Geographic Information Systems

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Geographic Information Systems

• GIS Definition

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1. GIS is Important
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GIS is Important ..

It helps temporal reasoning as well S. H. Gage,
J. Helly and M. Colunga, GIS/EM4 2000
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GIS is Useful

• The W questions
• Where, what, when, why, how, who, what if
• GIS shows what are where, and helps us think
  other Ws
• It helps generate and test hypothesis

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GIS integrates various information
Social Factors
Biodiversity
Engineering
Land Use
Environmental Considerations
It allows us to see the whole Courtesy USGS
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GIS is Useful ..

• GIS is used by a wide range of disciplines
• It changed the way we operate
• It opened many opportunities

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A Few Facts

• NCGIA/NSF grants
• GIS programs in government agencies
• GIS consulting firms and contracts
• GIS conferences, journals, and professional
  societies
• http//erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/gis_poster
• http//www.ncgia.ucsb.edu
• http//www.ucgis.org

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A Few Facts ..

• GIS is a big deal
• In the journal of Nature
• http//www.geog.buffalo.edu/lbian/nature_googleea
  rth.pdf
• At CNN web site
• In Department of Labor
• http//www.geog.buffalo.edu/lbian/gisworkforce.pd
  f
• http//geospatialrevolution.psu.edu/episode1

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2. What is a GIS

• An early effort, Ian McHarg, 1969

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What is a GIS ..

• A process oriented definition
• A GIS is a computer-based system that provides
  for the collection, storage, analysis, and
  display of geo-referenced data.
• A problem solving oriented definition
• A decision support system involving the
  integration of spatially referenced data in a
  problem solving environment.

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What is a GIS ..

• Data
• Information
• Knowledge
• Intelligence
• (DIKI)

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What is a GIS ..

• GISystems and GIScience
•  
• GISystems refers to
• software and hardware,
• and is used as a tool
• to support a project
•  
• GIScience refers to the particular field of
  scientific study
• http//www.ncgia.ucsb.edu
• http//www.ucgis.org

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3. Related Fields

• Manual cartography
• DBMS (Data base management system)
• CAD (Computer-aided drafting)
• Computer Mapping
• AM/FM (Automated Mapping/Facility Management)
• LIS (Land information system)
• Remote sensing
• GIS
•  

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Spatial Operations

• GIS is not just mapping. It does spatial
  operations. For example, it helps to find
• Where is object A?
• Where is A in relation to place B?
• How many occurrences of type A are there within
• distance D of B?

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Geographic Analysis of Disease Risk

• Who are the populations at risk now and in the
  future?
• Where are the potential areas of disease?

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ESRI, GE SmallWorld
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Identification and Awareness of Hazardous Waste
Sites
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Spatial Operations ..

• What is the value of function Z at position X?
• How large is B (area, perimeter, count of
  inclusions)?
• What is the result of intersecting various kinds
  of spatial data?

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Spatial Operations ..

• What is the path of least cost, resistance, or
• distance along the ground from X to Y along
  pathway P?
• What is at point X1, X2?
• What objects are next to objects having certain
• combinations of attributes?

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Dispatching delivery vans, taxis, or repair trucks
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5. Readings

• Chpt 1