GEOG 465Advanced Geographic Information Systems Modeling

3 credits · Geography · Penn State

Before taking GEOG 465 , students will have learned the fundamentals and principles of GIS. This course extends such knowledge to modeling geospatial scenarios. A GIS model simulates real-world phenomena, including environmental, physical and natural features, as well as social features such as demographic, transportation and origin-destination data. We will model raster and vector data types with an emphasis on multi-criteria GIS operations, using ArcGIS, R and potential other software packages. Upon completion of the course, successful students will have achieved the following objectives and learning outcomes: Students will be able to: a) discuss basic GIS modeling principles; b) find, use, store, retrieve and evaluate GIS datasets; c) describe capabilities and limitations of GIS methods and models; e) implement capabilities, tools and packages in ArcMap GIS and R environments; f) use R for programming tasks such as looping and branching; g) evaluate an external software program and create a model using this software; h) exhibit ability to design and carry out spatial analyses using GIS; i) communicate the results of geographic analyses to others, both in oral and in written form; j) analyze spatial data sets in terms of predictability and uncertainty; and k) calibrate models based on real-world datasets.