Summary and Setup
Finding raster data (historical maps, declassified CORONA imagery, Sentinel-2 and SRTM elevation data) and analyzing digital elevation models in QGIS (slope, aspect, hillshade and classification).
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 2). 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 This Session
Before starting Session 2A, make sure you have the following ready. If you completed the main workshop setup page, you are already set.
Accounts
- USGS EarthExplorer: for downloading CORONA imagery and SRTM elevation data → Register here
- Copernicus Data Space: for downloading Sentinel-2 satellite imagery → Register here
Both accounts are free. Email verification can take a few minutes, so please register ahead of time.
Software
- QGIS Desktop (LTR): download and install from https://qgis.org/download/. Open QGIS once to confirm it launches.
Recommended
-
7-Zip (Windows) or a similar archive tool: needed
to extract CORONA
.tgzdownloads. → Download here - A dedicated project folder on your computer (e.g.,
Desktop/GIS_Workshop/) to keep downloaded data organized.