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Course

Applications in Geographic Information Analysis - ZPEM8206

Faculty: UNSW Canberra at ADFA

School: School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences @ UNSW Canberra at ADFA

Course Outline: https://gateway.unsw.adfa.edu.au/isas/current_students/outlines/index.html

Campus: UNSW Canberra at ADFA

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 4

Enrolment Requirements:

Prerequisite: ZPEM8202

CSS Contribution Charge: 2 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

Ever worked on a GIS project (for uni or for work) where you had a mind-numbingly repetitive task that nearly drove you mad? Ever felt frustrated that a GIS package lacked the functionality that you really wanted? Applications in Geographic Information Analysis is an advanced GIS course that emphasizes creating custom applications of geographic information systems technologies for solving geographical problems. We will explore the potential for using a number of different automation technologies with GIS (e.g., Python and VBA) and you will build practical skills in implementing these technologies throughout the course of the class. The course has been designed to cater for students with no background or prior experience in programming.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course you should be able to:
  1. Examine a custom GIS application and
  2. understand how its developers used code (i.e.,
  3. a computer program) to extend the functionality
  4. of the basic geographic information system.
  5. Decide what type of customization is most
  6. appropriate for your project’s needs (i.e., Can
  7. you borrow snippets of code someone else has
  8. already written or do you need to start from
  9. scratch? Or how can we connect two existing
  10. pieces of software to achieve the desired end
  11. result?).
  12. Create an implementation plan for extending
  13. the functionality of a geographic information
  14. system and carry out this plan to customize
  15. your application.
  16. Properly document the process you went
  17. through to create your custom application.

Delivery Mode

Distance

Topics

N/A

Assessment

5 Quizzes 15%
5 Practical exercise 30%
Major Project Proposal 40%
Class Participation 5%

Course Texts/Software

We will make reference to a number of materials in this course, ranging from technical papers to journal articles to textbooks. Lots of information about Python itself is available online. Links to some of the more useful sites will be provided within Moodle.

Prescribed Texts:

Nil

Recommended Texts:

Downey, Allen B. (2012). Think Python. How to
think like a computer scientist. Needham, MA:
Green Tea Press. PDF is downloadable from:
http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.pdf
Or order from amazon

Jennings, Nathan. (2011). A Python Primer for
ArcGIS. Self-published through Amazon.

This text provides a number of examples and a
basic overview of some of the things that can be done with Python and ArcGIS, but I don’t really think it’s a great introduction to the fundamentals of programming. Making sure you learn these will serve you better in the long-term.

Zandbergen, Paul. (2013). Python Scripting for
ArcGIS. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.


Prescribed Software:
You will be provided with a one-year time-out license for ArcGIS 10.1 if you do not have access to the software at work or elsewhere, so that you will be able to complete your major project after the coursework component of the class if you are a resident student at the Kensington or Canberra campus, you should also have access to ArcGIS in software labs on your campus.

Resources

N/A
ADFA Graduation

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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