Geography students to learn more about GIS

For the first time, students of undergraduate colleges affiliated to Gauhati University (GU) will be able to study both theoretical and practical approaches to remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS).

Students studying geography as their major subject will get the opportunity to study RS and GIS during the sixth-semester classes starting this month.

While RS is regarded as an important data acquisition tool, GIS is a spatial data analysis tool.

“It is for the first time that undergraduate students of GU will get the chance to study both theoretical and practical approaches to RS and GIS. We are hopeful that these will evoke enough interest among the students to specialize in the said subjects in future,” said P Bhattacharya, assistant professor of geography department of GU.

He added that since students have the option of specializing in RS and GIS at the post-graduate level in GU, it is necessary to adopt both theoretical and practical approaches to the study at the undergraduate level. Earlier, geography students in colleges under GU were imparted preliminary theoretical knowledge on RS and GIS, said Bhattacharya.

He added that since introduction of technologies like RS and GIS has modernized the ways of tracking developments taking place around the world, students would be immensely benefited if they were involved in their study.

However, providing teachers up-to-date training on RS and GIS is a mammoth challenge for the university authorities. To meet this requirement, the geography department of GU is going to organize two need-based RS and GIS workshops for college teachers under GU.

Source : TimesofIndia