Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module, students will have:
- Theoretical and practical knowledge of GIS applications, spatial data sources and data management issues;
- Working competence of ArcGIS Pro software;
- Spatial awareness for data interpretation; and
- Ability to demonstrate the application of GIS tools to environmental assessment and sustainable planning.
Indicative Module Content:
Topics include:
- GIS software (commercial and open-source resources);
- Environmental spatial data (international and national data providers and online data sources);
- Spatial data management issues (e.g. spatial coverage, quality, scale, metadata);
- GIS applications (examples of GIS use in environmental assessment and sustainable planning); and
- Practical application of ArcGIS Pro software.
The practical application sessions cover:
- Adding data; Layer properties; Projections and transformations; Creating and editing shapefiles and geodatabases.
- Attribute tables - Creating and managing fields; Geometry calculations; Symbology; Transparency.
- Spatial analysis: Merge, buffer, clip, erase, intersect, spatial join.
- Map layouts: Components; Exporting images.
- Basic raster data processing - e.g. slope, aspect, raster reclassification, multi-criteria analysis.