Course Syllabus. Geospatial Data & Spatial Digital Technologies: Assessing Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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1 Course Syllabus Geospatial Data & Spatial Digital Technologies: Assessing Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Ecuadorian Amazon Co- Instructors Dr. Carlos F. Mena, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador Dr. Stephen J. Walsh, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA Dates/Locations March 10 April 4, 2014; On the Campus of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito & Community of Tena, Napo Province, Ecuador (Field Experience in the Ecuadorian Amazon Land Use/Land Cover Change) Course Overview The course is taught through an integration of theory and practice. We rely upon (1) lecture and discussion to convey theoretical rationales and to describe geospatial data, data handling approaches, and analytical techniques for information fusion, management, and analysis; (2) hands- on data processing to develop student skills in spatial digital technologies through lab experiences designed to map, monitor, and manage a diversity of multi- thematic and multi- scale information with a focus on assessing land use/land cover change at the farm and landscape levels in the Ecuadorian Amazon; and (3) field project in the Ecuadorian Amazon to collect social and ecological data on a selected study farm to calibrate and validate derived satellite image products, interpret acquired aerial photography, guide the production of field products developed within a GIS, develop skills in field methods for data collection campaigns, and examine the social and ecological processes of land use/land cover change through factors related to deforestation, reforestation, and agricultural extensification and intensification within the Ecuadorian Amazon as part of a general process of regional development. The course begins with an introductory presentation and discussion of geospatial data and spatial digital technologies through lecture and assigned readings. Power- point graphics have been developed to complement each lecture and discussion topic and they have been translated to Spanish for ease of understanding and content engagement. The readings and all power- point graphics are accessible through an on- line course management system available at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Part 1 of the course emphasizes the mapping and monitoring of the landscape through aircraft and satellite remote sensing; Part 2 is organized around geographic information systems and data integration and analysis; Part 3 is organized around the development of remote sensing and GIS products to support the field trip and set of activities

2 conducted on a selected farm nearby to the community of Tena, Napo Province, Ecuadorian Amazon; and Part 4 is organized around the fusion of geospatial data and analysis into dynamic simulation models and Agent Based Models to explore pattern- process relationships associated with land use/land cover change and the social and ecological drivers of change as well as alternative futures for the Ecuadorian Amazon. Geographic information systems (GIS) and the associated spatial digital technologies of remote sensing, data visualization, global positioning systems, spatial analysis, and statistical and spatial modeling have gained international prominence in disciplines and organizations that are engaged in integrative science, resource management, landscape characterization, and human- environment interactions. These technologies offer the opportunity to gain fresh insights into social and ecological systems through a diversity of mapping perspectives and geo- analytics that operate on fused, integrated, and disparate data. Geospatial digital technologies operate synergistically to create a model of reality that reflects the informational requirements of the project and the data visualization needs of the user. To achieve this duality of information and presentation, paradigms of map- making have shifted from the communication paradigm to the analytical paradigm. This shift is marked by a departure from the physical map as the final cartographic product to an approach in which geographic data are stored in a computerized database to provide multiple views of assembled and derived information to multiple users to support an array of applications. The power of an integrative spatial analytical system is it s interactivity, analytics, alternative visualizations of space and time, and enhanced understanding of social and ecological systems and their dynamics. Geographic Information System technology offers an analytical framework for data synthesis that combines a system capable of data capture, storage, management, retrieval, analysis, and display. From a functionality perspective, GIS techniques can examine spatial and non- spatial relationships through analytical tools and techniques that include attribute operations, overlay operations, neighborhood operations, and connectivity operations; represent an array of landscape perspectives through the integration of geographically registered spatial coverages; efficiently display such information through a variety of data visualization approaches for spatial and temporal pattern analysis; examine the co- occurrence of spatial and non- spatial data through database manipulations; display singular thematic coverages through cartographic and/or statistical approaches; and model the location and behavior of phenomena through interfaces to multivariate statistical models, causal models, and dynamic simulation models. Remote Sensing is a surveillance science that is concerned with the observation and/or measurement of objects and features without having the measuring device in direct contact with the entity of interest. Film and digital sensors borne in aircraft and satellites are the most common types of remote sensing devices. They are engineered to be sensitive to different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) (spectral resolution); map different sized objects and features through their spatial resolution; and assess landscape characteristics using a quantitative range of response intensities (radiometric resolution) for landscape characterization. Remote sensing systems also are capable of rendering views across time (temporal resolution), as a consequence of their historical perspectives and their orbital specifications that periodically returns the satellite over the same geographic location for change imaging. Because of the vantage point of Earth observation afforded by aircraft and satellites and the capability of sensors to characterize

