Topic outline

  • Theme 1: Water resources

    Introduction to the course

    You can download the introduction ppt from the file below:

    Introduction ppt


    Theme lecture

    The theme lecture is available at the following web-page:

    Prezi of water resources (opens in a new window)


    Hands-on training

    The following material is used in the hands-on training session with the lecture. Please download the files to your computer.

    ------- instructions ---------

    1. Start RStudio
    2. Select File -> New Project -> Version Control -> Git
    3. Give URL https://version.aalto.fi/gitlab/wdrg/wp-course-exercises
    4. In the third (bottom) field give a directory under your network home directory, not on the local computer!
    5. We will start working on the file lecture1.Rmd

    The quick reference guide below has the basics of R in terms of variable assignment and some simple data structures. It is helpful if you have no experience in R and as a cheatsheet for later use.

    Quick reference guide - Hands-on session 1 

    Throughout the course, we will be using Aalto Version version control service to distribute the exercise material. No special logins are required in Aalto Version.

    You can get the completed script demo1.Rmd by following these steps:

    1. In RStudio, while working with your project select Tools -> Shell
    2. Check that you are in the wp-course-exercises folder: using Windows shell, the path is highlighted in yellow and if there is a cyan (master) after the path, everything is correct and you can proceed to 4
    3. If you were not in the right folder, change the folder with a command cd path/to/folder. Useful commands are ls -l, which shows the contents of current folder, and cd -- (cd and two minus signs), which sets the current path to home folder (in Aalto computers, the home folder)
    4. Type the following command and press enter: git pull
    5. The shell pulls the changes from the version control system to your folder wp-course-exercises


    [new] Cut raster + updated basin data

    You can pull the updated basin data [basin_data_new.Rdata] as well as raster cut example script [crop_example.R] from GIT by following the instruction above (use git pull command). You can also download them from the link below:

    crop_raster_and_basin_data.zip


    [new] File not found -error - some of you experienced an error when reopening the project and then trying to load the data file. Error looks something like this: cannot open compressed file 'basin_data_new.Rdata', probable reason 'No such file or directory'. To pass this error, you need to set the working directory. If you see files of Theme 1 in bottom right corner, then just under this file tab, select More - Set As Working Directory, and you are good to go. 


    ------- code and data - save them to your computer ---------

    The code and data required for the first exercise are available also in the link below. 

    Code and data

    ---------------------


    Home assignment

    1. Discover global / regional runoff and precipitation patterns

    Instructions:

    1. please select a research question below or develop your own (preferred!)
    2. produce one A4/A3 page with following structure: a) title; b) research question and short introduction; c) maps, graphs, etc of the results with captions d) interpretation of the results
    3. you can get help to possible problems by a) searching from internet: there are many people with similar problems; b) posting question to the discussion forum of the course (tool below the text; teachers and other students will be answering to those questions); c) coming to Thursday workshop, or d) asking your fellow students directly
    4. once you are happy with the end result, please submit the work (see below Submission)


    This weeks illustration type: maps; include at least one map to the home assignment! See example charts under 'Visualisation guides and examples' -tab 

    Example research questions:

    • How much does runoff vary over year by grid cells / large river basins? 
    • How large percentage of precipitation is turned to runoff? 
    • Countries of extremes - in which countries the a) difference of precipitation, b) difference of temperature, c) difference of runoff, and/or d) seasonal variability of runoff are greatest?
    • Impact of climate change - from the folder Supporting materials (Data) in MyCourses you can find global monthly precipitation, temperature and runoff under climate change (year 2050).

    Example submission: from this link you can find an example submission (please note, the time series plot comes only next week and thus, it is encouraged to include only maps to this week's home assignment). 

    Submission: please submit the assignment by using the submission icon below. Submission is due on following Monday from the lecture. If you submit the assingment late, you'll get only half of the points. The submission will be closed completely two weeks after the lecture, after which you are not able to submit the assignment. 

    2. Select the geographical area of your project work

    Instructions: by using the selection tool below [the one with question mark], please choose the large river basin on which your individual project work will be concentrated on. Only one student per river basin is allowed. If you are particularly interested in one river basin and it is taken, you can negotiate with the other student whether she or he is able to change. More information about the actual project will be give within the second lecture.


    Thursday workshop

    On Thursdays we have a workshop at main building U265 in where you can get help on the home assignment and project work. At 9:30 (sharp - please come in time to have time to start computer etc), we'll give a short lecture on Adobe Illustrator to show how you can use it to enhance your vector graphs and make them visually appealing. 

    Here is the short introduction how you can use Illustrator in the case of raster maps:

    Illustrator lecture 1



    • Assignment icon
      Home assignment #1 - water resources

      Please submit the first assignment here; detail instructions are in the MyCourses page.

      Please remember: submission is due on Tuesday 23.4. at 23:55. If you submit the assingment late, you'll get only half of the points. The submission will be closed completely on 29.4, after which you are not able to submit the assignment. 

      Before submission, please check:

      • your home assignment fits to one page
      • the format of the submission is pdf
      • assignment includes at least one map (this week illustration theme is maps)

    • Choice icon
      Selection of geographical area of your project work Choice
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Theme 2: Population dynamics