EES 201

EES 201: Introduction to Geographical Information System

Course Description

There is a spatial component to all activities in our lives and on the planet. Everything happens somewhere and knowing why, how, and where these things happen and how these things are related to each other are important for us to fully understand the spatial phenomena. This course will provide a general introduction of geographic information systems (GIS) that help study these spatial phenomena in computer systems. The goal is to help you understand the principles of GIS and its applications.

GIS does not give the answers to complicated issues about the Earth - climate change, agriculture, industrial development potential, land-use related problems, political boundary issues, economic differences, health and poverty, pollution, and so on. GIS gives you the ability to quickly and easily process and analyze vast amount of information, however, it is still up to you to interpret and make a decision. GIS is useful to virtually any discipline that uses information related to specific location. This course should benefit people from a wide range of background.

You are not expected to have prior knowledge of GIS. A desire to learn and explore is essential, and so is creativity. Your initiative and interest in this class will determine how much you learn. You are strongly encouraged to share experiences, knowledge and suggestions with the instructor and each other.
We have worked hard to integrate all four courses in a very unique way and so your work in the GIS class will feed information to other classes. Lagging behind or being absent for lectures or labs will set you back significantly, so we strongly advise you to keep up with the pace and turn in everything by the due date and time.

Lecture Topics
  • Overview, class introduction, and course expectations; Introduction to GIS / World in a Box
  • Data models
  • Geodesy / GPS system
  • Labor Day Holiday
  • Map projections and coordinate systems, Web Mapping
  • Basic spatial analysis 
  • Basic spatial analysis
  • Land cover classification
  • Raster operations, hydrological model
  • Terrain analysis applications
  • Hydrological processes 
  • Project presentation
Lab Details
  • Lab 1: Blogging, Data Assimilation, Data Entry
  • Lab 2: World demography
  • Lab 3: Georeferencing and land cover change
  • Lab 4: Labor Day Holiday (No Lab)
  • Lab 5: Web Mapping
  • Lab 6: Changing Demographic Profile of India 
  • Lab 7: Agriculture
  • Lab 8: Land Cover Classification
  • Lab 9: Raster data processing and analysis
  • Lab 10: Raster Terrain analysis
  • Lab 11: Climate Change and Habitat Modeling
  • Lab 12: Class Presentation


Student Project Posters
These projects were carried out by students as part of the requirement for the introductory GIS course.  Use of any of the published maps or contents without permission is prohibited.  For further information or comments, please contact Dr. Suresh Muthukrishnan.

  1. Serena Doose, Eric Eaton, Alexa Rancourt.  Agricultural Activities and Water Quality in India
  2. Ryan Richardson, Mary Soike, Amanda Timko.  Effect of Literacy on Poverty Rates in India.
  3. Elizabeth Cook, Joy Owens, Luke Rogers.  Natural Resources Distribution vs. GDP per Capita in India
  4. Brooks Bailey, Tori Hedden, Caitlin Sylvester.  Did You Feel it? A Community Based Approach to Natural Hazard Assessment
  5. Katie Darracott, Elizabeth Johnston, Drew Woten.  Economic, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Urbanization in India.
  6. Stephen Campbell, Jackie Turnage, Alexis Wong.  Exploring Relationships Between Maternal and Child Health Indicators in India.