Lab Syllabus

GEO 2471

Advanced GIS

Hybrid Course

Fall 2008

Synonym 25700

 

Contact Information

Instructor:       Dr. Mary Beth Booth, OD

Office:             Room 2145, Building 2000

Northridge Campus

E-mail:             mbooth@austincc.edu

Telephone:       512-223-4023

Office Hours:

 

 Required Textbook/Materials

USB Drive (aka thumb drive, pen drive, flash drive, etc). This drive should have at least 2 GB of storage. ( I recommend a minimum of 4 GB),

 

 Required Technology for the Hybrid course

            A computer with the following minimum specifications:

                       

                        Platform: PC-Intel

                        Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows 2000

                        Processor: 1.6 GHz

                        Memory/RAM: 1 GB minimum (2 GB recommended)

                        DVD-ROM Drive

                        Disk space: 2.4 GB

           

Reliable Internet access and a working email address ("working" also means that your mailbox is not full.)

 


Grading for Lab Only

 

Lab Project 1                                                   30 points

Lab project 2                                                  30 points

Lab project 3                                                   40 points

Completion of Virtual Campus Courses         30 points

Completion of tutorial exercises                     15 points

           

Total Points Available                                   145 points

 


 

Students with Special Needs

Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.

 

Academic Integrity

Students enrolled in this class are responsible for observing the policy on academic integrity described in the 2006-2007 ACC Student Handbook.

Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work. Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations, and homework.

If a student commits any of the above actions, the instructor may seek disciplinary action in the form of an academic penalty (which may include a course grade of 'F'). Such disciplinary action will be at the discretion of the instructor.

 

Completion of Spatial Analyst Virtual Campus Course  

You will complete the six modules of the ESRI Virtual Campus course on Spatial Analyst. At the end of each module, there is a quiz. You must pass the quiz with an 80% score to get credit for that module. When you have successfully completed all six modules, print out the certificate of completion and hand it to the instructor. You will receive 5 points for completing each module for a total of 30 points.

 

Completion of Tutorial Exercises

You will complete the three exercises that come with the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Tutorial. Once you have completed the exercises, turn in the following to earn 15 points:

o   A copy of your completed model that you created in ModelBuilder for the new school site selection process

o   A map with the location of the optimal site for the new school

o   A map showing the alternate access route to the new school site

 

Lab Projects

There will be three lab projects due throughout the semester. These lab projects will use the skills acquired from the previous lab exercises. You will be given a one-year student copy of the ArcGIS software to complete the lab exercises and projects. Some of the lab data will be given to you. You will have to download other lab data.

 

First Lab Project: Wildfire Risk Assessment

You will create a composite wildfire risk assessment map based on slope and vegetation type. In the model, the slope will be given twice as much weight as vegetation. Most of the data will be provided to you.

Second Lab Project: Landfill Analysis

You will determine the optimal location for a new landfill in Gallatin, Montana based on three criteria: the distance to existing open landfills, the distance to existing streams, and the soil drainage. All factors will be equally weighted. Most of the data will be provided to you.

 

 

Third Lab Project: Analysis of Changes in Crime Patterns over Time OR a project of your own choosing

You have a choice for this lab project – you can analyze changes in crime patterns over time OR you can design and carry out your own project.

 

Analysis of Change in Crime Patterns over Time

You will use a table of crime statistics and a zip code shapefile to create density surfaces of the crimes in a region for two different time periods. Then you will use Map Algebra to show the changes in crime over time (i.e., which areas had increased crime rates, which areas had decreased crime rates, and which areas had no significant changes in crime rates over the 10-year study period). A brief oral presentation of your project to the class will be part of your grade

 

Your Own Project

You can create your own project with instructor approval. Your project must use at least three variables and it must use the analysis capabilities of the Spatial Analyst extension. You will submit a written proposal by November 12, 2008. A brief oral presentation of your project to the class will be part of your grade.

 

 

 


Lab Schedule  (Subject to change at the instructor’s discretion)

Week(s) of

Subject

Aug 27 – Oct 8

Spatial Analyst Virtual Campus

Oct 15

Spatial Analyst Tutorial exercises

Oct 22 - 29

Lab Project 1

Nov 5  - 12

Lab Project 2

Nov 19, 26, and Dec 3

Lab Project 3

Dec 10

Presentations of Lab Project 3