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JOHN SCHOTT: IMAGING SCIENCE IS
A REALLY BIG FIELD, AND THEN
REMOTE SENSING IS A SUBSET OF
THAT. IT’S THE IMAGES OF THE
EARTH FROM AERIAL AND SATELLITE
SYSTEMS.
SO GOOGLE EARTH, YOU KNOW
EVERYBODY KNOWS REMOTE SENSING
NOW BECAUSE EVERYBODY’S SEEN
GOOGLE EARTH, THAT’S A PIECE OF
IT, BUT IT’S TYPICALLY MORE THE
QUANTITATIVE EXTRACTION OF
INFORMATION.
HOW CLEAR IS THE WATER?
HOW HEALTHY IS THE VEGETATION?
THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT
WE’RE MORE FOCUSED ON.
I STARTED HERE IN WHAT WAS THEN
CALLED THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT AND BY THE MID 80’S
WHEN THE CENTER WAS FORMED IT
WAS CLEAR THAT THERE WAS GOING
TO BE A SEA CHANGE IN HOW WE DID
IMAGING BUT ALSO THERE WAS A BIG
PUSH TO DO RESEARCH.
ED PRZYBYLOWICZ: HE WAS ONE OF
THE EARLY PEOPLE THAT RECOGNIZED
THAT AN ACTIVE PROGRAM IN
RESEARCH WAS A VITAL ELEMENT IN
HIS TEACHING.
IF A FACULTY MEMBER IS DOING
CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH AND HE HAS
STUDENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN
THAT RESEARCH, AND THEY THEN
AFTER GRADUATION TAKE A JOB IN
INDUSTRY, THAT’S A DIRECT
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.
SCHOTT: THE FACT THAT I’M
TRAINING REMOTE SENSORS WHO ARE
TRAINED IN IMAGING MEANS THAT
THEY’RE TRAINED IN OPTICS,
THEY’RE TRAINED IN LINEAR
SYSTEMS, THE MATHEMATICS OF
IMAGES AND ALL I HAVE TO DO IS
SORT OF PUT THE FROSTING ON THE
CAKE AND THEY END UP BEING WORLD
CLASS REMOTE SENSORS.
PRZYBYLOWICZ: HE WORKS VERY
EFFECTIVELY WITH STUDENTS
BECAUSE HE IS VIEWED BY THEM AS
THEIR MENTOR, HE’S NOT VIEWED AS
A BOSS.
AND I THINK JOHN WORKS THE SAME
WAY ACROSS COLLABORATIVE LINES
WITH INDUSTRY.
SCHOTT: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
WE’VE DONE HERE, AND EVERYTHING
I’VE DONE IS A ‘WE’VE DONE’, BUT
IT’S A SIMULATION MODELING TOOL
CALLED DIRSIG AND WHAT THAT
MODEL DOES IS IT LETS YOU SEE
THE WORLD AS A NEW SENSOR WOULD
SEE IT LONG BEFORE YOU BUILD THE
SENSOR, AND LONG BEFORE WE
SHOULD START BENDING TIN AND
BUILDING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF
SYSTEMS AND SO THIS TOOL IS A
TOOL THAT WAS CONCEIVED OF HERE
AT RIT AND BUILT HERE AT RIT AND
IS NOW USED BY AEROSPACE
COMPANIES AND THE GOVERNMENT ALL
OVER THE COUNTRY TO TRY AND
ADDRESS THESE PROBLEMS.
LANDSAT IS THE LONGEST
CONTINUOUSLY RUNNING PROGRAM TO
LOOK AT THE EARTH FROM SPACE.
THE VALUE OF LANDSAT IS NOT JUST
THE INDIVIDUAL SCALES BUT THIS
TIME HISTORY SO WE’VE NOW GOT 40
PLUS YEARS OF IMAGES THAT WE CAN
NOT ONLY LOOK AT AS PICTURES,
BUT WE CAN QUANTIFY SO THE
FORESTERS GOT ALL EXCITED.
THEY COULD SEE AND MAP ALL KINDS
OF NEAT NEW THINGS IN THE
FORESTS, THE AGRICULTURAL
COMMUNITY COULD SEE ALL SORTS OF
THINGS IN TERMS OF WHAT WAS
GROWING WHERE, HOW MUCH WAS
GROWING, THE GEOLOGISTS COULD
SEE ALL SORTS OF LAND FORMS AND
MAP LAND FORMS THEY HAD NEVER
THOUGHT OF.
PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE GLACIERS
COULD SEE THINGS THAT THEY HAD
NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO SEE
BEFORE.
THE WATER GUYS, I’M A WATER GUY,
THE WATER PEOPLE COULD SEE ALL
SORTS OF THINGS HAPPENING IN THE
WATER THAT WE HAD NEVER BEEN
ABLE TO SEE AT THESE KINDS OF
SCALES.
I WANT TO BUILD THE TOOLS FOR
ALL THESE OTHER GUYS TO USE AND
SO LANDSAT GAVE US THIS HUGE
CHALLENGE OF HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
NEW SPEAKER: THREE, TWO, ONE,
ZERO.
WE HAVE IGNITION, AND LIFTOFF OF
THE ATLAS FIVE ROCKET ON THE
LANDSAT DATA CONTINUITY MISSION.
SCHOTT: LANDSAT EIGHT WAS
LAUNCHED IN FEBRUARY OF '13, IT
WAS ACTUALLY A SPECTACULAR
SIGHT, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL: SUNNY,
CLEAR, BLUE SKIES IN THE
BACKGROUND AND IT USES A NEW
TECHNOLOGY.
IT SCANS THE EARTH LIKE YOU’RE
SWEEPING UP DATA WITH A PUSH
BROOM. YOU PUSH THESE BIG LINES
OF SENSORS AS THE SATELLITE
MOVES DOWN THE FACE OF THE
EARTH.
WHAT’S EXCITING ABOUT THIS NEW
TECHNOLOGY IS THAT THESE NEW
INSTRUMENTS WILL LET US BE ABLE
TO DECIPHER MUCH MORE SUBTLE
VARIATIONS IN THE WORLD IN
GENERAL, FOR MY PURPOSES, IN THE
WATER IN PARTICULAR.
THE ABILITY TO WORK WITH
STUDENTS LETS YOU DO FAR MORE
THAN YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN.
THEY LOOK AT PROBLEMS
DIFFERENTLY, THEY ATTACK
PROBLEMS DIFFERENTLY.
YOU GET THEM STARTED AND THEN
NUDGE THEM A LITTLE BIT AND THEN
YOU GRAB THEIR COATTAILS AND LET
THEM TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE.
PRZYBYLOWICZ: HE’S LIKE THE
DIRECTOR OF AN ORCHESTRA, HE
RECOGNIZES WHAT THE FLUTE
SECTION HAS GOT TO DO, HE
RECOGNIZES WHAT THE VIOLINS HAVE
TO DO AND HE’S ABLE TO BRING
THOSE TOGETHER IN A
COLLABORATIVE CONTEXT AND YET
PROVIDE THE LEADERSHIP FOR THAT.
SCHOTT: I LIKE SOLVING PROBLEMS,
IT’S REALLY THAT SIMPLE.
TRYING TO SOLVE A PROBLEM FOR
SOMEBODY, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE DOESN’T
KNOW IS JUST FUN.