Terra GIS is offering a three 3 day online class on QGIS Desktop GIS ( taught live from Seattle, Washington). The class will focus on practical exercises in a workshop style setting.
The class content has been designed for GIS users with at least an intermediate knowledge level in mind (as no GIS basics will be covered). It will also enable ArcGIS users to easily transition to using QGIS and its comprehensive tool kit (or to use it in addition to their existing GIS software). QGIS is a powerful desktop GIS system that is known for having a user-friendly interface, being able to access the most common data formats, both vector and raster ones. It features a wide range of tools for working with geographic information ( layout creation, analysis tools, geo-processing, model builder, etc.) and provides excellent cartography, spatial analysis tools, and a wide range of spatial database connectivity. Via the QGIS community a wide range of plug-ins that are extending the core functionality are available ( to the point that nearly everything you ever wished to use a GIS for seems to be possible). It is an open source project that is published under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which allows its free use, distribution, study and improvement.
In class participants will connect to the interactive online session (hosted via join.me) via a web browser and internet connection. For audio either one – native computer audio or alternatively local phone call-in lines can be used. In class we will use QGIS v. 3.14 (Pi) for the hands-on exercises which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux computer operating systems.
Topics of the class are as follows (time indications for individual class sections below are not exact but approximate time estimates to give an idea of the focus of the class):
| Day 1 – Monday December 7th | |||
| Overview and Foundations of QGIS |
~30 minutes | ||
| The QGIS project and it’s community | |||
| Technical Foundations of QGIS (Libraries GDAL, OGR, PROJ4 ) | |||
| Practical Introduction to QGIS and Basic Functionalities |
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| Installation (OSGeo4W vs. stand alone) |
~30 minutes | ||
| QGIS Basics and Interface Overview | ~1 hour | ||
| Supported Data Formats | |||
| Exploring and using vector and raster data | |||
| Layer + map properties | |||
| Best practices, using map templates | |||
| Customization and settings (user interface) | |||
| Exercises – Creating Maps | ~2.5 hours | ||
| Symbology / Cartography | |||
| Using layouts for cartography and printing maps | |||
| Working with tables and layers (editing features and attribute data, digitizing) |
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| Joining layers and tables | |||
| Exercises – Managing Raster Data | ~2 hours | ||
| Overviews, Virtual Raster Tables (VRT) | |||
| Raster calculator | |||
| Hill shade, slope, aspect (from DEM) | |||
| Day 2 – Tuesday December 8th (a working knowledge of the content covered on day one is a prerequisite to ‘feel at home’ on this day) |
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| Extended functionalities with QGIS – Overview and Exercises |
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| Map Layout and Atlas Creation | ~1.5 hours | ||
| Geospatial Processing Tools | ~2 hours | ||
| Spatial Analysis | |||
| Using the geo-processing tools and graphical model builder | |||
| Integration with external programs (Grass, R Statistical Software, SAGA GIS, Lidar tools etc.) |
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| QGIS Plug-ins – a short Overview e.g. |
~2 hours | ||
| Google/ Bing / Open Street map | |||
| Georeferencer | |||
| Topology | |||
| Semi Automatic Classification Plug-in (Remote sensing) | |||
| Python Scripts and Interface – Intro |
~30 minutes | ||
| QGIS User Resources | ~30 minutes | ||
| Day 3 – Wednesday December 9th (a working knowledge of the content covered on day one and two is a prerequisite to ‘feel at home’ on this day) |
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| Advanced functionalities with QGIS |
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| Using Layer ‘Actions’ to automate things |
~1 hour | ||
| Editing Layers | ~1.5 hours | ||
| Using defined value drop down menus (called domains in ArcGIS) |
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| Using custom interface dialogs | |||
| QGIS and Spatial Databases | ~2 hours | ||
| Connecting to PostGIS, Spatialite | |||
| Exporting/Importing data to/from spatial databases | |||
| Creating and using dynamic layers | |||
| Using Python and R (Statistics program) scripts |
~2 hours | ||
| Using Python to automate things | |||
| Connecting and using external resources (e.g. Google Earth Engine) |
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| Integrating R Scripts | |||
Instructor
The class will be presented by Karsten Vennemann who has over 12 years of experience with FOSS4G software and has lead numerous workshops in GIS throughout his 20+ years career in GIS.
Dates
First Day – Monday December 7th (8:30 am – 4:30 pm)
Second Day – Tuesday December 8th (8:30 am – 4:30 pm)
Third Day – Wednesday December 9th (8:30 am – 4:30 pm)
each day with one hour lunch break plus two 15 minute short breaks
Participants can choose to attend the full three day class or optionally attend only one or two of the three days. Day two and three builds on the topics covered on the previous day respectively. Please inquire about other potential class dates if you are interested but cant make the dates.
Class size
- minimum of 6, maximum of 16 participants
Costs
- single day (day one or two or three) US $325/per person
- 2 days US $595/per person
- 3 days US $750/per person
Location
Live Online Session, each day 8:30 am – 4:30 pm PST (UTC -7:00 hours )
For this class you will use your own computer
Guidelines about operating systems
Windows computers running on Win 7, 8 or 10. You will need administrative rights on the machine in order to install the QGIS software and plug-ins. Make sure to have a minimum of 5GB of disk space to copy the class materials onto your system. The file system of your laptop has to be NTFS (not FAT32). If you are planning to use a machine that doesn’t comply with these requirements please contact us and we can talk about whether your specific case will work out just fine for the class.
Mac computers – there might be some potential issues using QGIS on the newest versions of the Catalina operating system – e.g. Mac OS Catalina (10.15). Please make sure to contact the instructor prior to the class so these issues can be resolved .
Target Audience/Prerequisites
GIS Specialists/Analysts/Programmers – at least intermediate level as no GIS basics will be covered. This course is designed for GIS users who want to learn about effectively using QGIS as a desktop tool. ArcGIS users will feel at home as differences between ArcGIS and QGIS will be illustrated for those who are interested.
Registration
Please contact us via email (at info [at] terragis [dot] net to receive a registration form) if you like to register or call us at 206 905 1711 with additional questions.