GIS and Remote Sensing Laboratory

One of the most fundamental issues that confronts earth scientists is that of scale is that it is nearly impossible to sample and characterize and dataset large enough to understand all of the variability in a landscape. Consequently, remote observations are useful, and special effort is needed to deal with the resulting large datasets.

Remote sensing, in which spatially resolved images and spectra are collected from aircraft, satellite, or remote stations, and used to identify and map surficial features (e.g., plant species, water temperature, chlorophyll concentration). Geographic information systems (GIS) provides a means of visualizing this data, and is generally useful for the analysis of large spatial datasets. Within Dartmouth Earth Sciences, Dr. Birnie is involved in research using satellite remote sensing, image processing, and global positioning systems (GPS) for a variety of geologic and environmental applications. In addition, a number of other faculty make regular use of such methodology in their research. For example, Dr. Renshaw uses the spatial analysis tools available in GIS to create three-dimensional models of rock strata and water flow.