2-credit hybrid course (with scheduled meetings) taught from weeks 6 to 10

GEOG 576 can be used toward the GIS certificate.

Course Webpage: https://sites.google.com/pdx.edu/geog-geoffreyduh/home/3D-Terrain-Analysis-and-Visualization

(Or go to http://web.pdx.edu/~jduh/ and select "Courses-> GEOG 4/576")

Instructor: Geoffrey Duh (jduh@pdx.edu)

Lecture hours: Lecture: Weeks 6 to 10, Tuesday 1:30 - 3:10pm at VSC B108 or Zoom and optionally Thursday at VSC B108 or Zoom (see Canvas for additional Zoom attendance information). 

Online lab Q&A hours: Thursday class meetings are lab Q&A hours. Students are encouraged to schedule appointments with the instructor or use the course Slack workspace to post questions.  

Number of Credits: 2. This is a 2 credits course taught in a compressed 5-week schedule. You should treat the course as if it's a 4 credits course and put between 6 to 8 hours per week during the 5 week period; 2 hours for lectures and discussions; 4 to 6 hours for lab exercises, readings, writing lab reports, and working on the final project. 

Course Objectives

This course focuses on the theory and methods of the analysis and applications of digital elevation data. Specific topics include surface interpolation, terrain GIS data models, viewshed analysis, 3-D terrain visualization and animation, and watershed modeling. The course includes computer exercises using ArcGIS Pro.

Text and Readings

There is no required textbook. Journal articles are available in pdf format and can be found on Canvas course page. See the Readings section for a list of weekly readings.

Software documents: There are online software documents that will be used for both the theoretical and practical components of the course. The instructor will provide access instructions on Canvas.

Grading

The instructor will grade graduate and undergraduate students based on separate distribution curves. The components of a student's grade are:

Class Participation (20%)

The course is a remote hybrid (aka attend anywhere) course and is taught in a studio format, meaning there will be fewer lectures and more hands-on computer exercises in classroom. There are some course activities that students can perform asynchronously every week or attend the optional lab hours on Thursdays. However, attendance to the Tuesday sessions is mandatory. If you miss more than one class periods then you will be penalized five percent of your final grade per absence. You are expected to take part in the discussions and collaborative activities and if you are not in class then you cannot. If you are repeatedly late you will be given an absence. There are also online learning modules that require you to complete. These online learning activities complement the hands-on exercises and are counted toward your class participation grade.

Graduate (GEOG 576) students are required to select a topic from a list provided by the instructor (see the "Student Discussion Topics" table below) and prepare 3 discussion/quiz questions and their answers based on the assigned readings. Students who are responsible for the week's topics must post the questions (without the answers) to the Canvas weekly discussions and send the questions and their answers to the instructor by 5 pm the day before the class (i.e., on Monday).

All students are expected to answer a total of at least 3 of these student-posted questions this term by replying to the questions post on Canvas weekly discussion. Please try not to answer questions that have been answered by other students, unless all posted questions have been answered. The instructor will use the Canvas Discussion statistics as part of the Class Participation scores. 

Exam (0%)

There is no exam in this class, but the labs have their associated quizzes (see the lab assignments section below). 

Lab Assignments (Undergraduate students 60%, graduate students 45%)

The practical lab exercises provide a way to acquire skills using GIS software packages and to apply the course concepts to real data. All lab exercises require a significant amount of time to finish. Make sure you pace your lab exercises appropriately to prevent from turning them in late. Students usually have one or two weeks to work on the labs. The labs are due by Monday midnight. See the course schedule for the exact due dates. Please complete the Canvas lab quizzes and submit your lab reports on Canvas. You are required to work on the lab assignments at a time that is convenient for you outside classroom. All lab instructions can be found on Canvas. Please use Slack class channels to ask lab-related questions. The instructor will respond to questions posted to Slack. All students are encouraged to answer questions posted on Slack.

