ASSIGNMENT -1.

UNIT 1

"Basic Components of GIS and the Interrelationship among them".

A GIS can be termed as a software package with various tools to enter, manipulate, analyze and output geographical data.GIS is made up of
several interrelated and linked components with different functions.

COMPONENTS OF GIS

1. Computer hardware
2. Computer software
3. Data
4. Methods
5. People /Liveware (to operate it)
6. Network

Previously, there were only five parts to a GIS. Network is the latest and 6th component added to the list.

If the computer is located on a network, it can also be considered as the component of GIS since it enables data sharing among users. Hence,
GIS is the combination of all these six components organized to automate, manage, and deliver information through geographic presentation

1. Computer Hardware

The hardware components of a GIS consist of a computer, memory (CPU or workstations), data storage devices, tape drives or others, scanners,
digitizers, plotters, printers, global positioning system (GPS) units, and other physical components. The user controls the computer and the
peripherals via a visual display unit (VDU) or terminal.

● The disk drive unit provides space for storing map and document data in a digital format and sends them to the computer.
● The plotter used to present the results of the data processing.
● A tape or CD/DVD drive is used for storing data or programs.
● A scanner or digitizer is required to convert the analog data into digital format.

The choice of hardware ranges from personal computers to multi-user supercomputers. Computers should have essentially an efficient
processor to run the software and sufficient memory to store data. The essential hardware elements for effective GIS operations include:

a) The presence of a processor with sufficient power to run the software

b) Sufficient memory for the storage and backup of large volumes of data

c) A good quality, high-resolution color graphics screen or monitor and d) Data input and output devices, like keyboards, printers, and
plotters.

2. Computer Software

GIS software provides the functions and tools that are necessary to store, process, analyze, modeling and display Geospatial data.GIS software
components and sub-components have several functional elements to perform different operations. All GIS software fit this requirement; except
in their user interface differences.
● Tools for the input and manipulation of geographic information.
● A database management system (DBMS)
● Tools that support geographic query, analysis, and visualization.
● A geographical user interface (GUI) for easy access to tools.
● Software is also a highly dynamic part of the system. Dozens of GIS software packages now
exist. These systems are available on many different types of hardware platforms and come
with a wide variety of functional capabilities. GIS software provides the functions and tools
needed to store, analyze, and display geographic information.
● GIS software in use is ArcGIS, MapInfo, Global mapper, AutoCAD Map, etc. The software
available can be said to be application-specific. When the low-cost GIS work is to be carried out
By desktop Global mapper, Mapinfo is the suitable option. It is easy to use and supports many GIS
features. If the user intends to carry out extensive analysis on GIS including modeling and
report generation, ArcGIS is the preferred option. For the people using AutoCAD and willing to
step into GIS, AutoCAD Map is a good option.

Software's are classified by its capability:

● Input Module
● Editing Module
● Modeling Module
● Analysis Module

GIS SOFTWARES
Autodesk – Products include Map 3D, Topobase, MapGuide, and other products that interface with its flagship AutoCAD software package.
Bentley Systems – Products include Bentley Map, Bentley PowerMap, and other products that interface with its flagship MicroStation
software package.
Intergraph – Products include GeoMedia, GeoMedia Professional, GeoMedia WebMap, and add-on products for industry sectors, as well as
photogrammetry.
ESRI – Products include ArcView 3.x, ArcGIS, ArcSDE, ArcIMS, ArcWeb Services, and ArcGIS Server.
ENVI. Utilized for image analysis, exploitation, and hyperspectral analysis.
IDRISI – GIS product developed by Clark Labs, a part of Clark University. Economical but capable, it is used for both operations and
education.
MapInfo by Pitney Bowes – Products include MapInfo Professional and MapXtreme. integrates GIS software, data, and services.
Manifold System – GIS software package.
Smallworld – developed in Cambridge, England (Smallworld, Inc.) and purchased by General Electric and used primarily by public utilities.
QGIS (previously known as Quantum GIS) is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop geographic information system (GIS) application
that supports viewing, editing, and analysis of geospatial data

3. Data

Possibly the most important component of a GIS is the data. Geographic data and related tabular data can be collected in-house or purchased
from a commercial data provider, A GIS will integrate spatial data with other data resources and can even use a DBMS, used by most
organizations to organize and maintain their data, to manage spatial data. Geographic data are basically divided into two main groups are
vector and raster.

