Principles and Methods of GIS » Schedule

Week 10 – 11/24/09

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:39:51 +0000

Today we will discuss the final project in depth. We will also explore the potential for GIS to incorporate non-digital spatial data, in the lab exercise we will use GIS to reconstruct the pre-settlement landscape of Manhattan.

Exercise: Data

Week 8 – 11/3/09

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:48:23 +0000

This week we will discuss ways to quantitatively and visually summarize geographic patterns. We introduce the the concept of a “neighborhood” (spatial weights matrix), spatial autocorrelation, and local statistics. We briefly explore the use of Geoda and the spatial statistics toolbox in ArcGIS.

Lecture: Spatial Relationships

Week 7 – 10/27/09

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:51:33 +0000

This week we will discuss map algebra and vector overlay operations.

Data: Data

Lecture: Flash, Powerpoint

Assignment (due 11/10):

I know I said we were done with the Price book but I have to go out of town and as a result we will not have class next week (11/3). Please complete the following assignments (use the class time if you’d like). It shouldn’t take more than 3 hours given that we’ve reviewed some of these topics in class already:
1. Read Chapter 7 (geoprocessing), complete questions 1-7 and 9 on page 279.
2. Read Chapter 8 (rasters), complete questions 1-10 on page 315.
The literature review and preliminary maps for the final project will be pushed back, new due date for them 11/10. I will provide more detailed directions in class.

Week 6 – 10/20/09

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:12:27 +0000

This week we will discuss the concept of scale. Scale is an core geographic concept and can have an important impact on how we understand social and environmental problems through a GIS.

Data: Exercise on Scale, Exercise on the MAUP

Lecture: Lecture notes are available to download here (powerpoint, flash).

Reading:

Price, M. Chapter 6 is recommended (not required) reading. The chapter covers spatial joins, a topic that we review in class.

Assignment:

List of data sources and data gaps for your final project. This list should be annotated and have the following structure:
- The first few sentences should be a brief review of your project.
- The next few sentences should provide an overview of the data you have and are missing.
- A list of the data you have. Each list entry should provide the title and source of the data set, if its something you created that is fine, no need to make up a title. If you have identified a data source but to not yet have it please include it in the list. I may be able to help you get it…
- If you feel like there are holes, parts of your project for which you cannot identify a specific data source please note these. Be as specific as a possible, “I would like data to measure the acidification of lakes in the Adirondacks but…”

Please note: Your grade on this assignment counts toward your overall final project grade.

Week 5 – 10/13/09

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:29:43 +0000

This week we will:

Review cartography
- An answer to last week’s in class exercise.
Discuss the concept of cardinality introduced in the homework
Talk about the history and future of the US decennial census.
Explore the census website and download data.

Lecture: Review of Cartographic Concepts, The US Decennial Census History and Future

Reading (due 10/20):

Mastering ArcGIS Chapter 5 (pages 191-211)

Assignment (due 10/20):

Complete challenge question on page 213.
Final project proposal – A one page description of your proposed project. We will discuss these in class so be prepared to spend 2-3 minutes presenting your idea.

Week 4 – 10/6/09

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:30:34 +0000

This week we will critique your homework, discuss your final projects, review the basic principles of cartography, and we’ll have a map design competition. Its going to be a busy evening!

Lecture: Learning by Looking: A Cartographic Laundry List.

Reading (due 10/13):

Mastering ArcGIS Chapter 4 (pages 153-177)

Assignment (due 10/13):

Complete questions 1-7 on page 177.

Lecture: Download slides here

Week 3 – 9/29/09

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:09:34 +0000

This week we’ll learn about map projections and coordinate systems, we’ll review the material from last week, and we will visit the library to get an overview of sources of geographic data.

Lecture: Projections and Coordinate Systems

Reading:

Mastering ArcGIS Chapter 2 pages 63-75.

Assignment:

Complete the Chapter 2 Teaching Tutorial (pages 77-94)
Complete questions 1-10 on pages 93-94.
Your answers to questions 2 and 4-10 should be jpeg files.
- Follow these instructions to create jpeg files from an ArcMap data frame.
- E-mail me these files by Monday at 5pm.
Submit process diagrams for all questions (you do not have to submit the answers for Q.1 and Q.3 but you do have to submit process diagrams for those questions.

I know this is a lot of work. This is the biggest homework assignment of the semester. We’ll review the answers and critique each others work in class on October 6th.

Lecture: You can view the slides from the lecture below, download the powerpoint slides, or download a flash version you can view in your browser.

Week 2 – 9/22/09

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:03:15 +0000

We’ll spend some time discussing the Monmonier article. We’ll continue the previous lecture with a discussion about data modeling. There will be an exercise in class on ways to query spatial and non-spatial data (using SQL).

Lecture: The structure of Spatial and non-spatial data.

Reading:

Mastering ArcGIS Chapter 1 pages 17-24 (stop at the About ArcGIS section) and pages 27-32

Assignment:

Review pages 35-50 of Mastering ArcGIS.
Complete questions 1-9 on page 51.
Submit answers and process sketches

Data: Brown Registrar Database (it’s a pretend version, not the real thing)

Lecture: You can view the slides from the lecture below or download the powerpoint slides or a download a flash version you can view in your browser.

Week 1 – 9/15/09

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:30:47 +0000

The goal of the first week to get you acquainted with the class – we’ll discuss the logistics of the course. There will be a lecture that provides a conceptual overview of the field and introduces the material we’ll cover.

Reading Assignment :

Monmonier, M. “Siting, Cartographic Power, and Public Access” in Drawing the Line (1995) available through OCRA.
Price, M. Introduction pages 1-5.

Lecture: You can view the slides from the lecture below or download the powerpoint slides or a download a flash version you can view in your browser