SPCI 504
Applied Geospatial Analysis

Course Introduction

Welcome To the Course

Welcome to the advanced course in Applied Geospatial Analysis. In this course, you will learn to define and answer advanced spatial questions and resolve complex spatial analytical problems to make well-informed decisions as a strategic planner.

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based information system that enables users to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display geographically referenced information (Worboys 1995). Over the last two decades, GIS has emerged as a powerful tool to perform complex spatial data analysis. GIS technology has also evolved into increasingly sophisticated and user-friendly software. As the software development has progressed, many kinds of agencies have made georeferenced data increasingly available and have improved their accuracy.

This course provides you with theoretical and practical skills you need to use GIS for analyzing spatial phenomena on the urban and regional scale. It focuses on principles and methods of spatial analysis and their application to strategic planning, risk management, and hazard mitigation. This course explores the functionality of geographic information systems as an effective tool for modeling and analyzing complex spatial relationships. You will learn geocoding and geospatial data structuring and processing through problem-based applications. Emphasis is given to data integration and modeling using both raster and vector systems. Case studies are used to highlight data limitations and methodological complexities.

Course Goals and Objectives

When you have completed this course, you will be able to

• explain the nature of spatial data and the principles of geographic information systems;
• define a spatial analytical problem;
• use different spatial data structures;
• register and project a data layer;
• design and build a geodatabase;
• specify spatial data analysis and modeling strategies;
• perform and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative spatial analysis methods;
• analyze and assess the accuracy of spatial data;
• diagnose and fix possible sources of error in spatial data; and
• visualize and present spatial analysis results.

Course Prerequisites

To enrol in this course, you must have completed the GIS Fundamentals  course (URBDP 302).

Technology Requirements and Skills

In addition to the technology requirements and skills noted in the Online Student Handbook, for this course you will be working with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) ArcGIS 9.0 (Geographic Information Systems software). After you have registered for the course, you will receive information about how to access the software from the ArcGIS server.

Course Organization

• There are ten lessons, six lab exercises, and a final essay (not an exam). The lessons cover the theory needed to successfully interact in the geospatial realm. The lab exercises are designed to give you practice using the tools available in ArcGIS. The final essay requires you to synthesize the material from this course. The lessons and the labs are designed to build one upon the other and should be done in sequence.
• In addition to the lessons and lab exercises, there are ten weekly short-answer assignments. These assignments are designed to improve your comprehension of some of the important aspects of the lessons and readings.
• The class will also have an online discussion forum to which you can post questions and on which we can hold discussions.

Lesson Topics

1. Lesson One: Principles of GIS, problem-solving using GIS, and spatial analysis
   
   • georeferenced data
   • spatial versus aspatial queries
   • GIS functionalities
   • orientation to ArcGIS

2. Lesson Two: Spatial data models, topology, and projection
   
   • topology
   • vector data structure
   • raster data model
   • coordinate systems
   • projection

3. Lesson Three: Building a geodatabase, data sources, and methods of data input
   
   • georelational databases
   • object-oriented analysis and design
   • the geodatabase model
   • Unified Modeling Language (UML)
   • examples

4. Lesson Four: Integration of remote sensing and GIS
   
   • introduction to remote sensing
   • imagery interpretation
   • accuracy assessment
   • methods of data integration

5. Lesson Five: Pattern detection, unit of analysis, and the effect of measurement scale
   
   • pattern measurement
   • choice of spatial unit
   • impact of measurement scale
   • determining optimal scale of analysis

6. Lesson Six: Modeling complex spatial phenomena in a vector GIS—spatial aggregation, matching, and networks
   
   • advanced vector modeling
   • spatial aggregation
   • spatial matching
   • network modeling

7. Lesson Seven: Modeling complex spatial phenomena in a raster GIS—neighborhood functions and spatial filtering
   
   • pixel-based modeling
   • focal, local, zonal, and global functions
   • zonal statistics
   • spatial convolution or filter

8. Lesson Eight: Modeling complex spatial phenomena—interpolation and surface analysis
   
   • digital elevation models
   • terrain visualization and analysis
   • basin delineation
   • inverse distance weighting; kriging
   • spatial statistics

9. Lesson Nine: Uncertainty, errors, and quality control
   
   • sources of error
   • ground truing
   • uncertainty assessment
   • quality control

10. Lesson Ten: Data representation and visualization
    
    • presenting spatial data
    • designing a map output
    • constructing a template
    • advanced visualization techniques

Assignments

The assignments consist of

• six discussion forum postings;
• 10 written assignments (short answer)
• six ArcGIS exercises; and
• a final essay.

For the discussion forum postings, you may either post a substantive question about the week's readings or make a substantive response to another students' posting. Each student is required to post six times during the course—either a question or a response counts as a posting.

The written assignments relate to the material from that week's readings of the text or the online commentary. Your answers should remain concise and display a high level of comprehension of the subject matter.

The final essay consists of a series of questions that require short answers; the questions will test your comprehension of all of the material in the course.You will be provided with guidelines for preparing for the final essay.

Grading

You will receive a numeric grade for this course. The numeric grading system used by the University of Washington relies on a decimal scale between 1.7 (low) and 4.0 (high).

