GEOG0263-1

Duration

15h Th, 15h Pr

Number of credits

	Master in geography : climatology (120 ECTS)	6 crédits

Lecturer

Yves Cornet

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

The course presents a series of topics related to geographical quantitative methods and, more specifically, to geomorphometry. Some of these topics must be chosen by the students depending on the research field of their Master thesis. A specific number of hours (lectures and exercises) are dedicated to each topic.
The total number of hours for the chosen topics must not exceed the official number of hours for the course. The reported duration for each topic is a minimum estimate. At the beginning of the course, the effective duration of the exercises can be twice as long as what is announced.
The list of the topics is as follows :
- Topic 1: Image segmentation (~4 hours)
- Topic 2: Skeletonisation and vectorisation (~2 hours)
- Topic 3: Extraction of the characteristics of the hydrographic network from a DEM (DTM or DSM) and vectorisation (~6 hours)
- Topic 4: Computation of a watershed asymmetry index using a DEM (~3 hours)
- Topic 5: Computation of the linear density of a drainage network using a DEM (~2 hours)
- Topic 6: Envelope surface and map of summits from a DTM (~2 hours)
- Topic 7: Computation of morphometric indices from a DEM and morphological classification (~4 hours)
- Topic 8: Computation of a compound topographic index in topoclimatology (~1 h.)
- Topic 9: Climatic modeling using physiographic predictors (~3 h.).
The last two subjects are dedicated to the students of Climatology master who choose this optional course.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

The main objective of this course is to enable students, mainly within the framework of the Master thesis in geomorphology, to use several professional software tools (Erdas Imagine, ArcGIS, QGIS and SAGA, R and Matlab or Octave programming...). This course must promote the practical application of the theoretical knowledge acquired during previous years of the Bachelor's and Master's gdegree (remote sensing, spatial analysis, numeric analysis, statistics, mathematics, cartography, programming, geomorphology...).
At the end of the course, the students will be independent enough to use these tools in order to develop their own methods of research and numerical experimentation by discovering by themselves the possibilities of these professional tools. During classes, those possibilities are illustrated by applications related to spatial modelling and metrology in various fields of geomorphology.
Close attention will be paid to how these tools fit together and interoperability. Which tools to choose and combine to solve a specific problem? How to ensure, with these various tools, the flow of data and the results of each process ?
Students should be able, on their own or by consulting online help resources and forums, to broaden their range of functionalities in order to answer to new research questions.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

The course essentially uses concepts and software tools that are presented during the courses of cartography, remote sensing and spatial analysis. It also exploits various processing methods studied during the course of statistics. Moreover, it frequently refers to concepts studied during course of mathematics. Brief reminders are done on those concepts during the lessons where they are used.
Furthermore, the way of thinking and analytical rigour acquired during these courses as well as other scientific courses of Bacchelor's and Master's degree (physics, numerical method, geodesy ...) are an undeniable advantage to achieve the required level of performance and independence.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Some standard protocols and algorithms are explained by the teacher, but students must broaden their knowledge on these methods on their own, exploiting online help resources, forums, articles and scientific textbooks, if necessary.
On the one hand, students apply these protocols and algorithms, under supervision, using the software tools at their disposal. The data sets are available to them or must be downloaded on the web and pre-processed (e.g. SRTM).
On the other hand, students will perform an unexplained exercise without supervision, using the tools they have learned about or finding other ones if necessary. This exercise will, for instance, focus on one aspect of the geomorphology field trip done during the Master degree. It will be subject to the certificational evaluation.
Furthermore, students have free access to the Idrisi and other software licenses through the ULg's VPN. For information on this access, they can consult the following web address: http://www.gitan.ulg.ac.be/cms.
This site also provides the schedule for the use of classrooms of the B5a building. If students wish to take this opportunity to practise and advance in their practical exercices, they can contact the staff of the Geomatics unit.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Classes are held at the Institute of Physics (B5a/2/35, B5a/2/42 or B5a/4/18). The schedule is set each year by the secretaries of the Geography Department (http://www.facsc.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_253095/fr/horaires).
A brief theoretical lecture is given at the beginning of each exercise. The exercise is then carried out by the students under supervision by the teacher. Exercises that do not require any assistance from the professor are carried out outside of the scheduled sessions.

Assessment methods and criteria

Students carry out permanent non-certificational self-assessments during classes through a strong interaction with their teacher.
The certificational evaluation consists in the analysis of a specific problem related to one of the topics studied during the geomorphology field trip or their Master Thesis, requiring students to formulate a solution using a series of software tools used during the classes, and possibly other applications. This analysis and the suggested solution will be described in a report that will serve as a basis for the presentation and oral exam. The work will be done individually.
Nevertheless, we reserve the right to change the evaluation process. Of course, these changes will be made in agreement with the students, who will therefore be kept informed.
The assessment criteria are as follows: clarity, coherence, logic, meticulousness, precision, completeness, brevity, relevance, cross-cutting nature (within the course and between courses), quality of mathematical interpretations (mathematical meaning of the different coefficients of equation, e.g.), physical interpretation (dimensions and units, order of magnitude - scaling, e.g.) and geographical interpretation (single and multivariate spacial and temporal interaction - type - and meaning of the variables e.g.). Critical thinking with respect to the data used (qualification, nature, meaning, representativeness, standardization ...) and methodological choices (justification of the choice of methods, appropriate thresholds, ...) will also be taken into consideration in the evaluation. Furthermore, answers will also be evaluated based on the quality and the originality of the graphical illustrations since graphical expression is a scientist's specificity. It further allows demonstrating a good understanding of the phenomenon. Finally, enriching an answer with a rich personal scientific culture will also be considered as a factor of excellence in the assessment.

Work placement(s)

None

Organizational remarks