In the fall of 2010 I was part of the Geospatial Data Structures and Web Services (GIS 550) class at NCSU. This was a new class designed to cover topics from the fundamentals of storing and maintaining spatial data through to serving this data over the internet. Below are the major topics from the class; the links lead to descriptions and examples of the work I completed over the course of the semester.
A reliable and efficient database starts with a good design; this is achieved with careful planning and a thorough understanding of database functionality. To this end, the course began with an in depth series of lectures and readings that explored fundamentals of creating, storing, and maintaining spatial data. As spatial data becomes more ubiquitous and continues to shift from analog to digital the need to interact with this type of information will become increasingly important.
As spatial data is stored along with traditional tabular data in similar structures the use of SQL to manipulate and combine this information is vital. A significant portion of class time was used to explore how to populate and create tables as well as how to form various types of queries using SQL. In addition to more common types of joins we were also introduced to the crosstab query which allows tables to be quickly reorganized to answer specific questions of the available data.
A main focus of the class was the use of ArcGIS Server, which is software that enables spatial data to be served, viewed and manipulated by any user with an internet connection. There are many advantages to this system for both users and GIS data managers. For the user, this system allows access to GIS data and functionality without the need for local storage of information and without having training with GIS software. For data managers, this system is an easy way to disseminate only the desired data and reduces the risk that users are working with out-of-date data.
The final assignment for this class was designed to tie together and apply all the concepts and methods learned during the semester. Although there was a prompt and starting data the methods used to meet the goals of the project were left to individual students to discover. The arc of the project involved taking data given in text files through to serving and interacting with the data online using ArcGIS server. |