A GIS project is required for all
students. Undergraduates can form project teams of 2-3 students but graduate
students should work alone. The project is intended to provide a deeper
understanding of a GIS application through experience. The project should
investigate a particular research problem using the GIS software packages that
we use in class. You should acquire spatial data and if necessary digitize the
data and the project should involve some types of spatial analysis. The
deliverable is a printed Powerpoint presentation that
you will present to the class. You should use the knowledge and skills you
acquired in the class discussion, books, and practical component of the course.
Every project must include the following sections: an Introduction, Methods,
Results, and Conclusions. Your methods section might be a detailed diagram
model with descriptions of each of the steps. A diagram model is an
interconnected flow chart describing spatial and attribute operations on single
or multiple layers.
There are two stages to the project (the dates
they are due are listed on the course schedule):
Project proposal: Submit a one page project proposal. It should include a project
title, a research question, a list of the spatial and
attribute databases you will use, and a conceptual description of the methods
you will use. Please make appointments with the instructor to discuss your
proposal if you have any questions.
Oral
presentation: The presentation should
describe data sets, the analyses you performed, and display the maps and
tabular output.
It is suggested that you use secondary GIS data
sources to do your project. While you are welcome to digitize (heads-up
or table) or do a GPS survey to create your own spatial data set, doing so is
very time-consuming and not the purpose of this project. Doing GIS
analyses is the purpose of this project. You can download GIS data layers
from the sites listed on the following spatial data web site.