This channel contains Open Educational Resources (OER) on open source GIS, made by Hans van der Kwast. Hans is an Associate Professor of Open Science and Digital Innovation at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (www.un-ihe.org) and owner of QWAST-GIS (www.qwast-gis.com).
The channel also contains videos of the exercises in the book "QGIS for Hydrological Applications - Recipes for Catchment Hydrology and Water Management" by Kurt Menke and Hans van der Kwast. More information about the book can be found at the website of Locate Press: www.locatepress.com/hyd2.
Free step-by-step tutorials can be found at the GIS OpenCourseWare Platfrom: courses.gisopencourseware.org
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Hans van der Kwast
In two weeks I'll be teaching the 3D Point Cloud Processing in QGIS live course with the Australian Water School. Across three hands‑on sessions, you’ll learn how to turn raw drone imagery, photogrammetry and LiDAR into usable point clouds, orthophotos and hydrologically relevant elevation models and data. We’ll work with WebODM, QGIS’s native point cloud tools, the 3D viewer, Elevation Profile, and automated PDAL wrench workflows to build fast, reproducible terrain‑analysis pipelines.
🌧️ Perfect for professionals working in flood modelling, hydrology, hydraulics and catchment assessment.
✔️ What you’ll be able to do after the course:
🔹Generate point clouds from drone imagery
🔹Analyse and visualise LiDAR data
🔹Build DSMs/DTMs with multiple interpolation methods
🔹Explore and interpret 3D terrain for hydrological features
🔹Apply point‑cloud filters for cleaner modelling inputs
🔹Automate processing with PDAL wrench for repeatable workflows
📅 Live sessions: 28 July – 18 August 2026
💻 Online
⏱️ 3 × 2‑hour sessions + 30‑day access to recordings
🎓 Official QGIS Certificate + CPD hours
🔗 Course details & registration: awschool.com.au/training/point-cloud-qgis/
💡 Special offer: Use AWS‑QGIS25 for 25% off the course fee!
Join the course and gain skills you can apply immediately in your water‑sector projects!
3 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Hans van der Kwast
I'll be teaching 3D Point Cloud Processing in QGIS in an upcoming live course with the Australian Water School!
Across three hands‑on sessions, we’ll dive into LiDAR, photogrammetry, drone‑derived point clouds, WebODM processing, QGIS 3D tools, hydrological terrain analysis, and automated PDAL wrench workflows. If you work in flood modelling, catchment assessment, or terrain‑driven water analysis, this course will seriously level up your geospatial toolkit.
🔗 Course page & registration: awschool.com.au/training/point-cloud-qgis
💡 Discount:
Use discount code AWS‑QGIS25 for 25% off, valid until 10 July 2026.
📅 Live sessions: 28 July – 18 August 2026
🌐 Online
Looking forward to seeing many of you there!
4 months ago | [YT] | 7
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Hans van der Kwast
📢 Excited to announce the upcoming QGIS Masterclass at the Australian Water School!
From 15 April to 3 June 2026, I’ll be co‑presenting an 8‑session deep‑dive into hydrological analysis in QGIS together with Yonas Asfaha. Over these weeks, we’ll guide participants through the full workflow of transforming raw terrain data into meaningful hydrological insights.
This masterclass is designed for water professionals, GIS specialists, and anyone looking to strengthen their practical skills in:
🔹Delineating streams, catchments, and sub‑catchments from DEMs
🔹Deriving hydrological properties such as hypsometric curves, drainage density, bifurcation ratios, and unit hydrographs
🔹Building clear and compelling 2D and 3D visualisations of flow directions and catchment behaviour
🔹Applying QGIS tools, plugins, and automation techniques to support water modelling and spatial analysis
Across eight structured sessions, we’ll combine hands‑on exercises, guided workflows, and practical examples to help participants build confidence and technical depth in hydrological GIS.
If you’re looking to elevate your QGIS capabilities and bring more analytical power to your hydrological work, this course is a great opportunity to do so.
👉 Registration is now open via the Australian Water School: awschool.com.au/training/qgis-masterclass/
7 months ago | [YT] | 4
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Hans van der Kwast
Do you enjoy my YouTube channel but also care about digital sovereignty and privacy? Today, I'm excited to launch QwastTube, a fediverse alternative to my YouTube channel, built for people who value open ecosystems, user autonomy, and community‑driven platforms. These principles are at the heart of what we do at QWAST.
🔧 What powers QwastTube?
QwastTube runs on PeerTube, an open‑source, decentralized video platform. Instead of relying on a single corporate service, PeerTube uses federation: independent servers that interconnect, share content, and build communities without surveillance capitalism or algorithmic lock‑in.
In other words: your viewing experience stays yours, and creators keep control over their work.
📈 With almost 35,000 subscribers on YouTube, I’m grateful for the reach and engagement there. But I also believe deeply that we can grow strong, meaningful communities on platforms that respect users and creators alike. PeerTube gives us that opportunity.
