392
June 2017
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
level courses that aim to introduce scripting for RS analysis.
Indeed, it has inspired me to adopt several chapter in my own
graduate level remote sensing course.
While no book on this topic can be exhaustive, the book
provides a good balance of breadth and depth. The book openly
addresses its gaps, and all chapters provide suggestions for
further readings, but there are a few improvements in both
conceptual content and R code that future editions should
include. The overview of RS is well written, and includes a
thoughtful discussion of resolution tradeoffs most ecologists
have to evaluate when selecting RS datasets in Chapter 8,
revisiting the discussion in a time series context in Chapter
11. Notably missing from these discussions however is
consideration of spectral resolution, which significantly
impacts RS analyses even in a multispectral context.
Furthermore, future users should be aware that the book
explicitly focuses on Landsat and MODIS data, fortunately,
several of the methods presented can be adapted to processes
and analyze other multispectral datasets.
Although the R code is typically well described, it is not
introduced and commented uniformly. Some chapters,
particularly towards the end, would benefit frommore detailed
instructions for replicating presented figures and additional
comments for more complex lines of code (e.g., for-loops). In
addition, there are several small sections in the book with
irreproducible code, but these errors are not an appreciable
detriment to the concepts presented. This would be quite
beneficial to several users because presented figures are
clear and nicely formatted and the code provides streamlined
approaches to problem solving. In fact, most of these errors
can be easily fixed by the reader, especially one with previous
R experience. Thus, it is recommended, but not necessary,
that users have some fundamental understanding of coding
principles and feel comfortable with troubleshooting and
debugging. Overall,
Remote Sensing and GIS for Ecologists:
Using Open Source Software
meets its objective of introducing
typical RS procedures and OSS solutions to ecologists and RS
users wishing to expand their programming knowledge. This
work certainly fills a gap in the literature, as very few books
give such attention to using R code specifically for RS. The
electronic version of the book (Kindle) is particularly effective
as a resource for R users of all levels, as the many additional
resources and websites referenced in the book are easily linked
to and accessed in tandem with the text.
The presented content meets the needs of the target audience
and allows RS data to be more accessible to ecologists. This
book is further recommended to students who use RS data
regularly, but desire a more structured procedure for pre-
processing and analysis in R, and any environmental scientist
interested in terrestrial RS.
you really need? When dealing with unknowns this is
no easy exercise.
-
Do you have the correct hardware/software?
-
Is programming or training support immediately
available if needed?
-
Are you ready to increase/decrease change entirely on
short notice?
●
Controls:
Do you have increased controls in place? The touch
points need to be very frequent. There need to be more
checks and balances than with a regular project.
●
Communications:
Is there a very clear and detailed communication plan?
Is there the ability to elevate concerns immediately at
all levels?
What is the planned response time to all concerns, and
can all management levels agree to operate under that
plan?
The RDP project resembles all projects in that a PM should be
reviewing and controlling all phases. The RDP project typically
demands a more assertive and agile approach with an even
more in-depth risk management plan throughout its lifecycle.
As RDP projects grow in frequency the PM will need to be sure
to manage the ongoing risks that they present through to a
successful delivery. With technology advancing at increased
rates we can all look forward to managing a project portfolio
that contains more RDP projects through to success!
Raquel Charrois is the vice president of Continental Mapping
Consultants, Inc., a Project Management Professional (PMP),
and an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist.
Raquel is very focused on process based approaches that
unite program and business objectives, resulting in portfolio
success.
If you have questions or topics that you would like to see
discussed, please email them to
