Geomatics (GIS, Remote Sensing)

 

Other Research areas:

The great majority of the research, teaching and outreach activities at CAST can all be subsumed under the term geomatics. We have selected the term geomatics to encompass efforts often categorized under such terms as GIS, GIScience, geospatial technology, remote sensing, photogrammetry, cartography, surveying, geodesy, etc.  The definition of geomatics is evolving.  

A working definition of geomatics might be “the art, science and technologies related to the management of geographically-referenced information.”

Geomatics includes a wide range of activities, from the acquisition and analysis of site-specific spatial data in engineering and development surveys to the application of GIS and remote sensing technologies in environmental management.  Please visit this site for this and other definitions.

In addition to encompassing some or all of these topics our understanding of the term is somewhat more expansive, including aspects of public policy, business, etc.  The graphic below illustrates a sense of this relationship.  

  Geomatics graphic

Links to specific research projects and more information on each topic are available on the left of the page.  In addition to active research efforts in all of these areas and in the intersections of many of them at the Center, the University of Arkansas offers more than 30 course offerings in the area of geomatics in a number of departments. Information on the geomatics curriculum is provided here. See also the Field Programs page for details on geomatics taught in the field.