Seven Day Training Workshop on Geographic Information Science and Technology
(Sponsored by Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, Govt. of Uttarakhand)
A Report
By Dr. J.S.Rawat
Director, Centre of Excellence for NRDMS in Uttarakhand (Under the DST Government of India)
& Professor in Geography
Department of Geography Kumaun University, SSJ Campus Almora-263601,Uttarakhand, India
Seven Day Training Workshop on Geographic Information Science and Technology
Introduction
The Geographic Information Science (Wilson and Fotheringham,2008), also known as GI
Science, is a newly emerging discipline of applied sciences. GI Science is concerned with the
collection or capture of spatial data by such methods as satellite remotely sensed images, aerial
photographs, Global Positioning System (GPS), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) maps
and surveys of people. GI Science is advanced version of Information Technology (IT) and
Information Communication Technology (ICT) which provide quick data/information with
digital maps. It has enormous power to convert data into information as per will of the user by
clicking few mouse buttons in the computer. It provides a unique opportunity for integration of
data and information on natural and human resources, and environment which in turn helps
developing decision support system for planners, administrators, decision makers and researchers
of physical, biological, chemical and social sciences. A thorough understanding of GI Science is,
therefore, necessary for effective utilization of natural resources and in efficient administration,
planning, monitoring and decision making.
To decissiminate the technologies of this (GI Science) newly emerging discipline of
applied sciences, the Centre of Excellence for Natural Resources Data Management System
(NRDMS- established under the DST Government of India research projects) of the Kumaun University, organized
a Seven Day Training Workshop on GI Science and Technology for University and College
teachers under the sponsorship of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC), Government
of Uttarakhand. Twenty Associate and Assistant Professors of 13 different disciplines (i.e,
Geography, Botany, Geology, Physics, Zoology, Forestry, Environmental Science, Chemistry,
Rural Technology, Biotechnology, Sociology, Economics and History) of three different
Universities (i.e., Kumaun University, Garhwal University and SHIAT Deemed University
Allahabad) participated in the training workshop (Annexure-I).
Directions from the Inaugural Function
In the opening ceremony of the training workshop on 3rd
January 2011, Prof. J.S. Rawat, the Coordinator of the
training workshop and Director, Centre of Excellence for
NRDMS in Uttarakhand, Department of Geography,
Kumaun University, SSJ Campus Almora, briefed about
the objectives of the training programme on GI Science
and Technology. Prof. Rawat said that the fundamental
objective of this training programme is to disseminate the technologies of GI Science among
University/College teachers by which they could make use of these technologies to update their
subject.
In his inaugural address Prof.V.P.S.Arora, Vice Chancellor,
Kumaun University Nainital said that GI Science has
enormous power to generate and access information
quickly with maps. Today, entire the world is using this
science in research, development planning, management,
administration and decision making, Prof.Arora added. For
benefit of the society, today not only the teachers but
administrators, planners, managers, decision makers everybody has to update them with this
science, Prof. Arora suggested.
Dr.M.M.Kimoti, Director, USAC, Dehradun informed that
using remote sensing data as input, their Centre has
developed Geographic Information System of different
sectors of resources of the Uttarakhand State but due to the
lack of educated/trained human resource in GI Science
technologies in different government departments,
application of these useful information is not being done
properly. Dr. Kimoti said that organizing training workshop on GI Science like this shall help in
disseminating these technologies among the teachers by which they may be able to update their
subject. The Kumaun University should conduct such training programmes twice a year
including officers of different government departments, Dr. Kimoti suggested.
Highlighting the significance of GI Science in police
administration, Mr. P.S.Rawat, Superintendent of Police,
District Almora, Uttarakhand, did appreciate the efforts of
the Centre of Excellence for NRDMS of Kumaun
University for inducting GI Science in higher education and
for disseminating technologies of this newly emerging
science through organizing training workshop. He said that with the technical help of this Centre
we are using GIS in our day to day works of policing. We are planning to organize a workshop
jointly with the NRDMS Centre in the month of February 2011 on application of GI Science in
Disaster Management and Crime Control, Mr. Rawat informed.
In the second half of the first day, Prof.J.S.Rawat gave an overview of
G I Science to the participants and said that it has two powerful input
technologies, i.e., RS (Remote Sensing) and GPS (Global Positioning
System) by which data from the real world are captured and then stored
in the computer under the format of Geographic Information System
(GIS) which helps to convert data into information within few seconds
as per will of the user/s.
Dr (Mrs) Sarala, Scientist, USAC, Dehradun taught about the basics of
remote sensing which include fundamental concepts of remote
sensing, principles of electromagnetic energy, details of sensors and
resolutions used in remote sensing.
The Second Day
On the second day, Dr.P.S.Kushwaha, Head, Forestry Division, Indian
Institute of Remote Sensing Dehradun gave detailed presentation on
applications of remote sensing in forestry. Dr. Kushwaha
diagrammatically illustrated identification of deforestated, afforested,
forest fire areas and of different tree species including fruit trees.
