Digital Earth

Owner	Bachelor Future Planet Studies
Coordinator	dr. W.M. de Boer
Part of	Exchange Programme Faculty of Science, specialisation BSc Future Planet Studies, year 1Bachelor Bèta-gamma, major Aardwetenschappen, year 2Bachelor Future Planet Studies, major Future Earth, year 2

Course manual 2020/2021

Course content

This course prepares for the field course 'Desertification and Land Degradation' in Southeast Spain (Murcia).
During the Digital Earth (DE) course students collect, organize, analyze and visualize environmental datasets which will be used in the ‘Desertification and Land Degradation’ course.

The topics to be covered in DE include:

• Preparation of a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro.
• Digitalization and classification of Land Use / Land Cover (LULC), through analysis of high resolution ortho-photo and drone imagery.
• Calculating a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from a contour line dataset and to extract selected Land Surface Parameters such as slope gradient and aspect maps.
• Application of geospatial analysis techniques to find relations between environmental information layers.
• Apply cartographic design / (3D) visualization and printing of maps for use during the Spain fieldwork.
• Writing a technical GIS report in which the geodatabase design, the geospatial datasets, the methods used and the output results are presented.
• Prepare print-ready pdf field maps.

Study materials

Software

• ArcGIS Pro 2.7

Objectives

• The student can prepare geospatial information layers relevant for fieldwork by integrating existing thematic information and newly prepared data layers into a GIS geodatabase.
• The student can digitize concept geomorphological, land use and hydrological maps and add relevant attribute information based on remote sensing imagery and surface pattern analyses.
• The student understands the theory behind and can analyze remote sensing imagery, with emphasis on the Spain fieldwork area.
• The student can create a technical GIS-report in which the workflow used, the geospatial metadata, the used methods, and the deliverables of the fieldwork area are presented and described.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Computer lab session/practical training
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis

Three lectures on SE-Spain and one lecture on Luxembourg (soils). Four self-tuition assignments. 
Spain geodatabase project, done in small groups. Writing a GIS project report. Pepare pdf maps and print them.

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• Participation in fieldwork is compulsory and cannot be replaced by assignments or other courses.
• In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
• In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 7 out of 8 seminars and to prepare thoroughly for these meetings, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. If the course has more than 8 seminars, the student can miss up to 1 extra meeting for every (part of) 8 tutorials/seminars. If the students attends less than the mandatory tutorials/seminars, the course cannot be completed.

Additional requirements for this course:

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
• In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 90% of the tutorials/seminars and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the course cannot be finished

Additional requirements for this course:

The first lecture/werkcollege (de Boer / Cammeraat) is obligatory! Attendance at the other three lectures is strongly recommended! Especially lecture 2, that prepares for the Drone Photo Interpretation  Assignment (= Module 3 in the second week) and takes place one day later, is crucial.

For tutorials ('practicals') there is a strict attendance rule: The first 4 laptopcolleges (all in the first 2 weeks) are mandatory.

After that, the 4 laptopcolleges on Tuesdays are mandatory, but NOT the ones on Fridays.

If you’re attendance at practicals is not substantial (you are allowed to miss two) will be graded with NA. This results in a NA for the whole course.

Absence needs to be communicated in advance to the course coordinator.

Assessment

Item and weight	Details
Final grade
0.8 (8%) Module 1 Quiz on Introduction GIS Spain	Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory
1.2 (12%) Module 2 Quiz on arcHydroTools	Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory
1.2 (12%) Module 3 Quiz with texts, data and questions on drone photos and satellite images	Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory
0.8 (8%) Module 4 Quiz On Collector App	Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory
3 (30%) Hand In Technical GIS-report	Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory
3 (30%) Hand In GIS datasets	Must be ≥ 5.5, Mandatory

During the Digital Earth course the following deliverables must be handed in that together account to your final mark.

All deliverables can be handed in via Canvas.

1. The answers to the first practical session of Tuesday February 2nd before Friday February 5 2021, 23:59 h.
2. The answers to the second practical session of Friday February 5th before Tuesday  February 9 2021, 23:59 h.
3. The answers to the Google Earth practical of Tuesday February 9th before Friday February 12 2021, 23:59 h.
4. The answers to the Collector App practical of Friday February 12th before Tuesday February 16 2021, 23:59 h.
5. The results of your Spain GIS project - datasets (a geodatabase with all relevant GIS files and including metadata),  before Thursday March 11th 2021, 23:59 h.
6. The results of your Spain GIS project - the technical GIS report,  before Friday March 12th 2021, 23:59 h.

7. All Ready-to-print .pdf files (A3 format, 1:10,000 scale (= 1 cm on the map = 100 meters in the field)), before Friday March 26th 2021, 23:59 h.

In the table these deliverables have been listed, together with the hand-in-date and the weighing factor that applies for each deliverable.

A second attempt for each of the 4 modules is possible during the course, but after the due date of the last of the 4 modules, that is: Tuesday  Febr. 16, 2021, 23:59 h.

Maximum score for this second attempt (which will be the new grade for that module) is the grade 6.0.

If deadlines are exceeded without substantial demonstrable reason, re-examination is possible at the re-examination date.

Re-examination date will be set by the course coordinator in cooperation with the FPS curriculum coordinator.

Your final mark must be 5.5 or higher.

