Geography 591: Introduction to Geographic Information Science

Instructor: David M. Mark

Email: dmark@buffalo.edu

Note: This course does NOT include any software training or laboratories, which are available in Geography 506 and other courses.

Geography 591 presents a survey of Geographic Information Science, the basic research field underpinning geographic information systems (GIS). Geographic information science rests on three basic areas: cognitive models of geographic concepts; computational and implementations of geographic models; and interactions between GIS and society. The course will provide overviews of these three research areas. The course will review applications of GIS and sources of geographic data, and include material on spatial data quality and spatial data standards. It also will provide students with an awareness of the history of GIS, the current state of the GIS industry, and trends and projections for the future. Ethical issues and legal dimensions of geographic information will be presented, and current high priority research areas within geographic information science also will be reviewed. This course is required course in UB's IGERT (Integrated Graduate Education and Research Training) multidisciplinary Ph.D. in Geographic Information Science.

Facts About the Course

SPRING 2008 INFORMATION: GEO 591

Registration Number: 263347

TIMETABLE: Geography 591 meets twice a week (Tuesdays & Thursdays), 3:30-4:50 pm.

CREDIT HOURS: Geography 591 is a 3-credit course

GRADING: Two non-cumulative short-essay tests will each be worth 35 % of the grade, and a term paper will be worth 30 %.

Spring 2008 Course Outline

(subject to modification)

---

• Jan 15 (Tu) Course Introduction; Defining Geographic Information Science
• What is GI Science?
• Course overview
• Jan 17 (Th) Geographic Information Science and GI Systems (GIS) overview
• Article About the Definition of GIScience (by D M Mark)
• NCGIA CC Unit 1 - What Is GIS?
• Basic GI Science research vs. basic Research Using GIS
• University Consortium for Geographic Information Science

---

Part 1: Ontology and Representation of Geographic Information

• Jan 22 (Tu) Ontology of the Geographic Domain: Geographic Entities and Phenomena
• NCGIA CC Unit 10 - Spatial Databases as Models of Reality
• NCGIA CC Unit 11 - Spatial Objects and Database Models
• Smith and Mark paper: Ontology and Geographic Kinds
• Jan 24 (Th) Representing Geographic Entities and Phenomena in Computational Systems (includes Raster and Vector Data Models; qualitative and quantitative computation)
• NCGIA CC Unit 4 - Raster GIS
• NCGIA CC Unit 13 - Vector or Object GIS
• NCGIA CC Unit 14 - Vector GIS Capabilities
• NCGIA CC Unit 21 - The Raster/Vector Debate

---

• Jan 29 (Tu) SDTS, the U.S. Spatial Data Transfer Standard
• Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) Information Site
• NSDI Presidential Order

Part 2: Computational Aspects of Geographic Information

• Jan 31 (Th) Map Overlay: The Core of GIS
• NCGIA CC Unit 34 – Polygon Overlay

---

• Feb 5 (Tu) Coordinate Systems and Map Projections
• NCGIA CC Unit 26 - General Coordinate Systems
• NCGIA CC Unit 27 - Map Projections
• Map Projections Overview
• NCGIA CC Unit 32 – Simple Algorithms I Intersection of Lines
• Feb 7 (Th) Voronoi Principles, Computational Geometry, and Hierarchical Spatial Data Models
• Computational Geometry Pages
• Voronoi.com
• Ordering of 2D space (NCGIA CC Unit 35)
• Hierarchical Data Structures (NCGIA CC Unit 36)
• Quadtree algorithms (NCGIA CC Unit 37)

---

• Feb 12 (Tu) Address Matching and Related Topics
• Decoding Addresses from Point Layers
• University of Iowa "Address Matching" Page
• NCGIA CC Unit 29 - Discrete Georeferencing
• Feb 14 (Th) Acquisition and Quality of Geographic Data

o NCGIA CC Unit 45 - Accuracy of Spatial Databases

o NCGIA CC Unit 6 - Sampling the world

o UCGIS White Paper on "Spatial Data Acquisition and Integration"

---

Part 3: Cognitive Aspects of Geographic Information

• Feb 19 (Tu) Cognitive Models of Geographic Phenomena
• UCGIS White Paper on Cognition of Geographic Information (1998)
• Review Paper: "Cognitive Models of Geographic Space"

· Feb 21 (Th) Human Interaction with GI and Technology

• ESRI's Usability Engineering page

---

• Feb 26 (Tu) Visualization and Cartographic Design

• ColorBrewer Site: Guidelines for Color in Cartography (by Cindy Brewer, Penn State)
• Color Use Guidelines for Data Representation (by Cindy Brewer, Penn State)
• "Light and Eyes" Lecture Material (from Stanford University)

• Feb 28 (Th) Test #1 (Mid-term)

---

• Mar 4 (Tu) Qualitative Spatial Reasoning: Formalizing Spatial Relations
• NCGIA CC Unit 12 - Relationships among spatial entities
• Mar 6 (Th) Scale, Detail, and Generalization in GIS input and Output
• UCGIS White Paper on "Scale"

---

• March 10-14, Spring Recess

---

• Mar 18 (Tu) Categories for Geographic Entities: Cultural and Linguistic Differences
• "Ethnophysiography"

• Mar 20 (Th) Time in Geographic Space and in GIS

• NCGIA CC Unit 42 - Temporal and Three-Dimensional Representations
• Temporal GIS and Spatio-Temporal Modeling (paper by May Yuan)
• (Some Web Mapping and GIS Bookmarks )

---

Part 4: Geographic Information and Society

• Mar 25 (Tu) Geographic Information and Society Overview; Efficiency, Equity, Effectiveness
• UCGIS GIS & Society White paper (1996)
• GISOC'99 Conference
• GEO 594: GI & Society [Spring 2005 version]
• GEO 594: GI & Society [Spring 2003 version]
• Mar 27 (Th) Intellectual Property, Privacy, and Ethics
• Onsrud, H. J., 1999. Basic readings in GIS law
• Onsrud, H.J., 1997. Ethical Issues in the Use and Development of GIS
• Promoting Access to and Use of Government Scientific and Technical Data-- An Assessment of Legal and Policy Options

---

• Apr 1 (Tu) Public Participation GIS
• Public Participation GIS, 1996 Workshop in Orono
• Empowerment, Marginalization, and Public-Participation GIS (October 1998 Varenius Project workshop)
• PPGIS Second Annual Conference, Portand Oregon, July 2003
• PPGIS Third Annual Conference Call for Papers
• Apr 3 (Th) GIS and Indigenous People
• Links relating to First Nations and GIS
• ESRI Native / First Nations Index

---

• Apr 8 (Tu) GIS and Social Theory
• Apr 10 (Th) "Volunteered Geographic Information" and Virtual Globes

---

• Apr 15-18, Association of American Geographers Meeting, Boston; GEO 591 will not meet
• Required Readings (May be on test #2)
1. "Trouble in the heartland: GIS and its critics in the 1990s" by Nadine Schuurman
2. "Is GIS for Women? Refections on the critical discourse in the 1990s" by Mei-Po Kwan

---

• Apr 22 (Tu) History of GIS
• History of GIS review paper
• The GIS History Project

• Apr 24 (Th) TEST #2 (non cumulative)

---

• Apr 28 (M) (Last day of classes)

• May 2 (F) Term Paper Due

---

Last updated on January 15 2007

---

[ University at Buffalo | UB Wings | UB Geography Department ]