixture of methods including practical reports, problem analysis, research projects, presentations, blogs, online tests, and group work.
Academic Profile
Dr Sally Cook – Dr Cook’s teaching focuses on the science, technology and application of GIS, with emphasis on the use of GIS to map, model and undertake spatial and statistical analysis of social and environmental impacts. She is also involved in various outreach activities including facilitating greater use of GIS within secondary education through the GIS In Schools project. Sally’s research interests focus mainly on the application of GIS technology and geographic methodologies, spatial data analysis and modelling to aspects of environmental, health and social sciences. These have been applied within University-funded projects such as widening access, spatial analysis of university data and encouraging uptake of GIS in secondary education as well as to externally funded research.
Dr Bob McNabb – Dr McNabb’s main research interest is in using satellite data to study natural phenomena on different spatial and temporal scales, from individual glacier fjords in Alaska to all of the world's glaciers over a 50+ year time span. His main research focus has been on glacier change, and how glaciers impact not only the physical world, but terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Recently, Bob has been working on projects to study glacier changes in Alaska since the Little Ice Age, re-processing historic aerial and satellite images to study landscape and glacier changes, and mapping glaciers and landscape features using tools such as Google Earth Engine.
Career Options
Remote sensing, GIS and geospatial technologies underpin a rapidly growing, multi-billion-dollar industry, and are becoming increasingly mainstream within both the public and private sectors, resulting in a need for professionals who have a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Participants of this course could seek employment in a variety of remote sensing/GIS-related roles such as analysts, scientists, consultants, project managers, surveyors, data specialists, technicians, mapping officers, development, sales and marketing, customer support, GIS training, lecturing and research. Knowledge and understanding of geospatial data are also increasingly required in a variety of jobs outside of the GI profession, making remote sensing and GIS qualifications valuable for enhancing employability in a range of fields.
Contact
If you have any queries about the course, please email GES@ulster.ac.uk.
Modules
Introduction to Remote Sensing
This module offers students the opportunity to study the principles and applications of remote sensing and image analysis and to explore links between remote sensing and GIS. Students will become familiar with theoretical foundations of remote sensing and will develop technical skills through a series of software-based practical exercises and assignments using Erdas Imagine.
Principles of GIS
This module introduces the theory and practice of Geographic Information Systems and is intended to provide an understanding of the breadth of potential GIS applications and to equip students with key concepts and skills relating to the input, management, manipulation, analysis and output of spatial data. Lecture-based teaching of key concepts is reinforced by linked practical exercises which allow students to develop competence in ESRI's ArcGIS package. The module assumes no prior knowledge or experience of GIS.
Photogrammetry and Advanced Image Analysis
This module covers advanced topics in visible remote sensing and image analysis, including photogrammetry and digital elevation models, image processing and manipulation, advanced classification techniques such as object-based image analysis (OBIA), and time series analysis using Google Earth Engine. It builds on the topics covered in ‘Introduction to Remote Sensing’ module and provides a foundation for further study in remote sensing.
Programming for GIS and Remote Sensing
This module develops programming skills using the python programming language. The module seeks to provide students with key skills in the development of repeatable, automated analyses of GIS applications.
Entry requirements
Academic qualifications
You must hold a degree in a science, or other suitable discipline, or demonstrate your ability to undertake the course through the accreditation of prior experiential learning.
As a normal requirement, applicants must hold an Honours degree (2:2 or above) with a substantial component of geography, environmental science, computing or other numerate discipline. Applicants with other equivalent and relevant qualifications or experience can also be considered on an individual basis.
Eligibility
Places are limited and open to applicants who:
- are over 18 years of age;
- are eligible to work in Northern Ireland;
- are ‘settled’ in Northern Ireland, and has been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least three years; or
- are a person who has indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK.
- meet the course specific entry requirements. See course pages for requirements.
- meet the Ulster University general entry requirements