Minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing / Digital Image Processing

The minor consists of a series of courses that will satisfy a new minor in Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing.  Majors in the sciences, business & economics, sociology, criminal justice and others are encouraged to take the introductory courses and preferably to minor in GIS & Remote Sensing as it is and will be a very important state of the art tool for many such diverse discipline.

WHAT IS GIS?  GIS or Geographic Information System is a computer based system that can input, manage, manipulate, analyze, and output (maps, tables, etc.) georeferenced data.  Georeferenced data is one that can be tied to a particular location, for example, the location of banks, home improvement stores, wetlands area, city blocks that have lead contaminated soils, stands of redwood, city blocks with the highest crime rate, crime type and frequency, etc.  In short, it is a way to present vast amounts of information in a way people can quickly and comfortably absorb (data visualization).

A GIS is a fast and powerful tool for handling spatial (space) or locational data.  The ability to perform high speed analyses of different types of information integrated together provides a qualitative and quantitative advantage for planning scenarios, developing decision models, and change detection i.e. changes in wetland distribution to determine whether wetlands are being lost, analyses and other types of planning activities.

CSC   111          Introduction to Computing                                                 3
GEOL 332          Geomorphology/Aerial Photo Interpretation                3
GEOG 221        Cartography                                                                             3
GEOL 360          Introduction to GIS                                                                 4
GEOL 365          Introduction to Remote Sensing                                         4
GEOL 461          Advance GIS                                                                            4
                                                                                                             TOTAL        21  Semester Credit Hours
 

SCIENCES  wetlands inventory & detection in wetland degradation  soil type, vegetation type analyses map/data  pollutant distribution  wildlife inventory, migration patterns & distribution  monitoring of coastal environment  hazard assessment and management  change and time series analysis environmental monitoring and analysis  multi-criteria and multi-objective decision making variable rate fertilizer application (precision farming) yield monitoring (precision farming)

BUSINESS/ECONOMIC/BANKING/MARKETING

• marketing analysis & planning
• ZIP code map/data for business mailing & telephone solicitation
• trade area analytical study
• site selection
• environmental impact study
• portfolio analysis
• sales forecasting & planning
•  operations assessment

FEDERAL/STATE/CITY/COUNTY OPERATIONS

• land registration, land use for tax rate purposes
• street, water & sewer lines, power lines, lamp posts, manhole, etc.
• land use regulations, zoning and planning
• emergency response (911) and best routing
• transportation planning and maintenance
• water resource & other natural resource management
• park management plans & maintenance

SOCIOLOGY/CRIMINAL JUSTICE/HEALTH SCIENCES

• crime statistics map distribution for police departments
• mapping of crime types/location/frequency/timing/concentration
• epidemiological map/data/analyses
• geographic access to rural health care
• flood and other disaster relief effort
• urban planning & analyses
• 911 emergency routing

These are just some of the applications that GIS is capable of.  Please contact the Department of Geosciences for more information regarding this course and/or minor.

What is GIS? (Powerpoint Presentation)

This program was enhanced through an NSF DUE Grant with Award No. 9555035 Titled "Enhancement of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing Curriculum and Development of "Across Discipline" Lab Exercise Manuals."

For more information, contact the

Department of Geological, Environmental and Marine Sciences
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City, NC 27909
Tel:      (252) 335-3375
FAX:    (252) 335-3465
E-Mail:   FCSANJUAN@MAIL.ECSU.EDU

Check the Other GIS Homepage