3 components of our landscape, analyses of landscape patterns can be conducted for nearly any part of the globe. Course Schedule Date Topic Instructor Activity Assignment March 10 Geospatial Data & Technologies, Quiz Mena & Walsh Introduction & Overview March 12 Aerial Photography (Single Photo, Stereo Photo); Field Trip Planning & Logistics Walsh Features & Measurements/ Heights & Interpretation Friday, March 14 Satellite Digital Data & Processing Walsh Resolutions & Processing / Veg Indices, Enhancements & Classifications March 17 Geographic Data & Models Walsh Data Models & Data Tables March 19 Mapping with GPS Technology & Field Trip Planning Mena & Walsh Feature Representation & Graphics Friday, March 21 Satellite Image Processing & Field Trip Planning (product generation) Mena & Walsh Objectives & Products/ Logistics &Data Collection Field Forms & Field Trip Planning Saturday, March 22 Travel to Tena & Field Work Mena & Walsh Logistics & Data Collection Field Sunday, March 23 Return to Quito Mena & Walsh Logistics & Assessment Field March 24 Trip Assessment & Preliminary Group Reports Mena & Walsh Field Analysis & Meaning Field Tuesday, March 25 Agent Based Models Spatial Simulation Models & EXAM 1 Walsh NetLogo & Repast Models Galapagos & Amazon Projects

4 Friday, March 28 Dynamic Simulation Models Guest Lecture F. Pizzitutti NetLogo Model Demonstration & Discussion Saturday, March 29 Dynamic Simulation Models Mena Project of the President/ Geospatial Analysis Galapagos Examples/ Class Web Site March 31 GIS Hands- On Training Mena ARCGIS Tools & Techniques April 2 GIS Hands- On Training Mena ARCGIS Tools & Techniques Friday, April 4 Final Group Project Reports & Exam 2 Mena Final Group Reports Field Project & Trip Tena, Napo Province, Ecuadorian Amazon The field trip is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 22 & 23. We will take a bus from the main entrance of USFQ and travel to Tena. We will spend the night in a local hotel. The bus will depart at 7:15 am on Saturday morning and arrive in Tena at approximately 11:30 am. We will have lunch and proceed directly to the selected farm for study, so dress accordingly and bring any needed snacks, water, field notebooks, camera, and other needed field items. The farm is about 45 minutes outside of Tena. Our plan is to spend 5-6 hours on the farm examining the social and ecological drivers of land use/land cover change, mapped through satellite digital data and direct observation, before going to the hotel for the evening. We will depart Tena at approximately 10:00 am on Sunday, March 23 and return to the USFQ campus by early- mid afternoon. All arrangements have been made with the farmer to gain access to the property. Using satellite derived image products, field forms, acquired aerial photography, and a discussion of the site using Google Earth imagery and direct familiarity with the geographic setting and the farm, the class will be separated into 4 or 5 working groups. Field stations will be created on the farm to demonstrate key geospatial technologies for field assessment and measurement and to facilitate group use of the equipment to assess land use/land cover types and important landscape features in the field. Field forms will be used to record direct observations of current

5 land use/land cover types and to consolidate field measurements for subsequent analysis. Field photos may be useful, field sketches for documentation, and questions to ask the farmer during group discussions to examine the chronology of land use/land cover change on the farm and reasons for those changes. The general goals of the field project are to (1) examine the current pattern of land use/land cover on the selected farm, (2) create a land use/land cover change chronology through historical remotely- sensed data and discussions with the farmer using life course theory as the theoretical context that links land use changes to important family events to help with landscape reconstructions and chronologies by seeding farmer memories and thoughts, (3) examine a preliminary set of factors that are likely responsible for the current pattern of land use/land cover on the selected farm through direct observation, satellite imagery, GIS map data, and knowledge about the local and regional forces that may shape landscape patterns and change; and (4) each group will be responsible for developing an analysis and report on land use/land cover change and the associated forces and factors of change as well as the general approaches used in the field as part of the farm analysis. Preliminarily discussion by each group will be held in class on March 24 th as we perform a post- trip assessment. The final report will be due on April 4th, when the Final Exam will also be held with a focus on hands- on processing for product generation and analysis used in support of the field project, techniques used in the field, and the understanding of the drivers or contemporary, historical, and future patterns of land use/land cover as suggest through field work, use of geospatial data and spatial digital technologies, and dynamic modeling approaches and plans and aspirations of the farmer.