The geo-challenge

• Objective
  • Demonstrate scripting skills in a spatial scripting challenge
  • Choose or come up with an original and novel topic
  • Write code using packages you haven’t used before, make complex reusable functions with efficient code to handle spatial data
  • Make code reproducible and document well, use project structure, make good use of git
  • Create an interactive presentation and visualisation (e.g. dashboard, storymap, app, etc.)
• See also the rubric on CodeGrade

The geo-challenge

• Planning
  • 8 half-days for project work (Mon-Wed)
  • Last Thursday: make interactive posters and give peer feedback
  • Last Friday: interactive digital “poster” session

The geo-challenge

• Deliverables:
  • A project, repository, that is reproducible
  • Produces a result (map, analysis) for your presentation
  • An interactive “poster” where you explain
    • objective
    • workflow
    • results by using a clear visualization (demo, map, output, analysis)
    • what have you learned?
    • what would you do if you had more time (e.g. 6 months)?
    • not necessary to show code, optionally snippets to illustrate your point

Example geo-challenges

• See Brightspace for predefined challenge topics and data sets
• First identify a data set that you can use (e.g. data available for download, etc.).
  • a small (!) data set that you can analyse.
• A simple challenge so that you can apply and demonstrate geoscripting skills.
• Python, R, Bash, GEE, all, other programming/scripting languages are fine.

Teams?!

• You will work in a team of four, but for the time being submit a topic in your current team
• If you already know what other team you want to work with, in which case:
  • Write a joint proposal and have only one group submit the proposal for the whole team of four
• If not:
  • Write your own proposal, indicate whether it is on one of the predefined challenge topics or a custom topic
  • You will be merged with another group that proposed a similar topic
  • You will work according to the better proposal from the two
• Starter repositories have been created according to the current teams
• Feedback, as well as go/no-go, will be given in CodeGrade

Questions?

Exercise for today

• Edit your Project_Proposal_Starter
• Give the number of the topic you choose, or whether you will work on your own topic
• Modify the README.md file and add the text as per next slide
  • https://www.markdownguide.org/cheat-sheet/
  • https://markdown-it.github.io/ (very nice markdown examples!)
• Write a concise scientific proposal (one paragraph for each heading is fine, can include lists)

Exercise for today

In the README.md:

• Name for the 4-member team and list of members (if you already know this) & Project title
• Task 1: Research questions (Why?)
  • Define the aim or question(s) of your project, phrased as questions to answer
  • Be very concrete and specific, also quantitative
  • e.g. “How well can Random Forest classify trees, grassland and crops in the Gewata region?”

Exercise for today

• Task 2: Data (What?)
  • Provide a link to the data and describe the metadata (author, date, extent, resolution, etc.)
  • Can it be accessed via a script, and how (i.e. API or download link)?
  • Estimate how large the data set will be for your project
    • e.g. do this by a little test download of one file unless you decide to work in Google Earth Engine
    • Important here is to keep the data set small! e.g. below 500 MiB
• Task 3: Methods (How?)
  • Which functionality or approach will you use to achieve this? Can you already name new packages you will want to try out?
  • What will be the result, output, and/or visualization?

Proposal submission deadlines

• Inform us about team changes ASAP
• Submit your proposal before Friday September 26, 17:15
• Review the other teams before Monday September 29, 17:15, via Codegrade
• If you get a NO GO, make changes ASAP
• By Friday October 3 end of the day - all proposals must be approved then
• By then you will know which group you are working together with and will get your Project starter repository the following Monday. You can then start working on acquiring the data.

Work during the project week

• We have rooms in Leeuwenborch for the whole two weeks, but check on https://te.wur.nl/ when and which!
• Check out the side screens when you have the opportunity!
• File storage: you can make use of MS Teams Files tab
  • You don’t need to make file download completely reproducible!
  • Small datasets are better than big datasets
  • Put the presentation files into MS Teams Files tab as well

Final presentation day

• We will have two sessions for the interactive presentations using the side screens:
  • ~10 groups will present (5+5), ~10 will watch, and then we swap (40 minutes per session)
  • 5 minutes per presentation, 3 minutes for discussion
• After the presentations, we will go to a plenary session for awards, picture and feedback about the course