| Responsible Department | Forest & Landscape | ||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | BSc. 1 year | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | Joint BSc and MSc | ||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination Written Exam in Lecturehall All aids allowed Description of Examination: A two-hour examination consisting of written responses to short, factual questions referring to the text of all exercises and the obligatory course texts. Weight: 100% on the written exam 7-point scale, internal examiner Dates of Exam: 11 April 2012 | ||||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | The output of the final exercise has to be handed in and accepted. The project work has to be displayed as a public poster and accepted. Further, the compulsory hand-ins have to be handed in and accepted. | ||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Formal lectures, hands-on exercises and project work. | ||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 3 Week Structure: C Exercises and project work in Center for Graphical Data handling (CGD) | ||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | Comprehensive knowledge of IT including good practical skills. | ||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | 100 | ||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||
| The course comprises: -Cartography (both in relation to paper- and digital maps) -Map Comprehension and Appreciation -Map Types (topographic, thematic, legal, historic, etc.) -Geodata Resources (at Forest & Landscape's servers and the Internet) -Digital Data Types: the vector data model (points, lines and polygons) and the raster data model (images and thematic rasters) -Data Capture (GPS, digitizing and image rectification) -Assessment of Accuracy and Quality -Data Transformation (incl. overlay and proximity analyses) -Internet-based GIS -Map Layout and Digital Cartography -GIS in Landscape and Urban Planning | |||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||
| The course is constituted by lectures, exercises and a project work. It is recommended - but not prerequested - that the projects are conjoined with activities related to other courses and project works. | |||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||
| The student will learn the basic concepts being used when acquiring, storing, handling, and presenting geographical information - including digital maps. The course will introduce the basic analytical capabilities of vector/feature-based GIS. Further, focus will be put on basic cartography and map-reading. In this way the student will obtain the needed theoretic as well as practical skills and competences required to work with maps - both in paper and digital form. He/she will learn to use the achieved theoretic knowledge when evaluating the quality of available data and produced results. The student will practice communication with other professionals of the geodata and GIS community. Knowledge . Understanding of the basics of cartography (incl. datum, coordinate system, projection and scale). . Comprehension of various map types (e.g. topographic, thematic) and vector data types (point, line and polygon). . Appreciation of how to use colour, size and symbols in a map layout, and the essential ingredients of a map (e.g. scale bar, north arrow, legend). . Knowledge in methods to generate digital geodata from analogue sources, incl. GPS and georeferencing. . Comprehension of the geographical database, the relational database model, and the rationale behind attribute handling. . Knowledge of various geodata transformation methods (e.g. clip, proximity and overlay analyses). . Understanding of geodata accuracy and quality, along with the concept of metadata. . Knowledge of the applications of GIS in various scientific fields and occupations (e.g. urban and landscape planning). Skills . Understand and appreciate the theoretic and methodological background of maps. . Discriminate between map types, and to justify the use of various thematic and topographic datasets for given purposes. . Search, identify and retrieve digital geographic data from various sources, incl. knowledge of key owners/distributors of national and local geodata. . Select data required for a given task, and to argue for the choices made. . Decide which type of geographical data (point, line, polygon) to apply in a given context, to a given phenomenon. . Produce digital geodata 'from scratch' using analogue maps or aerial photos (incl. rectification, georeferencing and digitizing). . Find and select methods of data analysis required for a given task, and to argue for the choices made. . Produce composite maps from multiple sets of digital map sources. . Using Internet-based GIS resources of geodata and tools. Competences . To possess a comprehensive insight into maps in general and GIS in specific - from map reading to creating/collecting, storing, transforming, and presenting digital spatial data. . To apply maps and spatial analytical results to articles, theses, project reports etc, produced after attending the course. | |||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||
| 1. Heywood, Cornelius and Carver. 2006. An introduction to Geographical information systems (Third edition). Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-129317-5. Can be purchased from the LIFE book store. 2. All exercise notes ARE OBLIGATORY READING 3. Balstrøm, Jacobi og Bodum. 2006. Bogen om GIS og Geodata. Forlaget GIS & Geodata (www.gis-geodata.dk). ISBN: 87-991446-0-3. 4. ESRI. What is ArcGIS? On-line documentation. 5. Danish metadata on-line: http://www.geodata-info.dk/ | |||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||
| Patrik Karlsson Nyed, Pakn@life.ku.dk, Forest & Landscape Denmark/Urban and landscape studies, Phone: 353-31832 | |||||||||||||||
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