Geographic Information Systems
for Geology and Planetary Sciences
(Fall 2008)

(Fall-2009 version is underway..)

  
 
 
Syllabus
           Download 2009 Syllabus
General information

Units: 0-3-0

Location:   309 N. Mudd (GIS Lab)
Time:     M  2:00 – 3:00 pm
                 Th 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Professor:    Jean-Philippe Avouac (301 NM)
GIS Trainer: Lisa Christiansen (302 NM)
TA:          Yu Wang (312 NM)

Summary

 

    This course is an introduction to the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Earth and planetary sciences. GIS is a computer-based system used for mapping and geospatial analysis. The goal of the course is to provide a solid foundation in the principles of GIS concentrating on how it is used as a research tool in Earth and planetary sciences.

 
Suggest Reading

GIS Fundamentals: A First Text on Geographic Information Systems, 2nd Ed. (Paul Bolstad)
Schedule (Fall-2008 )


Week Monday 2-3 pm Thursdays 1-3 pm
GIS Lab Reserved 1-4 pm		 Suggested Reading
WEEK 1
Sep 29 - Oct 3
(OM)
Syllabus

 Lecture: Introduction to GIS
Lab1: Introduction to ArcGIS (1) (2) 		1-An Introduction (14-21)
WEEK 2
Oct 6-10		 Lecture:
Overview of Data Models		 Lecture:
Data Formats, Sources, Standards
GIS Project Management, Symbology
Lab		 2-Data Models
(25-44, 46-47)
4-Data Sources and Data Entry
(111-135, 139-150)
WEEK 3
Oct 13-17		 Lab 2:
Building GIS Project using existing Data
Map Layout		 Lab 3:GPS (1) (2)
Field Data Collection
Adding XY Events
Exporting to shapefile
Creating & Editing Data
Topology		 5-The Global Positioning System
WEEK 4
Oct 20-24
Lecture:
Map Projections & Coordinate Systems
Map Scale
Map Projections
Datum Transformation
Georeferencing		 Lab 4:
Map Projections & Coordinate Systems
Map Scale
Map Projections
Datum Transformations		 3-Map Projections & Coordinate Systems (67-94,97-104)
WEEK 5
Oct 27-31		 Lecture: Remote Sensing Lab 5: Remote Sensing
Introduction to ENVI
• Image Processing
DEM Processing
• ASTER DTM		 6-Aerial and Satellite Images
7-Digital Data
WEEK 6
Nov 3 - 7
(TO meeting)
 Lab 6: Analysis
Spatial, Raster
Terrain Analysis		 9-Basic Spatial Analysis (295-335)
10-Topics in Raster Analysis (347-370)
11-Terrain Analysis
WEEK 7
Nov 10-14 		Lab 7 :
ArcScene (3D Analyst)		 Lab 8:
Matlab [m-file(1) (2) ] 		12-Spatial Estimation
13-Spatial Modeling
WEEK 8
Nov 17-21 		Lab 9:
Scripts & Extensions (ArcGIS)		 Lab 10:
Velocity Vectors
ArcScene Focal Mechanisms		 14-Data Standards & Data Quality
WEEK 9
Nov 24-28 		Introduction to Google Earth
Thanksgiving
  
WEEK 10
Dec 1 - 5 		  Final Projects Due  

Grading

50% Labs (labs will be due at the beginning of class the following Monday)
50% Final GIS project (informal presentation the last week of class)

Useful Link

Data source
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information (CGIAR-CSI)
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS)
Earth Science Data Interface (ESDI)
Global Orthorectified Landsat Data
The Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF)
The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
TerraServer-USA
The National Map Seamless Server

Software and add-Scripts
ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.)
M_Map: A mapping package for Matlab
NASA World Wind
GeoMapApp
   
    September 25, 2009