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On successful completion of this module, students should have competence in understanding current applications of downstream data (in the areas specified below), finding and using space data, processing data products to acquire further scientific knowledge or make statements about the natural and human-made environments (mostly Earth’s, but not exclusively), combining data from many sources in support of such processes, stating limitations of given datasets, defining basic requirements for data systems (current and future).

This is a short, intensive module, run over five weeks, with 6 hours of lectures on a specific topic, and delivered by a different lecturer, each week. The five topics are:

1) Positioning

Principles of positioning systems and practicalities. Applications (methods and uses): vehicles, ground transport in general, personal, navigation, metrology, asset management, security, defence services. Future developments and enhancements.

2) Solar-Terrestrial Relationships

Terrestrial applications, Earth magnetosphere and space weather, solar cycle and activity in general (e.g. CMEs), NOAA reports, end users (e.g. aircraft and spacecraft operators, power lines on the ground). Science of space weather and solar-terrestrial relationships, possible connection between solar activity and Earth’s climate.

3) Telecommunications

Communications and broadcast services and applications, an introduction; basic principles of space communications; data formatting and encryption; data security; orbits and coverage; communication bands, their application and allocation; telecom infrastructure in developing countries and rapid response for disaster relief.

4) Earth Observations (EO) and Global Change

Different purposes of EO, of which climate is one; weather monitoring and forecasting, defense, agriculture, natural resource exploitation, geographical science, disaster monitoring and predicting, urban and territory planning, climate and global change, importance of remote sensing.

5) Time Domain Analysis for Astronomy

Introduction to the concepts and methods in the time domain analysis of data relevant to astronomy, space science and engineering and associated research disciplinary areas. It focuses on 3 aspects: phenomenological description, data characterisation and information extraction, and practical modelling/predictions. Fourier and wavelet base analyses, periodogram, autoregression and associated methods, empirical mode decomposition and Hilbert-Huang transform, and Hurst exponent analyses.