All resources in Physical Sciences

World Wind

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This site features World Wind 1.3, a NASA Learning Technologies application that lets the user zoom from any satellite altitude into any place on Earth. It features 3D Engine, Blue Marble, Landsat 7, SRTM, Animated Earth, MODIS, GLOBE, Country & State Borders, Place Names, Visual Tools and Landmark Set. The user can download World Wind, reference an online manual, post to an online forum, view screen shot examples from various satellites, and read press coverage about World Wind.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Data Set, Diagram/Illustration, Interactive, Simulation

Cartography and Visualization

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Maps capture the power of place. A well-designed map can stoke our imagination, helping us to understand how a place looks or feels. Maps serve two roles. First, maps facilitate visual communication where knowns are presented to map readers. Second, maps permit visual thinking where insights into patterns and trends in spatial data are explored. In GEOG 486, Cartography & Visualization, you will learn and apply cartographic theory creating appropriately designed maps. You will learn how to associate the visual variables to symbolize types of spatial data. This process creates an appropriate visual hierarchy that conveys an informational hierarchy about the underlying message. Thus, techniques in map design will be applied to produce, evaluate, and critique reference and thematic maps.

Material Type: Full Course

Author: Cary Anderson

Cloud and Server GIS

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Is your understanding of Cloud GIS a bit hazy? Does thinking about it leave you in a fog? We've designed GEOG 865, Cloud and Server GIS, to help you understand how all of the various pieces of architecture fit together. By the end of the class you'll have a clear understanding of esri's and others' offerings in the space, how to implement ArcGIS Enterprise on Amazon EC2, make online maps with Carto and Mapbox, and engage in some blue sky thinking of your own in our weekly discussions about trends and directions.

Material Type: Full Course

Author: Sterling Quinn

Digital Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

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Geographic information systems (GIS), once used predominantly by experts in cartography and computer programming, have become pervasive in everyday business and consumer use. This unit explores GIS in general as a technology about which much more can be learned, and it also explores applications of that technology. Students experience GIS technology through the use of Google Earth on the environmental topic of plastics in the ocean in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The use of this topic in GIS makes the unit multidisciplinary, incorporating the physics of ocean currents, the chemistry associated with pollutant degradation and chemical sorption to organic-rich plastics, and ecological impact to aquatic biota.

Material Type: Full Course, Unit of Study

Authors: Andrey Koptelov, Nathan Howell

GeoTech Center Model Courses

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The GeoTech Center, a National Science Foundation grant to support geospatial programs at two-year colleges, developed Model Courses focused on building the skills, competencies, and abilities needed for entry-level occupations in the geospatial industry. Competencies covered in the Model Courses were identified using the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) and outcomes from multiple DACUM (“Developing a Curriculum”) events. A panel of geospatial education experts parsed the competencies into the Model Courses for the Certificate and are listed in a Program Content Tool that can be used to see what competencies and depth should be in each course. You can also assess your program from the GTCM Program Assessment Tool tool. All material is distributed freely under a Creative Commons license and can be used with attribution to GeoTech.

Material Type: Full Course, Lecture Notes, Lesson, Module, Reading

Geographic Foundations of Geospatial Intelligence

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A good detective or researcher like Sherlock Holmes knows the fundamental questions that need to be answered to gather facts to solve a problem. So how does geospatial intelligence contribute to answering these questions? While geospatial technology is useful in revealing who, what, when, and where events take place, it is less useful in explaining why events occur. However, geospatial intelligence analysis leverages geographic information science and technology with the intelligence tradecraft to develop products that support decision-making in national and homeland security, law enforcement, emergency management, and international relief efforts. GEOG 882 will challenge you to think critically, consider alternative viewpoints, and question your own assumptions when analyzing why human events occur over place and time.