Dr. D.N.Pant (Retd.Professor) Indian Institute of Remote Sensing,
Dehradun illustrated applications of remote sensing technology in
watershed management, land evaluation, landuse planning and in
change detection. Dr. Pant suggested that GI Science is very useful for
planners, administrators, teachers, researchers and decision makers,
therefore, there is a need to give training on applications of GI Science
to all of these.
The Third Day
In the first half of the third day, the participants did
hands-on in ERDAS (Earth Resource Data Analysis
System) GIS software in the Remote Sensing lab of the
Centre and learned how to register the image? And how
to transfer real word data into the computer through
digitization of point, line and polygon data. The
participants in the lab were assisted by Mr. Manish
Kumar, lecturer in GI Science and Technology in the Centre.
In the second half of the third day, Dr. H B Madhwal, Ex. Director, Survey
of India, Dehradun, presented a detailed account of GPS technology and its
applications in different fields, i.e., surveying, mapping, monitoring and
navigation etc.
The Fourth Day
On the fourth day participants did hands on through GPS in field and lab. In the first half
of the day, the participant are distributed in to 10 different groups (2 members in each group) to
prepare rout map of a given track. Each group prepare a rout map and captured data (i.e.
latitude/longitude and height) of different places along the given rout. Each group was assisted
by a GPS surveyor. In the second half of the fourth day, the participant downloaded the rout map
from GPS to computer and learn map editing in the GIS lab of the. In the map editing work they
assisted by Miss Neetu Gill, lecturer in GI Science and Technology of this centre.
The Fifth Day
Using the data input from remote sensing and GPS technologies, how to
prepare GIS (Geographic Information System) ? -the fifth day was completely
for learning GIS. Mr. R Gupta, Delhi school of Economics, University of
Delhi delivered lecture on basics of GIS which include definition, concept,
history and components of GIS. Mr. Gupta also demonstrated applications of
GI Science in town planning, agriculture planning, marketing, agriculture products, road
planning and in identifying urban heat islands. In the second half of the day the participants did
hands-on in the Arc-View software in the GIS lab with the technical assistance of the Centre’s
personnel.
The Sixth Day
On the sixth day, a demonstration was given to the
participant on computer mapping through Gram++ (a
very low cost GIS Software, developed by the Department of
Science and Technology Government of India through CSRE, IIT
Mumbai) by Prof. J S Rawat, and through Arc-View
by Mr. Manish Kumar. In the second half of the
sixth day, the participant did hands-on in computer
mapping through Gram++ and Arc-View GIS
Software. They were assisted by Mr. Vinod Singh Rawat, Scientist and Miss Nitu Gill, Lecturer
of the Centre.
The Seventh Day
On the seventh day, feedback from the participants was taken and Valedictory ceremony
was celebrated. In the feedback session, the participants did appreciate to this pioneer attempt of
eye opening training workshop on GI Science and Technology for University and College
teachers. The participants also appreciated the training workshop material in the form of a
booklet, viz., “Geographic Information Science and Technology for the Beginner” (Rawat et al
2011) provided to them by the Centre.
Based on the deliberations in the feedback session, the following recommendations emerged:
1. The period of training programme on GI Science for the beginners should be for a
period of minimum 15 days and about fifty percent of the training period should be for hands-on training.
2. The training workshops on GI Science for the beginners should be organized twice a year for teachers as well as for officers of different government departments.
3. Subject wise (such as botany, geology, hydrology, geomorphology, meteorology,
archeology, forestry, sociology, economics, biotechnology, agriculture, commerce
and management etc.),training programmes on applications GI Science and Technology should be organized.
4. Training programme on handling specific GIS Software such as Arc View/ERDAS/
GRAM++/ Geomatica, and of GPS should be organized separately.
5. Advanced training programmes having a minimum period of one month should be organized for those participants who have successfully completed the course on GI Science for the Beginners.
6. Orientation course on applications of GI Science in planning, administration, resource
management, monitoring and decision making should be organized for district and state level government officers.
7. For making use of this newly emerging discipline, M.A. /M.Sc programme on GI
Science and Technology should be started by all the Indian Universities (visit www.coenrdmsalmora.org for the syllabus of GI Science and Technology designed by the Kumaun University with the financial and technical support of the DST, Government of India).
8. For making wise use of GI Science and Technology in administration, planning and
development, in near future, this subject should be included in education right from the high school level to develop fully educated and skilled human resource in this discipline.
9. The state government should establish GIS cell at the headquarter of each district for
developing and updating Geographic Information System the district for efficient and transparent administration, planning and monitoring of development activities.
In the valedictory session, Padmsri (Dr.) Lalit Pandey, Director, Uttarakhand Sewa Nidhi,
Jakhan Devi Almora said that it is very interesting subject for getting information quickly and
provoked the participants to make use of this newly emerging science in the rural development
of India. Professor R.S.Pathni, Director SSJ Campus Almora did appreciate this pioneer effors of
training workshop on GI Science for University and College teachers. Prof.A.K.Singh, Head of
the Department Geography said that advanced courses of GI Science should also be organised
for its quick applications in different subjects. Dr. D.K.Bhatt, Dean Faculty of Law stressed on
the need to be aware about the GIS Law. At the end. Dr. J.S.Bisht, Faculty of Law extended
vote of thanks to the all.
