EODA Lab, 5th edition of the lab for aspiring data scientists concluded
The laboratory entirely dedicated to Earth Observation data analysis recorded growing participation for the 5th year in a row
In May, the University of Rome la Sapienza and the ESA RSS service operated by Progressive Systems concluded with success the 5th edition of the Earth Observation Data Analysis – EODA Lab with a registered participation of more than 40 students. The Lab is one of the activities envisaged by the Master Degree in Data Science of the University of Rome La Sapienza dedicated to providing a solid and modern preparation in data analysis, including acquisition, management, and statistical analysis. In this frame the RSS Team has been collaborating with the University of Rome La Sapienza since 2017 to deliver a laboratory completely dedicated to Earth Observation data and more specifically to the Copernicus Sentinel missions.
Between April and May three different sessions have been organized on Sentinel-1, 2 and 3 respectively. For each module, a lecture was held on the specific mission, with a focus on the sensors, characteristics, orbit, data typologies and their main applications. Each lecture was followed by a hands-on session, where students practiced what they learnt during the lectures through the support of video tutorials. Under the expert guidance of RSS/Progressive Systems professionals, students exercised on applications such as:
- (S1) SAR Interferometry connected to the Amatrice Earthquake in Central Italy; ship detection in the Strait of Messina and flood detection in Mozambique;
- (S2) derivation of water and vegetation indexes, water masks extraction; derivation of maximum chlorophyll index in coastal water and supervised and unsupervised classifications;
- (S3) vegetation and wildfires monitoring during the 2019/2020 Australian fire season, and composite analysis of the Mediterranean Sea Surface using multiple variables.
The laboratory was held completely online throughout a combination of webinars and video tutorials in full compliance with COVID-19 safety measures.
“We are very happy to observe the increasing success of the MSc in Data Science and the related EODA Lab, confirming year after year. Our students particularly appreciate the innovative approach of the Master which combines a multi-disciplinary theoretical background with a laboratory activity. The hands-on approach and the collaboration with the ESA RSS service operated by Progressive Systems is one of the reasons for the growing participation from 5 to more than 40 students in just 5 years. The MSc in Data Science and the course on Earth Observation prepare our students to enter the world of work with the competences needed by the industry to manage big data and uncover important insights on how our planet works”
This is what commented Frank S. Marzano, Professor at the Department of Information Engineering and among the pioneers of the MSc in Data Science at the University of Rome La Sapienza.
The University of Rome La Sapienza confirmed the interest in holding the EODA Lab next year as well and is already planning to introduce an important new feature: an entire module on Sentinel-5p, to make the didactic offer even more complete.
For further information, you can visit the webpage of the course here.
