Advanced GIS projects

1. Develop a model which describes the impact of a Mount Ranier eruption on the Kittitas Valley. Include such things as ashfalls, economic impacts, salmon impacts, etc...
2. Your thesis work?
3. Develop a model which answers the question: Has the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project changed weather patterns in eastern Washington?
4. Slope length comparisons.
5. Various projects with different agencies. I have one with the Audubon Society if you're into tweety birds.
6. Any other GIS projects suggested by students will be considered.

Project requirements

• proposal (5 - 10 pages) Include the following:
  • What you're going to do
  • Why you're doing it
  • How you're going to do it
  • Worked into this should be a couple of pages of literature review (also known as background research).
• first draft (10 - 20 pages, excluding references/graphics/bibliography) Include most of the information in your proposal and more in the following order:
  • Introduction and problem description
  • Site Description
  • Methodology
  • Data issues (access, collection, quality)
  • Software issues (detailed information regarding the commands/software used). Note, I'm not interested in the mechanics of the software here (button pushing), but what the buttons are actually doing (algorithms).
  • Summary and conclusions.
  • References (the papers/websites you refer to in your paper)
• final paper (10 - 20 pages)
• poster - to be presented at the end of quarter poster sessions. Dimensions - 22 x 34 inches. This will be on Wednesday from 9:00 - 10:00 in the Science Hall foyer during the last week of class.

For those that get on it, you might consider a SOURCE presentation: http://www.cwu.edu/~source/schedule.php

Grading: This project is worth 40% of your grade, distributed as follows:

• proposal (3 points) due date: Friday, May 1.
• first draft (NOT a rough draft) (4 points) Due date: Friday, May 22.
• final paper (6 points) Due date: Monday, June 8. (the monday of finals week)
• poster (14 points) Due date: Tuesday, 2 June 3:00. Have Tessa or I print it out! The poster session will be at 9:00 AM on Wednesday the 3rd. Yes, you must show on Wednesday to get any points for your poster.

Any portions of this project handed in late will be docked 2 points per day until they are handed in (yes - negative points are possible).

Also note: your proposal and papers will also be graded on readability (spelling, grammar, organization), as such, I would highly recommend that you have someone who is very good with this sort of stuff edit your papers. If nothing else, there is the english tutoring center on campus.