Remote sensing center, a subdivision of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, was inaugurated in 2001. The status of this center was changed to a department in May 2006 due to the wide range of activities performed in this center. This department is known as one of the most successful departments compared to other remote sensing departments in the country. Currently, the faculty members in this department run several national and international projects. Due to the wide scope of the fields of study in Remote Sensing and GIS, master and PhD dissertations represent a range of topics in various fields. It has also been an objective to investigate topics which are in line with the major goals and needs of the industry and related organizations. Accordingly, many research projects have been done in the department of Remote Sensing and GIS to meet the needs of the industry. The department has more than 100 graduate students, 93% of whom have made official progress in industry.

Also, the high number of national and international publications on various topics by the department members, largely in prestigious journals, has had an effective role in maintaining and improving the university's scientific research rank.

The Teaching and Research Focus

The teaching and research scope of the department of Remote Sensing and GIS embodies the following:

Spectroscopy, programming in remote sensing and GIS, advanced GIS, data base management, digital terrain models, satellite image processing, hyperspectral remote sensing, radar remote sensing, spatial analysis in GIS, remote sensing in minerals exploration, remote sensing water and environmental targets, remote sensing in environmental hazards, soft computation in geosciences information, intelligent GIS, image fusion, quantitative remote sensing, spatial data mining, uncertainty in remote sensing and GIS, thermal remote sensing, geological remote sensing, satellite oceanography, remote sensing, and GIS in urban studies.

Programs of the Department of Remote Sensing and GIS

Currently, the department of Remote Sensing and GIS of the Faculty of Earth Sciences offers the following programs:

• Master program in remote sensing and GIS applied to water management and soil resources
• Master program in geological remote sensing PhD program in remote sensing and GIS

Number of Students:

Currently, 22 master and 9 doctoral students are studying in different fields at the department of remote sensing and GIS.