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Mobile GIS? Really? Field data collection is expensive in every sense of the word. In fact, it is one of the most expensive aspects of any GIS project or other geospatial activity. Being in the field requires considerable resources relative to churning out maps and analysis in an office environment. It’s puzzling to me then why so many solution providers insist on pushing the notion that the functionality enjoyed on the desktop or enterprise GIS application should or even could be deployed on mobile devices for field work. When you call AAA for road-side assistance, they have a singular focus – get the job done in the field in the most efficient and effective manner possible for a reasonable cost.

This means that they can change a flat tire for you, tow you if needed, jump a dead battery or other field-related services but that’s it. Field data collection solutions should focus on doing just that, collecting data in the field, nothing more, nothing less. Learning GIS » Don Boyes. Learn GIS for Free. Ad: There are a few online options to learn GIS for free.

Learn GIS for Free

Take advantage of resources that provide you access to free courses from some of the world’s best universities and institutions. Learn GIS on your own or supplement your existing geospatial education with these free resources. iTunes U Download this free app on your iPhone or iPad and take advantage of free courses available through iTunes U. Distance Learning – GIS Certificate and Degree Programs. Don’t have a school near you offering GIS?

Distance Learning – GIS Certificate and Degree Programs

If you don’t live near a college or university offering GIS coursework, distance learning can be a valuable way to learn GIS skills and software programs online. Find schools offering GIS distance learning coursework via internet-based classes in the field for certificate and degree-based programs. The program descriptions listed here have been supplied by the colleges and universities. GDAL: GDAL - Geospatial Data Abstraction Library. Got geoint? » Article » New Immersive 3-D System Allows Participants Across the Globe to Analyze and Visualize Shared Data.

Shop. Highly Commended Award Winner 2012 - Scottish Association of Geography Teachers The aim of this book is to develop teachers' knowledge and confidence in utilising and integrating online GIS into geography lessons to promote engagement and enjoyment.

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A Geographical Information System (GIS) allows students to visualise, explore, question, analyse and make sense of the world around them. GIS is mentioned specifically in the KS3 geography programmes of study, and most GCSE and A level specifications. It is still an area that many geography teachers struggle to incorporate into their teaching. There are expensive GIS software packages available to buy, but this book uses free web-based software which is easy to use. The nine lessons in this book can be incorporated into exciting key stage 3 schemes of work. This toolkit contains: • nine fully worked lesson plans • all the resources needed to teach each lesson, including PowerPoints, task sheets and activity sheets. New web tool to improve accuracy of global land cover maps.

Public release date: 14-Feb-2012 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Leane Reganregan@iiasa.ac.at 43-066-444-30368International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis An interactive web tool has been developed to improve the accuracy and extent of global land use and forest cover information.

New web tool to improve accuracy of global land cover maps

Georeferencing on a Budget: Using iPhone and Freeware Apps to Geotag a Mountain of Image Files. Summary: As flood waters rose on the Missouri River in July 2011, emergency management officials needed to quickly access images for monitoring flood stages and for search and recovery.

Georeferencing on a Budget: Using iPhone and Freeware Apps to Geotag a Mountain of Image Files

But how to do it fast and on a miniscule budget? Jeff Herzer, a GIS graduate student and former assistant chief telecom engineer at Missouri State Highway Patrol, gives us his method for geotagging photographs and assigning lat-long coordinates to each image … all for $5.00! Editor's Note: See the many graphics accompanying this article at the bottom of the text portion.

In June and July of 2011, the Missouri River reached levels last seen during the great flood of 1993. All of this quickly added up to thousands of image files and full memory chips on my Nikon D-80, with no record other than scribbled notes and my own middle-aged memory to document locations for each. Component 1: Collecting GPS Coordinates First, you precisely synchronize (to the second) GeoTagr’s clock with the clock on your camera. Arc2Earth Sync Beta Announced. Over on Google+ (and also on Twitter), Brian Flood announced the impending availability of Arc2Earth Sync Beta to existing Arc2Earth users.

Arc2Earth Sync Beta Announced

This has been brewing for for a while and Brian says it best: “What makes Sync really cool is the live edit synchronization and the ability to publish online to different formats. It’s a great way to provide integration between ArcGIS desktops/online and the other Cloud database providers like Google.” So it gives users the ability to publish, edit and synchronize data they are storing in on-line, hosted environments using the editing tools of ArcMap. The initial beta will only support Google Fusion Tables but support for Google Earth Builder and - this caught my eye right away - CartoDB are scheduled for after the first of the year.

Coursera.org.