Remote Sensing and GIS
Education in Iran Ramin Rahimi
Djafari Abstract National cartographic center of IRAN{NCC), P.O.Box 13185-1684 Tehran-Iran Tel: ++98212521906, Fax: ++98216001971 E-Mail: ncciran@irearn.bitnet Nowadays the increasing need for different applications of GIS and remote sensing techniques in third-world and developing countries, is obviously an evident matter. In IRAN due to existence of abundant natural resources, and the necessity for planning and managing those resources for effective use and because of the rapid development of the county, the need for those applications is severely sensed .To use GIS and remote sensing techniques effectively and scientifically, existence of academic education in different levels to fulfil required educated personnel as well as to teach users are necessary. In this paper different universities in IRAN that have taken some action to instruct these sciences, and educational lacks about those topics will be stated. Also other organisations and companies ( Governmental or in private section) that have some rule in teaching these fields to different applicants are mentioned along with different activities of each one. There will also be an indication to difficulties and ambiguities in using GIS and remote sensing techniques and some solutions will be offered for them. National cartographic center of IRAN (NCC) has done some important activities and practices including : To train graduated staff in post-graduate levels at well-known institutes in the world, organising scientific courses in GIS and remote sensing for peoples from other organisations and private individuals and also some other different activities that will be mentioned in this paper. Introduction: In the Islamic republic of IRAN after Islamic revolution victory, The rate of country's development increased and notwithstanding all difficulties due to imposed war, it continued rapidly and especially after finishing the war, this rate enhanced much more so that today our country is developing in all constructional, economical, cultural and social matters. On the other hand to make necessary planning for optimum use of natural resources, having sufficient and accurate geographic information about country's situation is very critical. Nowadays with existing advanced technology, the best way of acquiring this information is to establish GIS'es and to use satellite remote sensing data. While the precedent of using these technologies in developed countries are about one quarter of a century, but in third-world countries are just one decade that importance of these techniques has been sensed. In developing IRAN although before revolution some activities had been done to receive and use of satellite data, but it was just in past few years that importance of using GIS and remote sensing techniques have been severely sensed and serious work has been started. The problem is that in advanced countries, there is an agreement between teaching technology and if applications; but usually in developing countries' technology arrives without any teaching and training before that, which makes a lot of financial or technical problems. In IRAN acquaintance with these technologies and their wide range of applications has been occurring since ten years ago via international conferences and seminars, visits, magazines and papers. A few years ago when importance of using these techniques for country's development was sensed, there was no academic or classic or even private teaching and training programs about these topics and there were only a few of dispersed specialists in the country. In that situation different organisations started to import and struggled to use these technologies somehow and in different ways. But because of the lack of necessary specialists in different levels, this process of importing has been facing with abundant difficulties. In this paper different activities of universities or other organisations to solve those problems, along with some proposes and solutions that should be done and the vast amount of academic requirements of the country, will be stated. Actions of universities: In IRAN after revolution and in past decade, higher education has been developed so much and variety of fields of study and number of students has been increased in graduate and post-graduate levels. But in despite of this increasing rate from day to day, still we do not have GIS and remote sensing fields of study in graduate levels, while the trained manpower requirements are growing day by day. At present there are only a few lectures related to these sciences that are teaching in some fields of studies in graduate levels that are mentioned here- In IRAN in the field of surveying engineering there is a lecture in the last year of graduate Level, students can study one course about photography from space and remote sensing although this is not an obligatory course and usually those who is more interested to photogrammetry than geodesy, pass this course. In this course student become familiar with concepts and techniques of photography from space and different kinds of this along with elementary principles of remote sensing and photo interpretation. This course is offering in four months with two hours per week teaching program. Therefore only half of the graduated students in surveying engineering have some brief acquaintance to these sciences. Interested persons should make individual studies to become more familiar with these topics. But about GIS, there is not any academic course in any field of study in graduate levels. Only it has been agreed to put all experimental lecture of two hours per week on GIS for the last year of surveying engineering in one university in TEHRAN and in case of successfulness it should be taught for all of the students of surveying engineering. It is said that contents of most famous books on GIS will be taught in this course. In post-graduate levels, an important action has been done by one university that its aim is to train and provide teachers for other universities( TARBIAT-E MODARRES university). This university established a MSc course