Geomatics - GIS, GPS & Remote Sensing

This four-day course will provide a technical overview of the current state of Geographic Information Systems and the integration of this powerful tool with GPS, remote sensing, and other data. This course is designed for those currently using GIS, those who are considering purchasing GIS systems, and managers who wish to better understand the issues involved in properly utilizing these tools.

The course provides an overview of the origins, current status, and future directions and applications of Geomatics tools. Information on GIS resources and making these tools work well in your own organization are highlighted.

• What is GIS, and how does it work?
• What is the current status of these tools?
• What are the areas of future growth and new commercial markets for Geomatics?
• How are GIS/GPS/remote sensing and other tools functionally integrated?
• How can I successfully harness these tools and avoid problems?
• From this course you will obtain a good overview of the origins, current status and future directions of GIS and how the functional integration with remote sensing, GPS and other tools will develop new commercial markets and applications.e first time.

1. Principles of GIS. Maps, scale, GIS origins, the development of GIS, map decomposition, map algebra, current GIS market estimates, future market projections and trends. Major players.
2. GIS Data. Point, line, and polygon data. Raster, vector and voxel data. Database structures. Data types: continuous, ordinal and discrete data. Integrating different data structures and data types.
3. General Overview of GIS Capabilities and Functions. Data collection, management, manipulation, analysis, display and visualization.
4. Components of GIS Systems. Software, operating systems, hardware, peripherals, data, people, management, infrastructure.
5. Data Types and Data Sources. Raster, vector, point data sources. Government sources (USGS, etc.) Commercial sources, Sources of international data, remote sensing data sources.
6. GIS Data. GIS digitizing. Digitizing paper map data. Incorporating existing database information. Incorporating GPS data.
7. GIS Resources. Web resources, journals, magazines, societies, meetings and conferences.
8. Remote Sensing and GIS. ncorporation of remote sensing data into GIS. Remote sensing data types and sources, issues of incorporating and processing raster remote sensing data with vector GIS.
9. GPS and GIS. Incorporation of GPS and other telemetry data into GIS. GPS, Gloanas, Argos, and other data types and sources, issues of incorporating and processing point and time data within the GIS environment.
10. Visualization and Simulation. The role of visualization and simulation technologies in GIS.
11. Practical Issues in successfully and productively using these technologies. Where do I start? Defining a plan to choose the right software/hardware/data, common problems and issues in organizing your GIS operation. Successes and horror stories.
12. The Future of Geomatics. Where is this all going? What are the major new issues and developing technologies? What are the new commercial, scientific, and governmental applications and markets? Trends in software and hardware.

Dr. Scott Madry is president of Informatics International, Inc., an international consulting firm in Chapel Hill, NC. Dr. Madry has over 20 years experience in remote sensing and GIS applications and has conducted a variety of research and application projects in Europe, Africa, and North America. He has given over 125 short courses and seminars in over 25 countries. He is a Research Assoc. Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a member of the Faculty of The International Space University.