Program in Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems

July 30, 2001
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Program in Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information SystemsANN ARBOR—Devotees of the television show “The District” probably have seen police using geographic information systems (GIS) as a crime-solving resource. Within the University of Michigan, researchers are applying GIS and spatial analysis (SA) technologies in a widening range of fields—from archaeology and art history to land-use management and social work. Now they have a means of gaining even more expertise and coordinating their resources.

In February 2000, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) announced an initiative to establish a Program in Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems (SA/GIS). The two-year initiative is a collaborative effort to “integrate knowledge and facilities among units and to aid in the dissemination and use of geographic information and analysis.”

The program’s overall goals are to better prepare students for future careers that may involve SA/GIS capabilities, enhance interdisciplinary research and collaboration using SA/GIS, and enhance the SA/GIS infrastructure on campus in support of both educational and research activities.

The Center for Statistical Consultation and Research (CSCAR), a unit within the OVPR, has expanded its consulting services for U-M and outside researchers who need assistance with problems related to spatial analysis. CSCAR now offers workshops, online software support and installation, and a full-time consultant for help in project planning and execution.

“A big part of the initiative is the building of interdisciplinary teams that can collaborate on the use of GIS to look at certain problems,” says Josef M. Kellndorfer. As project associate with the OVPR, he helps coordinate activities and various initiatives launched with the SA/GIS Initiative.

“For example, Prof. Bob Marans, who has appointments in both the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Institute for Social Research, uses satellite imaging in his analysis of the link between environment and quality of life in the Detroit Area Study,” Kellndorfer says. “In epidemiological studies, researchers use digital databases to map mosquito-breeding areas.”

Daniel G. Brown, associate professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), characterizes GIS as “a way of bringing together data from different sources—satellites, social surveys, fieldwork, base maps, aerial photography and infrared imagery.

“Through statistical methods and modeling, we synthesize these data to map changes in land-use patterns, environmental outcomes or even spatial patterns of violence in a city. In conservation studies, we can use high-resolution satellite imaging to track the spread of invasive species of plants.” Brown is director of SNRE’s Environmental Spatial Analysis Laboratory.

The SA/GIS Initiative 2000-02 provides $800,000 to fund matching grants for U-M research proposals that make use of GIS and SA technologies. A sampling of funded projects includes:

A project to quantify the environmental impact of human activities in urban and urbanizing areas of southeastern Michigan and to link these impacts to their effects on human health and well-being. Researcher: Dan Brown, professor of natural resources and environment.

An Internet GIS-based cultural map of China’s Silk Road to help students and the American public understand the cultural/artistic traditions of China. Researcher: Qiang Ning, assistant professor of history of art.

A project to introduce and explore the use of GIS in the School of Social Work. Researcher: Larry Gant, associate professor of social work.

Creation of a center in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology for the study of spatial and cultural dimensions of the rise and evolution of Old World civilizations. Researcher: Susan E. Alcock, associate professor of classical archaeology and classics.

Among the initiative’s educational components is a new Certificate of Graduate Studies in Spatial Analysis. Offered through the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the interdisciplinary program leads to a graduate certificate with a focus on applied remote sensing, GIS or spatial statistics.

“The growing market for location-based services will require this knowledge,” Kellndorfer says. “Cellular phone technology and new automobile navigation systems require GIS. At a recent meeting of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, we learned that about 4,000 students nationwide are receiving expertise in GIS and SA, while industry needs another 3,000-4,000 each year.”

The initiative also offered a lecture series during the past academic year and plans to repeat the series with different speakers this fall. Open to the University community, the series brings in internationally known experts in GIS and SA who explain how the technologies contribute to various disciplines.

CSCAR has hired a full-time SA/GIS consultant, Scott Swan, to help integrate GIS into teaching and research and assist with software needs. He can be reached at spatial.help@umich.edu or (734) 764-STAT (7828)

For more information on GIS/SA at Michigan, visit the Web at http://gis.umich.edu/. To be added to a mailing list for general announcements related to GIS/SA activities and services, send e-mail to spatial.gis-request@umich.edu.

The DistrictOffice of the Vice President for ResearchCenter for Statistical Consultation and ResearchProf. Bob MaransDaniel G. BrownEnvironmental Spatial Analysis LaboratoryQiang Ning