GPS and GIS: Useful Tools in an Academic Setting

Author: Andrew M Honaman
Organization: Advanced Resource Technology Group

BSE RM 325
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
USA

Phone: 520.621.5517
Fax: 520.626.7401
amh@srnr.arizona.edu

To help facilitate the integration of GPS and GIS technologies in an academic setting, a course was designed to expose students to the issues involved with landscape-level decision making in a digital environment. A major emphasis of the course was to collect real-world GPS data and incorporate it into a validated GIS database. GPS and GIS tools are useful in exposing students to mapping techniques, landscape models, and cartographic procedures. To illustrate the value of this course we will discuss an example of a student-based project that incorporates many of the tools and techniques learned to produce a decision surface that could be used to validate the elevational gradient of a standard football field.