● Vector data/layers in GIS refer to discrete objects represented by points, lines and polygons. Lines are formed by connecting two
or more points and polygons are closed set of Lines. Layers represent geometries that share a common set of attributes.
Objects within a layer have mutual topology. Vector sources include digitized maps, features extracted from image surveys and
many more.
● Raster data is a continuous grid of cells in two dimensions or the equivalent of cubic cells in three dimensions. Raster data are
divided conceptually into categorical and continuous. In a categorical raster every cell value is linked to a category in a
separate table. Examples Soil type, vegetation types. Land suitability, and so on. Continuous raster images usually describe
continuous phenomena in space such as Digital Elevation Model where each pixel is an elevation value
● Data is one of the most important, and often most expensive, components of a GIS. All data in a GIS are either spatial data or
Attribute data. Spatial data tells us where something occurs. Attribute data tells what occurs; it tells us the nature or characteristics
of the spatial data. Geographic data, which is comprised of geographic features and their corresponding attribute information, is
entered into a GIS using a technique called digitizing. This process involves digitally encoding geographic features, such as
buildings, roads or county boundaries. Digitizing is done by tracing the location, path or boundary of geographic features either on
 a computer screen using a scanned map in the background, or a paper map that is attached to a digitizing tablet. The digitizing
process can be very tedious and time consuming, especially when capturing large datasets such as soil polygons, streams or
topographic contours.

4. Methods

A successful GIS operates according to a well-designed plan and business rules, which are the models and operating practices
unique to each organization. Geographic Information System- The organized activity by which people

● Measure aspects of geographic phenomena and processes.

● Represent these measurements, usually in the form of a computer database, to emphasize spatial themes, entities and relationships
● Operate upon these representations to produce more measurements and to discover new relationships by integrating disparate sources
● Transform these representations to conform to other frameworks of entities and relationships.
● These activities reflect the large context (Institution and Cultures) in which these people carry out their work. GIS is primarily a
computer software package for organizing data with location dimension. However, its capacity to assimilate the concepts and
algorithms from many discipline such as cartography, geography, surveying, statistics, operation research techniques and
computational mathematics make it a versatile tool for handling geo-referenced data. It establishes one-to-one correspondence
between the spatial and non-spatial data and thereby performs an integrated analysis. The spatial data could be in the form of charts,
aerial photos, satellite imageries, plane table surveyed maps and Global Positioning System (GPS) generated observation i.e. essentially
mapped databases. The non-spatial or the attribute data could be in the form of words, numbers and symbols obtained from say
census, secondary surveys, and other sources.
● A successful GIS operates according to a well-designed plan and business rules, which are the models and operating practices
unique to each organization. There are various techniques used for map creation and further usage for any project. The map creation
can either be automated raster to vector creator or it can be manually vectorized using the, scanned images. The source of these
digital maps can be either map prepared by any survey agency or satellite imagery.

5. People

GIS technology is of limited value without the people who manage the system and develop plans for applying it to real-world
problems. The GIS users range from technical specialists who design and maintain the system to those who use it to help them
perform their everyday work. The final component required for a true GIS is users. The term "user" may refer to any individual who
will use GIS to support the project or program goals, or to an entire organization that will employ GIS in support of its overall
mission. The real power of a GIS comes from the people who use them. Over the past decade, computers have become much easier
for people to use and more affordable for companies, schools, and organizations to purchase. Today GIS is being used by people, in
many different fields, as a tool that enables them to perform their jobs more effectively. Police use GIS to solve crimes, Emergency
911 operators use GIS to send emergency personnel to a person in distress. Biologists use GIS to protect plant and animal species,
teachers use GIS to teach lessons in geography, history, or engineering. The list of GIS users in the 21st century goes on and on.
Whatever the application, the user is the key to a successful GIS. GIS users are often envisioned as hands-on computer processing
people. While this is in part true, often a broader spectrum of GIS users is chosen. One classification scheme (USGS, 1988) classifies
users into three groups

● Technicians: people behind the plan, implementation and operate the system as well as a made decisions based on the
output.
● Users: people who select pertinent information to set necessary standards to design cost-efficient GIS outputs for the relevant
purposes.
 6. Network

Today, the latest component of GIS is probably the network. Without the rapid development of IT, the network, there is no
rapid communication or sharing of digital information could occur, except between a small group of people crowded
around a computer monitor (Goodchild et al., 2005). Users connected to the Internet could zoom in to parts of the map, or
pan to other parts in their desktop WWW browser without ever needing to install specialized software or download large
amounts of data. The Internet is increasingly integrated into the GIS. The rapidly growing application of Web GIS has the
following capabilities:

● Displaying static maps which users can pan or zoom whilst online,
● Creating user-defined maps online which are in turn used to generate reports and new maps from data on a server
● Integrating users ‘local data with data from the Internet
● Providing data that are kept secure at the server site
● Providing maps through high-speed intranets within organizations;
● Providing maps and data across the Internet to a global audience.