GEOG 620        Fall  2006

Advanced Geographical Information Analysis

Class Hours:                 Monday & Wedesday  10:10 -11:50 am                                  

Location:                      HSS 290 (the Geographic Teaching Lab)

Course Materials:         P:\courses\G620\fall2006 

Instructor:                     XiaoHang Liu (xhliu@sfsu.edu)

Office Location:            HSS 269, 415-338-7509

Office hours:                 M & W 9:40 – 10:10am & 15:40-16:10pm

Teaching Assistant:       Jordan Wendell

Text:

1. B = Bolstad, P. GIS Fundamentals. Eider Press.

2. ESRI = ESRI, ArcGIS 9: Building a Geodatabase. ESRI Press.

3. Zeiler, M., 1999. Modeling our world: the ESRI Guide to Geodatabase Design. ESRI Press, p.195.

Software:

Student license of ArcView 9.1 with 3 extensions is available free for enrolled students. Note some of the labs requires functions NOT available in the free license.

Course Description:

This course is an advanced GIS course with emphasis on vector GIS. Topics include the concepts and techniques of spatial data capture, analysis, management, and cartographic output; topological rules and advanced editing procedures; how to work with multiple data structures, and the design and evaluation of geographic information system for specific applications. Direct experience in the use of GIS tools (particularly ArcGIS desktop 9) is emphasized.

Prerequisites: Familiarity with ArcGIS 9. Geog. 603 or equivalent is required, Geog. 621 is recommended.

Course Objectives:

• To deepen your knowledge of GIS theory

• Obtain a fundamental knowledge of higher level spatial modeling applications

• Learn tools for GIS application design and development. 

Materials: Each student is required to prepare a USB thumb drive to every class meeting.

Methods of Instruction: Lecture, demonstration, laboratory, and discussion. For most assignments, student should plan on working three to four extra hours in addition to the assigned lab time.

Grading and Exams: There will be 9 lab exercises, 1 project, 1 paper exam and 2 take-home exams.  All lab exercises, project, and exams are required to pass this class. All assignments and exams must be submitted electronically by the specified deadline. No late submission will be accepted!

Grading will be on a percentage basis: 100-90% A, 89-80% B, 79-70% C, 69-60% D. Plus/minus grades will be assigned for points near the margins.

The course grade will be based on the following allocations: 45% labs, 25% take-home exams, 13% final project, 2% class participation.

For each exam, I will provide one week prior notice. Exams will cover the material discussed in class and in the lab exercises. Exams will be collected after we have reviewed them in class. You may have access to them at any time, but you may not photocopy them or take them with you.

Schedule:

Syllabus and schedule are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances. Students are responsible to catch up with the announcements and changes.