National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

An outline of the GIS Core Curriculum for Technical Programs, organized by topic, is presented with hyperlinks to each unit's material on eScholarship. Note that hyperlinks are only active if the PDF file is downloaded.

This introduction provides a historical overview of the GIS Core Curriculum for Technical Programs. It describes the working group and initial work session where a framework for the curriculum was developed, and it includes a task list outlining the topics originally intended for the curriculum.

This unit describes Coordinate Geometry (COGO), a method of inputting surveying or engineering data into GIS, CAD or mapping software. It includes materials for a lab exercise using Arc/Info COGO in which students coordinate a subdivision plan, making use of traversing, sideshots and curve layout operations. Also included are lecture notes outlining uses of COGO and basic operations, data conversion and attributes in Esri’s Arc software.

This unit introduces the mechanics of scanning and the concept of resolution. It discusses scanning hardware, how to select the appropriate resolution for a scanning project and image file formats.

This unit describes types, example uses and implementation of different overlay operations. Using commands in ESRI’s Arc/Info, it summarizes necessary pre-overlay and overlay tasks in an example application in which locations for Gypsy Moth traps must be determined.

This unit describes the map scanning process with attention to map preparation, scale and accuracy, image types, file considerations, spatial resolution as it relates to map scale, hardware, and post-processing considerations. Image enhancement techniques such as contrast and brightness adjustment and gamma correction are noted.

This unit introduces some potential applications of transportation data and the appropriate data types and typical sources for each class of application. A practical exercise teaches students about acquisition and processing of data, and issues of data quality, costs and benefits are discussed.

This unit describes common operations a user must perform when editing polygons, including adding, deleting, and manipulating arcs and nodes, building topology, removing sliver polygons and using dissolve operators. Adjacent—i.e., sharing a common edge—and non-adjacent polygons are discussed.

This unit introduces some of the uses of digital terrain data, the types of elevation data available and how to obtain them. Through examples and discussion it presents examples of data sources and formats, software for viewing and processing elevation data, and a comprehensive list of data and software resources.

This unit discusses the difference between computer-aided drafting (CAD) and GIS, and how data generated in CAD software can be used in GIS software. It describes the process of registering CAD data, how CAD entities relate to GIS features, CAD file types and how CAD data is organized thematically. Several example applications are outlined that illustrate these concepts.