Interpretation of Earth System Science databases (OCN-363)
Pierre Flament, Department of Oceanography,
University of Hawaii
I created this class with Cedric Chavanne in 2001-2004. In 2005,
Jim Potemra took over the responsibility of the class. The yearly class
web pages can be found here.
This class is listed as OCN-363 in the catalog; it counts towards the
requirements of the Global Environmental Science degree. Students
should register for three credits. The class is held as a 3-hour weekly
afternoon workshop.
0. Introduction.
Computerized databases of environmental parameters, available either
on the Internet or on CD-ROM, have become critical tools to understand
problems related to the earth system and to climate changes. These
data sets, collected through a variety of methods, including satellite
sensors, ships, aircrafts, sounding balloons, and land-based sta-
tions, are now providing a global coverage of the earth. However,
interpreting these measurements and understanding their limitations
are often delicate. Introducing senior students to these new
tools has become a necessity. This course will be available to senior
students meeting the prerequisites, and will be a required course
for all Global Environmental Science majors.
1. Purpose of course.
The main objectives of this course will be to expose students
to state-of-the-art global earth system databases, to review the
instrumentation used to collect the data, to introduce them to
relevant geostatistical analysis methods, and to prepare them to use
these techniques in their own research or career. To that effect,
lectures on the techniques of environmental data collection will be
given, students read and discuss key papers in the field, and conduct
small research projects working on computerized data sets.
Additional objectives are to train students to search the scientific
literature and report on a series of topics, to evaluate and debate
scientific concepts, and to formulate and test their own hypotheses
in the course of their projects. These additional objectives are
emphasized as they constitute an important training for the senior
research paper required for the proposed Bachelor of Science in Glo-
bal Environmental Science degree.
2. Organization.
The class will consist of one three-hour sessions weekly, used
flexibly between instructor presentations, student-led presentations and
discussions of papers, and supervised sessions on computers. During
the examination week, each student will give a 15-min oral presentation
on the results of his research. A term paper summarizing the
results is required from all students; this course will be offered as
a writing intensive course. A more detailed course outline is attached.
The students will have access to the computer facilities of the
University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, and
the course will use the Marine Sciences computer teaching laboratory.
An extensive library of CD-ROMs containing a variety of global data
sets will be made available. All data sets are clean and calibrated
into scientific units, so that the students' research projects can
be completed during the course of the semester.
3 &4. Relations to current curriculum plans and overlap
There will be some overlap between this course and Satellite
Oceanography (OCN-663), specifically for sections 1.1 and 2 of
the course outline. However, OCN-663 is taught at the advanced
graduate level and has OCN-620 as prerequisite. Unlike OCN-663,
the OCN-363 course will be specifically designed for upper level
undergraduate students, and will only require introductory science as
prerequisite. There is some overlap with MET305/MET405; however
Instrumentation and Satellites are the main topics of these courses,
while for OCN-363, Instrumentation and Satellites are only covered in
passing, to the extent that they are needed to understand the data
bases, and are not the goal of the course. Furthermore, this course
will emphasize applications to global environmental science.
5. Credit and level.
This will be a 3 credit course, with 100 minutes/week of lecture and
discussion, and 50 minutes/week of supervised laboratory. It will be
taught at the 300 level. It could be taught as a writing intensive
course, should the need or opportunity arise. Prerequisite: MA 232,
consent of instructor.
6. Evaluation
Students will be evaluated for 35% on the papers from the literature
that they are have presented during the semester (oral presentation
15%, written wrap-up 15%), for 35% on their research projects (oral
presentation 15%, term paper 15%), and for 30% on the final exam.
Writing counts for 30% of the course grade.
7. Qualification of the instructors.
This course will be taught by faculty from the Oceanography
department. They are qualified to teach this material, since
analyses of Earth System Science data bases is a routine part of their
scientific research.
OCN 363. COURSE OUTLINE
1. Environmental data collection (4 weeks)
1.1. Remote sensing data
1.1.1. Introduction to remote sensing: passive and
active, visible, infrared, microwave sensors
1.1.2. Remote sensing of ocean parameters
1.1.3. Remote sensing of land surface
1.1.4. Remote sensing of the atmosphere and strato-
sphere
1.2. In situ data collection: the global ocean and atmo-
sphere observing networks
2. Global data environmental bases (4 weeks)
2.1. Review of major data bases available on CD-ROM
2.2. Data available over the Internet and real-time data
servers
3. Analysis methods (4 weeks)
3.1. Mapping and objective gridding techniques
3.2. Time series and spectral analysis techniques
3.3. Analysis of variance and principal components
3.4. Multi-sensor synergy
4. Applications (3 weeks)
The applications of the techniques learned in the class will be studied
in the framework of the students research projects.