University of Washington Grade Scale for Graduate Students:

4.0 - 3.9 = A
3.8 - 3.5 = A -
3.4 - 3.1 = B+
3.0 - 2.9 = B
2.8 - 2.5 = B-
2.4 - 2.1 = C+
2.0 - 1.7 = C

For graduate courses, grades below 1.7 are recorded as 0.0 and no credit is earned.  A minimum of 2.7 is required in each course that is counted toward a graduate degree. A 3.0 cumulative average in graduate work is required to receive a graduate degree.

Weighting of Assignments

Discussion Forum postings, written assignments, lab exercises, and the final essay are weighted as shown in Table 0.1 below.

Table 0.1—Weighted Elements for Determining a Grade

Task	Percentage of Final Grade	Points Per Task	Number of Tasks	Total Points
Forum Participation	10% of grade	5 points	6	30/300
Written Assignments	30% of grade	9 points	10	90/300
ArcGIS Exercises	30% of grade	15 points	6	90/300
Final Essay	30% of grade	90 points	1	90/300

Grading Criteria

• Grades are based on completeness, timeliness, and level of comprehension demonstrated.
• If you are going to submit an assignment late, you must contact your instructor before the assignment due date, otherwise there is a two-point penalty for each day an assignment is late.
• To pass the course, you must demonstrate mastery of 75 percent of the material as assessed through your discussion postings, written assignments, exercises, and final essay.

How Do I Submit Assignments?

• Please submit assignments according to the "Assignment Submission Guidelines" below.
• You must make at least one posting to the week's discussion forum on or before the due date, or you will receive a grade of zero for that week's posting.

Table 0.2—Task Deliverables

Week	Tasks due by the end of the week
Week 1	Written Assignment 1, ArcGIS Exercise 1
Week 2	Written Assignment 2, ArcGIS Exercise 2
Week 3	Written Assignment 3, ArcGIS Exercise 3
Week 4	Written Assignment 4, ArcGIS Exercise 4
Week 5	Written Assignment 5, ArcGIS Exercise 5
Week 6	Written Assignment 6, ArcGIS Exercise 6
Week 7	Written Assignment 7
Week 8	Written Assignment 8
Week 9	Written Assignment 9
Week 10	Written Assignment 10 and Final Essay

When Will You Respond to My Assignments?

All assignments will be reviewed and returned within one week of submission.

Your instructor will provide brief comments on each assignment. The comments are intended to challenge your thinking.

Am I Expected to Participate in Group Activities or Discussions?

As noted above, you are required to post six times to the discussion forums. You may either post a substantive question about the week's readings or make a substantive response to another students' posting. Either a question or a response counts as a posting.

It is highly recommended that you use the weekly forums to ask questions about the readings and exercises. The forums provide an opportunity to receive feedback from the instructor and other students enrolled in the class. The instructor will respond to the questions and contribute to the discussion regularly.

How Should I Study for This Course?

The goal of this course is to teach you the important concepts and theories behind GIS. It is important that you complete all readings, including the text assignments and the online commentaries; without this effort on your part, it is unlikely that you will be able to fully grasp the content of the course. This is an advanced course that requires you to be a critical thinker. The more you question the methods and techniques that are presented, the more you will be able to apply these skills to real-world problem-solving.

This course is not intended to focus on the strategies of using ArcGIS, but on the theories that underlie any GIS software package.

Here are some hints:

• Give class time priority. Fit your schedule around your class time.
• Complete the assignments soon after finishing the reading and the lesson.
• ArcGIS can throw some curves at you, so begin the projects as soon as possible. This will allow you some time to overcome any problems that unexpectedly arise.
• When doing the lab exercises, use the ArcGIS on-line Help file if you run into a problem you don't understand. Do this before posting a question in the forum. You'll learn the software better if you do this, rather than constantly seeking help from others. This method forces you to figure things out for yourself. Remember, your fellow students and your instructor will not always be available, especially once the class is over. Learn to use the Help file now, while you can still ask questions.

Assignment Submission Guidelines

You will submit your completed assignments via the submission button on your online course syllabus.

• Please note each assignment due date and the time it closes (11:59 PM, Pacific Time).
• Please submit only one assignment at a time and always keep a copy of any work you submit.
• If you anticipate that your assignment will be late, please make arrangements with your instructor before the assignment due date for a late submission.

About the Course Developer

Dr. Marina Alberti is an Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington. Dr. Alberti teaches courses in Urban Ecology, Environmental Planning, Geographic Information Systems, and Group Dynamics and Conflict Resolution. Her research interests are the impacts of alternative urban development patterns on ecosystem dynamics. She is currently directing a National Sciences Foundation-funded (NSF) research project that is studying how changes in land use alter the biophysical structure and affect ecosystem dynamics in the Puget Sound region. She is also directing another NSF-funded Biocomplexity project to develop a simulation model that integrates urban development and ecological dynamics to predict the impact of urban growth in this region. Her research also focuses on measures of urban environmental performance that can be used to monitor progress and inform policy-making. In addition, she is a co-Principal Investigator in a new interdisciplinary program in urban ecology that is experimenting with new pedagogical approaches to interdisciplinary graduate education.

References

Worboys, Michael. Geographic Information Systems: A Computing Perspective. London: Taylor and Francis, 1995.

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