/sci/ - Science & Math

who are you

>>9561718
ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

>>9561710
I hear the pay is pretty good. I've always been fascinated by cartography. This appears to be the relevant modern iteration of the discipline.

I think it's funny how relevant something like this has become in times of big data.

GIS knowledge, especially a good grasp of geostatistics, will easily land you a job in the real estate industry, for example.

>>9561710
>GIS?
Buzzword for Cartography

>>9561850
It distinguishes pure Cartography from the GIS discipline, which includes database management, programming, data collection, and spacial analysis.

>>9561847
>GIS knowledge, especially a good grasp of geostatistics, will easily land you a job in the real estate industry, for example
This. It's totally worth consideration.

>>9561710
Congratulations - you're in for a great industrial career with plenty of money and options in practically every country on Earth.

I'm a remote sensing specialist, and while I don't really do any GIS stuff, I'm obviously involved in many things where GIS tools are used. With the advent of new space-based missions like the Sentinel program, it'll become even more lucrative, since every company will be utilising satellite data to some degree.

My suggestion to you. Start working with GIS tools NOW. Like, right now. Get yourself a student license or illegal copy of ArcGIS (essentially the golden industry standard) and start working with it, read tutorials, watch youtube tutorials, whatever. Find interesting small projects and play with the program. Get to a point where using the GIS tools will be a no-brainer and you don't even need to think what menus/shortcuts you have to use because it's become a part of you. Once you finish your geodesics (or whatever) degree, you'll be golden, I guarantee you'll find work.

Additional things you should look at: learn to program (e.g. Python, Javascript) well, learn to use the Google Earth engine (has a JS-like language I believe), get a good grip on statistics.

>>9561885
I'm taking your advice right now anon. I've got arcGIS and I'm doing a minor in GIS and everything.
Remote sensing is cooler/more scientific imo.
I think it would be dope if I learned all the really fucked up math behind GIS. Like all the statistics and computer science and coordinate systems and stuff. But I guess that's graduate level shit.

>>9561919
>I think it would be dope if I learned all the really fucked up math behind GIS. Like all the statistics and computer science and coordinate systems and stuff.

And you should. You need to fully understand what's behind coordinate transformations, because that's basic. You need to fully understand what the WGS is all about. Consider your GIS skills to be the key that unlocks the door to an industry career. Of course, if you want to be successful you need to go beyond that, you have to be a good programmer, you need to have an angle and potentially even a specialisation (urban environments, vegetation, natural disasters?..), and you'll probably have to learn about modern database systems. GIS tools are just that - tools. And the industry is evolving quickly, so be ready for a lifetime of learning and re-learning.

I'm an environmental science major and I've been meaning to sign up to get a certificate for this but I've kept putting it off. Hopefully it's not too late.

>>9561919

The statistics stuff really isn't that hard. Just kind of disconnected from the remainder of the subect, as a lot is taken from econometrics, of all places.
E.g. the basic idea of kriging is pretty much the same as time series analysis.

In addition to the languages mentioned here, you definitely should have a look at R for its geostatistics stuff. JavaScript, on the other hand, is not that useful for this kind of thing.

>>9561955
>JavaScript, on the other hand, is not that useful for this kind of thing.

While I agree, I just want to note that Google Earth Engine uses a JS-like language, I think, and I'd bet my left nut that GEE will become an important player in the future. So far, it's mainly used in academia, but I'm sure the industrial applications will take off at some point.

>>9561885
Hypothetically, if I wanted to get into academia, what Gradutate/PhD programs should I pursue? I see very few suggestions online for GIS PhD programs and many for Geography/Cartography degrees with GIS integration.

>>9561970
Well, GIS isn't a scientific field of research, hence the lack of PhD programs. You want to look for disciplines that make use of GIS tools: number one is obviously geography. Don't worry too much about the 'name' of the department, it's more the details of the research and the working group you want to look at.

Geography, remote sensing (as part of maybe physics), earth sciences, meteorology. Check for great phd opportunities here (everything earth-science related, you'll have to dig): https://www.lists.rdg.ac.uk/archives/met-jobs/

>>9561984
Nice! That's actually very helpful.