Final Project (Undergraduate students 20%, graduate students 35%)

A term project is required for all students. Students work individually on a project that is based on one of the lab or ESRI online course exercises. Undergraduate students only need to replace the lab data with their own data. Graduate students are required to form a coherent research question based on one (or several) exercises and additional spatial analysis to find the answer to their question using their own data. The deliverable includes a digital copy of Powerpoint slide deck. Graduate students also need to submit a 250 words project abstract that provides a comprehensive description of the project. See this wiki page or any journal articles we read this term for examples of how to write an effective abstract. There are two stages to the project:

*  Submit a project proposal by midnight Tuesday, Nov 25: Each student will submit a one page project proposal. It should include a project title, the main objective of the project (or a research question), and the data to be used. Please make appointments with the instructor to discuss your proposal if you have questions.

*  Submit your Powerpoint slide deck (or a link to your Story Map) by 5 pm Friday, Dec 12: The slide deck should Includes the essential information described in the proposal, data sets used, the analyses performed, and display the maps and tabular output derived from the analyses. Graduate students need to put their project's 250 words abstract on the first page of the slide deck. The abstract also includes a title, author and their affiliation, contact information, and 4 to 6 keywords.

*  Final project rubric: The learning objective for this course is that students learn how to use digital terrain data (DEM, DSM, TIN, 3D features, etc.) to perform spatial analysis. Graduate students also need to demonstrate that they are able to use the skills they learn in class to answer a research question. Here is the rubric (weights for undergrad and graduate students in parentheses):

• fits the scope of the class (that some digital terrain data are used in spatial analysis) (20%, 16.7%)

• uses appropriate dataset (digital terrain data) (20%, 16.7%)

• uses correct methods (20%, 16.7%)

• produces plausible spatial analysis results (20%, 16.7%)

• presents the project methods and results clearly (20%, 16.7%)

• answers a research question and has an abstract (0%, 16.7%)

Course Evaluation

The university will process course evaluations on online. Students will be notified via PSU email at the beginning of week 10. Those who do not respond receive reminder emails the following week and again the day before the evaluations close. Students must check their PSU email accounts to receive the link to online course evaluation.

See the "Title IX & Academic Guidelines" page for information on the requests for academic accommodation, the policy on academic honesty, and the statement for Title IX Reporting Obligations.

Readings:

The readings can be found as PDF files on Canvas and on the internet (when the URLs are provided).

Week 6:

• ESRI Web course: Introduction to 3D Visualization. https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/6092b5f623a70353a4ab964c/introduction-to-3d-visualization/

• ArcGIS Pro Online Help: Interpolation Toolset Concepts (read all the 9 subtopics). https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/spatial-analyst/understanding-interpolation-analysis.htm

Week 7:

• Jenson, S. K. and Dominque, J. O. 1988. Extracting topographic structure from digital elevation data for geographic information system analysis. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 54(11): 1593-1600.

• Baker, M. E., Weller, D. E., and Jordan, T. E. 2006. Comparison of automated watershed delineations: Effects on land cover areas, percentages, and relationships to nutrient discharge. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 72(2): 159-168.

Week 8:

• ArcGIS Pro Online Help: Visibility Toolset Concepts (read all the 6 subtopics). https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/3d-analyst/analyze-visibility.htm

• ESRI web course: Performing Viewshed Analysis in ArcGIS Pro (https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/57d8718d8b3e1ff2376bf91c/performing-viewshed-analysis-in-arcgis-pro/)

Week 9:

• ArcGIS Pro Online Help: 3D Intersection Toolset (read all online help of the 6 tools). https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/3d-analyst/an-overview-of-the-3d-intersections-toolset.htm

• ESRI web course: Exploring 3D Features Using ArcGIS 3D Analyst (https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/6140b9d6b123fd17e6add784/exploring-3d-features-using-arcgis-3d-analyst/)

Week 10:

• ESRI web course: Sharing 3D Content Using Scene Layer Packages (https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/58471aa5fb83aeb761847d7f/sharing-3d-content-using-scene-layer-packages/)