Geographic Data Fundamentals

This workshop will provide an introduction to digital geographic data--or geospatial data--and prepare you to work with these data in any software tool, whether it is desktop GIS like ArcGIS or QGIS or a programming language such as R or Python. We will cover three main topics: 1) referencing locations with geographic coordinates; 2) common file formats for geospatial data; and 3) sources of geospatial data.

First, we will provide an introduction to geographic coordinates (longitude and latitude) and how they are based on one of many possible geographic coordinate reference systems to specifiy locations on the Earth. We will discuss the use of map projections to transform geographic coordinates to a 2D plane for mapping and analysis. Next we will show you some file formats for working with geospatial data. We will then review some online sources of geospatial data. We will also mention ways in which you can turn your data--photos, addresses, place names, etc.--into geospatial data, and identify the D-Lab workshops that can help with these tasks. 

Prior knowledge: No prior experience is needed.

Technology requirements: Please bring a laptop if you want to follow along with the hands-on component of the workshop.