Foundations of GIS Remote Sensing

Name: Foundations of GIS Remote Sensing
Rating: 4.1 (28 reviews)

Learn Theoretical Remote Sensing and Google Earth Engine

Created byFrancisco Molina Villagrán / GEODENSITY

Last updated 9/2025

English

What you'll learn

Understand the physical and technical fundamentals of remote sensing.
Identify the main remote sensors and their basic applications.
Distinguish between passive and active sensors, and their operational differences.
Recognize the platforms that carry sensors: satellites, aircraft, and drones.

Coding Exercises

This course includes our updated coding exercises so you can practice your skills as you learn.

Course content

7 sections • 15 lectures • 1h 9m total length

Fundamentals and Functioning of Remote Sensing4:15
This class covers the definition of remote sensing, its key components, and the full process from energy capture to data interpretation. It includes a historical overview, from early aerial methods to satellite programs like Landsat.
Applications and Types of Sensors in Modern Remote Sensing4:15
This class reviews the main advantages of remote sensing and explains the differences between passive and active sensors. It highlights its use for environmental monitoring, remote observation, and time-series change analysis.
Fundamentals and Functioning of Remote Sensing

Electromagnetic Radiation and Spectrum in Remote Sensing4:38
This class explains electromagnetic radiation, its key properties, and how the electromagnetic spectrum is organized. It highlights the most useful regions for remote sensing, with emphasis on visible light and its practical applications.
Electromagnetic Spectrum Applied to Land Remote Sensing4:29
This class focuses on the spectrum regions used in remote sensing. It explains the properties and applications of near, mid, and thermal infrared, as well as microwaves, including their energy sources.
Electromagnetic Spectrum and its Relevance

Interaction of EMR with the Atmosphere and the Surface4:23
This class explains how electromagnetic radiation interacts with the atmosphere and Earth’s surface. It covers processes such as scattering, absorption, and spectral signatures, which are key for interpreting satellite imagery.
Interaction of EMR with the Surface and Spectral Signature4:47
This class describes how energy interacts with different materials on Earth. It explains reflection, absorption, and transmission, using examples from vegetation, water, and urban areas.
Interaction of Electromagnetic Radiation with the Atmosphere and Earth’s Surface

Processing and access to data in satellite remote sensing3:56
Explains how satellite data go from raw to usable. Reviews processing levels, applied corrections, download sources, and the most common raster formats.
Acquisition, formats, and satellite metadata5:37
Covers the corrections applied to data, processing levels, sources for downloading satellite images, and the most common formats. Highlights the importance of metadata for proper analysis.
Processing, Access, and Satellite Metadata

Technical Introduction to the Google Earth Engine Platform5:21
Presents the architecture and basic operation of Google Earth Engine. Reviews web access, satellite image catalog, cloud-based analysis capabilities, and the use of the Code Editor with APIs in JavaScript and Python.
Key resources and work environment in Google Earth Engine3:11
Reviews relevant case studies and the use of the platform’s official documentation. Presents the main sections of the web environment, highlighting the Code Editor and Explorer. Introduces tools to stay updated and move beyond the course.

Components and Features of the GEE Code Editor4:36
This class covers the full interface of the Google Earth Engine Code Editor. It explains the panels, tabs, inspection tools, console, tasks, and data search functions. By the end, students will understand how to navigate and use the programming environment.
Basic JavaScript Syntax for Google Earth Engine5:44
In this session, students will learn the core elements of the programming language needed to work in Google Earth Engine. It introduces the essential syntax rules and best practices that will be consistently applied in geospatial analysis. By the end, participants will master the fundamental code structures required to progress toward more advanced functionalities.
Basic JavaScript Syntax: Variables, Comments, and the print() Function
Data Types and Arrays in JavaScript for Google Earth Engine5:31
In this session, students will learn how to identify and handle different types of variables in JavaScript, as well as work with ordered data structures. The importance of type checking to avoid errors in operations will be emphasized, and students will master accessing specific elements within collections. By the end of this class, participants will have the skills needed to efficiently manipulate data in their geospatial analyses.
Data Type Verification and Array Manipulation

Requirements

Basic knowledge of geography or Earth sciences. General familiarity with maps or satellite images (not required). Interest in learning about remote sensors and their practical use. No prior knowledge of programming or GIS is required.

Description

“This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.”

This introductory course provides the basic foundations to understand how we observe the Earth from space through remote sensors. Across five well-structured classes, students are guided step by step from general concepts to key technical elements that define the quality of satellite data used daily in areas such as environment, agriculture, urban management, and climate change studies.

We begin with a clear introduction to remote sensing: what it is, how it works, and why it is a fundamental tool for territorial analysis. Next, we focus on the electromagnetic spectrum, exploring how radiation interacts with the atmosphere and Earth’s surfaces, producing unique patterns—known as spectral signatures—that allow us to identify vegetation, water, soil, snow, or urban materials from space.

The course continues with the study of remote sensors, their platforms (satellites, aircraft, drones), and the resolutions that characterize their data: spatial, spectral, temporal, and radiometric. We conclude by reviewing how these images are processed, what satellite missions are currently available, and how to access free, high-quality scientific data.

No prior knowledge of programming or GIS is required. This course is designed for students, technicians, educators, or anyone interested in starting with remote observation of the Earth in a clear and practical way.

Who this course is for:

Students in geography, geology, agronomy, environmental sciences, or related fields. Technicians or professionals working with satellite imagery or drones. Educators seeking clear material to teach the fundamentals of remote sensing. Anyone interested in understanding how the Earth is observed from space, without the need for advanced knowledge.

Foundations of GIS Remote Sensing

What you'll learn

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Coding Exercises

Course content

What Is Remote Sensing and Why Is It Important?2 lectures • 9min

Electromagnetic Spectrum and its Relevance2 lectures • 9min

Interaction of Electromagnetic Radiation with the Atmosphere and Earth’s Surface2 lectures • 9min

Remote Sensors, Platforms, and Data Resolutions2 lectures • 9min

Processing, Access, and Satellite Metadata2 lectures • 10min

Platform and Work Environment in Google Earth Engine2 lectures • 9min

Introduction to JavaScript (JS) in the Context of GEE (I)3 lectures • 16min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: