Syllabus

GIS in the Natural Sciences

a.k.a. Raster Analytics

Spring 1997

W. Fredrick Limp and James Farley

Debbie Harmon (Teaching Assistant)

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A. Class Schedule

  1. Class meets Tue-Thurs. 2:00 - 3:20 PM, Mapping and GeoSciences Computer Lab (MSGL), Room 208 Ozark Hall
  2. The MSGL combination will be provided to all registered students. The lab is available 24 hours per day for class use. Ozark Hall is locked each evening from 9 PM to 6 AM and on weekends. However, an exterior door key can be checked out from Room 12. Failure to return the key will lead to the assignment of an incomplete (I) grade for the semester and other penalties.

B. Class Goals

The class is designed to provide students with a solid familiarity with the conceptual, methodological, and theoretical aspects of problem solving using a raster based GIS, particularly focusing on problems in the natural sciences/resources. The course focuses on the raster "domain" and introduces the student to the Modular GIS Grid Analysis (MGGA) software from the Intergraph Corporation and the "Map Algebra" of C. Dana Tomlin. A solid background in GIS is a prerequisite.

C. Texts

  1. Geographic Information Systems and Cartographic Modeling. C. Dana Tomlin, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ. 1990. (Tomlin in reading list).
  2. Geographic Information Systems for GeoScientists: Modeling with GIS, Graeme F. Bonham-Carter. Pergamon Press. (BC in reading list)
  3. MGGA Manual, Intergraph Corp. Hardcopy is available in the MGSL and via on-line help.
  4. Other selected readings (see details below). Readings will be drawn from a number of sources. Copies of these materials will be available on reserve at the Mullins Library Reserve Desk and there will be one copy of these documents in the Mapping and GeoSciences Lab. The Lab copies are NOT to leave the area unless you wish to individually copy limited, selected sections under the fair use clauses of the copyright law. They must be returned immediately. There is one additional book that is strongly recommended for your consideration, but not required. If you are planning on working with GIS you should strongly consider purchasing it: Peter Burrough's Principles of Geographic Information Systems for Land Resource Assessment, Oxford University Press.

5. All readings should be completed before the scheduled class meeting. There will be a number of short, "pop" quizzes covering the assigned readings.

D. Class Structure

1. The class will be divided into lecture, laboratory, reviews and pop quiz components.

  1. There will be three exams. The final (last) exam will NOT be formally comprehensive but will require that you have mastered previously covered material.
  2. Each student will be expected to prepare two (2) brief (1 to 2 pages) review papers reviewing the literature on GIS and related applications in a field or specialization they select. The reviews should be drawn from academic journals or similar sources, not popular magazines such as GIS World, etc. These will be used to decide "borderline" cases. Thus, if you have 89 points and two solid reviews you would receive an A rather than a B. No reviews and you would receive a B.
  3. Weighting for the components of the classes are:

E. Laboratory

1. The laboratory will focus on developing the practical GIS skill necessary for implementation of the principles covered in the lectures and readings. Students will learn the MGGA software running on Intergraph NT. Data sets and database linkages have been created for all student accounts, the course will focus on raster analysis not the full range of project and data base design. Students wishing experience in developing skills in the full MGE environment should plan to enroll in Spatial Analysis using MGE. Students will have initial lecture orientations to laboratory topics but should expect to spend substantial additional time in the laboratory to build their skills and to complete the practical exercises and projects.

2. The Mapping and GeoSciences Laboratory has a coded lock system. Students in the class will be given the code so that they can have access to the laboratory. Note that exterior doors to Ozark Hall are locked after 9 PM and on weekends (as are all UAF buildings). Exterior door keys may be checked out form Room 12. Note that failure to return a key will lead to assignment of an incomplete grade. The MSGL Lab will not be available during the day for selected periods when it is in use for specific short courses but will be available in the evening, after 5 PM. These periods are noted in the syllabus, please plan your work accordingly. On these dates the regular class will meet in a room to be announced. Note that the GPS class, MGE class and Information Technologies in Archaeology class also meet in the MSGL on Tue, Wens and Thurs evenings (respectively) from 6-8:50 and the lab is not available for your use at theses times.

  1. Ms. Debbie Harmon is the lab assistant for the lab.

F. Office Hours

  1. Limp, Farley and Harmon can be contacted at 6159 (Ozark Hall Rm. 12). Office hours are by appointment only. Students should normally make appointments with the CAST receptionist.

G Bad weather policy, religious holidays and absences

Unless the University is officially closed, class will be offered. If, for any reason, the instructors are unable to meet the class they will notify the CAST receptionist and (if possible) send e-mail to student accounts. Please check with the CAST receptionist (5-6159) or your e-mail if you have any question. If student religious requirements necessitate absences from class at times other than those normally scheduled by UAF policies they should make these requirements known during the first week of class and new schedule alternatives will be developed. Absences from class during exams or other scheduled work which are not approved in advance will mean that the exam will be assigned a zero grade. Other extraordinary circumstances will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

H. Readings and Schedule (weeks)

Background Readings

It is expected that students will have a solid background in GIS before enrolling. To refresh your knowledge you may wish to read BC 1-50, especially his discussion of relational models if you are unfamiliar with them.

  1. (Jan 14-16) Introduction to course and overview of raster data structures

a. Tomlin 1-26

b. BC 51-56 and 66-68

  1. (Jan 21-23) Vector-Raster relationships and DEMs

a. Tomlin 27 - 44, BC 68-80

b. Burrough "Data Structures for Thematic Maps" 13-38.

c. Allder and Elassal, USGS Digital cartographic data standards: DLGs from 1:24,000 scale maps. USGS Circular 895C (pages 1-18).

d. Allder, Sziede, McEwen and Beck, Digital Line Graph Attribute Coding Standards. USGS Circular 895G. pg. 1-31

  1. (Jan 28-30) DEMs, map development, interpolations and transformations

a. Burrough, Peter " Digital Elevation Models", pages 39-56.

b. Allder, W.R., V.M. Caruso, R.A. Pearsall and M.I. Troup 1982 An overview of DEM production at the USGS. Auto-Carto 5:23-32.

Elassal, A.A. and V.M. Caruso 1984 USGS digital cartographic data standard: digital elevation models. USGS Circular 895-B (pages 1-9 and 35-40.

c. Burrough, "Methods of Spatial Interpolation" 147 - 166.

d. BC pages 141 - 159

4. (Feb 4-6) Introduction to MGGA

a. MGGA Manual 1-1 through 1-9, 5-1 through 5-26 and 7-1 through 7-11

5. (Feb 11-13) Map Analysis I

a. BG 177-198

  1. (Feb 18-20) Map Analysis II

a. Tomlin 64-95

7. (Feb 25-27) Introduction to MGGA Map Algebra

a. MGGA Manual 12-1 through 12-24

8. (Mar 4-6) Map Analysis III

a. BG 267-292

9. (Mar 11-13) Spatial Neighborhoods

a. Tomlin 96-117

b. BC 204-212

SPRING BREAK (Mar 17-21)

Note that the MSGL will be in use for a course all Spring Break week from 8-5

10. (Mar 25-27) Extended Neighborhoods, Buffering and Dilation

a. Tomlin 118-134

b. BC 159-167

c. MGGA Zone (buffering) operator pages 8-9 through 8-13

Note: the MSGL will be in use for a short course Mar 24-26 from 8 AM to 5 PM

  1. (Apr 1-3) Spreading Operators

a. Tomlin 134-150

  1. MGGA Cost and Path Surfaces pages 8-2 through 8-6
  1. (Apr 8-10) Zonal Operators

a. Tomlin 154-163

b. MGGA Area Numberer pages 8-7 through 8-8

Note: the MSGL will be in use for a short course Apr 7 through 10 from 8 AM to 5 PM

  1. (Apr 15-17) Map Correlation and regression

a. BC 238-264

14. (Apr 22-24) Fuzzy Logic and Bayesian methods

  1. BC 292-33

15. (Apr 29 - May 1) Descriptive Modeling

a. Tomlin 168-195

DEAD Day May 2

FINAL (Last) EXAM May 6 10:00-12:00