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Remote Sensing Test Exchange 2017
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The name for this event is rather misleading; I didn't know it was closely related to Meteorology until I read the rules .-.

sciolyFTW_aku Why do you believe the name is misleading?

sciolyFTW_aku wrote:The name for this event is rather misleading; I didn't know it was closely related to Meteorology until I read the rules .-.

IMO it's not at all like Meteorology; looking at the test exchange, it's more akin to Astronomy, really (not the best comparison, but the only one I can think of, since the Road Scholar one isn't that good)

Unome wrote:

sciolyFTW_aku wrote:The name for this event is rather misleading; I didn't know it was closely related to Meteorology until I read the rules .-.

IMO it's not at all like Meteorology; looking at the test exchange, it's more akin to Astronomy, really (not the best comparison, but the only one I can think of, since the Road Scholar one isn't that good)

This might sound a little far-fetched, but I think the event has some similarities to ID events like Invasive/R&M, because many of the questions I've seen in past tests give you an image and ask you to interpret the content of the image. I definitely see the similarities to Astro, Unome - getting an image packet and having to tell how the image was taken is a key part of Astronomy as well as Remote Sensing.

Yes, the event involves interpreting the image presented to you. But, what is the information that has to be interpreted? If you look at the rules, you have to know about climatic processes and climate change, models of energy balance, different types of images of clouds, atmosphere, weather systems, etc. So, yes, it is sort of an ID event, but the knowledge required in order to ID the image has an origin that stems from Meteorology.

dcrxcode wrote:

Unome wrote:

sciolyFTW_aku wrote:The name for this event is rather misleading; I didn't know it was closely related to Meteorology until I read the rules .-.

IMO it's not at all like Meteorology; looking at the test exchange, it's more akin to Astronomy, really (not the best comparison, but the only one I can think of, since the Road Scholar one isn't that good)

This might sound a little far-fetched, but I think the event has some similarities to ID events like Invasive/R&M, because many of the questions I've seen in past tests give you an image and ask you to interpret the content of the image. I definitely see the similarities to Astro, Unome - getting an image packet and having to tell how the image was taken is a key part of Astronomy as well as Remote Sensing.

Remote Sensing is not at all like an ID event. You're not expected to know right off the bat what specific feature you're looking at unless it's incredibly obvious. You won't be expected to look at an image and say, "Boom, that's the Three Gorges Dam, next question," although such questions may appear from time to time for famous or important areas.

You will, however, be expected to have the necessary geographic and environmental knowledge to interpret and explain the images. For example, one question you'll see an awful lot is: "This is the Aral Sea. Explain what's happening to it from image 1 to image 2." Or something along those lines.

It's not like very many B events, but I feel like it's somewhat of a cross between Road Scholar and Solar System, especially for image interpretation. There are elements of Meteorology as well. However, the bulk of the event is focused on satellites, hence the name "Remote Sensing". I really liked it when I competed; it's kind of a unique and interesting event to compete in.

Hello all, I am quite new to this event. What kind of resources should I use (textbooks, etc) to prepare for this competition season? I know the test exchange is a good resource, but it is not of much help when I do not understand how to approach the majority of the questions. Thanks!

russianolive wrote:Hello all, I am quite new to this event. What kind of resources should I use (textbooks, etc) to prepare for this competition season? I know the test exchange is a good resource, but it is not of much help when I do not understand how to approach the majority of the questions. Thanks!

You should absolutely start with the Remote Sensing Wiki. It has tons of valuable information on there and 90% of what you see on tests are covered in that page. From there, look at some practice tests, and Google what you can't find in the wiki. USGS also has some good resources.