Department of Geography & Resource Management

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

GRM 1024 Geoinformatics and Information Technology

First Term, 2009-2010

Professors: Fung Tung FYB 238A

Huang Bo FYB 206

Graduate: Leung Chiu Yin FYB 232

Assistants Li Rongrong FYB 219

Lecture: Monday 2:30 – 4:15 pm SB LT2

Laboratory: Group 1 T6-T8 1:30 – 4:15 pm FYB 222

Group 2 W6-W8 1:30 – 4:15 pm FYB 222

Website: Please login the university webCT site. http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/elearning/webct6




Course Description

Making the best use of modern IT to study is a fundamental tool for every university student. This course introduces the background and use of IT, in particular geoinformatics in geographical and resource management studies.

Geoinformatics, a relatively new terminology, comprises studies which deal with technologies in the acquisition, storage, management, interpretation, analysis and presentation of spatial data. It is closely linked and rooted in the technologies of cartography, remote sensing, geographic information systems and surveying. This course introduces geoinformatics technologies and how these technologies are used in geographical studies. It discusses the nature and variety of spatial data, methods to acquire them, techniques used to interpret and analyze them and how they are integrated in geographic information systems (GIS). Conventional methods of map and photo interpretation are studied. More recently developed technologies in remote sensing, GIS and global positioning systems (GPS) are introduced.

As a first year course, other learning skills such as library search, referencing of literature and search of geographical data from useful websites are also practiced.

Learning Objectives

·  To understand the importance of data and information for geographical studies.

·  To have a basic understanding of various types of spatial data

·  To have a fundamental concept of what geoinformatics is, how spatial data are being handled with these technologies and how they can serve geographical and resource management studies

Course Schedule

Week / Month / Date / Topic
1 / September / 7 / IT Development and GIScience
·  IT development
·  What is GIScience
·  Problem solving with GIScience
2 / 14 / From Maps to GIS
·  Functions of Maps
·  Types of Maps
·  Integration of Spatial Data in GIS
3 / 21 / Nature of Spatial Data
·  Classification of spatial data
·  Location and georeferencing
·  Attribute
·  Time
4 / 28 / Collecting Spatial data
·  Field studies
·  Digital Maps in Hong Kong
·  Global Positioning Systems
5 / October / 5 / Images: Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images
·  Information from Images
·  Principles of Aerial Photographs
·  Interpretation of Aerial Photographs
6 / 12 / Images: Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images
·  Types of satellite
·  Information available from satellites
7 / 19 / MID-TERM TEST
GIS Principles
·  Components of GIS
·  Software/Hardware
·  Users/Organization
8 / 26 / Holiday
9 / November / 2 / GIS Principles (continued)
10 / 9 / GIS Data Input
·  Map
·  Image + Map
11 / 16 / GIS Data Models
·  Raster
·  Vector
·  Topological
·  TIN
12 / 23 / Analysis with GIS
·  Spatial data query
·  Measurement
·  Buffer
·  Overlay
13 / 30 / Applications
·  Urban planning
·  Resource management

Laboratory Schedule

Week / Month / Date /

Group

/

Laboratory

3 / Sep / 22
23 / 1
2 / Use of Library Resources and
Referencing for Literature
5 / Oct / 6
7 / 1
2 / Interpretation of Aerial Photographs
7 / Oct / 20
21 / 1
2 / Spatial information in Hong Kong
8 / Oct / 27
28 / 1
2 / Basic GIS operations
10 / Nov / 10
11 / 1
2 / Desktop mapping
12 / Nov / 24
25 / 1
2 / Spatial analysis

Assignment

Week / Month / Due
Date /

Assignment

6 / Oct / 16 / Geographical information in Hong Kong
13 / Dec / 4 / Understanding Spatial Data Models
14 / Dec / 11 / Spatial analysis

Details of the assignment will be sent out three weeks before the due date. It will be posted on the course webCT for you to download.

Assessment

Laboratory 30%

Assignment 15%

Mid-Term Test 15%

Examination 40%

Honesty in Academic Work

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/ .

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via the plagiarism detection engine CUPIDE, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment. Assignments without the receipt will not be graded by teachers.

References

Course materials are kept in the course website. This website includes basic lecture notes, course calendar, references, chatroom, bulletin board and links. You can find more materials available via this website.

Reading materials will also be kept in the GRM1024 Box in the departmental reference room.

* Books reserved in the CC Library.

General Text

* Clarke, K.C., 2003, Getting Started with Geographic Information Systems, 4th edition, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. (check also http://www.prenhall.com/clarke for online information of this book)

Chrisman, N.R., 2002, Exploring Geographic Information Systems, 2nd edition, Wiley, New York.

Davis, B.E., 2001, GIS: A Visual Approach, 2nd edition, Onward Press, Albany.

DeMers, M.N., 2005, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, 3rd edition, John Wiley Sons, New York.

* Lo, C.P. and Yeung, A.K.W., 2007, Concepts and Techniques of Geographic Information Systems, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

* Longley, P.A., Goodchild, M.F., Maguire, D.J. and Rhind, D.W., 2005, Geographic Information Systems and Science, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Son, Chicester. (check http://www.wiley.com/gis for online information of this book)

On Cartography

Campbell, J., 1991, Introductory Cartography, 2nd edition, Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque.

Kraak, M.J. and F.J. Ormeling, 2003, Cartography, Visualization of Spatial Data, 2nd edition, Pearson, Harlow.

Robinson, A.H. et al., 1995, Elements of Cartography, 6th edition, John Wiley Sons, New York.

On Remote Sensing

Arnold, R.H., 1997, Interpretation of Airphotos and Remotely Sensed Images, Prentice-Hall, New York.

Avery, T.E. and G.L. Berlin, 1992, Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Airpohto Interpretation, Fifth Edition, Macmillan, New York.

* Lillesand, T.M., R.W. Kiefer and J.W. Chipman, 2004, Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation, 4th Edition, John Wiley and Son, New York.

Spectral Imagery Training Center, 1997, Multispectral Imagery Reference Guide, Logicon, Fairfax, Virginia.

Parkinson, C.L., 1997, Earth from above: using color-coded satellite images to examine the global environment, University Science Books, Sausalito, California.

Strain, P. and F. Engle, 1992, Looking at Earth, Turner Pub. Atlanta.

http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/ccrs/learn/tutorials/fundam/fundam_e.html (Tutorial of Canada Centre for Remote Sensing)

http://research.umbc.edu/~tbenja1/ (Remote sensing core curriculum of Americal Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing)

On Surveying and GPS

Chen Yong-qi, 1995, Global Positioning System and Its Applications, Department of Geography Occasional Paper No. 125, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

McElroy, S., 1996, Getting Started with GPS Surveying, GPSCO, Bathurst.

Ritchie, W. et al., 1988, Surveying and Mapping for Field Scientist, Longman, Harlow.

http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/education/curricula/giscc/units/u017/u017_f.html

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html

On Geographic Information Systems

Bernhardsen, T., 2002, Geographical Information Systems, An Introduction, 3rd Edition, Wiley, New York.

Heywood, I., Cornelius, S., and Carver, S. 2002. An introduction to Geographical Information SYstems, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Harlow.

http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/giscc/

(Core curricula in Geographic Information Science of National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis)

http://www.gis.com/