Spatial Data Handling

Four Workshops in GIS for Landscape Architects

This syllabus charts a pathway through some ideas and technical tutorials that constitute an introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Landsape Architects and Planners.

Introduction to Geography and Geographic Information Systems

To get started, I find it useful to discuss the role that geography has played in humanity's ongoing quest to understand the way the world works at many scales. This is an essential life strategy that we share with many other species -- including ants and bees and birds. It amounts to the ability to record observations that are spatially referenced, and then to share compile these recorded observations such that they may be associated with each other in useful ways. In a word, this amounts to collaborative modeling. Human beings have their own ways of doing this that we have been ex[ploiting and refining since before the record of history began. One of the most fascinating aspects of this way of "knowing" the world is that it is loaded with errors, and is yet can be very useful -- particularly if you can predict and consider the probable errors that you are making.

Monday March 3

Lecture 1. Intro to GIS

  1. A powerpoint on the evolution and future of GIS which is similar to This YouTube intro to my full GIS course.
  2. A Strategy for organizing information in a studio or design enterprise

Workshop 1: Intro to GIS Data, Metadata and Maps

  1. Sources of GIS Data
  2. Collecting GIS Data and Metadata
  3. Nuts and Bolts of Mapping with ArcGIS Updated March 3, 2014.

Tuesday March 4

Lecture Demonstration 1: Geographic Referencing

Workshop 2: Transforming and Exchanging Geographically Referenced Data

  1. Introduce detailed providence data
  2. Georeferencing Scanned Maps and CAD Data

Thursday March 6: Thematic Mapping

Saturday March 15 11:00 am to 4:00 pm: Map Hospital

Monday March 17: Map Pinup and TBA

GIS Project: Critical Discussion of A Place, A Dataset, and Ecology

You have been assigned a layer from RIGIS and to understand: Who created it? Why and how it was developed? And for what purpose is data supposed to be used? Find a 1km square somewhere in Rhode Island where there is something going on with regard to that layer. Then, make 5 maps that are focused on that kilometer. Four of the maps are simply refocusing datasets and templates I provide to you. You will write a short caption for each of the maps, describing the critical elements of that place and a data-theme: Basic Topography, Land Use and Population Density. Then they have to make a map of their appointed layer that describes a pattern that can be seen in that layer that means something with respect to ecology and or the relation of that pattern with the pattern of land use, hydrography, or population density.

The big objective of this project is to make sure that each student knows how to:

  1. Understand the utility and the limitations of data layers with regard to a specific purpose
  2. Represent quantitative and categorical data with maps.

Download the Project Template

Five MapsEach student will create five maps based on the templates provided in the archive downloaded in the previous paragraph. Each map will be formatted for readin gon screen, letter-sized, landscape orientation. Use the template MXD documents provided in the project_template/arcmap/docs folder.

All of the maps except for the finder map will include a discussion of the critical aspects of the featured data as they relate to the utility of the dataset for understanding ecological aspects of the site.

Each map will have a legend that makes it how your theme layer is categorized and symbolized. Make sure that your legend headings and labels are easy for any person to understand.

All of the maps will incorporate a graphical hierarchy as explained in Elements of Cartographic Style.

Techniques

We will practice the techniques for creating these maps in class. We will be following the techniques discussed on the tutorials listed below, but some alternate datasets are included for our Rhode Island context.

Miscelaneous Technical Notes

a land use lookup table for the Rhode Island land use layer can be found in the Project_template/sources/pbc folder.

If you download shaded relief from RIGIS and it appears as plain gray square, you may need to change the layer properties Display -> Stretch -> None

Formatting

  1. Export each map from layout view as a jpeg image at 150dpi.
  2. Create a powerpoint presentation with a cover photograph that portrays a landscape phenomena similar to what you have discoverd in your chosen place.
  3. Your five maps with all of their associated text should be represented on each page of your powerpoint.
  4. Save the powerpoint presentation as a PDF file. It should not be more than 10 megabytes.
  5. Make sure to have this pdf file ready to project in class on Monday March 17.