The course program focuses on the GIS fundamentals and aims to give some skills on geographic data management and on thematic maps production.

What are Geographic Information systems.

The technologies that have changed the geographic information management by 

going from traditional cartography to the digital world.

What is a geographic information system (GIS) and who does use the 

geographic information systems.

The nature of geographic data and how does manage them.

The geographic data as sample observations and the concepts to infer 

data about locations missing information.

Representing geographic data relative to discrete objects and continuous 

fields: vectors and rasters.

Georeferencing data to place the digital objects relative to the Earth surface.

The software managing the geographic information.

Data storage, data processing, display functions, data management.

The three main types of architecture to implement GIS.

Modeling the real world with a geographic database.

Geographic data models in a digital system.

Sources of geographic information and methods to enter it into a GIS.

Methods of geographic data capture and data transfer.

The Geometries of geographic data and the Attribute data: collection and 

organization.

The role of databases in geographic information systems.

The management of large and complex database with specialist database 

management systems (DBMS) software to organize, storage and access data.

Cartography and geographic information systems: criteria of composing 

a thematic map.

The production of digital and hardcopy thematic maps with GIS.

Spatial concepts of analysis and modeling with some examples by using software.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Frontal lectures with simulated software project.

Attendance

Course attendance is not mandatory but is strongly recommended, because the course shall cover subjects strictly related to the use of software.

Course books

To gain more insights it is suggested to read the free online text:"Geospatial Analysis, a Comprehensive Guide to Principles, Techniques, and Software Tools" 5th edition, authors: Michael de Smith, Michael F. Goodchild, Paul A. Longley (edizione web)

or the book: "Geographic Information Systems and Science" 4th edition", authors: Paul A. Longley, Michael F. Goodchild, David J. Maguire, David W. Rhind.

Assessment

The final exam consists of questions about the topics and lab exercises covered in class.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.