The study course is intended for mastering the theoretical basis and practical application of one of the subfields of geomatics – Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The course provides knowledge about GIS, its principles and the latest achievements. The aim of the study course is to ensure a systematic acquisition of competencies on the methods of Geographic Information Systems and their use. Tasks of the study course are: (1) to promote integration of natural science knowledge and information technology competencies; (2) to create scientific and applied understanding of Geographic Information Systems, their application and modern development directions. Language of instruction: Latvian and English
Results Knowledge: 1. Understands history of development of Geographical Information Systems and future trends; 2. Knows different approaches to building Geographic Information Systems, their role in information acquisition, processing, display and publishing; 3. Understands principles of modelling the surrounding world with vector data and raster data models; 4. Knows the most popular vector data and raster data analysis methods; 5. Describes advantages and disadvantages of the most popular data interpolation methods; 6. Understands the importance of geospatial autocorrelation and knows its evaluation methods; 7. Knows the basic principles for exchange of geospatial data on the Internet; 8. Understands the causes of data and analysis errors, the most frequently used error estimation methods; 9. Understands problems related to the choice of hardware; 10. Is familiar with problems of successful GIS project implementation; Skills: 11. Makes maps in ArcGIS program; 12. Creates new vector data layers in ArcGIS; 13. Georeferences raster data in ArcGIS; 14. Uses simple vector data selection and analysis methods in ArcGIS; 15. Creates and visualizes terrain models from vector data in ArcGIS; 16. Produces maps in QGIS program; Competences: 17. Integrates geospatial data of various formats from local and Internet sources; 18. Solves geographic problems with GIS data analysis tools; 19. Communicates the results of data analysis with appropriate data visualization methods; 20. Independently organizes his / her work in the use of GIS for the performance of his / her work duties.
