Geographic Information Systems Geography 491 Dr. Stephen J. Walsh Department of Geography, UNC-CH Fall, 2007 Monday 3:30-6:00 pm Saunders Hall Room 220 Introduction Organizations that have a planning, research, management, operational and/or regulatory responsibility at the local, county, state, or federal level are increasingly turning towards Geographic Information System (GIS) technology as an approach to data integration, synthesis, and modeling. Lack of spatially trained and sophisticated GIS specialists fluent in the spatial language and concepts of GIS are adversely impacting upon the level and effectiveness of GIS use by organizations, researchers, and decision-makers. Too many users are permitting their GIS software to drive their spatial analyses without sufficiently appreciating and incorporating spatial considerations that represent a blending of spatial, natural, engineering, and computer sciences combined to mold and shape the analyses and interpret the results. Geographic information systems (GIS) and the associated spatial digital technologies of remote sensing, data visualization, global positioning systems, spatial analysis, and quantitative modeling are among those important spatial technologies that have gain prominence in geography and are emerging into associated social and biophysical sciences. They offer the opportunity to gain fresh insights into social and biophysical systems through, for example, the spatial, temporal, spectral, and radiometric resolutions of remote sensing systems and through the analytical and data integration capability of GIS. GIS and remote sensing technologies can be linked together into a synergistic system that is particularly well suited to the examination of landscape conditions through the interrelationships of scale, pattern, and process; a paradigm that has gained prominence in the fields of biogeography and landscape ecology and currently being applied in studies involving population-environment interactions. In this course, GIS technology is the methodological focus, but other associated technologies will be integrated where appropriate through analysis and discussion to characterize landscape features. 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
2 connectivity operations; can represent an array of landscape perspectives through the integration of geographically registered spatial coverages; can efficiently display such information through a variety of data visualization approaches for spatial and temporal pattern analysis; can examine the co-occurrence of spatial and non-spatial data through database manipulations; can display singular thematic coverages or composited coverages through cartographic and/or statistical approaches; and can model the location and behavior of phenomena through interfaces to multivariate models, causal models, and pattern indices. GIS and the other spatial 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, in which base information has been transformed and symbology applied for graphical display, to an approach in which raw geographic data are stored in a computerized database to provide multiple views of the information to multiple users and where the physical map is but only one form of visualizing spatial pattern, distribution, and association. The power of the GIS is based on its interactivity, integration, map customization, and alternative visualizations offered to the analyst. Objectives Students will become familiar with the spatial theory, analytical functions, and software capabilities associated with the use of GIS related to spatial and thematic maintenance functions, classification and measurement functions, neighborhood functions, overlay functions, connectivity functions, and modeling functions that can be applied to single maps, map pairs, or multiple maps. Maintenance functions are used to edit and query thematic or attribute data, and to register, transform, rectify, and edit spatial elements of features. Classification and measurement functions involve the retrieval of spatial and thematic data for the modification or creation of attribute information and the calculation of distance and associated spatial measurements respectively. Overlay functions involve arithmetic and logical operations that relate map layers through mathematical operators (e.g. addition and subtraction) and by Boolean operators (e.g. logical unions and intersections). Neighborhood functions characterize the area surrounding a specified location. Connectivity functions accumulate values over directional traverses using contiguity measures (characteristics of spatial units that are connected), proximity measures (distances between features), and network measures (prediction of network loadings, route optimization, and resource location/allocation). Modeling functions involve cartographic approaches of combining maps together in a logical sequence through a series of spatial operations that address the questions of how objects are organized in space and what is the profile of their attributes, and statistical techniques that explore the relationship between dependent and independent variables through quantitative operations.
3 Graduate Certificate Program in Geographic Information Science (See http://www.unc.edu/depts/geog/ for details) The Graduate Certificate Program in Geographic Information Sciences offered within the Department of Geography is designed to educate and train students in geographic information systems, remote sensing, quantitative methods, spatial analysis, global positioning systems, and data visualization. The Program is intended to provide a mix of theory and practical knowledge having wide application in business, health, environment, planning, and in other areas. The Program is designed to serve (1) students in the arts and sciences as well as the health sciences and information technologies who wish to acquire technical expertise to support the topical knowledge gained in their undergraduate and graduate programs, and (2) returning students who wish to acquire specialized education and training to meet current or future job requirements calling for knowledge in geographic information sciences. The primary goal of the Program is to ensure that students become sufficiently grounded in theoretical underpinnings of Geographic Information Sciences to enable them to make informed use of existing applications software and to construct new applications of moderate size in both the physical and social sciences. By teaching concepts, spatial reasoning, and hands-on uses, the Program differs from a typical short course designed to teach a particular software package and a relatively narrow range of spatial concepts germane to the software. The basic intent is to achieve a balanced combination of education and training in the use of a diverse set of tools, techniques, data, and spatial concepts that collectively reside within the analytical framework that defines Geographic Information Sciences. There are four components to the Program: (1) a set of three core courses (select from the approved list below; substitutions considered) in Geographic Information Sciences required of all students enrolled in the Program, (2) a set of two primary elective courses in Geographic Information Sciences in Geography that permit exploration of advanced or associated topics, (3) a set of two secondary elective courses in Geographic Information Sciences from throughout the campus community on associated themes, and (4) a creative Capstone project/experience that emphasizes Geographic Information Science applications, Geographic Information Sciences technology, and/or Geospatial data through, for example, an approved internship program, documented work experiences, an individual research project, development of GIScience software or applications modules, and/or teaching of an approved GISc course at the university level. Course Requirements Final grades will be determined through the following course requirements: (a) Labs (b) Team Presentation & Paper (c) Midterm Examination (lecture & lab content) (d) Final Examination (lecture & lab content) 20% of score 20% of score 30% of score 30% of score
4 Labs can be completed in 2-person teams or individually; students in teams will receive the same grade for the submitted lab. I will generate the labs and the data from one or more of my project study sites that will emphasize the environment, humanenvironment interactions, and health care delivery for sake of thematic diversity. The UNC Honor Code governs your behavior on the labs and throughout the course. Labs submitted as a joint effort must reflect that assumption. The Course Project & Paper will be a team enterprise that involves no more than 5-students per team. The assignment involves (a) the generation of a set of research aims, (b) design and encoding of a GIS data base to support the project aims for a study area of your choice, (c) design and implementation of a set of spatial analyses with a bias towards GIS (but not limited to only GIS e.g., manipulating the GIS data through scientific data visualizations and/or statistical or spatial models may be quite appropriate to your project goals), (d) discussion and interpretation of findings, and (e) documentation of approach, data, methods, analysis, discussion & interpretation, and conclusions by using maps, graphics, statistics, and writing a report. The TAs will work with you to get the data for this assignment into appropriate workspaces for subsequent analyses. Please be cognizant of data volumes limitations and the need to keep the study area relatively small (geographically) and the data themes in the GIS limited to those base layers that are considered most critical and appropriate to the analysis. The paper should be approximately 10-15 double-space, type written pages. All projects & papers are due on November 26 th. Team presentations will be on November 26 th. Lecture will examine GIS tools, analytical approaches, and applications that will be highlighted through the labs and assigned readings. Textbook readings associated with each topic will comprise the assigned literature for the course. Primary discussions will be around the reading material and lecture topics, but lab interactions are also critical. Labs will be assigned in conjunction with selected lecture topics and hands-on processing will be completed in the Geography Lab in Saunders Hall Room 322, as well as at sites available throughout campus and elsewhere. The University has an institutional site license for a selected group of ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) products. Therefore, it is now possible for completion of labs at remote locations and at home. However, the TA for the course will provide selected hours in the Geography Lab to support and assist you with the Labs. On October 1, October 29, and November 19, we will meet in the Computer Lab in Geography (Saunders Hall Room 319), so that data analysis and software functions can be demonstrated and examined through hands-on training and experimentation. Textbook: Bolstad, P. 2005, GIS Fundamentals: A First Text on Geographic Information Systems, Eider Press, Second Edition. Grading Policy: A one-half grade reduction will be levied for each day that the lab or student paper/presentation is past due. Pre-authorization of time extensions will alter the grade reduction policy. All class activities exams, paper/presentation, and labs are bound by the guidelines of the UNC Student Honor Code.
