Geography & Environment

• CAS GE 425: United States Environmental Policy
  Survey and historical overview of key environmental policies and regulations in the United States. Emphasis on policy development, including formulation and implementation of federal pollution control regulations since the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970. Considers possible future policy needs.
• CAS GE 440: Digital Image Processing ? Remote Sensing
  Pursues both the algorithms involved in processing remotely sensed images and their application. Topics include spectral and spatial enhancement, image classification and clustering, spatial analysis, and linear transforms.
• CAS GE 442: Radar Remote Sensing
  An introduction to radar imaging concepts, systems, and basic applications, including technical fundamentals, interpretation techniques, and aids. Applications include topographic mapping, land use, and earth science. Laboratory exercises included.
• CAS GE 445: Physical Models in Remote Sensing
  Devoted to understanding the physical processes involved in remote sensing. Emphasis on topics of radiative transfer in the atmosphere, at the surface, and in sensors. Reflectance modeling, advanced sensor systems, and geometric effects.
• CAS GE 448: Remote Sensing of Vegetation
  Examines the use of remote sensing to study vegetation. Topics include resource inventory and evaluation for forests and agriculture; ecosystem processes like primary productivity and biogeochemical cycles; and spectral reflectance measurement and models.
• CAS GE 450: Environmental Field Methods and Research
  Fundamental concepts and paradigms related to the application of scientific methods in the field. Developing and implementing independent environmental field research projects. Emphasis on the multidisciplinary nature of environmental research.
• CAS GE 456: Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Carbon Cycle
  Explores the past, present, and possible future dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Key topics include the physical climate system, variability, ecosystem processes, land use issues, and impacts of global change on society.
• CAS GE 460: Resource Economics and Policy
  Economic analysis of environmental resources and policies for their management. Introduces dynamic optimization as a tool for understanding and anlayzing both resource scarcity and the management of energy, fishery, and forestry resources for sustainability.
• CAS GE 483: Geodynamics II: Fluids and Fluid Transport
  Large- and small-scale phenomena in oceanic, atmospheric, and landsurface fluids. Properties of gases and liquids; surface and body forces; statics; flow analysis; continuity and momentum conservation. Darcy's Law; potential, open channel, and geostrophic flow; dimensional analysis; diffusion, turbulence.
• CAS GE 491: Directed Study
  Directed Study
• CAS GE 492: Directed Study
  Directed Study.
• CAS GE 501: Advanced Topics in Remote Sensing
  Examines advanced concepts in radiative transfer and information extraction relevant to remote sensing. Emphasis on applications of digital image processing to remote sensing problems.
• CAS GE 502: Field Measurements for Remote Sensing
  Field measurements to support remote sensing activities. Theory and measurement of upwelling and downwelling flux fields with field radiometers and spectrometers; forest canopy leaf area using specialized instruments; hemispherical canopy photography; GPS field location and surveying techniques; simple forest mensuration.
• CAS GE 503: Micrometeorology: Energy and Mass Transfer at the Earth's Surface
  Modern theories and techniques for measurement and analysis of physical processes occuring at the Earth's surface: radiation regimes; energy and mass exchange; agricultural and forest micrometeorology: remote sensing and modeling of land surface properties and processes.
• CAS GE 504: Physical Climatology
  Physical principles governing the climate system and the spatial and temporal patterns of weather elements on regional and global scales. Physics of energy, mass, and momentum transfer; the observed state of the atmosphere; climate feedback processes; and climate change.
• CAS GE 505: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  Provides a theoretical and practical introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Introduces the essentials in GIS, methods of data capture and sources of data, nature and characteristics of spatial data and objects, data structures, modeling surfaces, volumes and time, and data uncertainty. Emphasis is on applications. Laboratory exercises included.
• CAS GE 507: Dynamical Oceanography
  Introduction to the physical ocean system. Physical properties of seawater; essential ocean dynamics; mixing and stirring in the ocean; simple waves; observed current systems and water masses; and coupled atmosphere-ocean variability. Also offered as CAS ES 507.
• CAS GE 510: Physical Principles of the Environment
  Principles and concepts underlying the physical and ecological forces that cause environmental change. Topics include soil erosion, acid rain, thermal pollution, greenhouse effect, stratospheric ozone depletion, and loss of biodiversity.
• CAS GE 512: Global Climate Change: Policy Modeling and Analysis
  Introduction to the analysis of climate change policies and associated economic issues. Students learn to analyze policy through computational energy-environmental-economic simulations that reflect insights of theoretical economic analyses. Emphasis on developing familiarity with state of the art modeling techniques.
• CAS GE 514: Dynamic Land Surface Hydrology
  Land surface hydrology with emphasis on the unsaturated zone. Development and applications of physics governing transport of water, vapor, and heat in soils and the near surface atmosphere. Effects of vegetation, topography, and water table runoff, evapotranspiration, and recharge.

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