GEOG 260 - Geographic Information in a Changing World: Introduction to GIScience

In a rapidly changing world, detailed, up-to-date geographic data are indispensable in governance, commerce, security, public health, and many other domains. These data are also needed to support research intended to improve our understanding of social and environmental systems. Making data useful in these domains requires methods and tools that transform data to information and that make that information accessible where and when it is needed. Geographic data specify the locations and characteristics of people, and objects both natural and anthropogenic in nature. Geographic data are produced by several formal methods, including land surveying, aerial photography and photogrammetry, satellite remote sensing and positioning systems, and social surveys such as those conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. They also are derived through informal methods that rely on the vast and growing array of location-enabled devices including cell phones, smart watches, credit card transaction records, and RFID tags on packages, along with volunteers compiling input to projects such as the Open Street Map. Geographic information systems (GIS) and related technologies are used to turn those data into the information people need to make informed decisions. Maps and related graphics generated on a wide array of devices from cell phones to large touch-screen displays then make the information more accessible and by doing so enable those decisions. Geographic Information Science (GIScience) is concerned with the design, development, and use of geographic information and technologies (also called geospatial technologies) to help institutions and individuals respond to, and ideally to predict, environmental and social change. This course provides a broad, practical foundation of Geographic Information Science methods and technologies for aspiring Geography majors and students pursuing the Geographic Information Science minor or undergraduate certificate.