Earth Observation (EO) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are two complementary pillars of modern geospatial work: EO delivers up-to-date, continuous spatial data about the Earth's surface, while GIS provides the tools to organize, analyze, and visualize that data alongside other spatial layers. This lecture explores why and how these two domains are integrated within QGIS, showing how the combination of raster (EO) and vector (GIS) data enables deeper, multi-dimensional analysis — from monitoring vegetation within administrative boundaries and assessing crop damage at plot level, to supporting evidence-based planning for local government units. Through key QGIS operations such as zonal statistics, spatial queries, raster calculation, and spatial modeling, participants will learn how raw satellite data is transformed into actionable geographic information, culminating in a hands-on exercise on extracting barangay boundary vectors — a fundamental step in producing localized geospatial products for planning, monitoring, and decision-making.
Teacher: Alvin Baloloy