Reference Cited Wilson, J.P. and Fotheringham, A.S., Eds ,2008, The Handbook of Geographic Information Science, Blackwell Publishing, USA, pp. 1-634. Rawat, J.S. (Ed), 2011), Geographic Information Science and Technology for the Beginner (ed.) Rawat. J.S., Centre of Excellence for NRDMS in Uttarakhand, Department of Geography, Kumaun University SSJ Campus Almora, pp.1-59.
Dr. P. S. ACHARYA Director NRDMS Division DST Govt. of India New Delhi Dear Prof. Rawat, Thanks for the invitation to the workshop and the valedictory session. It is indeed a great pleasure to know that Kumaon University is organising the week long workshop on Geographic Information Science & Technology (GIST) for the University and College teachers at Almora on 3-9 January 2011. Over the past years, Department of Geography at Kumaon University has built up the requisite capacity and expertise to use state-of-the-art techniques for building natural resource databases and providing geographic information from such databases through web based services using open source standards-based technhologies. The Almora/ Uttarakhand Geo Portal for serving maps over the web is a testimony to this development. I understand that the techniques have also been used to share geo-spatial data from the State Centre on Climate Change so that there is a greater degree of research activities in the State in the area of Climate Change and awareness on its effects for devising any meaningful adaptive and mitigative measures by the local Line Departments of the State Government and the public. In this context, I hope that the workshop will be effectively disseminating the experiences and insights gained in the studies supported by Department of Science & Technology (GOI) at the University over the past years under NRDMS activities. The university/ college teachers after the workshop will learn from the Almora experience and be able to launch fresh research and academic activities. I wish the workshop a profound success. Although I realise the workshop is of immense importance to future S & T activities in the State, due to some personal committments this week, I regret to say that it may not be possible for me to join the event. However, I look forward to receiving your feedback on the details and possible recommendations emerging out of the deliberations during the event. With kind regards PS Acharya
MEDIA VIEW
Annexure- I
SEVEN DAY TRAINING PROGRAMME ON GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(Sponsored by Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, Dehradun) 3rd to 9th January 2011
Centre of Excellence for NRDMS in Uttarakhand Kumaun University, SSJ Campus Almora-263601
List of Participants
S. N. Name Department Address Phone No. Email ID
1. Dr. Ila Bisht Associate Professor, Department of Zoology Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
05962-232551 [email protected]
2. Dr.D. S. Chauhan Senior Lecturer, Department of Forestry HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar(Garhwal)
09412949549 [email protected]
3. Dr. Lata Kaira Assistant Professor, Department of Geography Government PG College, Kotdwar, Pauri Garhwal
09411538300 [email protected] [email protected]
4. Dr. Ila Sah Associate Professor, Department of Sociology Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
05942-230455
5. Dr. Jyoti Joshi Associate Professor, Department of Geography Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
05962-233577 [email protected] [email protected]
6. Mr. Harsh Bodh Paliwal
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science & Technology, SHIATS-(Formerly AAI-DU), Deemed-to-be-University, Allahabad, U.P
09451546595 [email protected]
7. Dr. Deepak Assistant Professor, Department of Geography Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
09837558203 [email protected]
8. Dr. Siraj Ahmad Assistant Professor, Department of Geography Government Degree College Karnprayag, Chamoli
09917314786 09456884041
[email protected] [email protected]
9. Dr. Praveen Singh Bisht
Associate Professor, Department of Physics Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
09412092013 [email protected]
10. Dr. Anjala Durgapal
Assistant Professor, Department of Botany MB Government PG College Haldwani, Nainital
09412991777 [email protected]
11. Dr. Sanjay Kumar Tamta
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
09411194545 [email protected]
12. Dr. Ram Autar Singh
Associate Professor, Department of Geology LSM Government PG College, Pithoragarh
09412985991 [email protected]
13. Dr. Nirmala Lohani
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography Government PG College, Ranikhet (Almora)
09410111285 [email protected]
14. Rajlakshmi Dutta Lecturer, Department of Economics, HNB Garhwal University, Birla Campus, Srnagar(Garhwal)
09634320575 [email protected]
15. Dr. Manoj Kumar Parmar
Lecturer, Department of Rural Technology, HNB Garhwal University, Srnagar(Garhwal)
09927785657 [email protected]
16. Dr. Ranju Joshi Pandey
Lecturer, Department of Geography, DSB Campus,Kumaun University, Nainital
09368730769 [email protected]
17. Dr. Veena Pandey Head, Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Bhimtal Campus, Bhimtal
09412419725 [email protected]
18. Dr. Neer Prabha Associate Professor, Department of History GPG College, Ranikhet(Almora)
09412995833
19. Dr. Robina Aman Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Kumaun University ,SSJ Campus, Almora
09412042324 05962-233380
20. Dr. Birendra Singh Associate Professor, Department of Physics R. H. Government PG College Kashipur(Udham Singh Nagar)
09411320736 05947-262843
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