5 Course Instructor & TAs Professor Stephen J. Walsh: Office hours are on Monday & Tuesday from 10:00 am 1:00 pm, and by appointment; office is in Saunders Hall, Room 318; swalsh@email.unc.edu (email); 962-3867 (office). TAs will serve primarily as lab instructors. Problems with labs or additional assistance with them should begin with the Lab TAs. The web site is http://www.unc.edu/courses/2007fall/geog/491/001/www. Ms. Julie Tuttle, Class TA: Doctoral Student, Department of Geography, jptuttle@email.unc.edu; office is located in Room 317 Saunders Hall. Mr. Tim Morrissey, Class TA: Graduate Student, Department of Geography; tmorriss@email.unc.edu; office is located in Room 317 Saunders Hall. Hardware/Software Systems ARCGIS is the primary GIS software package for this course. The software will be resident on an ATN fileserver and be primarily accessed from the PCs operated in the Computer Lab in Saunders Hall Room 322. TAs will have fixed hours in the lab to assist you where and when necessary. You must have an ATN User ID (same as your ISIS e-mail ID; your ONYEN) to access the software and the data sets generated for this course. This access will also permit e-mail communication, use of the World-Wide- Web, and the creation of your personal workspace for the completion of your labs. Over the first couple of weeks of the course, it is your responsibility to become fluent with the software/hardware system. The TAs will organize training and orientation sessions, and will be your primary point of contact regarding the software and the labs. While this course is not about learning software, a certain amount of fluency with the software is expected and necessary to carry out the lab assignments used throughout the course. You are encouraged to prepare or refresh yourself in the use of the software. The TAs will provide some fundamental training in the use of the course software. An electronic mailing list (list serve) for the class will be created based on the e- mail addresses of all students in the class, your TAs, and your instructor. The listserve is geog491@listserv.unc.edu. Sending an e-mail message to that list will cause the message to be distributed to all parties listed in the e-mail file. TAs and I will occasionally use this e-mail list to send out class information or help with difficulties associated with the labs. You can use the list to post queries to your classmates about class subject material or technical "how-to" questions for lab assignments. Remember, that if you want to send a private message to an individual in the class, your TAs, or me, you'll have to use our individual e-mail address and not the class file. Each lab write-up will be submitted to the TAs as hardcopy, but color graphics will be handled electronically. In the lab write-up you will indicate the location of the suitably-labeled graphics that link to your lab (e.g., D. Ortiz_Lab 1_Graphic 3), and the TAs will access your workspace to retrieve them.
6 A web page has been created for this course, and the course outline, labs, readings, power-point graphics that are linked to each class lecture (only summary power-point graphics will be presented on the class web site), and so on will be made available for your access. Nature of GIS: Design, Operations, and Capabilities Class #0 August 21 Semester Begins Class #1 August 27 Intro & Chapter 1 Welcome and Basic Information Students, Instructor, TAs, Introduction to GIS: Systems, Science & Study NO CLASS September 3 Labor Day Class #2 September 10 Chapter 2 Data Models: maps as models of reality, geographical and attribute measurement & vector and raster (and other) data structures Class #3 September 17 Chapters 3 & 4 Geodesy, Datum, Map Projections & Coordinate systems, Data Sources: shape files and spatial & non-spatial information Class #4 September 24 Chapters 4 & 5 Data Sources and Data Creation (primary and secondary sources& remote sensing, data visualization); the Global Positioning System Class #5 October 1 Chapter 6 Lab Session in Saunders Hall Room 319: satellite image analysis and selected GIS functions Class #6 October 8 Chapters 6 & 7 Aerial and Satellite Images; Digital Data Class #7 October 15 Midterm Exam Short essay and multiple choice questions Class #8 October 22 Chapters 8 & 9 Attribute Data and Tables; Spatial Analysis (i.e., data query, distance and buffers, map overlay, neighborhood operations, network analysis) Class #9 October 29 Chapter 9 Lab Session in Saunders Hall Room 319: GIS analysis functions
7 Class #10 November 5 Chapters 10 & 11 Topics in Raster Analysis (i.e., neighborhood functions, terrain analysis, overlay analysis, suitability analyses, pattern metrics) Class #11 November 12 Chapters 12 & 13 Spatial Estimation; Spatial Models and Modeling (i.e., cartographic modeling, spatialtemporal modeling, statistical models, spatial lag models, spatial autocorrelation in regression models, mapping regression residuals, geo-statistics and scale, trend surface analysis) Class #12 November 19 Project Work GIS Analyses and Preparation for Project Reports and Presentations (November 26 th ); TA assistance provided in Saunders Hall Room 319 Class #13 November 26 Presentations Team Project Reports and Presentations Class #14 December 3 Chapters 14 & 15 Data Quality, Standards & Documentation; New Developments in GIS (i.e., error and uncertainty, data quality reports, accuracy assessments) Class #15 December 14 Final Exam Scheduled time of 4-6pm