UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge 2006 Editors (2004-06) David DiBiase, managing editor Pennsylvania State University Michael DeMers Ann Luck New Mexico State University Pennsylvania State University Ann Johnson Brandon Plewe Environmental Systems Research Institute Brigham Young University Karen Kemp Elizabeth Wentz University of Redlands Arizona State University Model Curricula Task Force (1998-2003) Duane Marble, chair Ohio State University Linda Bischoff Donna Peuquet GE Network Systems Pennsylvania State University Aileen Buckley Jay Sandhu University of Oregon Environmental Systems Research Institute Michael DeMers Mandayam Srinivas New Mexico State University California State Polytechnic University at Ponoma Ann Johnson Elizabeth Wentz Environmental Systems Research Institute Arizona State University Karen Kemp Richard Wright University of Redlands San Diego State University Farrell Jones Arthur Getis (ex officio) Intergraph San Diego State University Carolyn Merry Lyna Wiggins (ex officio) Ohio State University San Diego State University BoK2006_DD_25Feb2006.doc © UCGIS 2006 Page 1 of 127 Body of Knowledge Advisory Board (2004-2006) Jochen Albrecht Mary Lou Larson University of Maryland University of Wyoming Luc Anselin Marguerite Madden University of Illinois University of Georgia Richard Aspinall Duane Marble Arizona State University Ohio State University Todd Bacastow Jeremy Mennis Pennsylvania State University Temple University Kate Beard-Tisdale Carolyn Merry University of Maine Ohio State University Cynthia Brewer Harvey Miller Pennsylvania State University University of Utah Dan Brown Harold Moellering University of Michigan Ohio State University Aileen Buckley Judy Olson University of Oregon Michigan State University Babs Buttenfield Donna Peuquet University of Colorado Pennsylvania State University Jon Carr Barbara Poore University of Southern Mississippi United States Geological Survey Keith Clarke Steven Prager University of California at Santa Barbara University of Wyoming Helen Couclelis Hanan Samet University of California at Santa Barbara University of Maryland Tom Cova Clive Sabel University of Utah University of Canterbury William Craig Lauren Scott University of Minnesota Environmental Systems Research Institute Jeremy Crampton Eric Sheppard Georgia State University University of Minnesota Kevin Curtin Terry Slocum University of Texas at Dallas University of Kansas Jerry Davis Mandayam Srinivas San Francisco State University California State Polytechnic University at Ponoma Catherine Dibble Dan Sui University of Maryland Texas A&M University Rob Edsall Richard Taketa Arizona State University San Jose State University Gregory Elmes David Tulloch West Virginia University Rutgers University Mark Gahegan Dave Unwin Pennsylvania State University Birkbeck College Arthur Getis Darlene Wilcox San Diego State University United States Department of Agriculture Francis Harvey Michael Worboys University of Minnesota University of Maine Mark Horner Dawn Wright Florida State University Oregon State University Kathleen Hornsby Richard Wright University of Maine San Diego State University Fritz Kessler Yichun Xie Frostburg State University Eastern Michigan University Phaedon Kyriakidis May Yuan University of California at Santa Barbara University of Oklahoma Mark Kumler University of Redlands BoK2006_DD_25Feb2006.doc © UCGIS 2006 Page 2 of 127 Table of Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Forward ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 I. What is Geographic Information Science and Technology? ...................................................................... 6 The Domain of GI S&T .............................................................................................................................. 6 II. Why is a GI S&T Body of Knowledge Needed? ........................................................................................ 8 Workforce needs ....................................................................................................................................... 8 The GI S&T education infrastructure ....................................................................................................... 12 Applications of the GI S&T Body of Knowledge ...................................................................................... 18 III. How Does the Body of Knowledge Relate to GI S&T Curriculum Planning Efforts? ............................. 21 Longstanding concern about GI S&T education ..................................................................................... 21 National-scale curriculum development efforts ....................................................................................... 21 IV. How Was the Body of Knowledge Developed? ..................................................................................... 24 Model Curricula vision ............................................................................................................................. 24 Advancing the vision ................................................................................................................................ 26 V. GI S&T Body of Knowledge .................................................................................................................... 28 Format of the GI S&T Body of Knowledge .............................................................................................. 28 Knowledge Area AM. Analytical Methods ............................................................................................... 32 Knowledge Area CF. Conceptual Foundations ....................................................................................... 45 Knowledge Area CV. Cartography and Visualization .............................................................................. 54 Knowledge Area DA. Design Aspects ..................................................................................................... 64 Knowledge Area DM. Data Modeling ...................................................................................................... 72 Knowledge Area DN. Data Manipulation ................................................................................................. 79 Knowledge Area GC. Geocomputation ................................................................................................... 83 Knowledge Area GD. Geospatial Data .................................................................................................... 91 Knowledge Area GS. GI S&T and Society ............................................................................................ 104 Knowledge Area OI. Organizational and Institutional Aspects .............................................................. 111 VI. Where is the UCGIS Model Curricula project headed? ....................................................................... 119 Evolution of GI S&T ............................................................................................................................... 119 Evolution of the GI S&T education infrastructure .................................................................................. 119 Future Model Curricula products and services ...................................................................................... 120 References ................................................................................................................................................ 122 BoK2006_DD_25Feb2006.doc © UCGIS 2006 Page 3 of 127 Forward The Body of Knowledge 2006 (BoK 2006) is one in a series of works produced as part of the Geographic Information Science and Technology (GI S&T) Model Curricula initiative. The initiative has involved more than 70 educators, researchers, and practitioners, coordinated by the Education Committee of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). UCGIS was formed in 1994 to provide a coherent voice for the Geographic Information Science (GIScience) research community. With this contribution, UCGIS hopes to foster greater coherence and effectiveness within the GI S&T education community. The Model Curricula initiative arose from a set of eight Education Challenges identified at the 1997 UCGIS Summer Assembly in Bar Harbor, Maine. One challenge concluded that “improving GIScience education requires the specification and assessment of curricula for a wide range of student constituencies” (Kemp and Wright, 1997, p. 4). A Model Curricula Task Force, chaired by Duane Marble, was formed in 1998. In 2003 the Taskforce issued a “Strawman Report” that presented an ambitious vision of national-scale curricular reform for GI S&T undergraduate education in the U.S. Central to that vision is a “Body of Knowledge,” a comprehensive inventory of the GI S&T knowledge domain. The Strawman Report included an initial draft of a Body of Knowledge. The Task Force recommended that the draft be reviewed widely, and expressed hope that a future revised version would be “representative of the views of the majority of the broad GI S&T community” (Marble and others, 2003, p. 27). This document presents an elaborated version of the GI S&T Body of Knowledge