Course description

The skill of geospatial thinking is becoming more critical every day. Many of the great challenges currently faced by humanity - environmental, social, and economic - can be better understood when a spatial aspect of the problem is directly analyzed.

In this course, lectures give an introduction to the basic concepts underlying geospatial thinking, including how we represent locations on Earth and the choices we make when we analyze and present spatial data. In a series of laboratory exercises, students learn to manage, manipulate, and present the most common types of geospatial data relevant to Earth and its environments. Students share ideas, information, and solutions to problems they encounter using an online discussion forum (YellowDig ).

Course structure

This is a practical course that is centered on guided lab exercises. Early exercises have detailed instructions, allowing students to master the basic operation of ESRI ArcGIS software, the industry standard for GIS. Later labs ask students to think more critically about a problem, and solve it by applying the knowledge and skills already gained. Experience with open-source GIS software is included. Feedback and assessment are focused on the effectiveness and attractiveness of the final map produced each week, and quizzes are used to assess retention of critical concepts and skills. A final group project is aimed at using geospatial thinking to communicate an Environmental Earth System Science topic to the general public, using ArcGIS StoryMaps.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Import datasets into ArcGIS

• Find new GIS datasets online

• Understand the differences between different geographic projections and datums, identify which projection is relevant, and change projections and reference frames

• Georeference and digitize maps

• Create hillshades and slope maps to represent topography

• Create maps that illustrate relevant data clearly and attractively, including scale bars, legends, appropriate color schemes, and different types of symbols

• Measure values from maps and use these in calculations

• Perform calculations on spatial datasets

• Describe how GIS can be used in Earth Systems Science

• Develop GIS workflows to solve specific problems using online help systems

• Create a 3D model using photogrammetry (using Agisoft Metashape)

• Create topographic datasets from aerial photographs (using Agisoft Metashape)

• Export data from Agisoft Metashape into ArcGIS

• Navigate and manipulate datasets within QGIS and Google Earth Pro

• Create an attractive and informative web presentation using ArcGIS StoryMaps

Weekly lab exercises

While ES2802 is co-taught by two geologists, the content is designed to be relevant to all EESS students. Our labs cover a wide range of topics and are inspired by common GIS applications. Some labs take more than one week to complete.

• • Basic data analysis: Earthquake hazard in Los Angeles

  • Map projections: Finding and visualizing global datasets

  • Watershed analysis: Environmental contamination study

  • Digitizing maps: Singapore's vanishing coastal environments

  • Cost analysis: Which is cheaper - a radio towers or a communications cable?

  • Open source GIS: Using QGIS and Google Earth to map archaeological sites at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

  • Photogrammetry and 3D modeling: Assessment of a potential dam site

Final project

Groups of four students work together to collect data and design a series of interactive maps using the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform.