240
April 2016
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
New Applications
The rapid evolution of remote sensing technology — in
particular via UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems), lidar,
IFSAR, hyperspectral and multispectral sensors — has led
to an explosion of new applications, including many potential
commercial opportunities, Schuckman said. “There are a
million different ways to use remote sensing data to solve
today’s global challenges, such as sustainability, security,
and food production.”
For example, there is growing interest in the private
sector in using drones and drone imagery for tasks such as
documenting deforestation or detecting flood hazards.
Like many of Penn State’s geospatial education faculty,
Schuckman has deep expertise in her profession. Schuckman,
who was a geospatial technology leader at URS Corporation
and president of EarthData International of North Carolina
before teaching at Penn State, cautioned that it’s easy to
arrive at the wrong answer or even to ask the wrong questions
if you don’t fully understand the data you’re working with.
“Choosing the right data for a particular problem requires
really understanding how the sensors work,” she said. “You
can’t just push a button and get a meaningful, valid result.”
Schuckman also worked at the USGS National Mapping
Division and is a past president of the American Society for
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. She has served on
numerous national committees including the NOAA Advisory
Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing, the National
Research Council’s Committee on Floodplain Mapping
Technologies and Committee on FEMA Flood Maps, and the
National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors.
Anthony C. Robinson, assistant professor of geography and
director for online geospatial education programs at Penn
State, said the new program complements the university’s
core strengths in GIS, geospatial software development, and
geospatial intelligence.
“Our goal is to provide geospatial professionals with the
theoretical knowledge and applied skills necessary to take
advantage of the amazing imagery and other sensor data
that we can collect today via satellites, drones, and other
vehicles. It’s one thing to have access to data coming from a
UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), and another thing entirely
to know how to use that data to make smarter decisions that
may impact people and the environment.”
Since 1999, more than 6,000 GIS professionals from all
seven continents (yes, even Antarctica) have taken geospatial
courses online at Penn State. Penn State’s students
and alumni work in over 150 geospatial companies and
organizations around the world in every major sector of the
mapping, GIS, and GEOINT industries. As a veteran-friendly
school, more than 20 percent of its online GIS population has
military experience.
Within geospatial circles, the university is probably best
known for its online Master of Geographic Information
Systems (MGIS), a degree program that has set the standard
for working professionals who seek advancement in the
industry through online graduate education.
“We show students how to explore and identify remotely
sensed datasets from a wide variety of sources—both
government and industry, ” Schuckman said. “We also teach
them how to determine what type of data is best suited to
their problem, and we teach them to create processing
and analysis workflows to extract information and create
visualizations for decision-making.”
Innovation in Learning Design
Stevie Rocco, assistant director of learning design at the
College of Earth and Mineral Science’s John A. Dutton
e-Education Institute, said Penn State integrates best
practices in pedagogy and online learning to offer engaging
learning experiences to students. Penn State’s faculty
members are experienced in teaching online and understand
the complexity of working with adult learners.
Rocco’s team of learning designers regularly engages in and
utilizes research to determine the appropriate tools, practices,
and strategies in developing online learning programs.
They often incorporate case-based learning, problem-based
learning, and storytelling pedagogies into the program.
To enhance the online learning experience, Penn State
employs numerous tools such as Piazza, VoiceThread, 360
“Since 1999, more than 6,000 GIS
professionals from all seven continents
(yes, even Antarctica) have taken
geospatial courses online at Penn
State.”
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