121-024 GIS and Remote Sensing in Geography

Formerly available as 121-254/354. Students who have completed 121-254 or 121-354 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. All BSc students, except those enrolled in the BA/BSc combined course and the BASc course, can only receive credit at the 200-level for this subject.

Completion of 75 points of first-year subjects.

This subject provides an introduction to the use of geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing in geographical enquiry. Topics covered include sources of geographical data, principles of cartography, map projections, global positioning systems, classification of remotely sensed data, topological structures, data compression, data searching, elementary spatial statistics, neural clustering and census mapping. Students who complete this subject should have an appreciation of what GIS and remote sensing can and cannot achieve in geography and environmental studies and how they may develop in the future. Students should also be aware of the ways in which other techniques can be added to GIS and remote sensing and how the latter can alter people's perceptions within businesses, organisations and societies.

A 2-hour examination, practical exercises and a project totalling 2000 words.