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INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION IN REMOTE SENSING AND GIS 
THE WISCONSIN EXPERIENCE 
Ralph W. Kiefer, Professor 
Civil and Environmental Engineering 
and Institute for Environmental Studies 
Thomas M. Lillesand, Professor 
Institute for Environmental Studies, Forestry, 
and Civil and Environmental Engineering 
University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Madison, WI 53706, USA 
ABSTRACT 
Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been involved with interdisciplinary education in 
remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) for more than 20 years. Remote sensing 
instruction is centered in the Environmental Monitoring Program, an interdisciplinary graduate program 
in remote sensing and geographic information systems administered by the Institute for Environmental 
Studies (IES). Remote sensing research is conducted both through individual departments and the 
Environmental Remote Sensing Center, an IES research center. GIS instruction and research are 
conducted in several departments and are coordinated by an ad-hoc faculty group representing eight 
academic departments and IES. UW-Madison faculty have implemented a wide variety of extension/out 
reach programs and technology transfer projects, and have been involved in formulating state and federal 
policy in regard to the use and impact of GIS technology. Instruction, research and extension/outreach 
activities in remote sensing and GIS are supported by various campus instructional and research 
laboratories and centers. 
KEY WORDS: remote sensing, geographic information systems, land information systems, education, 
instruction, research, environmental monitoring, interdisciplinary 
INTRODUCTION 
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, faculty and students from many disciplines participate in remote 
sensing and GIS instruction and research. Representative disciplines include agricultural economics, 
agronomy, anthropology, botany, civil and environmental engineering, computer sciences, conservation 
biology, electrical and computer engineering, engineering professional development, environmental 
studies, forestry, geography, geological engineering, geology and geophysics, horticulture, landscape 
architecture, land resources, law, meteorology, physics, plant pathology, soil science, statistics, urban and 
regional planning, water resources, and zoology. 
Instruction and research in remote sensing and GIS are supported by a broad range of facilities such as: 
the Cartographic Laboratory and Arthur H. Robinson Map Library, Environmental Remote Sensing 
Center, Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility, Spatial Data Acquisition and Analysis 
Laboratory, Computer Science Systems Laboratory, Center for Land Information Studies, Madison 
Academic Computing Center, Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office, and the Wisconsin Geological and 
Natural History Survey. These facilities are maintained by various administrative units on our campus. 
Much of the GIS activity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is in the area of land information 
systems (LIS). In 1984, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was designated as a North American 
"Center of Excellence" in land information studies by the Institute for Land Information and the Land 
Inlormation Assembly. Because of the close relationship between land information systems and 
geographic information systems, we often refer on campus to our "GIS/LIS" activities. In this paper, wc 
will simply use the term GIS; the inclusion of LIS is implied where appropriate.