Earth Observation Fundamentals
How satellites see the Earth, explained without assuming any prior GIS knowledge
Beginner
Remote Sensing
7 lessons
Samuel Appiah Kubi
About this course
A no-code foundation for everything else in this curriculum. You'll learn what a satellite actually measures, why some satellites see through cloud and others don't, and how to read what you're looking at in a satellite image before you ever touch Python. Every concept is grounded in a real African example — the Odaw flood, the cocoa belt, Lake Volta — so the theory always connects to something you could plausibly need to do.
What you'll learn
- Explain, in plain language, what optical and radar (SAR) satellites each measure
- Name the key Sentinel and Landsat missions and what each is good for
- Explain why free satellite data exists and who provides it
- Look at a satellite image and correctly identify water, vegetation, bare soil and buildings
- Choose the right satellite for a task based on resolution and revisit trade-offs
Requirements
- No coding required
- Basic geography (you should know what a river basin or a coastline is)
Course content
Why Satellites Matter for Africa
Preview
14 min
The Electromagnetic Spectrum, in Terms That Matter for EO
18 min
Spatial and Temporal Resolution: The Trade-off You Can't Avoid
16 min
Sentinel-1 (SAR): Seeing Through Clouds and Darkness
20 min
Sentinel-2 (Multispectral): Your Optical Workhorse
22 min
Landsat: the 50-Year Archive Nothing Else Can Match
18 min
Real Applications: Floods, Crops, Forests, Cities
24 min
Free
- LevelBeginner
- Lessons7
- CertificateYes
- AccessLifetime
Samuel Appiah Kubi
Instructor