Geographical Information Systems - Part 1

Overview

The programme

In this first part of the Geographical Information Systems - Part 1 offered by Coursera in partnership with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, we will focus on the digitization and the storage of geodata. In particular, you will learn:

• To characterize spatial objects and/or phenomena (territory modeling) with respect to their position in space (through coordinate systems, projections, and spatial relationships) and according to their intrinsic nature (object/vector mode vs. Image/raster mode); 

• About the different means used to acquire spatial data; including direct measurement, georeferencing images, digitization, existing data source, etc.);

• About the different ways in which geodata can be stored - notably, files and relational databases;

• How to use data modeling tools to describe and create a spatial database;

• To query and analyze data using SQL, a common data manipulation language.

The second part of this course will focus on methods of spatial analysis and geodata representation. In this section, you will learn:

• How to describe and quantify the spatial properties of discrete variables, for example through spatial autocorrelation;

• To work with continuous variables. In particular, we will look at sampling strategies, how to construct contour lines and isovalue curves, and we will explore different interpolation methods;

• To use digital elevation models and create their derivative products (i.e. slope, orientation);

• How to evaluate the interaction between different types of geodata through overlay and interaction techniques;

• How to create effective maps based around the rules of graphic semiology;

• Finally, we will also explore other, increasingly common, forms of spatial representation such as interactive web-mapping and 3D representations.