Master's Degree on
Geomatics and Natural Resources Evaluation
Stage
The practical stage has become increasingly important since the very beginning and is now the most important aspect of the Course. The first visit to a foreign country, Tunisia, was held for the 12th edition in 1985. In later editions, the final stages have taken place in Bolivia (1997, 1999), China (2005), Eritrea (1995), Morocco (2001, 2002, 2007), Tunisia (1993, 2000, 2004), Senegal (2003), Ethiopia (2008, 2009) and Italy (2010, 2011).
The stage is divided into
three distinct phases:
- Preliminary processing and data analysis: A critical review of existing documentation about the study area is carried out in order to realize the Preliminary Land Unit Map, starting from remote sensing data and topographic maps. At the end of this, the students are involved in planning the field survey and preparing the database structure, where fieldwork data will be stored and elaborated.
- Fieldwork: During this part, the students are divided into four groups, each one responsible for its own surveys. Each group has to collect soil, vegetation, geological and morphological data in the sample points planned in the previous phase, in order to describe each Land Unit in terms of natural characteristics.
- Final processing: The ultimate aim of the project is to create a Land Unit Map composed by a single synthetic level, resulting from a holistic land survey. The holistic approach is exactly the opposite of the traditional GIS technique of overlaying different information layers to obtain a synthesis. This approach offers many practical and scientific advantages, and it allows to take into consideration synergies and mutual relationships existing between the main components of the land. From the Land Unit Map, many other maps are produced: basic theme maps such as soil and land use/land cover maps, and derived maps such as erosion risk, land capability and land suitability maps for different types of land use.
The final goal is to provide decision makers with a land evaluation tool in a digital geographic database that can constitute a basis for rational land use planning and rural development.
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