GIS Applications- Surveys & Cartography

[rchrds]

That's the one, thanks.

[Wendy Thurman]

Given the price of the class ($1,900- it's at Harvard's Extension School) I think I'll shelve it for the time being and concentrate on surveying techniques. I may be able to make the NFSA workshop and if so, that would be a good start. Meanwhile, read, read, read...

Thanks to all for your input!

[Webmaster]

What Jason said. Conceptually it's applicable, but the stuff you need to learn first for cave mapping is very basic, and a lot of it is just experienced based and repetitive. Unless you're already well grounded in computer assisted mapping, or GIS, I wouldn't worry about that just yet until you get some experience actually surveying.

Now CAD experience on the other hand can be much more directly applicable since you still have to draw the map. Assuming that's what you want to use.

[GIS-Rockstar]

I highly recommend any training with GIS software, as it can be an extremely beneficial skill to use in various career paths - even when GIS is not the main duty in a job description. FSU has an excellent GIS program and they now offer an online graduate certificate program that is worth reading about: http://www.coss.fsu.edu/geography/St...rtificate.html.

A less expensive route is to pick up a copy of Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop, which comes with an ArcMap license/CD so you can dig in and play around with a powerful, industry standard GIS software package. Mr. Poucher is correct in that these courses are geared more toward data management instead of surveying techniques, however there are a number of concepts and techniques that are important to understand (or even just for you to be exposed to) in the world of digital cartography. I have not yet used the other cave mapping software packages (free is wonderful, though), but as a GIS analyst with a masters degree in Geographic Information Science, I can attest to the usefulness of GIS with any degree of survey data.

Wendy, I'll PM you - I'm actively getting into cavern and cave surveying too!