Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Essentials

Offered By: University of Alaska Fairbanks via edX

Course Description

Overview

Learn foundations of GIS concepts and technology to view, understand, query, visualize, and interpret spatial data to reveal patterns and relationships for problem-solving and better decision making.

“GIS is about uncovering meaning and insights from within data.” Jack Dangermond, CEO of Esri, the creators of ArcGIS.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was once an esoteric technology limited to geographers and data scientists. It is now available to everyone. Thousands of organizations in virtually every field are using GIS to analyze data, make maps that reveal patterns and relationships, share insights, and solve complex problems of local to global significance.

There is a growing need for a workforce skilled in GIS. This professional GIS certificate program will provide a comprehensive introduction to state-of-the-art methods and modern applications of GIS with the goal to prepare students for entry-level GIS jobs and undergraduate programs in geospatial sciences. Using the industry leading ArcGIS Pro GIS software, students will work with GIS datasets to support better decision making across many applications through data analysis of geographic data.

GIS is a growing technology field with widespread applications in government agencies and private industries. The global GIS market size stood at $7.5 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach $25.6 billion by 2030 (Source).

The rising investments in GIS-based infrastructure and solutions by the government sector, for military and aerospace applications, and by the private sector for real-time decision-making in industries such as construction, utilities, mining, and healthcare are the key factors driving the growth in the GIS applications.

"The skills I have acquired from this program give me a boost in performing my tasks as a GIS Analyst. The courses are well structured. The Professional Certificate I have obtained became the reason for me to be invited as resource speaker in a local professional assembly and GIS workshops."

Arnold T. Tanondong, M.Sc.
J.H. Cerilles State College, Philippines

"The ability to represent any kind of data on a map is very powerful. The material and the exercises in this program are about real world situations. This allows learners to create meaningful presentations of data to inform decisions that can allow a community, an organization, or even a country, to move forward."

Yiorgos Theodoropoulos, GIS Essentials Learner

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: GIS Foundations

Learn foundations of GIS concepts and geospatial technology to view, understand, query, visualize, and interpret geospatial data to reveal patterns and relationships for effective problem-solving and better decision making.

Course 2: 3D GIS

Take your maps into the third dimension: Learn GIS concepts and tools to visualize, analyze, and interpret spatial data in 3D. Reveal patterns that can lead to better decision making.

Course 3: GIS Image Analysis in ArcGIS Pro

Learn fundamentals of remote sensing, image analysis, image processing and its application to real-world problems such as changing water bodies, vegetation health, and wildfire severity.

Courses

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4 weeks, 3-5 hours a week, 3-5 hours a week
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Image analysis is the extraction of meaningful information from an image to accomplish a simple task like understanding the landscape or to solve a complex problem like face recognition.

This course is focused on image analysis and applications in the area of natural resource management, geography, geology, and environmental studies. Participants will use a variety of remotely sensed data including high resolution aerial photo, Landsat and Terra MODIS satellite data to solve specific problems.

Learners in this course will learn fundamentals of remote sensing, image processing and image analysis. Learn image analysis in Esri ArcGIS Pro through hands-on exercises including image display, image interpretation, change detection using spectral indices, supervised and unsupervised image classification for land cover mapping, and effect of arctic warming on vegetation productivity.

The course features lessons covering GIS image analysis applications on real-world problems.

Verified track learners will receive one-year ArcGIS Pro Desktop (Windows) license with support only for tools used in the course in addition to unlimited course access and a verified certificate.

Sign up for this online course or full GIS Essentials certificate today to expand your skillset in geographic information systems.
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4 weeks, 3-5 hours a week, 3-5 hours a week
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Maps are graphic representations of reality and help us understand and navigate the world around us. Maps can incorporate third dimension through contours, hillshading (3D modeling), and profile views.

In this course you will learn fundamentals of third dimension (3D) GIS concepts and tools to visualize, analyze, and interpret geospatial data in 3D, enabling you to reveal patterns and relationships for more effective problem-solving and decision making.

When the data include the third dimension, ArcGIS Scene allows us to navigate through the data in 3D space. This makes the data and the problem more understandable and reveals new visual insights. Visualizing and processing the data in 3D allows us to include real-world elements in the analysis such as undulation of terrain and 3D extent of trees, building, and subsurface geology.

Our world is three dimensional and many GIS applications now require 3D analysis. Esri’s ArcGIS Scene allows us to visualize data on a world sphere. It provides a variety of tools for orientation, navigation, search, data preparation, building workflows and spatial analysis.

3D mapping and visualization is used in a variety of industries and academic disciplines:
- Monitoring forest stand height and age
- Volumetric analysis of resource extraction from a mine or water level in a reservoir
- Watershed delineation to assess inundation risk, land management, environmental monitoring
Verified track learners will receive one-year ArcGIS Pro Desktop (Windows) license with support only for tools used in the course in addition to unlimited course access and a verified certificate.

Sign up for this online course or full GIS Essentials certificate today to expand your skillset in geographic information systems.
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4 weeks, 3-5 hours a week, 3-5 hours a week
View details

GIS is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. Using the principles of geographic science, it integrates many types of geospatial data, analyzes their relationships, and organizes them in layers of information for visualization and improved understanding. This free online course focuses on ESRI’s ArcGIS software, the industry standard within GIS software. Jack Dangermond, CEO of ESRI, describes GIS as “uncovering meaning and insights from within data.”

Participants in this course will learn GIS concepts and fundamentals, tools, and processing applicable to problems in a variety of fields, including cartography, remote sensing, data science, public health, health care, information technology, social science, urban planning, government, and business. Your enrollment in this course will prepare you to work with spatial data and conduct spatial data analysis with datasets and geographic data.

This self-paced course is designed for self-study. Coursework covers GIS applications of real-world problems, and prepares learners for more advanced applications such as 3D GIS and GIS Image Analysis, the two other GIS courses in the GIS Essentials Professional Certificate program. This course can be taken individually as an elective or as part of this larger specialization.

GIS, once an esoteric technology limited to geographers and data scientists, is now available to everyone. Thousands of organizations in virtually every field are using GIS to analyze data, make maps that reveal patterns and relationships, share insights, and solve complex problems of local to global significance in the areas of sustainability, land use, watershed mapping, and more. The ability to conduct this kind of geospatial analysis and conduct web mapping is a skill growing in relevance to employers.

Verified track learners will receive one-year ArcGIS Pro Desktop (Windows) license with support only for tools used in the course in addition to unlimited course access and a verified certificate.

Sign up for this online course or full GIS certificate today to expand your skillset in geographic information systems.

Taught by

Santosh Panda, Anushree Badola and Chris Smith