in remote sensing in 1993, with co-operation of Iranian remote sensing center. Each year ten graduated students can start this course. In this course they study scientific principles and techniques of remote sensing widely and also principles of GIS. Successful students will have MSc degree in remote sensing and they can teach in universities and satisfy country's requirements for researchers about these sciences. Until now this has been the only action in post-graduate levels in our country. It should also be said that students of MSc course in photogrammetry are becoming a little bit familiar with remote sensing. Activities of National cartographic centre(NCC) about these subjects will be explained in detail. Therefore you can see that educational lacks and vacuums in different levels of these topics are so serious that mentioned actions are not satisfactory . Activities of other organisations and companies: Constructive and economical plans in IRAN have widely increased in recent years and country's development is becoming very fast. With existence of high velocity global commemorations and acquaintance of ministries and organisations with wide range of applications and usefulness of GIS and remote sensing techniques, they have been encouraged to use them and each have taken some action to buy necessary equipment and to establish GIS 'es and use) remote sensing products. But these actions were very scattered and with different aims. Some of that organisations have prepared brief training programs for their personnel. Iranian remote sensing center is the governrnental center to receive, use and distribution of satellite data that is related to ministry of communications. Until now the most important educational activity of this center has been some co-operation with " TARBIAT-E- MODARRES" university to establish a MSc course in remote sensing. This center has three branches in 3 provinces and there is a short course about " principles and techniques of remote sensing and applications of satellite data" for the personnel of those branches. A remote sensing group has been formed since ten years ago in Iranian geological survey(IGS). Their objectives are to use satellite images for geological map updating, mine explorations, geotechnique surveys and making geomorphologic maps. This group has good equipment and they have done useful activities, but they didn't have important educational programs. Other organization which is dealing with geographical information is "geographic organisation of armed forces"which is related to army. The duty of this organisation is to satisfy military requirements for maps and other geographic information. If army needs for some special GIS, this organisation should make that it has also a section for remote sensing Because in RAN urban development occurring very fast city information systems or LIS'es are very necessary and useful. In this direction. TEHRAN . Municipality has established a GIS for TEHRAN that has been very useful for rural application. In some , ministries they have started with research activities to become familiar with these techniques in more basic way For example in ministry of power, they have tried to make a research committee on GIS to analyse the requirements and determine characteristics of theirs required systems. In private section the most important activities are to imitate representative companies from famous foreign companies to import their products but in one or two private companies, some useful actions have been done to use satellite data for national objectives. One company has made the image map of IRAN at scale 1/1000000 with SPOT data and this is the first time that private section is doing this job. Activities of national cartographic centre(NCC): National cartographic centre of IRAN(NCC) was established in 1953 as a lower part of ministry of plans ! and budgets. NCC and geographic organisation of armed forces were merged in 1972. NCC started to make topographic maps at scale 1/25000 in 1979, but this task was stopped because of the war. Real production of these maps was started in 1990 with help of united nations. At present these maps are being produced in a totally digital way. NCC is responsible for implementation of all national mapping programs and Islanuc parliament has given the national GIS program to NCC that its operational carry out has seriously been begun since last year. Basic maps of this national GIS are 1/25000 digital maps produced at NCC. Most important objectives of GIS department of NCC are: To educate and research about GIS, making national topographic database, making national GIS at scale 111000000 and to propagate GIS culture ill the country. The most important action that has been done to meet the trained manpower requirements was to send graduated specialists abroad to famous international institutes like ITC (The Netherlands) to study in post-graduate courses. AT present there are about 25 peoples at NCC that have studied in ITC on Photogrammetry, GIS, remote sensing and cartography and they have post-graduate diploma or MSc degree. Considering this NCC has some co-operation with universities for educational programs or conducting them. Now most of them are teaching new techniques of photogrammetry, GIS and remote sensing in universities. Other important activity of NCC is to carry on short educational courses for specialist personal of other organisations and interested individuals to teach general principles and techniques of GIS and remote sensing. These classes have been started last year and during them theoretical principles and operational techniques of GIS & remote sensing which are needed for various applications of different organisations, is explained. People who pass these courses can effectively use these techniques for special requirements and applications of their organisations. Ambiguities, difficulties and solutions: Although GIS and remote sensing techniques are widely used in developed countries for various applications and these sciences are rapidly expanding, but sometimes there are still some doubts and myths to use them even among specialists of other scientific fields. Perhaps this is because of their insufficient and incorrect understanding about these techniques and their fields of applications. Nowadays with convincing answers to those ambiguities, the doubts are becoming lesser day by day, fields and correct methods to apply those techniques are becoming more clear and more specialists are finding proper use of the technology as the best tool for their constructive, natural or environmental plaguing problems. In developing countries like IRAN, main difficulties in GIS and remote sensing education that has been existed and partly existing is:
