Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object and thus in contrast to on-site observation the Earth. Remote sensing is used in numerous fields, including geography, land surveying and most Earth science disciplines. In current usage, the term "remote sensing" refers to the use of satellite- or aircraft-based sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth, including on the surface and in the atmosphere and oceans, based on propagated signals, it may be split into "passive" remote sensing. Passive sensors gather radiation, emitted or reflected by the object or surrounding areas. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive sensors. Examples of passive remote sensors include film photography, charge-coupled devices, radiometers. Active collection, on the other hand, emits energy in order to scan objects and areas whereupon a sensor detects and measures the radiation, reflected or backscattered from the target.

RADAR and LiDAR are examples of active remote sensing where the time delay between emission and return is measured, establishing the location and direction of an object. Remote sensing makes it possible to collect data of inaccessible areas. Remote sensing applications include monitoring deforestation in areas such as the Amazon Basin, glacial features in Arctic and Antarctic regions, depth sounding of coastal and ocean depths. Military collection during the Cold War made use of stand-off collection of data about dangerous border areas. Remote sensing replaces costly and slow data collection on the ground, ensuring in the process that areas or objects are not disturbed. Orbital platforms collect and transmit data from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, which in conjunction with larger scale aerial or ground-based sensing and analysis, provides researchers with enough information to monitor trends such as El Niño and other natural long and short term phenomena. Other uses include different areas of the earth sciences such as natural resource management, agricultural fields such as land usage and conservation, national security and overhead, ground-based and stand-off collection on border areas.

The basis for multispectral collection and analysis is that of examined areas or objects that reflect or emit radiation that stand out from surrounding areas. For a summary of major remote sensing satellite systems see the overview table. Conventional radar is associated with aerial traffic control, early warning, certain large scale meteorological data. Doppler radar is used by local law enforcements’ monitoring of speed limits and in enhanced meteorological collection such as wind speed and direction within weather systems in addition to precipitation location and intensity. Other types of active collection includes plasmas in the ionosphere. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar is used to produce precise digital elevation models of large scale terrain. Laser and radar altimeters on satellites have provided a wide range of data. By measuring the bulges of water caused by gravity, they map features on the seafloor to a resolution of a mile or so. By measuring the height and wavelength of ocean waves, the altimeters measure wind speeds and direction, surface ocean currents and directions.

Ultrasound and radar tide gauges measure sea level and wave direction in coastal and offshore tide gauges. Light detection and ranging is well known in examples of weapon ranging, laser illuminated homing of projectiles. LIDAR is used to detect and measure the concentration of various chemicals in the atmosphere, while airborne LIDAR can be used to measure heights of objects and features on the ground more than with radar technology. Vegetation remote sensing is a principal application of LIDAR. Radiometers and photometers are the most common instrument in use, collecting reflected and emitted radiation in a wide range of frequencies; the most common are visible and infrared sensors, followed by microwave, gamma ray and ultraviolet. They may be used to detect the emission spectra of various chemicals, providing data on chemical concentrations in the atmosphere. Radiometers are used at night, because artificial light emissions are a key signature of human activity. Applications include remote sensing of population, GDP, damage to infrastructure from war or disasters.

Spectropolarimetric Imaging has been reported to be useful for target tracking purposes by researchers at the U. S. Army Research Laboratory, they determined that manmade items possess polarimetric signatures that are not found in natural objects. These conclusions were drawn from the imaging of military trucks, like the Humvee, trailers with their acousto-optic tunable filter dual hyperspectral and spectropolarimetric VNIR Spectropolarimetric Imager. Stereographic pairs of aerial photographs have been used to make topographic maps by imagery and terrain analysts in trafficability and highway departments for potential routes, in addition to modelling terrestrial habitat features. Simultaneous multi-spectral platforms such as Landsat have been in use since the 1970s; these thematic mappers take images in multiple wavelengths of electro-magnetic radiation and are us

The 1978 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1978 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its thirty-second year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Seven regions held a four team, double-elimination tournament while one region included six teams, resulting in 34 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, in some cases, after a conference tournament; the thirty-second tournament's champion was Southern California, coached by Rod Dedeaux. The Most Outstanding Player was Rod Boxberger of Southern California; the opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight regional sites across the country, seven consisting of four teams and one of six teams. The winners of each District advanced to the College World Series.

Bold indicates winner. The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team. Arizona State: Jamie Allen, Chris Bando, Hubie Brooks, Bob Horner, Dave Hudgens Baylor: Andy Beene, Jaime Cocanower, Fritzie Connally, Jon Perlman Miami: Tony Brewer Michigan: Steve Howe, Rick Leach North Carolina: Dwight Lowry, Mike Fox Oral Roberts: George Bjorkman, Ron Meridith Southern California: Bill Bordley, Dave Engle, Dave Hostetler, Jeff Schattinger, Bob Skube, Chris Smith, Tim Tolman, Dave Van Gorder St. John's: Chris Bando appears in his fourth College World Series

Margaret Andrews Alcorn was an interior decorator and business owner in Wellington, New Zealand. Alcorn was born in Hokitika on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island in 1868 to Samuel Wesley and Jane Alcorn. Samuel and Jane had emigrated to Dunedin from Ireland, married there in 1865, moved to the West Coast, she had one older sibling and six younger siblings: Ethel, Winifred, John and Kathleen. Samuel was a draper in Hokitika but in 1874 the family moved to Wellington. Samuel bought property in the city on Lambton Quay opposite the department store Kirkcaldie & Stains, he opened a draper shop downstairs and the family lived upstairs. The drapery business was successful, the Alcorn children enjoyed a prosperous household with a governess and private schools; this life changed however, in 1877 when a fire in the shop destroyed the business and killed a younger daughter of the family, aged four. The family moved to Ashburton and the children attended school there. Margaret became a dressmaker after finishing her schooling.

In 1895 some of the Alcorn family moved back to Wellington. Margaret started studying art and design at the Wellington Technical School, became the librarian there. In 1902 she won a class prize in design, in 1903 she won the South Kensington National Book Prize in an art competition run from London. Alcorn's winning entry was of stencilling on fabric, a skill taught by Maud Kimbell, who became a life-long friend of Margaret's. In 1906, Alcorn and her sister Mary opened a shop in the new Kennedy Building on Lambton Quay, Wellington called "Liberty's Wellington", specialising in art furniture and furnishings, started selling goods they imported themselves from Liberty department store in London; the sisters offered professional advice and design ideas for their customers' homes. Margaret had a long involvement with the business of Arthur Riley, the principal of the Wellington Technical College when she had studied there, whose premises were in the Kennedy Building. Margaret was Riley's company secretary, accountant and a company director.

Riley's importing business is still in operation: Arthur D. Co. Ltd.. In the early 1920s the Alcorns' shop expanded into larger premises further along Lambton Quay, taking over Thomas Pringle's embroidery shop and business. At this time the Alcorns hired a local artist and embroiderer, Marjory Mills, to design embroidery patterns for their shop. After Mary died in 1928, Margaret managed the shop alone, including opening a second shop in Burlington Arcade; the shops struggled to survive during the Great Depression and the business went into liquidation in 1934. Although Margaret did not need to clear the business's debts, she took in boarders until they were paid. Margaret died at her home in Oriental Bay in 1967 and is buried in a family plot at the Bolton Street Cemetery. Image of a pewter jug purchased at "Liberty's Wellington"