Introduction and Course Overview

Python Foundation for Spatial Analysis

Ujaval Gandhi
[email protected]

CC BY-NC 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
■ Led the GIS and Aerial Imagery team in India from 2007-2019
■ Built python data pipelines to process petabytes of satellite imagery
● Presently
○ Left Google in 2020 to work on startup Spatial Thoughts. Ujaval Gandhi
○ Building open-source content and helping people master advanced
geospatial skills.
Introduction
● Masters in Remote Sensing
● Interest in Automating Workflows
● Training Associate
○ Class logistics
○ Project support

Vigna Purohit
My Python Journey
● [2005] First encounter with Python. Bulk processing aerial imagery with
GDAL
● [2006] Developed pipelines for data QA
● [2013] Learnt advanced Python
● [2013] Launched Google Maps Engine python plugin for QGIS
● [2015] Fully automated pipeline for crisis imagery
● [2018] Ingestion of massive datasets in Google Earth Engine
● [2020] Machine learning with Python. Predicting urban travel times
● [2021] Developed Mapping and Data Visualization with Python course
● [2023] Applying AI tools [OpenAI API, Segment Anything] for geospatial
● Current: New Cloud-based Remote Sensing with Python course
Why Learn Python?
Why Learn Python?
● Freedom: Remove dependency on software or tools.
● Efficiency: Automate tasks and process large datasets
● Experiment: Quickly prototype solutions or test ideas
● Opportunity: Open up possibilities for using emerging technologies and
having a large impact
● Fun: Once you get over the initial learning curve, programming can be fun
and extremely satisfying
How to learn Python?
● Learning programming is hard
● You need to be extremely motivated to
push through the hurdles and challenges
● Find a problem that you need to solve.
Something personal and critical that will
make your investment in learning
worthwhile. All programming books can be replaced by a book on art of
● Learn the basics and start coding. You copy/pasting and adapting code

will become better the more code you Image Courtesy: http://rasterweb.net/raster/tag/programming/

write.
● Search, Find and Adapt the code
snippets when you get stuck and adapt it
your needs.
Course Overview
Python Basics Data Processing Tabular and Vector Data Raster Data and Scripting
(3 Hours) (3 Hours) (3 Hours) (3 Hours)

Variables Python Standard Library and Tabular Data Analysis with Raster Data Analysis with RasterIO
3rd Party Library Pandas
Data Structures Building Scripts and Automating
Using Web APIs Workflows
String Operations Vector Data Analysis with
Reading/Writing Files GeoPandas
Loops and Conditionals

Functions
Course Overview
Class Assignment Individual Class Project

Assignment will be explained after completion Class project will be explained at the end of the course
of Session 2
You can pick a project of your choice
Helps you practice skills learnt during the first (or pick from our list of suggested projects)
week
We will provide 1-1 mentoring and help
Approximate time commitment ~1 hour
Approximate time commitment ~3 hours

Due date: Before Session 3 Due date: Within 2 weeks of course completion
Course Structure
● The live-sessions are a mix of lectures + hands-on exercises
● Each section starts with a brief explanation of the concepts, followed by a
hands-on exercise.
● All participants must attempt the exercise and submit the solution.
○ Submit the solution via Zoom chat
● The sessions are highly interactive. You are encouraged to ask questions at
any point.
○ Don’t hold back. Ask clarifications early!
Live Session Logistics
● We will have 1 break of 10-minutes during the 3-hour session.
● All sessions are recorded and recording will be uploaded on the class page
within a few hours after the session ends.
● If you miss a live session, watch the recording and submit the exercises via
email
Certification
● Certificate will be issued by Spatial
Thoughts and given to all participants at
the end of the course.
● It is an employer-verifiable certificate and
can be verified with the unique id at
spatialthoughts.com/verify
● To receive the certificate, participants
must
○ Must be registered in the course
○ Complete all the class exercises and
assignment
○ Submit a project
Let’s Get Coding!