Introduction and Course Overview
Introduction to QGIS
Ujaval Gandhi
ujaval@[Link]
CC BY-4.0
Introduction
● Background in GIS and Remote Sensing
○ Intern at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun, India
○ MS in Geospatial Information Engineering from University of Wisconsin -
Madison, USA
● 15 years of professional experience
○ One of the early employees at Google Inc.
■ Moved to India in 2006 and established the maps team
■ Migrated internal teams to QGIS
■ Led the GIS and Aerial Imagery team in India from 2007-2019
○ Developed expertise in Google Earth Engine and trained 1000+ scientists
and researchers across India
Ujaval Gandhi
● Presently
○ Providing QGIS/Open-source GIS training through Spatial Thoughts
Introduction
● Masters in Remote Sensing
● Interest in Automating Workflows
● Training Associate
○ Class logistics
○ Project support
Vigna Purohit
My QGIS Journey
● [2006] First encounter with QGIS (Quantum GIS
v 0.8)
● [2008] Started transitioning Google’s mapping
operations to QGIS
● [2010] Started publishing open materials online
from [Link]
○ Translated into 10+ languages by the community
● [2013] Wrote the Google Maps Engine
Connector for QGIS plugin
● [2019] Became a [Link] certified training
provider
● [2021] Developed QGIS materials for Urban
Planning and Hydrology*
● [2024] Cloud-native workflows for QGIS for
Climate and Earth Observation data*
[*links in slide notes]
Spatial Thoughts
QGIS
● Most popular open-source desktop GIS software
○ ~700K daily users, ~15M monthly users (QGIS Usage Dashboard)
● Project is over 20 years old and is very actively developed
● Mature organization structure. Registered legal entity, Project Steering
Committee, large community of users and developers
QGIS Applications
● QGIS Desktop: Create, edit, visualise, analyse and publish geospatial
information.
● QGIS Server: Publish your QGIS projects and layers as OGC compatible
WMS and WFS services.
● QGIS Web Client: Publish your QGIS projects on the web with ease.
● QGIS on Mobile: Focus on data collection.
○ MerginMaps- Open source project maintained by Lutra Consulting. Works on Android and
iOS.
○ QField - Open source project maintained by [Link]. Works on Android and iOS.
Course Overview
Module 1 Module 2
● Creating Maps (Hands-on) ● Joins and Data Normalization Techniques
○ Data Import (Lecture)
○ Symbology ● Visualizing Spatial Data (Hands-on)
○ Labelling ○ Table Join
○ Print Layout
○ Creating a Choropleth Map
Course Overview
Module 3 Module 4
● Georeferencing (Hands-on) ● Introduction to OpenStreetMap (Lecture)
○ Using Basemaps ● Geoprocessing (Hands-on)
○ Using the Georeferencer ○ Downloading OpenStreetMap Data
● Data Editing (Hands-on) ○ Reproject and Buffer
○ Attribute Forms ○ Calculate Zonal Statistics
○ Digitizing Polygons ● Additional Topics / Q & A
Assignment and Evaluation
Session 1 Session 3
Assignment
Session 2 Session 4
Class Challenges Assignment* Class Challenges
( 60 mins)
Live Quizzes Live Quizzes
* Assignment is due on the last day of the course
Live Session Structure
● The live-sessions are a mix of lectures + hands-on exercises.
● We will have 1 break of 10-minutes each during the 3-hour session.
● The sessions are highly interactive. You are encouraged to ask questions at
any point.
○ Don’t hold back. Ask clarifications early!
Live Session Structure
● Each section starts with a brief explanation of the concepts, followed by a
hands-on exercise.
○ Hands-on exercises are optional, but highly recommended.
● Each exercise is broken down into small logical sections.
○ There are checkpoint projects provided in your data package that will allow you to catch up
and continue from any section.
● Participants are presented with a challenge at the end of each section.
○ All participants must attempt the challenge and submit the solution.
○ Take a screenshot and submit via Zoom chat
● All sessions are recorded and will be uploaded to the class page. If you miss
any session, watch the recording and submit the challenges by email.
Certification
● Certificate will be issued by [Link] and
given to all participants at the end of the
course.
● To receive a certificate, participants must
○ Must be enrolled in an instructor-led
session
○ Attend the full course live (all sessions)
○ Complete all the class challenges and
assignment
○ Complete the quizzes during the class
Let’s get started
[Link]
