My name is Eva Strand, and I am the
instructor for NR402 - GIS Applications in Natural Resources. If you do decide to
take this course please email me at
evas@uidaho.edu to get access to the
lessons. Please provide your student ID number in the email.
What is GIS?
GIS
is….”A collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data
for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of
geographically referenced information” –ESRI 2006
GIS is....."A system of hardware,
software, and procedures designed to support the capture, management,
manipulation, analysis, modeling and display of spatially-referenced data
for solving complex planning and management problems."-NCGIA David
Cowen, 1989
"GIS are
simultaneously the telescope, the microscope, the computer, and the xerox
machine of regional analysis and synthesis of spatial data."-Abler,
1988
GIS is....."A Computer system
capable of holding and using data describing places on the earth's
surface."-ESRI, 1995
GIS in resource management?
GIS is currently being used in multiple aspects of natural resource
management, with applications in wildfire
and fuels management, invasive plants and animals, sustainable forest and
rangeland production, protection of biodiversity and endangered species
habitat, and abundant, clean water.
Modern geographic information systems are excellent tools for creating
maps that give stakeholders a common framework for communication and
problem solving. Important information collected for better understanding
of ecological systems can be effectively stored and organized in a GIS
database. Integration of multiple layers of spatial data in a GIS allows
managers and researchers to discover relationships that were previously
unknown. The modeling capabilities in GIS are first-class tools for site
selection and evaluation of future scenarios.
A
few important uses of GIS....
- Support in decision making
- Evaluation of management alternatives
- Storage and organization of field and other data
- Map-making
- Analysis of geographic data in multiple layers at the landscape scale
- Visualization of landscapes and ecosystems
- Site selection and modeling
What
is NR402 about?
This course reviews basic GIS concepts such as data types, file
formats, coordinate systems, analysis techniques, and map display. Later
in the course we cover more advanced concepts such as GPS/GIS integration,
on-screen digitizing, overlay analysis, conditional probability
assessments, and raster modeling in relation to natural resource
management. The course focuses on laboratory exercises with the goal of
giving students hands on experience in using GIS, particularly in natural
resource applications.
About
the Instructors
Find
more information about Eva Strand's teaching and research interests: http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/measurements/
http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/range/People/Strand.htm
Find
more information about Melanie Johnson's teaching and research interests:
http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/geospatial/people/mel_johnson.htm
http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/range/GraduateStudents.htm#Melanie_Johnson
