Duration
30h Th, 30h Pr
Number of credits
| Master in geography : climatology (120 ECTS) | 6 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course provides an introduction on computer coding, focussed on models and application in geomorphology and climatology. Several key concepts and building blocks of computers models are discussed, using the open source coding language Phyton. More specifically, the following subjects are treated:
a) Introduction to Python and its programming environment (IDE)
b) Variables and arrays: concepts, types, operations and plotting
c) Iterations, loops and conditional statements
d) functions, methods and objects
e) Reading and writing data with Phyton
f) Linking Phyton applications to other programs (e.g. QGIS)
g) Programming exercises on specific case studies, such as:
- writing algorithms for calculating simple terrain attributes based on digital terrain models (2D)
- coding a simple landslide susceptibility/hazard model, based on the factor of safety concept (1D and 2D)
- writing a simple program that can process atmospheric profile data (e.g. from a weather baloon) and evaluate atmospheric stability and cloud formation (1D)
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
After following this course, a student should be: - familiar with the basic concepts of programming that are specifically applicable to the processing and analysis of geographic data - able to work out a solution strategy to analyze spatial data, based on a general scientific problem - able to write program codes that allow for processing and analyzing spatial data (incl. time series). - develop simple programming applications in existing GIS software.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
No prior knowledge on computer programming is required. A basic background in climatology and geomorphology is recommended.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course will be thought by means of 'hands on' sessions. During each session, the students will get an introduction and explanation of the concept, followed by exercises of a limited complexity. Most of these exercises are solved in class under supervision. Classes are thought in English with opportunities to ask questions and clarifications in French.
Also, students will be asked to continue to work on some exercises at home so that they can practice and deepen their knowledge and skills. A greater programming exercise is given as a take-home at the end of the sessions. Students should be able to solve this independently by combining the various skills they have learned. The take-home assignment must be submitted 7 days before the start of the examination period.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
face-to-face and distance learning
Recommended or required readings
The course material consists of the handouts of the presentations used during the lectures. While these handouts are relatively complete, students are adviced to take additional notes.
For students looking for additional information, the following books are recommended:
- M. Kinder & P. Nelson (2016) A Student's Guide to Python for Physical Modeling, Princeton University Press
- Garrard (2016) Geoprocessing with Phyton, Manning
Assessment methods and criteria
The exam consists of two parts. Part 1 is an oral examination without written preparation. The exercises during class and the take-home exercise will be discussed. Take-home assignment must be submitted at least 7 days before the examination. Students who prefer so, can reply to the exam questions in French.
Part 2 is a PC exam where the student must write a functioning and well-structured program where a specific spatial problem is simulated or where spatial data (including time series) are processed. For this programming assignment, max. 3 hours are allocated.
Students need at least an 8 on both Part 1 and Part 2 in order to pass for this course.
Depending on practical circumstances, the oral exam may be replaced by an additional programming question, during the third exam session (August/September). In this case, students will be asked to make an adaptation to their submitted takehome exercise, within a reasonable amount of time. Students will be notified beforehand about this.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Students are required to bring their own laptop to the course, with a working version of Phyton installed on it. Instructions on how to install a (freely available) suitable version of Phyton are provided at the beginning of the course.
Contacts
Matthias Vanmaercke
Bât. B11 Géographie physique et du quaternaire
Quartier Village 4
clos Mercator 3
4000 Liège 1
Belgique
Telephone : +32 4 3665267
email: Matthias.Vanmaercke@ulg.ac.be