N.B. If there are special reasons why you are not able to complete a specific obligatory component in the course, contact the study advisors studieadviseur-iis@uva.nl before the examination date (or deadline when it concerns a paper). In the case of special circumstances, the study advisor, student and course coordinator can search for alternative solutions.

Assessment diagram

Leerdoel:	Toetsonderdeel 1:	Toetsonderdeel 2:
#1. To prepare geospatial information layers relevant for fieldwork by integrating existing thematic information and newly prepared data layers into a GIS geodatabase.	Canvas Online Test 1
#2. Learn how to digitize concept geomorphological, land use and hydrological maps and add relevant attribute information based on remote sensing imagery and surface pattern analyses.	Canvas Online Test 2	Canvas Online Test 4
#3. To understand the theory behind and to analyze remote sensing imagery, with emphasis on the Spain fieldwork area.	Canvas Online Test 3
#4. To prepare a technical GIS-report in which the workflow used, the geospatial metadata, the used methods, and the deliverables of the fieldwork area are presented and described.	Group assignment

Students that were enrolled in the course in previous years

There are no exemptions for resit students for this course.

Inspection of assessed work

Contact the course coordinator to make an appointment for inspection.

Up to 30 days after the announcement of the result students have the right of inspection of their work (all forms of assessment). Please come to the course coordinator for inspection of your work and grades on Canvas. Please note: you lose the right of feedback from the examiner when you don’t react within 30 days from the end of the course (Friday March 26th 2021).

Assignments

Practical 1 with laptops

• A refresher for ArcGIS Pro in which basic techniques and procedures will be illustrated from the mainland of Spain, in ArcGIS. You will work with a digital elevation model (DEM) and a hill shade map, use bookmarks, recognize various file types, use symbology to distinguish map properties, query you data, handle attribute tables, clip raster data, use masking, use multiple data frames and will prepare a final map, to be exported as a .jpg file. You are introduced to a method for data management.

  Test & answers individually directly via Canvas, similar to the tests of the course Remote Sensing.

Practical 2 with laptops

• A basic dataset for hydrological modeling is a digital elevation model (DEM). Delineation of watersheds and sub-catchments and extraction of the hydrological stream network is necessary before modeling can start. Based on a hydrological network, various hydrological parameters can be calculated and flow tracing can be carried out. You will:

  1. Extract the stream network using a DEM,

  2. Delineate a watershed and divide it into different polygons,

  3. Calculate the drainage density of the watershed.

  If not already installed in your version of GIS, you can download the Arc Hydro Tools for ArcGIS from Canvas.

  Test & answers individually directly via Canvas, similar to the tests of the course Remote Sensing.

Practical 3 with laptops

• A practical session on air-photo interpretation, geological data extraction and landscape interpretation of the fieldwork area in Spain (Murcia, Parroquia), by using recent (2019) drone photos in combination with recent imagery on Google Earth. Land use (change) is another issue.

  Test & answers individually directly via Canvas, similar to the tests of the course Remote Sensing.

Practical 4 with laptops and smartphone (1 per group)

• A session on the ESRI collector App. Make sure you download the Collector App before you start this tutorial. See www.gis-studio.nl. In this session you learn to prepare the collector app by downloading maps, and getting familiar with the basic tools of the app. In the second part of the session the collector app is tested outdoors. Assignments are performed around the Science Park or an alternative location (because of the corona situation) with the collector app. Tests individually via Canvas.

Practical 5 with laptops

• You will, in teams of 4 students, be appointed an area in the fieldwork area in Spain. You are responsible for assembling spatial datasets from the available raw data, such as contour line maps. Assembling means managing and storing your data in a geodatabase, which has the correct coordinate system, is perfectly georeferenced, and has adequate metadata. A project tutorial with guidance on how to prepare datasets will be published on Canvas. Tests per group via Canvas.

Practicals 6 – 12 with laptops

• Continuation of the team project and individual project - you have time to further analyze your GIS data, add metadata and write a technical GIS-report. We have reserved time slots in Zoom where you can join and ask questions. One or more staff members will be present.

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Additional information

Remote Sensing or a comparable GIS course is mandatory. In case of doubt, the coordinator will decide on participation.

Last year's course evaluation

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Course Name: Digital Earth (3 EC) (course 2019-2020)	N=35 (93 total)	Grade: 6.8
Strengths Overall assessment was good;  66% of the students is '(very) satisfied  Practical work with ArcGIS, variety of assignments, good assistance, introduction to fieldwork. Clear course design, high academic challenge, student-activating teaching, high level, good study material.	Notes for improvement The requirements set for the report were not clear to everybody. More clarity on what deliverables are expected. Make clear to students that this course is first of all about learning GIS skills, by 'learning by doing'. Not everything has to be perfect or will succeed at once, because of practical issues.
Response lecturer: This year we will have two very experienced student-assistants. New drone images (made in 2019) of fieldwork area in Spain are used in Module 3, as opposed to old aerial photos from Mula (50 km away from fieldwork area). This Module is challenging but proved to be very interesting. Course was running smooth, because a lot of issues are resolved in the past few years. For instance dataset delivery (now via Canvas), projection (1 unified projection), working with the 64 bit application ArcGIS Pro and project files. The spread in grades is good; there are no insufficients. Last year's course was rounded off just before the first corona lockdown in March 2020. This year all of the teaching will be online.

 

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. W.M. de Boer

Staff

• dr. L.H. (Erik) Cammeraat
• dr. W.M. (Thijs) de Boer
• Jim Groot MSc
• Walter van Dijk MSc