Studying climate change with remote sensing technology

🙌 Introduction

Welcome to the exploration of climate change through remote sensing technology! This mini-course is designed to empower teachers with knowledge about climate change evidence and how remote sensing tools can enhance our understanding of this critical issue, including the Urban Heat Island phenomenon. It’s also a valuable resource for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of climate change and the applications of remote sensing technology. Take a moment to review the information below, and when you’re ready, begin the course using the links provided at the bottom of the page. Let’s dive in!

📚 Course Overview

A collage of events related to climate and weather: loss of glacial ice, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and drought. (Image credit: NOAA)

This mini-course is designed to immerse participants in the study of climate change using remote sensing technology, with a specific focus on Urban Surface Temperatures and the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Learners will examine how urban environments are experiencing rising temperatures due to the UHI phenomenon and explore its connections to broader climate change challenges. Through the use of remote sensing technology, participants will analyze satellite data to track changes in land surface temperatures over time and assess the impacts of these changes on urban areas. The course aims to empower learners with the knowledge and skills to guide their students in investigating climate transformations in urban settings and proposing strategies to mitigate environmental concerns in cities.

By the conclusion of this mini-course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the Urban Heat Island effect and its implications for urban areas globally, both now and in the future. They will also gain practical experience in utilizing remote sensing as a teaching tool for climate-related topics, such as monitoring land surface temperature trends.

🏃‍♂️ Performance Objectives

Here is what you can expect to learn from this course:

After completing Unit 1 of this mini-course, you will be able to:

• Define what is climate change
• Identify climate change evidence and explain its significance
• Observe the evidence for global climate change
• Explain climate change factors by using a claim, climate evidence and reasoning

After completing Unit 2 of this mini-course, you will be able to:

• Define remote sensing and its advantages
• Investigate on climate satellites from Earth Now and analyze and explain their contribution to climate research
• Compare the effects of physical changes based on the before-and-after images from the same location.

After completing Unit 3 of this mini-course, you will be able to:

• Observe remote sensing imagery from different cities.
• Discuss and make connections about temperature and vegetation in different locations.
• Define the Urban Heat Island phenomenon.

After completing Unit 4 of this mini-course, you will be able to:

• Identify the benefits of green roofs and their role in mitigating the Urban Heat Island effect.
• Explore the concept of white roofs and understand their significance in addressing Urban Heat Island challenges.
• Analyze the benefits of white roofs

📘 Course Units

This mini-course includes the following units. Click on the title of any unit to go to its page:

🎯 References

https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/climate/climate-change-impacts

https://www.goodfon.com/macro/wallpaper-target-target-dart.html