Using the tutorial and lessons

This page gives an overview of the main features of the Envisat Module tutorial and lessons, including the navigation features. Spending a little time on this at the start will help you to put the instructions and background information to full use, and is likely to save you time later on.

JavaScript pop-ups

The Envisat module is written in HTML with JavaScript pop-up windows for extra information. For the lessons to work properly you need to make sure JavaScript is enabled on your web browser. In some browsers it is possible to turn off JavaScript support; however, if you do this you will not be able to access the sidebar and other pop-up links that are part of the lessons.

Images and extras

Both the tutorial and the thematic lessons come complete will images, palettes, filters, formulae and anything else you will need to complete carry out the activities. Normally you will download these when you download the module (or a particular lesson). However, if you are uncertain whether you have all the files you need, you may check your file list against the List of module images and extras.

Module file structure

Provided you have followed the file structure of the download zip-files you should find that the module contains 9 directories - one for the Tutorial and one each for the eight lessons. Within each of these there are the following subdirectories or folders

Where to save your own work

During the lessons you will need to save your work regularly. As the images and other files are found in the *_data folder, Bilko will automatically try to save your files there. You may not want (or be able to) do this. In which case, you will need to set up a different directory where you can save your work, and remember to change to this directory whenever you want to save a file. To save time, it may be worth your while copying small files such as palettes and formulae to this directory in advance. This will save you having to switch back and forth all the time.

Navigation: Finding your way around the module

1. Main menu
The main menu is found immediately under the Unesco-Bilko Banner. It allows you to move to any of the pages in the Envisat module with only a couple of mouse-clicks, via either of the two content lists:

1. Module content: The content list for the whole module, or
2. Tutorial content: A more detailed content list for the introductory tutorial only

The main menu also contains a number of other links

1. Module images: A list of all the images used in the Envisat module, where to find them, and links to information about each image.
2. Module extras: Non-image files (palettes, filters, forumulae) needed to complete the tutorial and lessons.
3. References: A list of references and further reading; this includes paper references and Internet links (which, of course, will only work if you are on-line).
4. Authors: A list of authors who have contributed to the module

2. Side bar links
As you will have discovered the tutorial pages are divided vertically into two. To the left is a narrow sidebar with a number of useful links.

• The two lines of text immediately under the world map tell you where in the Module you are at present. They also act as links - the first to the start page of the tutorial (or lesson), the second to the start of the current section (see figure (5K)).
• The navigation arrows at the top and bottom of the side bar allow you to move back to the previous page or forward to the next, and skip to the bottom of the page (for instance to check an answer).
• This other links on the sidebar all all open in pop-up windows. This includes
  - an INDEX of Envisat module topics
  - a glossary of oceanographic and remote sensing terms
  - useful information on oceanographic and remote sensing topics,
  - example answers to the questions you are asked (bottom of page)
  - references and further reading ( first and last pages of a lesson only)

The example answers on the bottom of the side bar will allow you to check your own answers to the questions you will encounter. The answer pop-ups also contain a short explanation of how to arrive at the answer.