Geog 484 Projects
Lesson 1: Data Input
This lesson dealt with the process of compiling geographic data into a personal geodatabase by importing x,y coordinates and using the heads-up digitizing method. I was familiar with most of the concepts and techniques presented in the lesson, however, it was good to go thru as a refresher. Geodatabases are a rather new concept to me as most of my experience is with shapefiles and coverages. I have limited experience with enterprise/sde geodatabases. Working with personal geodatabases in this lesson was a first for me.
Lesson 2: Data Correction and Integration
This lesson shows us some common GIS data errors and how they can be corrected to maintain data integrity. The lesson details how to setup an editing environment to identify and correct errors. Attribute errors, while easy to, should not be overlooked. Additionally, the lesson covers the process of appending and edgematching data which are a crucial part of data integration.
Lesson 3: Georeferencing Raster Images
Although I have performed georeferencing in the past, this lesson helped me get a better understanding of the concepts involved in the georeferencing process. Calculating RMS, understanding what its values represent and seeing how coordinate system information related to RMS was new to me. I enjoyed experiementing with the three georeferencing techniques.
Lesson 4: Design/Build GIS (Week 1)
Learning database design concepts in this lesson was very exciting. Understanding techniques used to minimize redundancy and disk storage, techniques for efficient data entry and techniques for efficient data queries was new to me. Analyzing and formulating relationships between data was also new and challenging. I see the principles brought up in this lesson as crucial to any professional working with databases.
Lesson 5: Design/Build GIS (Week 2)
The concepts reviewed in this lesson are critical to GIS professionals of all levels. With the proliforation of the internet, the ability to harness the internet to download and use GIS data is a critical skill. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, being able to manage the projections of various datasets in a single environment is the foundation for any GIS. The ability to "project on the fly" has made the jobs of a lot of GIS professionals much easier relative to the days of AV 3.x when data had to be repojected to match existing data.
Lesson 6: Design/Build GIS (Week 3)
In this lesson, we analyzed population voting trends and statistics in Fitchburg, MA. We created new data derived from existing tabular and spatial data. We used this new data to create thematic maps. Tabular and spatial joins were used extensively in creating the new data.