🎬 I’m still importing videos and customizing the platform, but the first collections are already live. Feel free to explore, follow, and federate:
👉 videos.qwast-gis.com/
For now, both the YouTube channel and QwastTube will run in parallel and stay synchronized. But I hope many of you will choose QwastTube for my content on open‑source GIS!
9 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 61
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Hans van der Kwast
🎙️ I was recently interviewed by Safae Aala for the @ToOpenDoors I.Talk podcast, and we had a wonderful conversation about my 25-year journey in the world of GIS!
We talked about how geospatial technology has evolved, how QGIS has grown into a powerful open-source tool, and why education and innovation are so important in this field.
💬 I’d love to hear your thoughts: How has open source GIS impacted your work or learning journey?
1 year ago | [YT] | 10
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Hans van der Kwast
Mastering Mesh Data with QGIS course
Mesh data is fundamental to hydrologic, hydraulic, oceanographic, meteorological, and environmental modelling. But working with meshed datasets can be complex - until now!
Join the hands-on course, Mastering Mesh Data in QGIS, led by Kurt Menke and myself, to gain expertise in mesh data formats, including NetCDF, using QGIS. Learn to create, edit, and apply mesh data, unlocking powerful geospatial analysis and visualisation tools.
This course is perfect for water industry modeller and GIS professionals working with a range of modelling platforms to enhance your skills and streamline your workflows.
What you’ll learn:
• QGIS for Mesh Data: Unlock the full potential of QGIS to analyse, visualise, and animate your mesh data with precision.
• Real-World Applications: Mesh data for hydrologic, hydraulic, oceanographic, meteorological, and environmental modelling.
• Diverse Modelling Platforms: Apply meshing tools to HEC-RAS 2025, TUFLOW, OpenFOAM, and any other modelling platforms.
March 18 & 25
Register now: awschool.com.au/training/mastering-mesh-data-with-…
1 year ago | [YT] | 3
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Hans van der Kwast
This week I'm in the vibrant city of Tartu, Estonia, for the FOSS4G Europe conference! Tomorrow, I'll be leading a workshop titled 'Point Cloud Processing with QGIS', co-hosted with Saber Razmjooei from Lutra Consulting. For those who can't join us in person, the workshop materials are freely available online at GIS OpenCourseWare: courses.gisopencourseware.org/.
During the event, you can also take advantage of a special discount on my course 'Point Cloud Processing and 3D Visualization with QGIS' at Udemy. Simply use the this link www.udemy.com/course/qgis-pointcloud/?couponCode=F… or the coupon code FOSS4GETARTU at checkout. Note that members of my channel can get free access to this course. More info about membership of my channel: https://youtu.be/y2GSqnG-aYg
Don't miss this chance to enhance your QGIS skills!
2 years ago | [YT] | 5
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Hans van der Kwast
If you enjoy watching my videos, you might be interested in becoming a GeoGenius member of my YouTube channel. This is a new feature that I'm launching to give you more opportunities to interact with me.
As a GeoGenius member, you will get:
- Priority in answering your comments. I get a lot of questions and feedback from my viewers, and I try to reply to as many as I can. But as a member, your comments will stand out and I'll make sure to respond to them first.
- Access to my exclusive Slack channel. This is a place where you can chat with me and other members, ask questions, share ideas, and get more insights into open source GIS topics.
- Shout-outs in my videos. If you inspire me to make a video or suggest a topic, I'll give you credit in the video and the description. You'll also get a special badge next to your name in the comments and the live chat.
- Early access to some videos. You'll be able to watch some of my videos before they are published for everyone else. You'll also get access to members-only posts on the community tab, where I'll share discounts or even free access to courses, books, etc.
- Custom emojis. You'll be able to use my custom emojis in the comments and the live chat. These are fun and unique icons to express your reactions and emotions.
If this sounds appealing to you, don't wait any longer and click the join button. By becoming a member, you'll not only get these perks, but also help me create more and better content for you.
Thank you for your support and I hope to see you soon as a GeoGenius member!
2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 0
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Hans van der Kwast
I'm happy to share that I have just published my first online course on Udemy: Point Cloud Processing and 3D Visualization with QGIS. And I'm giving a discount for subscribers of my YouTube channel!
The course is designed for GIS specialists who want to expand their skills and knowledge in point cloud processing and 3D visualization. The course consists of 8 sections, each with videos, quizzes, and assignments to help you practice and apply what you learn. You will use only open data and QGIS throughout the course.
In this course, you will learn how to:
- Download and preprocess point cloud data
- Interpolate point cloud data to create raster digital elevation models
- Visualize point cloud data in 3D using the QGIS 3D view and Elevation Profile tool
- Filter point cloud data with expressions
- Automate point cloud processing workflows using PDAL wrench
I hope you will join me in this course and discover the amazing point cloud processing and 3D visualization features of QGIS! For subscribers of my YouTube channel there's 50% discount if you enroll with this link before 14 January: www.udemy.com/course/qgis-pointcloud/?couponCode=F…
2 years ago | [YT] | 0
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