Department of Earth Sciences
Geography
Geography
GIS Certification
GIS stands for Geographic Information System. This is a computer based system that
allows users to portray, analyze and understand spatial data. GIS is more than just making
maps with computers. Programs can analyze spatial data to display and quantify patterns
and trends to help in decision making. GIS is frequently used by government and private
enterprise.
There is no national standard for GIS Certificates, but the GIS certificate program in the Department of Earth Sciences is comprehensive and utilizes industry standard, up-to-date software including ESRI’s ArcGIS and ERDAS IMAGINE software for advanced remote sensing.
| GIS Certification Required Courses: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Class Number | Course Description | Sem. Hours |
| GEO 331** | Computer Graphs and Maps | 3 |
| GEO/GY 332** | Remote Sensing I | 4 |
| GEO/GY 442* | Remote Sensing II | 3 |
| GEO/GY 460* | Introduction to GIS | 4 |
| GEO/GY 461* | GIS Applications - Environment | 4 |
| GEO 462* | GIS Applications - Business/Social | 4 |
|
* A letter grade of "B" must be earned in prerequisite course prior to taking this course. ** May be taken concurrently or in-order. |
||
The Earth Sciences Department currently has two GIS/Remote Sensing labs with a total of 26 workstations, a large format scanner, and a large format plotter. Our department uses up-to-date software packages including ERDAS' IMAGINE, ESRI's ArcGIS, and Golden Software's Surfer and MapViewer. We have a large spatial database detailing Mobile County (courtesy of the City and County of Mobile), ESRI's world wide database, and national long form census data for 1990 and 2012, with projections for 2007 and 2012. GPS and Total Station units are available for field data collection
GIS Certificate Application
