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Career Description

Apply remote sensing principles and methods to analyze data and solve problems in areas such as natural resource management, urban planning, or homeland security. May develop new sensor systems, analytical techniques, or new applications for existing systems.

What Job Titles Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists Might Have

• Geospatial Intelligence Analyst
• Professor
• Remote Sensing Analyst
• Scientist

What Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists Do

• Manage or analyze data obtained from remote sensing systems to obtain meaningful results.
• Analyze data acquired from aircraft, satellites, or ground-based platforms, using statistical analysis software, image analysis software, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Process aerial or satellite imagery to create products such as land cover maps.
• Design or implement strategies for collection, analysis, or display of geographic data.
• Integrate other geospatial data sources into projects.
• Discuss project goals, equipment requirements, or methodologies with colleagues or team members.
• Develop or build databases for remote sensing or related geospatial project information.
• Collect supporting data, such as climatic or field survey data, to corroborate remote sensing data analyses.
• Prepare or deliver reports or presentations of geospatial project information.
• Participate in fieldwork.
• Organize and maintain geospatial data and associated documentation.
• Conduct research into the application or enhancement of remote sensing technology.
• Train technicians in the use of remote sensing technology.
• Attend meetings or seminars or read current literature to maintain knowledge of developments in the field of remote sensing.
• Apply remote sensing data or techniques, such as surface water modeling or dust cloud detection, to address environmental issues.
• Develop automated routines to correct for the presence of image distorting artifacts, such as ground vegetation.
• Monitor quality of remote sensing data collection operations to determine if procedural or equipment changes are necessary.
• Develop new analytical techniques or sensor systems.
• Compile and format image data to increase its usefulness.
• Set up or maintain remote sensing data collection systems.
• Use remote sensing data for forest or carbon tracking activities to assess the impact of environmental change.
• Direct all activity associated with implementation, operation, or enhancement of remote sensing hardware or software.

What Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists Should Be Good At

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists Should Be Interested In

• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

What Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists Need to Learn

• Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.