Geospatial

Technologies Application

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and

remote sensing systems are widely used to collect, store, manage, visualize and
analyze vast amount of spatial and temporal data. These technologies have found
application in all types of private and public sectors including agriculture, engineering,
environment, forestry, and transportation. Working knowledge of these technologies is a
must learn in many disciplines related to engineering, natural resources, and life
sciences. This course was designed to bring students to the frontiers of GIS and GPS.
In one of the GPS labs this semester the class learned how to download a USGS
topographic map and how to overlay GPS data on a background file, specifically a
digital aerial photograph and a USGS topographic map. Also, the class learned how
export GPS data into Arc View shape file. This is important because once field data is
collected and differentially corrected it is often useful to overlay the data on a
topographic map or a digital aerial photograph to verify the accuracy of the data. This is
very useful when working on a project to accurately show the data when trying to apply
for permits and making sure you comply to regulations.
In a GIS lab, the class was taught how to create flow direction grid, flow
accumulation grid, and stream network from Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Along with
that, we learned how to create a watershed and calculate its area, and how to calculate
percent land cover types within the watershed. This is important for hydrology analysis.
This provided a very accurate method for analyzing a specific site. The tools that I
learned in this lab will help me develop accurate watersheds in later projects. Along with
developing watersheds, it will allow better calculations for estimating a peak discharge
from a specific watershed.