LECTURE 1

Geographic Information Systems/Science/Studies

• Systems - the technology & making it work
• Science - the concepts and theory behind the technology
• Studies - the societal context
Geographic - belonging to or characteristic of a particular region or location on the earth.
Geography - study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of Earth
Geographia - meaning “earth description.”
Information - Defined as the knowledge that you get about someone or something: facts or
details about a subject.
Data - facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something.
INFORMATION = DATA + CONTEXT - Data only becomes useful, taking on value as
information, within this context.
Geographic Information - sometimes referred to as Spatial Information.
Spatial Information - Information about places on the earth’s surface.
- Knowledge about “what, where, when”.
- Links place/location, time, and attributes.
System - a group of related parts that move or work together.
Information System - an association of people, machines, data, and procedures working
together to collect, manage, and distribute information of importance to individuals or
organizations.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
- is an information system that is designed to work with data referenced by spatial or
geographic coordinates. In other words, a GIS is both a database system with specific
capabilities for spatially referenced data, as well as a set of operations for working with
data.
- system of hardware, software, and procedures designed to support the capture,
management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, and display of spatially referenced data
for solving complex planning and management problems.
- a system of hardware, software, data, people, organizations, and institutional
arrangements for collecting, storing, analyzing, and disseminating information about areas
of the earth.
- a GIS is “an organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data,
and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and
display all forms of geographically referenced information.
- in simpler terms, GIS is a set of computer-based systems for managing geographic
data and using these data to solve real-world spatial problems.
GIS provides four sets of capabilities:
• Data input
• Data management (data storage and retrieval)
• Manipulation and analysis
• Data output
In GIS, spatial data normally follows this sequence of operations:
• Data gathering and acquisition
• Pre-analysis processing
• GIS analysis and manipulation
• Map making and visualization

Spatial Analysis - the purpose is to examine relationships between geographic features

collectively and to use the relationships to describe the real-world phenomena that map
features represent.
Examples of Applied GIS:
• Urban Planning, Management & Policy
• Environmental Sciences
• Political Science
• Civil Engineering/Utility
• Business
• Education Administration
• Real Estate
• Health Care
GIS in Education:
Agriculture, Archaeology, Architecture/Landscape Arch., Business, Computer Science
Environmental Science, Engineering, Journalism, Military Science, Natural Resource
Management.
GIS in Agriculture:
Farm management, Pest/Disease tracking, Crop monitoring, Yield prediction, Soil analysis.
GIS in Natural Resource Management:
Forestry, Ecology, Mining, Petroleum, Water Resources.
GIS in Planning & Economic Devt:
Land Use/Zoning, Emergency Preparedness, Population Forecast, Market Analysis,
Property Tax Assessment, Transportation.

Services is now the 4th “S” in GIS

GIS - integrates spatial and other kinds of information within a single system, offering a
consistent framework for analyzing geographical data.
- can take maps from different sources and register them easily and is consistent in its
analysis of multiple layers of map data.
- faster than manual methods of analysis, allowing the flexibility to try alternate
variables in analysis.
GIS Functionalities:
• Query and overlay analysis
• Proximity analysis
• Density analysis
• Least-cost paths
• Line-of-sight
Dr. John Snow (1813-1858)
1854 Cholera Outbreak - 500 cases; 89 died (79 lived at Broad St.)
Geographic information - has a history that dates to paper or analogue maps, draftsman
table and a world without computers.
1st Generation GIS - focused on transformation of the analogue world into a representative
digital world.
2nd Generation of GIS - Focus was on features and its representation, focused on geo-
relational databases where graphical files representing geographic features were
connected to relational databases, Concept of marriage or union of geographical features
such as digital maps and databases or information system.
3rd Generation of GIS - Developing means on how GI could be easily utilized, Sharing of
maps thru the web, advent of Google maps, Collaborative mapping by many agencies,
participation of public lead to widespread utility of the technology.
4th Generation of GIS - Beyond desktop GIS, beyond web GIS, beyond mobile GIS, focus on
ease of use, transparency and widespread acceptance of location-based systems for
everyday life.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)/Global Positioning Systems (GPS) - a system of
earth-orbiting satellites which can provide precise (10 meters to sub-cm.) location on the
earth’s surface (in lat/long coordinates or equiv.)
Remote Sensing (RS) & Photogrammetry - use of satellites, aircrafts, or other platforms to
capture information about the earth’s surface, Digital ortho images a key product (map
accurate digital photos)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - Software systems with capability for input, storage,
manipulation/analysis, and output/display of geographic (spatial) information.
CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE OF GIS
• WebGIS and MobileGIS
• Realistic 3D Modeling
- Virtual Environments
- Augmented Reality
• Indoor GIS

