Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Western Michigan University

The certificate program in geospatial applications of unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) provides post-baccalaureate students with the basic knowledge necessary to become an FAA-licensed small UAS remote pilot. This nine credit hour certificate program focuses on obtaining and analyzing airborne imagery to yield accurate two-dimensional maps of earth surface land cover and vegetation health, digital surface/terrain models, and three-dimensional models.Students who complete this certificate will be able to:Master the body of aviation-related knowledge needed to become an FAA-licensed remote pilot.Develop flight plans for acquiring imagery for earth surface mapping.Acquire ground control points for georeferencing and accuracy assessment.Use photogrammetric software to process overlapping images to create 2D orthophotomosaics and 3D point cloud models.

College of Arts and Sciences