Applied Remote Sensing for Earth Sciences

Become a high-skilled geospatial professional

LEARN TO EXPLORE EARTH AND GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES TO SECURE FUTURE GLOBAL DEMAND FOR ENERGY AND MINERALS.

Earth is rich in essential mineral resources and geothermal energy that can play an important role in the energy transition worldwide. Think of minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt that are an integral part of many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies – from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles. Also, Earth's hidden supplies of geothermal resources are an essential component of the world's shift to green energy. If you have passion for Earth Sciences and want to learn to use remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to map supplies of critical raw materials and geothermal resources, this specialisation is the right fit for you.

Bruno Portela, Lecturer in Geological Remote Sensing at ITC's department of Applied Earth Sciences.

“This specialisation is for earth scientists who want to become geological remote sensing and geophysics specialists and play a significant role in the energy transition. We prepare you to become an expert in providing solutions for raw materials supply related to global challenges and development goals." - Bruno Portela, Lecturer in Geological Remote Sensing at ITC's department of Applied Earth Sciences.

Bruno Portela, Lecturer in Geological Remote Sensing at ITC's department of Applied Earth Sciences.


Master's Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation

Go to registration!

What is Applied Remote Sensing for Earth Sciences

In this specialisation, you will learn to analyse and integrate geological and geophysical data to identify areas of mineral resources and geothermal fields which are essential sources of clean renewable energy. You will learn methods and strategies to investigate the science relating to geology and mineral resources focusing on the application of multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing, optical and thermal infrared spectroscopy, geophysics, geochemistry, and advanced image analysis. By the end of the specialisation, you will know how to integrate remote sensing data with laboratory and field measurements and extract information from these datasets in digital workflow environments to explore essential Earth resources.

Examples of courses you will follow during this specialisation
  • Do you know how many remote sensing platforms that are in orbit give us access to data? In the course Spectral Data Processing, you will learn to use Google Earth Engine and scripting to process large amounts of remote sensing data for earth science applications.
  • How to obtain geological information about minerals, rocks, or geothermal systems by applying spectroscopic and analytical methods? In the course Spectral Geology, you will learn to use state-of-the-arts spectroscopic methods to analyse the geochemistry of minerals and texture of samples.
  • In the course Geological Remote Sensing, you will learn to integrate spectral information, satellite images, geophysical data, and other earth science datasets for geological interpretation and earth resources mapping. 

Thanks to the state-of-the-art geoscience labs, visualisation and usability labs, and satellite and sensor databases available at ITC, you will gain hands-on experience and work on real-life problems and solutions. You will create your own custom processing solution, using Python or JavaScript, that collects big datasets of remote sensing data from existing data repositories such as Google Earth Engine. This way, you will derive various physical parameters from the Earth surface. Or you can inventory possible energy sources in a given area and share them with a mining or geothermal company. Also, you will go on field trips where you will analyse the link between satellite images and what you can find on the ground.

What will you learn

As a graduate of the Master's in Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation with a specialisation in Applied Remote Sensing for Earth Sciences, you have acquired specific scientific knowledge, skills, and values that will help you in your future career.

KNOWLEDGE

After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:

SKILLS

After successfully finishing this Master’s specialisation, you:

VALUES

After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:

Other Master's and specialisations

Is this specialisation not exactly what you are looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. You can also find out more about related Master’s at the University of Twente: