is module provides an applied introduction to the use of GIS in the environmental sciences. The course covers the underlying concepts of spatial data and their analyses, and offers extensive hands-on experience of GIS in its application to practical problems and research questions in the environmental sciences.
The Environmental GIS module commences with an introduction to the concept of GIS and explores the range of software and programming options available. The course provides a foundation in cartography, coordinate systems and data types. The course then progresses through a range of data integration, data management and analytical procedures to provide a hands-on experience of the application of GIS to real environmental problems. The last few sessions focus on some specific case studies, in theory and in practice.
The main sessions cover:
- Principles of cartography, geovisualisation and geospatial data presentation
- Coordinate systems and projections, and georeferencing
- Types (raster/vector) and sources of spatial data
- Integration and organisation of spatial data in a GIS
- Spatial analyses
- Spatial statistics
The course is delivered through a series of extended computer-based practicals supported by lecture material, videos, and directed reading. The assessment comprises a 2000 word written report illustrated with independent and original examples of the use, application and analysis of GIS.
The module assumes no prior knowledge of GIS and geospatial data, but presumes familiarity and competency in general computer use.
The module delivers a range of core and transferable skills:
- Critical thinking: ability to assess data and ideas
- Problem-solving
- GIS
- Statistical analysis (geospatial statistical analyses)
- Coding (brief experience of coding using Google Earth Engine)
