CSCI E-40: Geographic Information Science and Web Mapping - Harvard Extension School - Fall 2004

Instructor: Lucia Lovison-Golob
lovison@eps.harvard.edu

"A plague upon it,
I have forgot the map.
No, here it is...."
Shakespeare, Henry IV, part I

         
Cairo, Egypt, Carterra, Space Imaging   Student taking a GPS measurement, 2002   Map Events Tool: a web-GIS application for teaching and training, Lovison-Golob, 2002
 
  

Auto vehicle locator- Trimble   3D- Visualization of Building Environment, Boston, IM, MIT, Lovison 2000 Example of spatial statistics, USDA Forest Service                
 


 
The course introduces the basic concepts of Geographic Information Science and discusses the leading tools and applications. It explores spatial thinking by addressing issues related to data creation, management, and visualization. Specifically: scale, resolution, modeling, spatial analysis, 2-D, and 3-D statistical representation. The course focuses on hands-on applications. We will explore how to acquire and use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data with various integrated GIS systems. We will also use web-based GIS tools to extract, analyze and share spatial information. We will see how GIS can be applied to several disciplines: from computer science to social and environmental science as well as public health. Students will be required to do data collections through a GPS receiver and to prepare a GIS project at the end of the course. The project will be assigned and will be either an application or the programmatic development of a GIS application, depending on the level and interest of the students. The course requires a basic knowledge of Word, HTML, and statistics (STAT E-50 or equivalent), knowledge of a programming language and database knowledge may help. The software programs used in the course include ArcGIS9.0 and extensions such as Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst and others. We will use mainly a VBA enviroment. Other environments and vendors will be presented as specified in the syllabus.

To see the content of the course, look at  the syllabus,  the book list,  the software,   grading policies.