GEOG 271Earth from Space Using Remote Sensing
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Environment
Not in the current Undergraduate Calendar. Shown as it appeared in 2025–26.
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Remote sensing of the Earth's systems (atmosphere, land, and oceans) is introduced. The course covers the principles, physics, sensor technology, processing, and applications of remote sensing in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
Reviewed on UW Flow
56% liked it34% easy76% useful
From 59 ratings and 17 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
This course is the worst course I have taken yet. The labs have no instructions and the very little information they do give you is useless. You also have to physically walk to the Galileo lab to complete them because you can't get the software on your laptop. If I ever hear the words infrared or vegetation ever again I am going to drop out. This is actually geog 281's evil twin. If you love yourself do not take this course please I am begging you.
Oct 2025 · didn’t like it · 5 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
This was an interesting and useful course that covers the basics of remote sensing. It was on the more difficult side, especially since the professor was unclear and unengaging. That said the TA's were great and really helped with the labs. Overall would recommend, but know that it is a relatively demanding course.
Mar 2022 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
50% lab, 20% module quizzes (online), 30% final. Course was taught by Prof Justin Murfitt, nice dude that is willing to help, accommodate and wants you to succeed. As long as u go to class and ask questions during office hours, u should get an easy 80. Would’ve been a bird course if it wasn’t for the lengthy labs. Experience may vary depending on ur physics/coding background and prof.
Jan 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
If you have a shit prof, prepare to cram for the final exam. Labs are unusually hard for no reason without clear instruction. Course has potential to be interesting and engaging but lacks effort from professors.
Mar 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Good course overall. Prof was obviously new to teaching but was decently clear and had a good understanding of the content, no problem with answering questions. Lectures themselves were not really necessary to attend, as all the notes were posted. I went to every lecture and the final wasn't too bad, with some choice in the bigger questions. There were some online quizzes worth a bit of your grade, which weren't particularly difficult. Labs were decent, pretty straightforward instructions paired with catalyst focus (I think?). However, you had to do them in-lab and could not complete them asynchronously. The marking of these labs was questionable though. The final got heavily curved along…
Jan 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
20 posts and comments in 16 threads mention GEOG 271, February 2012 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2024
Courses related to LiDAR or Photogrammetry? 7 points, 5 comments
“Are there courses related to LiDAR, SLAM, or Photogrammetry? Interested in knowing but what I know so far is prob ECE 495, MTE 544, STAT 443 (Kalman Filtering?), have no clue for Photogrammetry”
u/Reasonable_Ear3286: “GEOG271/371 probably.”
u/WestonSpec: “… GEOG 271 (Earth from Space Using Remote Sensing) and GEOG 371 (Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques) GEOG 310 (Geodesy and Surveying) covers land based surveying and navigation satellite systems. …”
u/WestonSpec: “GEOG 271/371 and 310 are more application based, so probably not what you're looking for then. …”
Fall 2023
which course is the most useful/useless of ur major? 24 points, 44 comments
u/Desperate_Reading_69: “Every PD course and also GEOG 271 (that was horrible don’t take it)”
Winter 2023
Final term before graduation, various GEOG textbooks available 2 points, 6 comments
u/hyenagames: “I am in Geomatics, so I kind of pilled up some of my textbooks I am willing to sell. Some of them include GEOG 101/102/201/202. And the Data sense courses, like GEOG 186/187/271/286”
u/Secure-Lake5784: “Shit I could use them bro”
u/Secure-Lake5784: “Probably geog 102, 271”
Fall 2022
geog 271 2 points, 0 comments
u/birdie1113: “anyone taken geog 271 in previous years? how did you find the exam?”
Fall 2021
To those who took/are taking GEOG 271, what is the lab format? 2 points, 4 comments
u/Poseidon018: “Is it in-person with tutorial to a software; or The tutorial videos are online, where we can do the lab anytime, and the scheduled lab are just for q and a ???”
Spring 2020
Rating your Winter 2020 courses 2 points, 7 comments
“The Winter 2020 semester was disrupted in so many ways -- one week of cancelled lectures, the transition to online lectures, revised grading schemes, final assessments. …”
u/edengamer22: “… I took Geog 271 Remote Sensing and its a good skill to have, but not my favorite course as the last few labs were cancelled”
Fall 2019
Opinions on Geography Courses?(Geog 209, 271 and 309) 1 point, 0 comments
Winter 2019
What is the TLDR of the course you’re currently studying for? 31 points, 33 comments
“I'll start TL;DR of KIN 427 - Low Back Disorders: Sitting for too long is not good for you. Standing for too long is not good for you. Therefore do both. Also don’t lift stuff with your back flexed.”
u/NoseBlind2: “Geog 271 - all surfaces have different emissivities of different frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum.”
Spring 2017
I want to hear from Environment students 13 points, 15 comments
“I don't know how many students from the faculty of environment are active here but I'm in GEM and absolutely loving it so far (have to network and work hard to get the best out of my non-STEM program …”
u/asmodeiusf43: “I'm in CS but I've taken GEOG 271, 371, and 471. They were honestly some of the most enjoyable and fun courses I've taken at Waterloo. I had Richard Kelly for both 371 and 471, who is an amazing lecturer.”
Fall 2016
Do geomatics peoole get a job? 7 points, 26 comments
“I heard their coop rate is pretty high. What about after graduation? Still good? FYI I'm from GEM.”
u/ghostofstuff: “Serious answer here. I'm entering my first coop this next term and many of my other friends in geomatics got jobs too. …”
u/ghostofstuff: “… After that there are a few courses that take a bit of time and are some what difficult such as GEOG 387/310/316/318/271 but are very useful.”
What courses are you taking next term? 10 points, 43 comments
“If you didn't pre-enroll, what courses do you plan on taking?”
u/Yuv8Lampard: “CS 116 | GEOG 102 | GEOG 271 | GEOG 281 | ENVS 278 any advice?”
Spring 2016
[Serious] List of Employers to Avoid 34 points, 98 comments
“Please feel free to comment companies you are not going to apply to. Me: IBM (Friend had a phone interview with them, their HR had the wrong resume and the interviewers were all confused. …”
u/nuzlockerom120: “Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. Lovely people, nothing to do at the job. Wont acquire new skills for next coop round, and you now realise that your dollars from taxes pay people like you.”
u/IdleATM: “… Learned more about remote sensing from there over geog271 lol. …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2025–26The archived entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them
Calendar versions
Undergraduate Calendar
- 2020–21
- 2021–22
- 2024–25
- 2025–26 requisites changed (shown here)
- 2019–20 and earlier on ucalendar