Learning objectives
The course aims to:
- make known the territorial information systems showing their usefulness in concrete applications of environmental and territorial nature,
- develop the student's ability to apply an engineering approach to problem solving.
To this end, approximately 50% of the teaching hours are spent on laboratory activities.
Specifically at the end of the activities the student is asked to provide proof of:
- knowing the fundamentals of cartography and the characteristics of technical maps and cadastral maps
- knowing the characteristics and peculiarities of spatial data, with particular reference to Digital Terrain Model and Orthophoto production;
- knowing the geodetic-cartographic reference systems (SdR), in which these data are expressed and what are the limits of use of the transformation parameters stored in the GIS;
- knowing how to import, export and convert data in raster and vector format between SdR and different cartographic projections;
- knowing the characteristics of the vector and raster data structures and the information needed for their georeferencing;
- knowing the basic concepts of databases and their query;
- being able to conduct spatial and attribute queries using the search tools implemented in GIS;
- being able to schematize a problem and identify the most appropriate GIS tools to solve it;
- knowing a significant spectrum of basic GIS applications in civil and environmental engineering.
Prerequisites
Basic concepts of surveying, statistical data processing and analysis; elementary computer literacy is necessary.
Course unit content
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are IT tools capable of managing and crossing the great variety of information sources and types of data that must be considered in the decision-making and management processes in the governance of the territory. They allow the import, processing, storage and representation of spatial data of various kinds.
The entities stored in a GIS, in addition to the specific information to be processed, have always associated the geographical position, so the GIS have the ability to manage data provided in different geodetic / cartographic reference systems and carry out searches and selections based on relationships of spatial proximity, as well as thematic queries.
The course presents the characteristics of spatial data in digital format and the techniques for processing them in GIS.
To this end, the fundamental concepts of geodetic reference system and cartographic representation are referred to.
The main data acquisition techniques for GISs and their characteristics and accuracy are then illustrated.
Then we introduce the raster and vectorial data, paying particular attention to Digital Terrestrial Models (DTM) and orthophotos.
Finally, GISs are first introduced with an operational approach that favours the ability to use the various types of functions for importing, selecting, searching and processing raster and vectorial data.
In the laboratory exercises, this knowledge is then applied to a series of practical cases, taken from engineering issues, on the QGIS open source platform.
Full programme
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Bibliography
F. Migliaccio, D. Carrion. Sistemi informativi territoriali. UTET, 2016. – In Italian; available at Biblioteca politecnica di Ingegneria e Architettura.
C. Jones. Geographic Information Systems and Computer Cartography,
Prentice Hall. – Not available at the “Biblioteca politecnica di Ingegneria e Architettura”.
Course material (slides of the lectures, exercices) can be found at CARTOGRAFIA E GIS, available online on the Uni e-learning platform Elly of the Department of Engineering and Architecture (DIA). Registration to the course is
mandatory.
The material is updated during the semester.
Teaching methods
The course consists of lectures on theory and exercises in a computer lab. Time spent in the latter increases along the semester; the last month is all spent in the lab.
The necessary software is installed in the computer labs. However, it is recommended to install the open source QGIS software on personal PCs in order to resume the exercises also individually at home. The introduction to the different software and functions available in each is guided by simple examples. For your personal further education there are two tutorials in pdf format, one on the use of surfer, the other on the use of QGIS.
Assessment methods and criteria
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Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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