Project Based GIS - Geospatial Data

ENV 761 - Landscape GIS   |   Spring 2024   |   Instructors: Peter Cada & John Fay  |  

Overview

This section focuses on role data plays in project based GIS. We review the importance of finding the appropriate data for an analysis and the challenges faced in finding and obtaining those data. We review the changing landscape of data availability and how best to navigate that landscape to either find what data we need or do the best with what data we can find with the resources we have.

Learning Objectives

• Articulate the role that data plays in geospatial analysis workflows
• Explain the tradeoffs between the two major spatial data formats: vector and raster
• Discuss the notion of public domain data and explain why many datasets have been made publicly available
• List several useful vector spatial data sources by theme
• List the advantages and drawbacks of using available data vs collecting your own data
• Explain how extent, scale, accuracy, and/or format can prevent you from properly using an available data source
• Contrast raster vs imagery data
• List various satellite imagery data sources
• Contrast satellite vs aerial data
• List several useful raster spatial data sources by theme
• Employ data search techniques to boost your spatial data search success