GEOS2821 Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing
Remote Sensing Report
Details
• The report is due by 17:00 Wednesday 26 June (week 5) and needs to be submitted
through the Turn-it-in link on the course Moodle page.
• Late work will be penalised by 5% of the value of the assignment per day (not
including weekends). After 5 late days the work will be given a value of 0%.
• The work assessed by the report focuses on the supervised classification and fire
mapping labs, although completing all labs is beneficial.
• The report is worth 15% of the course assessment.
• The report must be submitted using the Word document template provided. If you
submit it in a different format, you will lose 10%.
• Your report should be succinct and not exceed a total of 1000 words. This includes
everything in the document from the technical data, text, references, and figure
captions.
• The penalty for exceeding the word limit is proportional to how far you go over the
limit. Small amounts (<10%, <100 words) will lose 10%, while large amounts (>50%,
>500 words) will lose 50%.
Description
In the Sentinel-2 MSI imagery you have examined during the laboratory classes, you have
seen that the vegetation across parts of the UNSW Smiths Lake Field Station burnt in a fire in
January 2021. During the classification lab you created a map of the forest vegetation across
the area, and in the fire mapping lab you examined the fire severity within the forest. This
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report involves combining these two analyses to create a dataset representing the fire severity
experienced by all the forest around the UNSW Smith Lake Field Station. You need to create
this dataset and then complete the dataset metadata using the provided template. This
metadata outlines important features about the data, including technical components, a
written description, a method describing how it was produced, figures, and references.
Metadata documents are very common when working with geospatial data. It is important to
provide a good metadata document so any users understand how the data was created and
what it can be used for, regardless of whether you are providing data to the general public or
sharing data with colleagues within an organisation. Examples of metadata documents for
different remote sensing products are:
• NSW Woody Extent and Foliage Projective Cover
• Seasonal fractional cover - Landsat, JRSRP algorithm, Australia coverage
You need to create the dataset following the methods explained in the lab documents.
• The map of the forest should come from the maximum likelihood classification of the
Sentinel-2 image from 25 January 2023. I created this file, and you downloaded it
from Teams, but you should write about as if you created it using the maximum
likelihood method from lab.
• The map of fire severity should come from the difference in the Normalised Burn
Ratio Plus (dNBR+) between Sentinel-2 images from 15 and 25 January 2021, which
you classified into fire severity classes using thresholds in a decision tree.
• Combining the two datasets was described in the lab that was focused on this remote
sensing report. This lab also described ways to produce figures for the report.
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Report structure
The Remote Sensing report has four parts, with different weightings.
Part 1. Metadata (20%)
Metadata documents for remote sensing datasets usually contain several important technical
values of interest to users. You must complete the report template, which specifies ten values
of important metadata that usually accompany datasets. These can all be identified by
examining the metadata in ENVI. Your answers will be compared to known values generated
using the instructions in the laboratory documents.
Part 2. Description (30%)
Metadata documents usually have a written description of the dataset. You should include a
description of the main features that the dataset represents, including a figure that shows the
dataset with a scale bar and legend, and a detailed description of the accuracy of the dataset
using statistics. Multiple images can be provided using sub-figures, if you want to show more
than just a map.
Part 3. Method (30%)
Metadata documents also usually contain a statement describing how the data was created
from the source data. You should include a description of the method you used, including a
flow chart figure. Cite references related to any stages of the method or source data. Again, if
you wish to show multiple images, you need to include them using sub-figures.
Part 4. References (20%)
Include a list of all cited references here. Choose a referencing style and be consistent.
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Marking guide
Marks for parts 2 and 3 will be assigned following the marking rubric below. Some important
tips to consider are:
• Writing: Your sentences need to make sense. Use new paragraphs for new ideas.
• Acronyms: Define them when you first use them, so anyone reading can understand.
• Concepts: Your writing needs to show you understand key remote sensing concepts.
• Insights: Try to go beyond the lab instructions.
• Figures: Make them clear and complete including captions. Refer to them in the text.
• References: Use a consistent referencing style from a remote sensing journal.
• Word limit: Be succinct. You will lose marks for going over the word limit.
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Marking Rubric
Grade Defining characteristics
HD
(85-100%)
A report of a very high standard, well beyond that expected.
• Very high standard of written expression.
• Excellent figures (publication quality).
• Demonstrated significant original insight into the topic.
DN
high
(80-84)
Very little wrong with the report: not perfect due to one minor fault/issue.
• High standard of written expression.
• Good figures.
• Demonstrated significant insight into the topic.
DN
low
(75-79)
A very good report with demonstrated insights into the overall theme.
• Well written.
• Good figures.
• Demonstrated insight into the topic.
CR
high
(70-75)
A good report with occasional insights.
• Generally, well written.
• Clear presented figures.
• Demonstrated occasional insight into the topic.
CR
low
(65-69)
An adequate assignment but relatively simplistic.
• Mostly well written but with some issues.
• The figures may be missing some elements.
• Little creativity demonstrated in addressing the topic.
PS
high
(58-64)
A poor report showing minimal effort and insight and some errors.
• Simplistically written with some issues.
• The figures may be missing some elements and contain some errors.
• Limited depth of understanding of basic concepts.
PS
low
(50-57)
A poor report with several errors showing minimal effort and insight.
• Simplistically written with several issues.
• The figures may be problematic or missing.
• Poor understanding of basic concepts.
FL
(0-49)
The report did not fulfill the requirements in a meaningful way.