Geography 463: "Geospatial Information Management"

Geospatial data is becoming ubiquitous; it is estimated that over 70% of all data currently gathered and stored in computers now have some geographic or spatially referenced component. This course examines geospatial data representations and algorithmic techniques that apply to spatially-organized databases, geographic and geologic information systems, electronic maps and other forms of geospatial data in digital form. It is designed to give students practical and theoretical insight into geospatial information handling and working practices in the geospatial industry. As part of this course, all students will complete a large-scale design and implementation exercise using current industry standards and methodologies. Emphasis is placed on the "inner workings" of geospatial databases and information systems, based on recent research and current practice. The objective of the class is to provide a technical appreciation of the various approaches that can be applied to geospatial information handling and analytical tasks. In other words, to give you an understanding of what happens inside the computer when you invoke various operations. This includes both approaches that are "standard" in current systems and those that are more recent developments in this rapidly evolving field.

The course has three major themes revolving around the key areas of data structures, algorithms and representation (data modeling). One of the unique properties of geospatial information systems is the inter-connectedness of these themes-how the choice of systems, data structures and algorithms affects the representational models of space that we use, and vice versa. The major learning goal of the course is for the students to develop an appreciation of this complex interplay and to be able to apply their understanding in the design and implementation of geospatial information systems. This course is one of the core requirements of the IST-EMS joint minor (Information Sciences and Technology for EMS).

Class participants are expected to be able to carry out some computational work. This will involve the design and development of various small pieces of geospatial information system functionality and can be conducted in a variety of environments, (the main platform for scheduled practical work will be a relational database). They are also expected to actively join in class discussion. Since this is an advanced undergraduate/graduate course, much of the course relies upon student effort and initiative, and part of the assessment will reflect this.

Professor: Donna Peuquet