Geography 373, Fall 2009

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems

Lecture: Thursday, 9-10:50am, 2166 LeFrak Hall
Lab: W 9-11am (0101), W 11-1pm (0102), M 9-11am (0103), 1138 LeFrak Hall

Instructor: Naijun Zhou, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
Course Objectives
Schedule of Topics and Readings
Textbooks
Requirements and Grading
Resources
Contacts and Office Hours


Objectives

The course will introduce fundamental concepts and skills of digital representation, GIS data manipulation and management, and basic spatial analyses. Students will develop an understanding of 1) GIS data models including vector and raster data, 3) map projections and coordinate systems, 3) geodatabases, 4) data collection, transformation and quality, and 5) basic GIS analyses. Labs are designed to provide hands-on experiences of using leading GIS software, ArcGIS Desktop 9.3, to collect, manage and analyze geospatial data.





Target Audience

This course is for all students who want to learn fundamentals of GIS and develop basic geospatial data manipulation skills. The course can serve either as a termination for a more general program or as a gateway to 400 level classes in Geography, especially Geog473 (GIS and Spatial Analysis).




Prerequisites

This course does not have any prerequisites. However, basic computer skills are strongly recommended.





Course Syllabus

The course syllabus can be downloaded here.