GIS at Rio Hondo College

Spring semester starts first week in February at Rio Hondo College.  Course offerings can be located here: http://riohondo.isteaching.com/spring-semester-2016.html

Given a majority of our students are working, our courses are conveniently scheduled in late afternoon & evenings.  We also work closely with our civil and engineering course schedule (CAD required component of the GIS Certificate).  Rio Hondo College is located near the intersection of the 605 & 60 freeways.  We also have a class at the LA County DPW office in Alhambra.

We have a step by step process for applying for admission and registering for classes:  http://riohondo.isteaching.com/join-us/ .  New students can perform the steps entirely online.  Most classes are 4 units and last checked @46/unit.  Sign up today!

Warren Roberts GISP MLA
http://riohondo.isteaching.com/

ESRI MOOC: Do-It-Yourself Geo Apps

ESRI is hosting a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on building your own Geo Apps.  They state:

You don’t have to be a software developer to build valuable geo-enabled apps that make your communities smarter and businesses more successful. This course will show you how to combine location and narrative in one application to better communicate and broadcast your story, create custom web applications that solve problems in your community, and build powerful native applications for iOS and Android devices without touching a piece of code. If you are a developer, you’ll be interested in Esri’s APIs, SDKs, and the buzzing GeoDev community.

The course includes:

  • Hands-on exercises, short video lectures, quizzes, polls, and discussion
  • 4 week course with 7 sections open throughout the course, 1-2 hours of study per section
  • Certificate of completion and awards

You will be exposed to application templates and test drive Web AppBuilder and AppStudio.  The free online course runs from February 3 to March 3, 2016.  Check it out and sign up!

Data Masking and GIS

Geographic masking is the deliberate alteration of locational data to preserve the privacy or integrity of the data being displayed or analyzed. For example, the locations of the nests of endangered bird species may be publicly posted on a web site, but the availability of this data could create inappropriate visits that could disturb or endanger the birds, and so should be masked.

This GITA sponsored webinar on January 20th will discuss masking in the context of geospatial privacy, a topic of great national concern in the era of social media and Wikileaks.  Most of the methods in current use will be discussed, along with their advantages and disadvantages.  How the methods are implemented and what impact they have on geographic and spatial analysis are explored.

Southern California’s Shrinking Salton Sea

Free webcast today, starts at 11am PST!  Hurry and sign up!

Southern California’s Shrinking Salton Sea: Mapping, Managing and Mitigating New PM10 Air Pollution Sources

Abstract:
The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Water Conservation and Transfer Project includes a long-term transfer of up to 303,000 acre-feet of water annually from IID to the San Diego County Water Authority, and the Coachella Valley Water District. The Water Transfer Project, along with other factors affecting Salton Sea inflows and water balance, will result in accelerated exposure of the Salton Sea floor. As the Sea continues to recede, there is potential for windblown dust emissions from the exposed dry lakebed (the playa). A significant portion of this windblown dust is PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers or less). PM10 are approximately 1/7th the thickness of a human hair, are small enough to be inhaled, and represent a potential human health risk.

The Salton Sea Air Quality Program is focused on monitoring and mitigating dust emissions from exposed Salton Sea playa. Remote sensing is a key component of this program, and will be used to map playa surfaces, vegetative cover, and active dust source areas. Learn how satellite, aerial and UAV images all contribute to this effort and how they are being processed using Trimble eCognition image analysis software. The presentation will also discuss dust control pilot projects, such as Surface Roughening, and the remote sensing techniques used to inform design and evaluate dust control effectiveness.

Spatial Data Analysis with Python

Looking to get into Python for spatial data analysis?  Check out this online video.  The video notes state you will learn about geoprocessing, analyzing and visualizing spatial data using Python and how it compares to other available options such as desktop GIS options (ArcMap or QGIS) or R. The talk will introduce various Python projects such as PySAL, GeoPandas, and Rasterio, and give attendees a starting place for independently exploring and learning geoprocessing skills using Python.

Slides for the video can be found here.

Online Geospatial Courses

You might want to check out some of these online geospatial courses as outlined by Directions Magazine.

Selected Open Online Geospatial Courses

Course Organization Next Offering
Desktop GIS Pace University via Blackboard’s OpenEducation Currently in session
From GPS and Google Maps to Spatial Computing  University of Minnesota via Coursera No future sessions yet scheduled
Geodesign: Change your World Penn State via Coursera No future sessions yet scheduled
Geospatial Intelligence & the Geospatial Revolution Penn State via Coursera February 2016
GIS 101, Introduction to Global Information Systems  SkillsCommons Open, self-paced
Go Places with Spatial Analysis Esri Currently in session
Introduction to Geographical Information Systems University of West Florida via Canvas Network Summer 2016
Maps and the Geospatial Revolution  Penn State via Coursera No future sessions yet scheduled
Mobile Devices for Land Management (in Spanish) UPValencia via edX No future sessions yet scheduled
Open Source GIS SkillsCommons Open, self-paced
QGIS Courses GeoAcademy Open, self-paced
Skills for the Digital Earth  Elmhurst College No future sessions yet scheduled
Spatial Analysis  SkillsCommons Open, self-paced
The Location Advantage Esri November 2015
Various geospatial courses Discover Spatial Open, self-paced