Geography 462 - Coastal Geographic Information Systems

11/17/16, 3(12 PM

Geography 462/562: Coastal Geographic Information Systems

Winter, 2017
MWF 9:30 - 10:20
MTWTH Labs Smith 401

http://courses.washington.edu/geog462
UW catalog course description
Instructors:
Tim Nyerges, Professor, nyerges@u.washington.edu
Smith 402, Office hours : W 10:30AM-11:20PM or by appointment
Adam Kowalski, Teaching Assistant, akowalsk@@uw.edu
Sherman Lab, Office hours: to be announced in lab section
Locations:
Lectures: Benson Hall 117 MWF
Lab Sections: Geography Department's Sherman Lab (Smith 401) for Geog 462/562 on Tuesday/Thursday
(Section AA) and Monday/Wednesday (Section AB).
Overview:
Geography 462 is an intermediate course that examines the theory and application of geographic information
systems (GIS). It combines an overview of general principles of geographic information science and practical
experience in the analytical processing and use of geospatial information with GIS. The lectures introduce
students to the analytical treatment of geographic information using several frameworks for understanding
data, software operations, and systems. The course adopts a thematic focus on coastal concerns in the Puget
Sound Region. Coastal is defined as the watershed basins that drain into Puget Sound as well as the water of
Puget Sound; the idea being that both raster and vector data models are treated. Over one-half the US
population lives in only 17% of the land area along coasts. Several readings that support both GIS concepts
and coastal concepts are made available through .pdf on a password protected web site. Students work with
many of these concepts and skills in laboratory assignments, discussion sessions and a final project
undertaken in student teams. Lab assignments take place in the Geography Department's Sherman Lab (Smith
401) as hands on experience with ESRI's ArcGIS. The lab assignments, and particularly the final project,
require additional hours of work outside of the lab session according to the U of Washington guidelines that 2
hours of outside work are expected for every hour of class time. In the lecture and the labs we make use of a
coastal data model developed as an integration of the ArcMarine and ArcHydro data models to investigate
interaction of the terrestrial and marine environments of coastal areas. The dynamic (i.e. change) about
terrestrial and marine/estuarine environments is an important underlying theme of the course. Students are
expected to participate in discussion sessions on a diverse range of pertinent geographic information topics
and applications. Web resources will provide lecture notes, lab assignment materials, case study materials
and sources for geographic data and analysis at UW and around the world.
This course is designed for a broad range of students, but each student should have some exposure to the
procedures used to make maps and some introduction to the use of spatial information. Students should have
exposure to ArcGIS through Geog 360 Principles of GIS Mapping or its equivalent such as GIS in surveying,
site analysis for landscape architects, or environmental sciences. A multidisciplinary mix of students helps
demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of geographic information applications.

http://courses.washington.edu/geog462/462overview_2017.html

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Geography 462 - Coastal Geographic Information Systems

11/17/16, 3(12 PM

Although there are several definitions for GIS, Prof. Nyerges' working definition of GIS for this course is: a
combination of hardware, software, data, people, procedures, and institutional arrangements for collecting,
storing, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying information about spatially distributed phenomena for the
purpose of inventory, decision making and/or problem solving within operations, management, strategic
contexts. Although Prof. Nyerges' focus for this course is on landscape, water resource, and coastal
geographic processes, other related regional issues are treated based on teaching assistant and student interest
through readings and class discussion.
The fundamental learning goals for students in this course are to:
understand the challenges, intellectual benefits and costs of integrated data processing strategies with
GIS, particularly within landscape contexts of water resource and coastal region management and
sustainability issues. These strategies include (but are not limited to) problem definition, database
design, data collection, data structuring, data analysis, and information presentation.
master the use of several GIS data processing strategies as applied through hands-on use of GIS
software to complete laboratory assignments as practice in critical enquiry.
experience the process of working in groups in order to encourage a broader and deeper
understanding about the value of using geographic information to address complex geographic issues
within a context of a pluralistic society, i.e., a society that mediates multi-valued interests for overall
improvement.
Required Reading:
Texts: Chrisman, N. (2002). Exploring Geographic Information Systems, 2nd ed, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Beatley, T., Brower D. J. and Schwab, A. K. (2002). An Introduction to Coastal Zone Management,
nd
2 ed, Island Press.
Selected readings: available through web site links on course schedule.
Lab reading: Using_Spatial_Analyst_Tutorial.pdf
Optional Reading:
For those wanting more background exercises in GIS: Getting to Know ArcGIS 4th Edition
Grading:
Geography 462 students:
- Exam 1 - short answer essay questions, 100 points, 25% of final grade.
- Exam 2 - short answer essay questions, 100 points, 25% of final grade.
- Six lab assignments with an increasing percentage of points across the quarter, total 150 points, 37.5% of
final grade.
- Final project: 1) scoping - 10 points, 2) presentation 10 points, and 3) report - 30 points, total 50 points
12.5% of final grade.
- Peer evaluation learning assessment for final project; final project will not be graded unless submitted.
Geog 562 students:
Same as Geography 462, plus an extra project of your choice as approved by Prof. Nyerges
ArcInfo 10.4.1 with Spatial Analyst Software available in Geography's Sherman Lab (Smith 401) on
Windows 8.1. Software is also available on workstations in the Geography Commons Room (Smith 411) and
the Geography Collaboratory (Smith 415C).

http://courses.washington.edu/geog462/462overview_2017.html

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