Summary and Setup

An introduction to the QGIS interface, finding and loading vector data from public repositories, and basic cartography, with additional reading on map design.

This module was taught as part of the Purdue-NSF GIS Cybertraining for the Social Sciences Workshop, a two-day workshop held at Purdue University in 2026 (Day 1, Session A QGIS track, part 1). See the Workshop 2026 page for the full program.

It is part of Enabling the Geospatial Turn in the Social Sciences, a set of training modules developed at Purdue University with support from the National Science Foundation.

What You Need for Session A

Sessions 1A, 2A and 3A form Track A, Working with GIS Data in QGIS. Complete the items below before the first session begins. If you already finished the main workshop setup page, you are ready.

Software

QGIS Desktop (LTR): download and install from https://qgis.org/download/. Open QGIS once to confirm it launches. You can check out a quick guide to QGIS here.

Accounts

  • USGS EarthExplorer: for downloading CORONA imagery and SRTM elevation data (Session 2A) → Register here
  • Copernicus Data Space: for downloading Sentinel-2 satellite imagery (Session 2A) → Register here

Both accounts are free. Email verification can take a few minutes, so please register ahead of time.

Project Folder

Create a folder on your desktop called Session_1a. You will save all downloaded data and QGIS project files here. Keeping everything in one place prevents broken layer links.

Session A Schedule: Day 1

Time Session Room Topic
10:30 AM Session 1A WALC 2121 Acquiring data and making your first map in QGIS
12:30 PM Lunch WALC 2051
1:15 PM Session 2A WALC 2121 Acquiring raster data (historical maps, CORONA, Sentinel-2, SRTM) and DEM analysis
2:45 PM Coffee break
3:00 PM Session 3A WALC 2121 Satellite imagery analysis: NDVI and flood mapping with Sentinel-2
4:30 PM Group discussion WALC 2127 Both tracks rejoin

Checklist