boundary="------------090608060908070603070709" ****************************************************************************** dorismail 27-Jan-2016 15:06:45 Message No 1005 ****************************************************************************** Author: Thomas Hobiger Subject: Reminder: MOOC on Earth observation starts Feb. 1 --------------090608060908070603070709 Dear colleagues, (apologies for cross-posting) MOOCs on Earth observation – “Sensing Planet Earth” --------------------------------------------------- Chalmers University of Technology is proud to announce the launch of the first of two massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the topic of Earth observations next Monday, i.e. Feb. 1, 2016. Both courses are at _introductory level_ and _f__ree of__ __cost_ (with an option for verified certificates). We will take you on a journey through different fields of Earth sciences, including the solid Earth, the atmosphere and the biosphere. Our colleagues will give you first-hand insights into why, where and how measurement techniques are applied, and they will explain to you how sensors in space, on aircrafts and on the ground work. You will be given examples about how to use data from various sensors in order to improve our understanding of our living planet. You will see that precision and accuracy don’t have the same meaning, although both statistical properties are important when building instruments that observe our environment or sense the Earth from high above. In addition, simple experiments will show you how easy it is to measure properties of our Earth by yourself, and you will see that, together with other course participants, you can act as one “sensor” that probes our planet on different places around the globe. On top of that, we are going to carry out interviews with world-renowned experts that explain why Earth observations are important and how those measurements help us to get a better understanding of our planet. As a kind of "spoiler" we are very happy to announce that *Prof. James Davis*, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA as well as *I**AG vice-president* *Prof. Zuheir Altamimi*, IGN, France will be the experts for the first and second week modules. If you are interested or want to sign up for the course, all you need to do is go to https://www.edx.org and create an user profile (use the "sign up" link on the top of the page). You will be mailed a confirmation request and after accepting this you are ready to sign up for edX courses. Please go to our course page https://www.edx.org/course/sensing-planet-earth-core-outer-space-chalmersx-chm003x and click "Enroll now". You will be asked how you want to take the course. Select "Audit the course" (lower part of the page) if you want to take the course for free. The other (paid) option "verified certificate" is for those who want to have an official certificate that confirms that one has passed the course. In the same way, you can also sign up for our other course, Sensing Planet Earth – Water and Ice, which starts on March 21st and can be found here https://www.edx.org/course/sensing-planet-earth-water-ice-chalmersx-chm004x We would be happy if you decide to sign up for any of these courses or help us spreading the word about this educational project in the field of Earth science. If you have questions, comments or can help us distributing this information, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you very much for your attention. Sincerely, Thomas Hobiger (on behalf of the course team) -- ****************************************************************** Thomas Hobiger, Dr. Associate Professor Department of Earth and Space Sciences Onsala Space Observatory Chalmers University of Technology ------------------------------------------------------------------ Observatorievägen 90, Råö SE-439 92 Onsala Sweden ------------------------------------------------------------------ email: thomas.hobiger@chalmers.se phone: ++46-31-772-5549 fax: ++46-31-772-5590