Unit Code: FBS700

Unit Name: Remote Sensing and GIS in Forestry

Description: The syllabus covers Introduction: Basic components of remote sensing - signals, sensors and sensing systems; Characteristics of electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with matter; spectral features of earth's surface; Types of remote sensing: Active and passive remote sensing. remote sensors in visible, infrared and microwave regions. Imaging and non-imaging systems; framing and scanning systems; resolution of sensors; Sensor platforms. Data acquisition system, data processing, storage and dissemination, digital image processing and information extraction. Microwave remote sensing; Image interpretation; Introduction to Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Position System (GPS). Computer systems and softwares, spatial data, Digital techniques for forest discrimination and identification; Fundamental concepts of GIS and remote sensing technologies in forestry: remote sensing systems, digital image processing, nature and characteristics of spatial data and objects. Examples of applications of GIS and remote sensing technologies to various disciplinesRoad Building Challenges in the Tropics, Traffic Characteristics, Design vehicles, Design objectives, Direct Environmental Impacts, Best Management Practices; Road Standards Basic Technology, Forest Road Classification, Geometric Design Specifications, Horizontal Curves, Road Gradient, Vertical Curves, Cut and Fill Slope Design, Cross Slope, Terrain Trucks Roads; Economic Basis for Forest Road Construction, Determination of Truck Costs, Truck Travel Times, Determination of Road Construction & Maintenance Costs, Construction Staking, Clearing & Piling, Earthwork, finish Grading, surfacing, drainage, selection of road spacing, Optimum road spacing, optimum spur road density, traffic increasing linearly along a roadway; Economic Basis for Forest Road Construction, Determination of Truck Costs, Truck Travel Times, Determination of Road Construction & Maintenance Costs, Construction Staking, Clearing & Piling, Earthwork, finish Grading, surfacing, drainage, selection of road spacing, Optimum road spacing, optimum spur road density, traffic increasing linearly along a roadway; Crossing Swamps & Wetspots, Buried Corduroy , Surface Corduroy, Plank Roads, Geotextiles; Stream Crossing, Stream Flow, Culvert, Low water crossing, permanent bridges, bridge location, Abutments, stringers, decking, portables; Route Selection, General maps & Mapping Tools, Aerial Reconnaissance; Road Building Materials, General road structure, surface layer, base layer, subbase, natural earth, natural earth, improved layer, ditch, capillarity, aggregate surface design, locating road building materials, gravel, lateite, improving local materials, gravel; Forest Road Construction, Clearing & Grubbing, Clearing Width, Clearing Methods, Operator Protection & Machine Guarding, Use of Explosives; Earthwork, methods, Flat ground, on a hillside, excavation in rock, embankments, methods of compaction, swamps, surfacing, drainage, side ditches, ditch depth, ditch gradient, ditch cross section, ditch construction; Drainage - outlets, catchwater ditches, culverts, broad-based Dips or Rolling Grades, water bars, retaining walls, geotextile and chain-link Reinforced walls; Forest Road Maintenance, Ditch & Culvert maintenance, Restoring Camber, Washboarding, Wheel Ruts, Mudholes; Road Equipment & Machinery, Considerations in Selection, Types of Equipment, Environmental Protection, Design, Construction, Bridges & Culverts, Road Maintenance.

Learning Target Outcomes:

Prerequisite: N/A

Prerequisite Sentence: Student must be enrolled in the programme.

Credit Point: 15

Offered In: Semester 2