An introduction to the essential mathematical background of Geomatics, including co-ordinate systems, datums, map projections and co-ordinate transformations. Geospatial information acquisition, processing and management requires familiarity with certain concepts including: coordinate reference systems, datums and map projections, figures of the earth, 2&3D trigonometry, survey sampling, statistics, solving sets of equations, least squares adjustment, correlation, matrix algebra and computer programming, generally conducted within the frameworks established by national and international professional and standards organisations. It is the intention of this course to ensure that all programme participants have familiarity with these topics and having completed this, will be able to apply this knowledge in the gathering, processing and managing of geospatial data.
Outcome:
By the end of this course students will be able to:
■ Describe the basic principles of geodesy, including the size and shape of the Earth and its model, geodetic datums, map projections and coordinate reference systems;
■ Explain the principles, concepts and application of coordinate datum transformations and map projection conversions including selecting appropriate map projections;
■ Explain the principles and applications of least squares in surveying & mapping, using the central tendency theorem in statistics to determine the precision of a set of observations, and estimate their accuracy, and be able to determine the correlation between two sets of apparently independent variables.
■ Demonstrate mathematical ability in trigonometry, statistics, calculus and linear algebra.
■ Develop programming skills.
