How To Become A Remote Sensing Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a remote sensing scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Camellia Okpodu

Remote sensing scientists work for areas such as homeland security, urban planning, or natural resource management. They work on developing new sensor systems and apply them to analyze data and solve problems of various nature.

If you choose this career path, you can expect to perform varied, exciting, and engaging tasks on a daily basis, like analyzing geographical data from aircraft or satellites. You will process geographical imagery to create maps and devise effective ways to collect and present findings.

You will work as part of a team, discussing project goals and operating necessary equipment that allows the integration of geospatial data into various projects. You will need extensive education to be able to excel in this role. A bachelor's degree in computer science, geography, statistics, or a related area is an absolute minimum requirement, but a master's or a Ph.D. is often expected of candidates for this position.

What general advice would you give to a remote sensing scientist?

Camellia Okpodu

Adatation and fundamental knowledge of botanical terms will always be pivotal to the discipline; however new technologies and applications will move the bountiful the discipline. Bioinformatics, genomics; Machine learning, Remote Sensing and VR (both for instruction and field application) will be necessay skills. Also, Botanists will collaborate with experts from diverse fields (ecology, computer science, engineering) thus making effective communication and teamwork critical.skills of the future

ScoreRemote Sensing ScientistUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $85,891

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

3.2

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.12%

Asian 28.94%

Black or African American 2.98%

Hispanic or Latino 6.62%

Unknown 5.04%

White 56.30%

Gender

female 37.93%

male 62.07%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

3.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a remote sensing scientist

Explore remote sensing scientist education requirements

Most common remote sensing scientist degrees

Bachelor's

46.2 %

Master's

30.8 %

Doctorate

19.2 %

Start to develop specific remote sensing scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Remote Sensing	32.60%
Data Analysis	30.94%
LiDAR	11.60%
Algorithm Development	9.88%
GIS	5.21%

Research remote sensing scientist duties and responsibilities

Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Prepare and document GIS coverage and databases.
Devise associative memory for spectral and spatial sensor fusion successfully for Lidar and HSI data.
Provide GIS analysis of yield maps, soil sampling results, and scouting maps for establishment of management zones.

Apply for remote sensing scientist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a remote sensing scientist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams