International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B6. Istanbul 2004 
  
basic factors that determine the level and kind of training 
material and way of addressing the subject. In our case study; in 
the UAE UGS, we are dealing mainly with high school to 
diploma education levels, with low to medium command on 
English. It is quite important to have, wherever available, 
Arabic or local language speaking trainers to make it easy for 
trainers to follow-up and understand things simply and 
gradually. From the fact that the majority of our scientific 
resources & references are in English, trainees should have a 
reasonable command on English before proceeding to 
professional training. 
Employments in a fully operational satellite receiving station 
will range from computer specialists, who look after software & 
hardware problems, to communication & electronic engineers 
who can understand and operate radio frequency terminals and 
GIS, remote sensing and mapping specialists who can operate 
satellite data receiving, processing and analysis as well as 
production of various kinds of imagery and image map 
products. 
Since we are mainly interested in the basic training, which is 
aimed to enable the new employees build-up a reasonable level 
of knowledge and understanding basic concepts related to 
maps, images and their interpretation, a program was 
customized to suite such a requirement, taking into account the 
scientific and language levels of the trainees. 
This basic training program is executed over a period of two 
months with six hours daily lectures &/or practical. The UGS 
has a library with 100's of reference books, magazines and 
journals both in English & Arabic, which assess the training 
process and enhances knowledge of UGS staff. 
3. STAGES OF THE BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM 
3.1 Logical order 
Because most of the trainees are beginners to the remote 
sensing, image processing and maps, and even those who know 
some parts have been out of touch for along time, I tried to 
follow a simple & logical order in addressing the subjects 
(figure 1). 
3.2 Interviews and evaluation exam 
First an interview is made with each trainee separately to know 
his general background & experience and his English language 
capability. 
The interview will be usually followed by a written evaluation 
exam, that involves topics such as guessing measurements and 
dimensions of known objects, general information on remote 
sensing & maps and simple translation of few sentences. 
3.3 Program structure 
An overview on the program structure, its objectives and 
importance of their future role in the society as specialists in 
space reconnaissance and importance of imagery in both 
military and civilian aspects of life. 
3.4 Overview on science branches and measures 
From the fact that remote sensing, image processing and maps 
are interrelated with many scientific branches, the program 
involves logical understanding of basic relevant concepts in 
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geography, geology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, 
engineering and computers. 
In his Arabic book on remote sensing, Abdelhadi stressed on 
the diversity of subjects that are interrelated with remote 
sensing because it is a multidisciplinary field (Abdelhadi, 
2000). 
3.5 Earth surface constituents & terrain categories 
lt is important for trainees to know the general geography, 
geology and geomorphology of the earth and how the surface 
has evolved to the current shape. Here, there is a need to 
emphasize on the terrain categories, which are actually the 
natural constituents and man made features, these will 
consequently be the image elements that are collected from 
various platforms, and later on need to be interpreted. 
To correctly address this subject it is better to start gradually 
building an imagination ability and understanding of the 
composition of big and small things around us, starting from 
the fact that our globe is part of the Solar System, which is in 
turn part of the Milky Way Galaxy; a very tiny portion of the 
extremely huge Universe. 
Since the earth surface is the ultimate target of our imaging 
instruments, it is very important to understand its evolution, 
composition, dynamics & morphology. 
3.6 Introduction to maps and map projections 
Review and discussions the globe shape, distribution of 
continents and oceans, Longitude/Latitude subdivisions, time 
zones, drawing map of the world, map of the region, map of the 
country, types of maps, scale, reading of topographic maps at 
different scales; map elements, distances, orientation of 
features, areas & coordinates of polygons. 
3.7 Introduction to computers 
For those without computer knowledge, a few days course on 
how to use the computer will be enough to enable them utilize 
and understand the basic tools and functions required later for 
viewing, processing & interpretation of images as well as 
writing relevant reports. 
3.8 Translations and abbreviations 
In addition to the few available Arabic references, | made 
translation for the commonly used terms in remote sensing 
parallel with a comprehensive English and Arabic summary on 
remote sensing, image processing and interpretation. A list of 
commonly used abbreviations (NIMA website) in maps and 
images was compiled. 
3.9 Introduction to remote sensing, image processing & 
interpretation 
Include physical principles of remote sensing; EMS regions and 
interactions, image acquisition, digital image structure, 
resolution vs. scale, image histogram, image corrections and 
enhancement, image filtering, classification and annotation. 
The resolution vs. scale is an important issue (Belcon & others, 
1997) in both interpretation and map production. 
This is supported by practical exercises on image processing, 
interpretation and image map production using various kinds of 
images available at UGS archives; IKONOS, IRS & 
KOMPSAT and images from external sources.