Course Description

This course will provide a practical, hands-on approach to spatial database design and spatial data analysis with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as applied to the natural sciences. Background material in spatial statistics and GIS design issues will be worked in as we go. The platform used will be ArcMap 10.X by ESRI, and Microsoft Excel, but the techniques developed will be applicable to other software. We will also explore issues in Open Source software, such as Quantum GIS, and Open Data. All lab computers will have all software available, and students are free to do assignments in any software package they desire.

The project-based nature of the course will encourage graduate students to bring in real data that they are working on, and leave the course with significant progress on their project. Undergrads will work in groups of 2 to 4 on predefined projects available from the instructor, or your own interests. Grades will be based upon two quizzes, one midterm, the final project, 4 assignments, and a literature review paper (grad students only!).

This is a fast-paced course, and I leave out a lot of historical material, except to explain some goofy file format, naming convention, etc; or to build a core understanding of the material. I also do not cover Network Analysis, though if a student has a need for this (for stream network, fish migration, etc) we can possibly pursue this via a project. By leaving out these 2 topics we have time to cover more advanced material in analysis, statistics and modeling. By the time you finish this class you will be "GIS-Dangerous"!

There will be two 1 hour lectures scheduled in the GIS lab in the computer lab, an appropriate lab assignment will be handed out during the first part of the week. Labs are 2 hours twice per week, devoted to hands on instruction and working on that week’s assignment. Additional lab access is available beyond the scheduled class times. There are many other labs on campus with the necessary software. If you want to run the ArcMap software at home, you can buy book with a 90 day working copy, or use the code I will provide for a free one year demo on one computer.

Prerequiste: By its nature, GIS is a computer intensive endeavor. You should be comfortable with general operating system concepts like file-types, directory structures and network resources. Those with less background will still be able to succeed, but they will find themselves working harder than their more computer-proficient peers. Over the last 15 years of observing student performance in this course, prior computer experience is more important than prior GIS experience...

Resources

Texts:

Optional - these are a few of the discipline specific books that may be of interest to you

1) Lyon, JG, McCarthy, J. (Eds), 1995. Wetland and Environmental Applications of GIS. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 373 pp.

2) Clarke, KC, Parks, BO, Crane, MP, 2002. Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modeling. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 306 pp.

3) Aldenderfer, M., Maschner, H., (Eds), 1996. Anthropology, Space, and Geographic Information Systems. Oxford University Press, 308 pp.

 

4 assignments @ 15 to 20 points each = 60%

Two quizes = 15%

Midterm = 15%

Review Paper (grad students only) = 10%