Land Use Change
Land change science has emerged as a fundamental component of global environmental change and sustainability research. This interdisciplinary field seeks to understand the dynamics of land cover and land use. The land cover is defined by the attributes of the earth’s land surface and immediate subsurface, including biota, soil, topography, surface and groundwater, and human structures. Land use is defined by the purposes for which humans exploit the land cover.
Related Courses
EESS 161. Statistical Methods for the Earth and Environmental Sciences: Geostatistics
(Same as ENERGY 161.) Statistical analysis and graphical display of data, common distribution models, sampling, and regression. The variogram as a tool for modeling spatial correlation; variogram estimation and modeling; introduction to spatial mapping and prediction with kriging; integration of remote sensing and other ancillary information using co-kriging models; spatial uncertainty; introduction to geostatistical software applied to large environmental, climatological, and reservoir engineering databases; emphasis is on practical use of geostatistical tools. GER: DB-NatSci 3-4 units, Win
EESS 162. Remote Sensing of Land
The use of satellite remote sensing to monitor land use and land cover, with emphasis on terrestrial changes. Topics include pre-processing data, biophysical properties of vegetation observable by satellite, accuracy assessment of maps derived from remote sensing, and methodologies to detect changes such as urbanization, deforestation, vegetation health, and wildfires. 4 units, Win (Lambin, E.)
EESS 164. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science (GIS)
(Same as EARTHSYS 144.) Survey of geographic information including maps, satellite imagery, and census data, approaches to spatial data, and tools for integrating and examining spatially-explicit data. Emphasis is on fundamental concepts of geographic information science and associated technologies. Topics include geographic data structure, cartography, remotely sensed data, statistical analysis of geographic data, spatial analysis, map design, and geographic information system software. Computer lab assignments. GER: DB-NatSci 4 units, Aut (Nickel, B.)
EESS 211. Fundamentals of Modeling
Simulation models are a powerful tool for environmental research, if used properly. The major concepts and techniques for building and evaluating models. Topics include model calibration, model selection, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, and Monte Carlo and bootstrap methods. Emphasis is on gaining hands-on experience using the R programming language. Prerequisite: basic knowledge of statistics. 3 units, Aut (Lobell, D.)
EESS 262: Remote Sensing of Land
The use of satellite remote sensing to monitor land use and land cover, with emphasis on terrestrial changes. Topics include pre-processing data, biophysical properties of vegetation observable by satellite, accuracy assessment of maps derived from remote sensing, and methodologies to detect changes such as urbanization, deforestation, vegetation health, and wildfires. 4 units, Win (Lambin, E.)