1) Researchers who can develop new methods and expand applications and to teach in universities as professors. 2) Technicians who can apply proved techniques in special operational problems. Considering rapid development of the country and recognising wide range of applications of these techniques and to remove educational lacks to reach to an independence situation in training and using them, it is foresighted that specialist man power requirements in different levels in next ten years shall be as following:
To attain above aims and predicted trained manpower requirements as above table, we should establish non-existing required educational curriculum and GIS and remote sensing subjects should be included in all academic levels from elementary school to highest levels of university in a proper way. With this action, not only we can educate required specialists but also the public will have some general knowledge about basis of these sciences. In each of the educational levels there should be some subjects suitable for that level and age. In elementary school following subjects can be included: General figure of the earth, ability to take pictures of this globe from sky and outline of aerial photographs. In geography lectures of secondary school we can teach: Stereoscopic vision of aerial photographs and concept of scale of images. In geography lectures of first two years of high school, principles of aerial photography, electromagnetic radiation and spectrum and also spectral behavior of different objects on earth's surface, can be taught. An introduction to different sensors, various formats of data in computers, concept of resolution in satellite images, an introduction to atmospheric effects, general concept of GIS and using different layers of data for GIS analyses along with computer operations and field works, can be included in last years of high school. In establishing proposed curriculum as above table, care should be made that graduated persons should have abilities suitable to country's requirements. In the technician curriculum, half of the course should be covered with teaching necessary theories and in the rest students should do different operational projects During the graduate .level, all of the proved general sciences and theories about that topic should be taught and students should accomplish a good project in the last year. In the master of science course, student." should have ability to develop and expand related techniques in some special subject and they should also teach with full domination in the related lower levels. I believe that with two plans, in 5 years and .10 years, we can become quite independent about specialist manpower requirements and university teachers in GIS and remote sensing. Of course to attain this aim we should take maximum advantage of existing specialist and scientist and also in the first 5 years, we should send abroad some specialists to study in MSc and PHD levels at good universities in other countries. The most important necessary background for successfulness in graduate level on GIS is high skills in mapping sciences and map reading, computer analyses, database management and computerised cartography. Therefore the major part of .lectures in graduate level on GIS should be: Surveying, cartography, computer, software and databases. .It is also better that half of the MSc students in GIS, have licentiate's degree in surveying or GIS and the rest with degrees in mathematics and computer In the graduate level on remote sensing, successfulness depends on having good abilities in maps, map reading, photogrammetry , computer and optics and also basics of Electronics and electromagnetic waves. Then in the curriculum there should be serious emphasis on physics. It shall be better that half of the MSc students in remote sensing had been graduated in photogrammetry or remote sensing and the rest in physics. I believe that graduated people in geography can not be successful in MSc courses on GIS or remote sensing, because they do not have necessary knowledge about physics, computer and surveying. In this way, all necessary curriculum shall be established in a consistent and suitable manner, which will satisfy country's requirements in all different levels. Conclusion: Nowadays the correct way of advancement in all of the scientific fields is quite clear and proved and it needs for serious struggle and effort. About GIS and remote sensing techniques, considering requirements of developing IRAN to these sciences and on the other hand serious mentioned deficits and lacks, an obvious necessity for effort and advancement on these fields is sensed. Therefore we should apply all our possibilities and capabilities and we should make earnest effort to establish mentioned curriculum and promotion of related scientific culture across the country. Time is priceless and this should be done as fast as possible. With this action we can reach to required necessary level in ten years. To do so we should take advantage of experiments of advanced countries and also there is good readiness to present our experiments for other developing nations. There is a proverb that says: If your horizon is one year, plant rice; If your horizon is ten years, plant trees; And if it is 100 years educate your children. Only with serious and planned effort, we can reach to that high level in these sciences which is really decent and suitable for our nation and our country . References:
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