Welcome to the Spatial Problem Solving by Chris Mickle web site!
This website was created to provide visitors with an overview of several techniques for solving spatial problems using esri ArcGIS.
The themes discussed in this website are based on those themes taught in the Spatial Problem Solving course that is part of the curriculum at the College of Natural Resources in the Master of Geospatial Information Science and Technology (MGIST) program at North Carolina State University (NCSU - Go Pack!!)
Course Overview: GIS520 Solving Spatial Problems focuses on challenging students with advanced spatial problems. These problems are addressed with a specific approach to understanding the problem, identifying data and information resources available, and giving the students the tools and techniques using esri ArcGIS to solve the problem. The course provides a framework and technique for working through problems, organizing ideas, and selecting the most appropriate spatial resource tools available for solving problems from a geographic information perspective.
Students learn to solve spatial problems through advanced analysis using geospatial technologies, learn to integrate and analyze spatial data in various formats, and explore methods for displaying geographic data analysis results to guide decision making.
Course Reflection: The GIS520 Spatial Problem Solving course has provided a fresh perspective and approach for spatial problem solving. The geopsatial courses part of the Center for Geospatial Analytics at NCSU provide instruction on tools and techniques that provide the skills to use GIS. This course has also provided a framework for properly anlayzing the problems, available data, and appropriate tools to use for solving a geospatial problem. The course has built on previous courses that taught the fundamentals of using GIS, documenting the GIS work process, developing GIS models, and tools and techniques associated with environmental remote sensing.
In addition to re-inforcing the process for analyzing and documenting the spatial problem solving process several of the spatial analysis tools covered have direct applicability in my day to day work as an environmental consultant. This course has required us to focus on the application of the tools and techniques taught to our own profession and think of additional problems that geospatial techniques can be applied to.
