9522 Geoinformatics

The technical focus of this practically oriented course is on data engineering using geodata as an example. Geodata denotes data given in space and time associated with a location relative to earth expressed in geographic coordinates. This location dependent and often time-varying data is also referred to as (geo-)spatiotemporal data. Geodata is ubiquitous. Examples are maps used in navigation systems, city boundaries, street networks and land use maps as well as temperature distribution in cities, time-dependent wind speed and direction at different locations and heights or land use of a particular agricultural field varying over time.

In this course several free and open software (FOSS) products are introduced and combined to manage geodata in practical real world problems. Among these are the geographic information systems (GIS) QGIS, the PostGIS/PostgreSQL geospatial database engine as well as the Python programming language with dedicated modules for geospatial data handling. These interoperable tools together form a geodata management system.

Learning outcomes:

Having passed this course successfully students are able

• to describe the fundamental concepts of geographic information science and technology as well as main applications,
• to demonstrate proficiency in the basic functions of geospatial software including map creation, map projection and spatial analysis,
• to create Python scripts to automate spatiotemporal data processing,
• to understand the potential of geospatial data related web services and to utilize them,
•  to set up geospatial databases for storing geometric as well as attribute data.

The technical focus of this practically oriented course is on data engineering using geodata as an example. Geodata denotes data given in space and time associated with a location relative to earth expressed in geographic coordinates. This location dependent and often time-varying data is also referred to as (geo-)spatiotemporal data. Geodata is ubiquitous. Examples are maps used in navigation systems, city boundaries, street networks and land use maps as well as temperature distribution in cities, time-dependent wind speed and direction at different locations and heights or land use of a particular agricultural field varying over time.

In this course several free and open software (FOSS) products are introduced and combined to manage geodata in practical real world problems. Among these are the geographic information systems (GIS) QGIS, the PostGIS/PostgreSQL geospatial database engine as well as the Python programming language with dedicated modules for geospatial data handling. These interoperable tools together form a geodata management system.

Learning outcomes:

Having passed this course successfully students are able

• to describe the fundamental concepts of geographic information science and technology as well as main applications,
• to demonstrate proficiency in the basic functions of geospatial software including map creation, map projection and spatial analysis,
• to create Python scripts to automate spatiotemporal data processing,
• to understand the potential of geospatial data related web services and to utilize them,
•  to set up geospatial databases for storing geometric as well as attribute data.