GTECH 709 How to get ArcGIS and FOSS software Download sites Install instructions For different software packages and operating systems
Software Used in This Course ArcGIS Online (GeoCommons) Quantum GIS (QGIS) CartoDB ArcGIS Desktop ArcCatalog ArcMap ArcToolbox Saga GIS
ArcGIS Online + GeoCommons Both are web services; i.e., all you need is a web browser and an account You will need to create your own accounts ArcGIS Online GeoCommons
Quantum GIS (QGIS) The most wide-spread free and open source desktop GIS Download for your OS of choice from here Choose your operating system and follow the instructions In Fall 2014, we work with version 2.4 “Chugiak” Bookmark the documentation URL Use BB discussion board if you have questions (or answers)
QGIS Note for Mac Users If you use OS X Snow Leopard of Mt Lion Download and install GDAL 1.9 first GSL Frameworks 1.16 second, and then QGIS Linux users should consult the QGIS download page for information on their distro
CartoDB Another web service-based GIS / mapping software Sign-up for a free account We are working on setting up our own Hunter-based CartoDB server, which would give you more files / disk space to work with Stay tuned for news on that
ArcGIS Desktop (1) The most commonly used commercial GIS It runs on MS Windows only. You have three options: Ask your instructor for download instructions and educational license code (requires Windows) If you have a powerful Mac, install Windows emulation software (e.g. ‘Parallels’) and then proceed with solution 1 above Log onto Hunter’s Virtual Desktop
ArcGIS Desktop (2) ArcGIS Desktop consists of multiple programs ArcCatalog to organize your GIS data ArcMap to create maps and analyze your data ArcToolbox to develop workflows of GIS procedures (concatenations of GIS processing steps) There are other components of ArcGIS Desktop that we will not use in this course
SAGA GIS Another free and open desktop GIS Specializing on working with raster data Can also be used for remote sensing purposes More user-friendly than GRASS GIS Extremely powerful on 64-bit Linux and Windows Download from sourceforge For GTECH 709, you can also use ArcGIS Desktop with the SpatialAnalyst extension