Aeroecology: Exploring Biodiversity with Radar
Learn how aeroecology, a discipline that studies airborne life forms, has been revolutionised with the use of radar with this unique course. This course is designed to help scientists, researchers as well as ecology enthusiasts to develop skills in using radar to explore biodiversity. You will explore the origins and evolution of radar from a military technology to a powerful tool with multiple scientific applications, including aeroecology.
Monthly Subscription Starting at AED 99 + VAT
- Level Professional
- Duration 10 hours
- Course by University of Leeds
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Offered by
About
Learn how aeroecology, a discipline that studies airborne life forms, has been revolutionised with the use of radar with this unique course. This course is designed to help scientists, researchers as well as ecology enthusiasts to develop skills in using radar to explore biodiversity. You will explore the origins and evolution of radar from a military technology to a powerful tool with multiple scientific applications, including aeroecology. You will then be introduced to studying global biodiversity trends and learn how to evaluate traditional methods and emerging technologies used by scientists to monitor the natural world. You will then delve deeper to understand how radar science can be used to measure and monitor biodiversity and evaluate its advantages over existing methods of biodiversity measurement. Through real life case studies, you will learn how to interpret data visualisations and radar data output, how to quantify the biomass of species, and you will discover the taxonomic limits of the technology. By the end of the course, you will have explored how this new field of study can be used to transform biological and agricultural research as well as inform environmental regulation and policy.Modules
Course introduction
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3
Readings
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1
Discussion
1
Discussions
- Icebreaker
3
Readings
- Welcome to Aeroecology: Exploring Biodiversity with Radar
- About your course and tutor
- What is “aeroecology”?
Lesson 1 - Fundamentals of radar science
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3
Videos
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3
Readings
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2
Discussion
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1
Assignment
1
Assignment
- Check your understanding
2
Discussions
- Video discussion
- Exploring radar methods discussion
3
Videos
- The story of how a military technology produced surprising scientific applications
- How does radar work?
- What is the current state of the art in radar science?
3
Readings
- Lesson 1 overview
- Exploring radar methods
- Summary
Lesson 2 - Global biodiversity trends
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2
Videos
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3
Readings
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2
Discussion
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1
Assignment
1
Assignment
- Check your understanding
2
Discussions
- Find and follow a species
- Limits of existing biodiversity methods
2
Videos
- Investigating biodiversity trends
- Introduction to biodiversity methods
3
Readings
- Lesson 2 overview
- How does an eco-system collapse?
- Summary
Lesson 3 - Radar to the rescue?
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3
Videos
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2
Readings
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1
Assignment
1
Assignment
- Check your understanding
3
Videos
- How can radar measure and monitor biodiversity?
- What biodiversity can the radar visualise?
- What biodiversity can radar not visualise?
2
Readings
- Lesson 3 overview
- Summary
Lesson 4 - How many species are there? Or the “classification problem”
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3
Videos
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2
Readings
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1
Assignment
1
Assignment
- Check your understanding
3
Videos
- Why is diversity important?
- Introduction to the classification of “bioscatterers”
- Taxonomic limits of radar
2
Readings
- Lesson 4 overview
- Summary
Lesson 5 - How much biomass is there? Or the “quantification problem”
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2
Videos
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2
Readings
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1
Assignment
1
Assignment
- Check your understanding
2
Videos
- Why is abundance important?
- Introduction to the quantification of “bioscatterers”
2
Readings
- Lesson 5 overview
- Summary
Lesson 6 - Applications and the future
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2
Videos
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3
Readings
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1
Assignment
1
Assignment
- Check your understanding
2
Videos
- How might aeroecology transform biological and agricultural research?
- A critical reflection on aeroecology
3
Readings
- Lesson 6 overview
- How might aeroecology transform environmental regulation and policy?
- Summary
Course summary and assessment
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2
Readings
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1
Discussion
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1
PeerReview
1
Peer Review
- Assessment
1
Discussions
- Reflection on the week
2
Readings
- Course summary
- Future Steps
Auto Summary
Discover the groundbreaking field of aeroecology and its impact on biodiversity monitoring through radar technology. This professional-level course, led by experts on Coursera, delves into radar's evolution from military use to scientific applications, focusing on airborne life forms. Over 600 minutes, participants will learn to interpret radar data, evaluate biodiversity measurement methods, and apply these skills to environmental research and policy. Ideal for scientists, researchers, and ecology enthusiasts, with flexible subscription options.
Christopher Hassall