William Bajjali - ArcGIS for Environmental and Water Issues

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The study of geographic information systems (GIS) applications is enlightening, challenging, and very interesting. This workbook was created as a guide to students and professionals on the applications of GIS in the geoscience field. GIS applications is now considered an important course in the curriculum of undergraduate geoscience, environmental, and in some fields of engineering programs. It is a result of several years of experience in applying GIS technology to water resources and environment related problems. The databases and the applications used in the text reflect real world problems from different environmental settings that have been gathered from the authors works in the USA and the Middle-East. Each chapter presents a different set of scenarios and case studies that include an environmental problem that needs a solution. A step-by-step approach was adopted to provide answers and solutions to the problems for the scenarios presented.

The textbook is intended as an introductory course either at the undergraduate level or as a dual-level undergraduate/graduate course, and it can be used as a self-study workbook for professionals in the field of geoscience. It aims to teach students and professionals the various environmental disciplines of mapping and spatial analysis skills using ArcGIS and state of the art methodologies to acquire, visualize, and analyze data.

The book has 18 chapters that cover many topics related to GIS applications. Chapters explains how Mobile GIS (ArcPad) captures field data, where the users use a Trimble Juno T41 device. This chapter has a task that will be achieved in two parts. In part one, the user utilizes ArcGIS desktop to create a project containing the geodatabase and image needed for field collection. Part two instructs users to capture the locations of trees, sidewalks, and buildings on the main University of Wisconsin Superior Campus.

The textbook includes three types of data that have been used in the exercises of the books chapters. The first type of data presented is from actual field data gathered by the author and taken from his published work. The second type of data is manipulated based on real information gathered from different projects in the Middle-East. These data were modified with the aim of protecting the privacy and rules that govern these projects. The third type of data is public domain information and freely available from the Internet to any GIS user. Chapters that include public domain data in the exercises document the data sources.

Many thanks to my students and colleagues from academia and my professional career, both past and present, who have worked with me over the years in the classroom conducting research and carrying out projects. Many of that work and the lessons learned were the motivation for authoring this text.