Material Type: Full Course

Author: Mark Corson

Geographic Information Analysis

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In this data rich world, we need to understand how things are organized on the Earth's surface. Those things are represented by spatial data and necessarily depend upon what surrounds them. Spatial statistics provide insights into explaining processes that create patterns in spatial data. In geographical information analysis, spatial statistics such as point pattern analysis, spatial autocorrelation, and spatial interpolation will analyze the spatial patterns, spatial processes, and spatial association that characterize spatial data. Understanding spatial analysis will help you realize what makes spatial data special and why spatial analysis reveals a truth about spatial data.

Material Type: Full Course

Author: David O'Sullivan

Geospatial Intelligence and the Geospatial Revolution

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Geographic Intelligence (GEOINT) is more than people working with computers in a secure intelligence facility. Join us for this exciting journey to learn about GEOINT's application in business, law enforcement, and defense. Advances in satellites, GPS, unmanned aerial systems, wireless communications, handheld computing, and the ability to automate laborious map analysis processes has transformed what used to be called geographic intelligence, or GEOINT, and the nature of the insights provided to managers and leaders. We have gone from mountains of hardcopy maps to amazing automated systems that provide previously unavailable understanding. GEOINT combines geographic information science and technologies with an analytic tradecraft. You will experience the value of GEOINT. We welcome you to the Revolution.

Material Type: Full Course

Author: Todd Bacastow

10 Things You Can Do with ArcGIS Online and Story Maps

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Several new content pieces invite you to do hands-on work with web GIS technology: [1] 10 Things you can do with ArcGIS Online in education. These include: (1) Use web mapping applications. (2) Make your own map. (3) Get a school, club, or university organizational account in ArcGIS Online. (4) Use and modify existing curricular resources. (5) Explore the Living Atlas of the World. (6) Modify and ask questions of maps. (7) Conduct spatial analysis on mapped data. (8) Add multimedia to maps. (9) Explore your world in 3D, and (10) Map and analyze field-collected data. [2] Introduction and Advanced Work with Story Maps: Slides and hands-on exercises. These include how to build a story map from a web map, and how to build map tours, map journals, swipe, series, and other types of story maps. [3] Teaching with Web Apps. Set of resources and activities. These include examining Pacific typhoons in 3D, demographics of Zip Codes, creating viewsheds and buffers, and much more. [4] Spatial Analysis in Human Geography. These include the 1854 cholera epidemic in London (activity), a Boulder County hazards analysis (map), and an examination of the Human Development Index around the world (map). I created this content for the Esri mapping lab for the 2017 National Conference on Geography Education, but it can also be used to support your own professional development or for your own instruction.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Data Set

Author: Joseph J. Kerski

Contour Plates

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In this activity, students construct three-dimensional models from terrain information provided by two-dimensional topographic maps. This will allow them to visualize how changes in elevation over a certain distance can be represented on a flat piece of paper that can be folded up and tucked away. Each group is responsible for constructing a model of Mount St. Helens 'before' and 'after', a depression, a stream, and a hill. Discussion questions related to the different representations are also included.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Author: Drew Patrick

Essentials of Geographic Information Systems

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Essentials of Geographic Information Systems integrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems also illustrates how GIS is used to ask questions, inform choices, and guide policy. From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS.

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Jonathan Campbell, Michael Shin

Introduction to Geomatics

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Short Description: This OPEN textbook was developed as a supplement to Geography 222.3 (GEOG 222), Introduction to Geomatics at the University of Saskatchewan. GEOG 222 is a required course for all Geography majors (B.A., B.Sc., B.A.Sc., and Planning), as well as the gateway geomatics course for a Specialization and Certificate in Geomatics. The content of this reader is a mix of original content (95% to 100% of the text and most of the images) created by Professor Scott Bell while other material comes from attributed sources (attribution is included at the beginning of a chapter or section, or for the note taking guide, on each slide or at the culmination of a series of slides). Word Count: 26793 (Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Material Type: Textbook

Author: Scott Bell