Course Summary
Web GIS does a lot, from getting an Uber to analyzing crops. The term encompasses all of the technology used to collect, manage, analyze, and present information about not just "what", but "where". This course introduces the concepts behind modern location-aware apps, and gives hands-on experience creating websites with interactive maps.
Designed in a lecture/lab model, the course gets you started building maps and apps today while still giving a foundational understanding that will outlast current-year technology.
Requirements
This course assumes computer literacy, such as using a web browser; signing up for online accounts; downloading, opening, zipping, renaming, copying, and organizing files and folders; installing software; editing documents and spreadsheets with a text editor; and navigating to files in your operating system.
To follow lessons and assignments, you will need a computer on which you can install ArcGIS Pro and VS Code for a few assignments. Everything else in the course is web-based, and you will need accounts on CodeSandbox.io, Github, Google Earth Engine, and ArcGIS Online.
The course can serve as an introduction to GIS and web development, but it would be helpful to at least have an idea of what they are before beginning.
Lessons
The lessons explain how different aspects of Web GIS work together, paving the way for creating our own web content in the assignments. They are roughly divided into these topics:
- Geographic information and GIS
- Web services and APIs
- Web GIS infrastructure and cloud computing
- Data formats and standards
- Coordinate systems and cartography
- Mobile GIS
- Map tiles
- Imagery
- Geoprocessing
- JavaScript and Google Earth Engine
- Basics of webpages, HTML, & CSS
- JavaScript web maps with Leaflet
Assignments
Exercises put the lessons into practice to teach skills and go further into each topic. They include tasks such as building maps in ArcGIS Online, analyzing imagery in Google Earth Engine, and creating a website on Github. They are presented as step-by-step tutorials, with additional tasks at the end to try on your own.
Resources
Course material has been drawn from or inspired by many sources of knowledge in the field of Web GIS. For the various online services we use in this course, the official documentation and guides have been indispensable. The books have also helped inform the lessons.
Books
Fu, Pinde. Getting to Know Web GIS, Third Edition. Redlands: Esri Press, 2018.
Shellito, Bradley. Introduction to Geospatial Technologies, Fourth Edition. New York: W. H. Freeman, 2017.
Fu, Pinde and Jiulin Sun. Web GIS Principles and Applications. Redlands: Esri Press, 2011.
Kraak, Menno-Jan and Allan Brown. Web Cartography: Developments and Prospects. London: Taylor and Francis, 2001.
Documentation
ArcGIS - Guides and references for ArcGIS Online, Pro, and other Esri products.
Earth Engine - Guides and the API reference.
Leaflet Tutorials - Examples for making maps with Leaflet.
Leaflet Docs - API reference.
CodeSandbox - Documentation.
Course links
GEOG 4046 on Github - Source code used in the course.
GEOG 4046 Gists - Short examples of code that add specific functionality to web maps
Data sources wiki - a collection of links to help you find data for class assignments. Includes links to web services and data downloads.
Software and services
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) – Text editor for programming and web development
ArcGIS Pro - Desktop GIS application. Access this from the provider of your ArcGIS organizational account.
CodeSandbox - Write and run code for test applications. Apps can be set up as REST endpoints.
GitHub - Hosts code projects and websites. Sign up here.
Google Earth Engine - You will need a Google account, then request access to Earth Engine.
Self help
GeoNet – Esri (ArcGIS) forum
GIS Stack Exchange – GIS forum
Stack Overflow – General programming forum
Superuser – General computer user forum
Alternatives to the software taught in class
Google Maps Platform - Web GIS APIs for web development
Mapbox – Web GIS platform
CARTO – Web GIS platform
QGIS - Free open-source GIS desktop application. Comparable to ArcGIS Pro.
GeoServer – Free open-source GIS server application. Comparable to ArcGIS Server.
Geonode - Free open-source geospatial content management system. Comparable to ArcGIS Online.
Post-semester learning
Learn ArcGIS - Learn more about the ArcGIS platform
Codecademy – Learn to code with interactive lessons
Khan Academy - Free courses on numerous subjects