Geomatics

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the various geomatic tools applied to the environment. Geomatics is defined as the science of acquiring, analyzing, interpreting and disseminating geographical (geo-referenced) information. The aim of this module is to use geomatics as a decision-making tool for the management of natural and man-made environments.
The module covers the entire geomatics chain, from data acquisition and processing to the cross-referencing of information through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The first part of the course focuses on the acquisition and processing of raster data such as satellite images and DTMs. The second part deals with spatial analysis tools, such as interpolation techniques for creating raster maps from point measurements, and the classification of objects by attributes. Existing environmental geographic databases will be studied and used. The last part will be devoted to cross-referencing image, topographic and vector information for decision-making purposes. Spatial queries will be addressed in this context.
Minimum skills to be acquired:The student should be able to use a whole range of raster and vector data and to cross-reference this information in order to solve an environmental problem.The student should be able to use geographic databases to solve an environmental problem.

GIS and remote sensing

1. Raster data and GIS use

Remote sensing data
Photo-interpretation
Image processing
Image classification (supervised, unsupervised)
Applications: land use, hydrographic network extraction
Topographic data
Methods for producing Digital Terrain Models
Calculation of topographic attributes (slope, orientation... )

2. GIS and spatial analysis

Interpolation techniques (bilinear interpolation, spline) geostatistics (kriging, variogram...)

3. Cross-referencing information

Linking spatial information for decision-making
Use of existing environmental GDBs (BD CARTHAGE, CORINE LAND COVER, BDTOPO, SISMALP...)
Query building
Spatial queries (merging, intersection,...)
Environmental applications: natural resource management, land use planning,...