Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering

The courses presently offered in the Geomatics Engineering Program by the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering are described below.

The first digit of the identification number indicates the level of the course. A “5” indicates an elective course, normally done in the final year.

The second digit normally indicates the subject area as follows:

0 measurement, positioning and navigation
1 applied analysis
2 geodesy
3 imaging and mapping
4 information management, modeling and visualization
5 land administration
6 synthesis and design
7 technical communication, complementary studies
8 service course for other disciplines
9 general (geodesy or geomatics or both)

The third digit carries the course sequence identification integer where "0" refers to the first course, "1" to the second course, and so on.

As stated below, a course may have prerequisite courses or co-requisite courses or both. It is expected that students will have completed at least the prerequisite courses prior to doing a course in order to be adequately prepared to deal with the material of that course. Those who have not completed those courses can expect to spend additional time acquiring this background knowledge on their own and should budget more time for that course. Nonetheless, a course instructor has the right to insist that students may take her/his course only if they have met the prerequisite or co-requisite stipulations or both.

The credit hour weighting of a course is also an indication of the amount of time that may have to be spent on a course. Generally, the number of hours per week (including all scheduled class time) could be from 2 to 3 times the number of credit hours. As an example, a course is shown as being “(2C, 3L) 4 ch”. This means that a student might spend up to 8 to 12 hours per week, including the scheduled 5 hours of lectures (C) and lab (L). Students who have not completed the prerequisites can expect to spend more time than this.

For list of core courses and technical elective courses, see Section G in the program description.

NOTE: See the beginning of Section H for abbreviations, course numbers and coding.

GGE2013Advanced Surveying Practicum4 ch

Two weeks of practical exercises following spring examinations. Management of occupational health safety issues. NOTE: Credit will not be given for both GGE 2013 and GGE 2014.

Prerequisites: GGE 2012, STAT 2593. 

GGE2014Advanced Surveying Practicum (Off-Campus)4 ch
A series of practical surveying exercises completed remotely during summer term. Management of occupational health and safety issues. NOTE: Credit will not be given for both GGE 2013 and GGE 2014.

Prerequisites: GGE 2012, STAT 2593.
GGE3023Survey Design Practicum4 ch

Apply principles of survey design and analysis to a control survey involving total station, differential levelling, and GNSS observations. Students undertake two weeks of practical exercises in survey planning, execution, and analysis following spring examinations. Management of occupational health and safety is discussed and applied in field operations.  NOTE: Credit will not be given for both GGE 3023 and GGE 3024.

Prerequisite: GGE 3022. 

GGE3024Survey Design Practicum (Off-Campus)4 ch
Apply principles of survey design and analysis to a control survey involving total station, differential levelling, and GNSS observations. Students undertake a series of practical exercises in survey planning, execution, and analysis completed remotely during the summer term. Management of occupational health and safety is discussed and applied in field operations. NOTE: Credit will not be given for both GGE 3023 and GGE 3024.

Prerequisite: GGE 3022.
GGE3342Remote Sensing5 ch (3C 3L)

Overview and physical basis of remote sensing. Space- and air-borne sensor systems, active and passive sensors. Fundamental geometry of photogrammetry. Image statistics. Rectification of digital imagery. Image enhancement, spectral and spatial filtering. Multi-spectral transformations. Thematic information extraction, classification and accuracy assessment, change detection. Credit will be given for only one of GGE 3342 or GGE 5342. 

Prerequisite: GGE 2423 or GGE 3423 or permission of instructor. 

GGE4513Survey Law I4 ch (3C 2*L) [W]
Real property and boundaries in Canadian law. Estates in land, land granting, and historical settlement patterns, land registration,  systems and understanding boundary creation. Managing uncertainties and misalignments of title and possession. Dedication and survey of public roads and highways. Introduction to indigenous title.

Prerequisites: GGE 2501.
GGE5083Hydrographic Field Operations4 ch
Complex Multidisciplinary Field Project (CMFP) focused on autonomous survey vessel operations to support a specific ocean mapping and nautical charting problem. The CMFP will include survey planning, equipment preparation, data acquisition, and data processing to generate ocean mapping deliverables.

Prerequisites: GGE 3353, GGE 5011, GGE 5012, and GGE 5311.
GGE5222Gravity Field in Geomatics4 ch (2C 3L)

Build an in depth understanding of Earth's gravity field and its application to various aspects of Geomatics. Students learn the theory of Earth's gravity field and its temporal variations. Space, airborne and terrestrial observational methods associated with absolute, relative, network, and moving-base gravimetry are covered, as well as errors in these techniques. Mathematical models, gravity field parameter transformations, and a selection of applications (e.g., geoid determination, height systems, mass transfer) are also covered. 

Prerequisites: GGE 3122, GGE 4211.

GGE5242Global Navigation Satellite Systems for Geodesy4 ch (3C 3*L)

Review of coordinate systems. Orbital dynamics. GPS for high precision positioning and navigation. Major practical lab in GPS positioning.

Prerequisites: GGE 3202, GGE 4211. 

GGE5311Advanced Hydrography4 ch (2C 2L)
Advanced acquisition, processing and delivery of ocean mapping data. Topics covered include: Multibeam sonar system setup, integration, application and troubleshooting; survey planning and reporting; advanced multibeam sonar data processing, including water column object detection; and hydrographic data management.

Prerequisites: GGE 3353 and GGE 5011.
GGE5322Digital Image Processing4 ch (3C 3*L)

Introduction to software implementation, including image data formats, programming standards, Python programming and libraries, and writing, compiling and running software codes. Computer vision methods, algorithms, and applications, including edge detection, feature extraction, image matching, mathematical morphology, image segmentation, image classification, object detection, and 3D creation. 

Prerequisites: CS 1003, MATH 1503, GGE 3342 and  basic programming knowledge, preferably in Python. 

GGE5341Advanced Technologies in Remote Sensing4 ch (3C 2L)
Overview of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Fundamentals, algorithms, and applications of widely used ML and AI methods in geospatial data analysis, including Supervised Learning, Unsupervised Learning, Fuzzy Logic, Wavelet Transformation, Artificial Neural Network, and Deep Learning.

Prerequisite: MATH 1503 and GGE 3342 or permission of the instructor.
GGE54103D Geographical Information Systems4 ch (2C 3L)
Strengthen skills in 3D geospatial data processing, managing and modelling; problem-solving; and teamwork. This course is designed to follow on from GGE 4423 and GGE 4313. Students will gain a more profound knowledge of 3D geospatial data and learn to design appropriate pipelines for 3D geospatial data processing, managing and modelling. Theoretical concepts along with hands-on individual and team-based experiences guide the students through analysis with 3D GIS platforms.

Prerequisites: GGE 4423 and GGE 4313
GGE5522Survey Law II4 ch (3C 2*L) [W]
Advanced Canadian law affecting real property, boundaries, and surveys. Land registration, systems and associated issues. Boundary descriptions and interpretation of boundary evidence  Role of the surveyor as an expert witness. Specialized topics including conodminiums, water rights and boundaries, international water boundaries, and indigenous rights to land.

Prerequisites: GGE 4512 or GGE 4513.