OVERVIEW

The course allows you to acquire GIS (Geographic Information System) software tools, very useful for the visualization and interrogation of digital cartography, and to learn where to find and how to manage the increasing amount of cartographic information and geo-referenced data sources made available via web. The course is therefore very operative, with computer exercises applied to different interdisciplinary fields of study of the territory and the environment.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course provides the operational tools GIS for research, visualization, interrogation, management and simple spatial analysis of digital cartography and the most common geo-referenced data sources. It allows to face concrete applications in different fields of study of urban and natural environment, from urban planning to geotechnics, hydrology, hydraulics and transport, as well as the management of inspections and surveys on digital cartographic support.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Theoretical-practical acquisition of management techniques and simple analysis of geo-referenced spatial data, as a tool to support land and environment management as well as decision support.

Ability to analyse results as a function of metric resolution of data.

Use of GIS Free and Open Source software in accordance with the directive of the Minister for Innovation and Technologies of 19 December 2003 that encourages the use of these technologies.

PREREQUISITES

none

TEACHING METHODS

Theoretical lessons followed by computer classroom lessons to put these notions into practice.

The course is held in Italian but slides and bibliographical references are available in English.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Introduction to GIS tools

Geographic Information Systems (GIS): basic operating logic and functionality, overview of application areas, main existing software (in particular Free and Open Source)

Digital mapping: conceptual and logical data models (raster and vector, fields and entities), nominal scale and resolution, hints at topology, metadata and European directive INSPIRE

Recall to the most widely used reference systems and cartographic projections

Reference systems and cartographic projections: their characteristics, the EPSG international codes, the georeferencing process

GIS data sources

The official Italian cartography: characteristics and availability

Digital Terrain Models (DTM): characteristics, data structures, (interpolation methods)

Photos and Orthophotos: information on optical characteristics, acquisition procedures, storage formats, orthophotos and satellite images

Notes on LiDAR and GNSS data

Introduction to GeoWebServices: Availability and use of geographical data via web.

Introduction to GeoDataBases: their structure and SQL queries

Introduction to QuantumGIS

Project setup and data import in QGIS

Visualization and integration of different data sources

Importing WMS services and importing OpenStreetMap data

Management and simple analysis of DTMs in QGIS

Image management and georeferencing

Operative exercises

Example of application in hydrology: analysis of basins

Example of application in river hydraulics: management and analysis of river sections and/or flood areas

Example of application in geotechnics: extensive analysis of factors predisposing to landslide failure

Example of application in urban planning: analysis of risk propensity cartography and intersection with ISTAT data.

Example of application in trasport: Analysis of transport networks

Example of a guided application on site inspection management: GPS tracks and photos taken (possibly including data acquisition on site)

Example of a guided application for publishing GIS maps on the web

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lecture notes and material provided by the teacher.

Texts for consultation:

Burrough P.A., McDonnel R.A., Principles of Geographical Information Systems, Oxford University Press, 1998.

Longley P.A., Goodchild M.F., Maguire D.J., Rhind D.W., Geographic Information Science and Systems, Ed. John Wiley & Sons, 2015, ISBN: 1118676955, 9781118676950.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

BIANCA FEDERICI (President)

ILARIA FERRANDO

DOMENICO SGUERSO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

beginning of the second semester

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam (in Italian or English), with presentation of an application realized by the students in small groups.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam includes an oral test, with presentation and discussion of an application made in small groups aimed at a deepening of a guided exercise carried out during the course. In this test will be ascertained also the theoretical knowledge of some fundamental concepts for a correct management of the geographic data, such as the reference systems and the cartographic projections, the resolutions and accuracies, and of some techniques of elaboration of the same.