>>9561951
Do it brosephus

>>9561862 >>9561850 >>9561865 >>9561955 >>9561984
>GIS is Buzzword for Cartography

Like "Data Science" Which is just a Buzzword for Statistics.

>>9561710
I'm taking gis currently, but i'm dropping it due to the extremee amout of time it takes to completes the labs, that and i don't need it to graduate, what do you want to know OP?

>>9562151
What are you expected to know and do as an undergrad? Are there any skills you regret not knowing beforehand?

>>9561850
>>9562107
Is this an attempt at invalidation or...?

>>9562151
What degree are you graduating with?

What are the big name companies in the field?
Is it actually employable?

>>9561951
Literally me (almost). Studied environmental engineering and then got a certificate in GIS. The GIS is what gave me an edge finding a job. They needed a GIS guy badly and had me doing GIS work right away.

>>9561710
I fucked up: can I get a master's degree in GIS/Cartography with an undergraduate in English Education?

>>9561710
GIS seems to niche of a major.

What other majors can enter the industry?

>>9561951
Enviro science masters grad here. My 4 GIS units I took were a big part of how/why I got a job. GIS mapping is essential for all enviro work and you'll stand out if you're proficient with GIS. My company is small so only uses QGIS but after learning Arcmap, QGIS is easy. Take that GIS course anon.

Side recommendation: convince your employer to buy a drone and pay for you to do a commercial drone pilot's license course. I've done this and am quitting my job soon to join a friend's business doing aerial surveys and GIS mapping contracting. The demand is insatiable, the $$ are big and the work is easy

>>9562845
>The demand is insatiable, the $$ are big and the work is easy
Makes me feel really good

Just get a geology major and gis minor
You dont want to get stuck with GIS being your only marketable skill.

I'm very proficient in Google image search

>>9562182
Just like "backpropagation" is buzzword for the chain rule we all know from highschool.

>>9563081
>You dont want to get stuck with GIS being your only marketable skill.
GIS/Computer Cartography is barely associated with Geology; besides, GIS expertise is applicable in nearly every industrial context that makes use of large quantities of data.

>>9563797
Sexy

>>9563797
Noice

>>9563935
>>9564039
My daily driver GIS platform for USAF intel, Google Earth be damned

Goddamn is it ever fucking boring dude. I can't stand it.

>>9564100
I honestly can't empathize. I love mapping.

>>9564039
>BIONICLE

>>9561741

>>9563081
GIS constitutes a multitude of skills in one: it's highly marketable on its own.

>>9564039
That takes me back

>>9562640
>GIS seems to niche of a major
Not really

r8 my map guys

>>9564851
more for yellowstone

>>9564851
Tasteful, though your title sits a little too close to your map border

>>9564851
>>9564858
>no neatline
0/10
>tfw this is what actually happens
don't go into GIS if you're a pussy

>>9561710
I can't tell if it's a meme, almost every professor recommends it super hard in my undergrad program. I've taken some classes and looking at the employment sites it seems really in demand but I can't shake the feeling that it's going to be oversaturated.

>>9564858
Another

>>9564863
wtf is a neatline and why do I need one?

>>9564868
>I can't shake the feeling that it's going to be oversaturated
That's what my dad told be in 2010 when I began my master's in Cartography/GIS. Demand is only increasing atm.

>>9564875

>>9564889
Seems unnecessary. My maps are more informational, so maybe they are different than pure geography.

>>9564892
You do this for a living?

>>9564892
I was just being dick dude don't worry your maps are fine
Good even

>>9564875
>>9564858
>>9564851

You don't need a neat line don't listen to that anon. Your maps are pretty cluttered, you shouldn't have anything on the maps themselves not even the scale, the distance in the solar panel map seems bigger? than the other two maps next to it and you have that same spacing issue with "Current Territories" and I would toss out the text explaining the map unless you ABSOLUTELY need it in there for whatever reason but if you can just have it be a map and then reference it. Also maybe for the wolf map use the same colors and ranges for your values, same thing goes for the solar panel map.

But yeah they're very cluttered generally.

>>9564896
I did it for a living for a couple years.

>>9564905
>you shouldn't have anything on the maps themselves not even the scale
No way. Dead space on a map is fair game.
>the distance in the solar panel map seems bigger? than the other two maps next to it
The solar panel map isn't related to the others, but it does need a scale bar.
>I would toss out the text explaining the map unless you ABSOLUTELY need it in there for whatever reason but if you can just have it be a map and then reference it.
No way. The text is totally necessary and it's standard practice for a map analysis report.
>Also maybe for the wolf map use the same colors and ranges for your values, same thing goes for the solar panel map.
I purposely avoid doing that because the values are representing different factors in the different map sections.

>>9564937
>dead space on a map is fair game
You shouldn't have the title of a map on top of the data you're presenting. That's common sense. You should avoid formatting your maps in a way that you have so little room that it has to go over the figure or projection. That happens in two of the three maps you showed and it's the first thing someone sees. It looks cluttered.

For the solar panel map I meant the actual spacing on the page. The box is slightly bigger than the two that are next to it, you should make them all equal size.

Having a bunch of text in a map is ugly.

For the wolf map you literally have 2 figures showing probability. There's no reason to not standardize that especially since it's using the same measurement, probability, unless you believe the people reading your map can't read the title of each.

I was thinking of getting an Associates in GIS from my local cc before I decided to study Civil Engineering, did I fuck up?

>>9564548
being good at GIS is like being good at coding:
It's a valuable and highly marketable skill, but on its own it loses its value. It's one of those skills that you can teach a monkey how to do. Real value comes from being able to apply GIS to an area of expertise and do data analysis on your own without needing a professor or project manager having to tell you everything they want.
Sure you can still make a living being a GIS monkey, but the real careers are in applying GIS to science and industry. Getting a real degree and a GIS minor opens up significantly better opportunities than either a GIS degree or another degree on its own.

pic unrelated (its just a random matlab figure i had saved)

bump

>>9566350
fuck off you're the retard faggot
IRL I'd rek you

>>9562310
Why did you think that it is smart to learn your own language when you're in adult age?

>>9566419
Because I wanted to be Tolkien.

>>9566352
I'll cave yer fookin 'ead in.

>>9566419
English is good for those who want to teach it/enter academia.

>>9561919
To add to that, I'd recommend downloading and using QGIS, and learn how to integrate GIS into R. Both of those are free. If you *need* esri, they have "home" use license for $100/year for *every* extension they have. It's marvelous way to learn on your own.
Next, learn to share your data using REST services. The big bucks in GIS aren't in the grunt work (though it's not bad), but in getting grunts' data up onto the web for others to see and use.

>>9561967

>>9562640
I work at a natural resource agency, and am surrounded by biologists. They want/need to get their data from the field presented in a way that transfers information quickly and effectively. Mapping is the logical choice, but they're not GIS experts. They dabble, and I show them tools available and teach them how to use GIS for themselves. Some take to it, and are on track to becoming the "GIS guy" for the group. So my time is filled with doing big and little projects, and training too. I tell you - I'm having a blast! It's interesting, productive, I learn a lot about biology, and I'm honing my own skills through a variety of projects I wouldn't come up with on my own.

>>9561710
GIS is like programming in that you should learn it on your own while you pursue a broader degree. get a BS in geology, learn GIS on the side, and try to get summer internships doing surveying for a construction company or the state.

>took 4 years of environmental "sciences" at top school
>never once learned about GIS

how long will it take me to get up to speed on this program? I bought a web course on it to learn the ropes.

>>9564858
>smooth borders
>predicted values
angery

>>9567609
http://amsantac.co/blog/en/2015/10/31/qgis-r.html

>>9561710
its a huge market that no one talks about. I constantly tell the /k and /pol/ anons who whine about no jerbs for fancy new AR15 to look into it. all this shit where people want an interactive map or a location based app, example being something like pokemon Go or even uber, GIS is incredibly relevant. In Dallas the average pay is between 40K-55K for entry level GIS jobs