LECTURE 2
Two Data Models in GIS (How data is represented & stored in a computer)
1. VECTOR MODEL - Uses points, lines, and polygons to represent geographic
phenomena - Each location is recorded as (x,y) coordinate - Every object is
represented uniquely using a systematic coordinate system (usually Cartesian)
2. RASTER MODEL - Uses grid cells of n rows x m columns - Each cell holds an
attribute value of its position.
Purpose Of Data Model - To allow geographic feature in the real-world locations to be
digitally represented and stored in a database so that they can be abstractly presented in
map form and can also be worked with and manipulated to address some problems.
VECTOR DATA MODEL
- Geographic entities encoded using the vector data model are called features.
- Treats geographic space as populated by discrete objects, which have identifiable
boundaries or spatial extent.
- Each object in the real-world is represented as either point, line, or polygon
features.
- Useful for representing discrete objects such as roads, buildings, rivers, boundaries,
etc.
THE SHAPEFILE OF VECTOR DATA MODEL
DBF – database file (attribute table)
PRJ – projection file *
SBN – a spatial index of the features (optimizes spatial queries) **
SBX – a spatial index of the features (speeds uploading times) **
SHP – geometry file (location and shape)
SHX – shape index format
SHX.XML – geospatial metadata in XML format **
RASTER DATA MODEL
- Treats geographic space as populated by one or more spatial phenomena, which
vary continuously over space and having no obvious boundaries.
- Uses an array of rectangular cells /pixels/grids to represent real-world objects.
- Each cell is defined by a coordinate location and an attribute that identify the
feature. Similar features are assigned equal attribute values.
- The cell’s linear dimensions define the spatial resolution.
- Best used to represent geographic features that are continuous over a large area (eg.
soil type, vegetation, etc.)
- Examples: Elevation, Air Temperature, Land ownership, Ice thickness, Timber
Volume or Biomass, Population density.
RASTER FILE FORMATS
BMP (bitmaps) – used by graphics in Microsoft Windows applications, no compression.
DIB (Device Independent Bitmaps)
GIF (Graphical Interchange Format) – widely used for images to be used on the World Wide
Web.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) – non-proprietary, system-independent.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) – primarily for storage of photographic images and
for the World Wide Web
GeoTIFF – extension of the TIFF format that contains georeferencing information.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) – patent-free; intended to replace the GIF format.
PCX – supported by many image scanners.
MrSID (Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database)
GRID – proprietary format used by ESRI in ArcInfo and ArcView GIS
GEOSPATIAL DATA MODELS
- Formal means of representing spatially referenced information
- Simplified view of physical entities
- A conceptualization of reality
4 LEVELS OF MODELING (CONCEPTUALIZATION/ ABSTRACTION)
1. Real World - in all its complex glory
2. Conceptual Model - your understanding of it
3. Logical Model - possible computer realization (software independent) to database
design
4. Physical Model - actual digital structure (software implementation)
CONSIDERATIONS IN CHOOSING BETWEEN RASTER AND VECTOR
- source and type of data.
- intended use of data.
- analytical procedures to be used.
RASTER VS. VECTOR: ADVANTAGES
Raster Advantages
- Simple data structure
- Simple overlay operations
- High spatial variability is efficiently represented.
- Satellite & other formats already in this format Vector Advantages
- Vector representation is more compact.
- Provides efficient encoding of topology, i.e. better for network operations.
- Better suited to produce maps with crisp line-work.
Raster Disadvantages
- Raster data are less compact – big file size.
- Topological relationships difficult to represent.
- Poorer graphical output (step-like effect / blocky appearance) Vector
Disadvantages.
- More complex structure than a simple raster.
- Overlay operations are more difficult to implement.
- Representing high spatial variability is inefficient.
- Handling image data is not possible (satellites & photos)
LABORATORY: Familiarization with QGIS and Spatial Data

The different parts of the interface are the following:

Menu Bar - There are twelve (12) default menus found in this portion of the interface.
Explore each menu and you can access different tools through drop-down selections.
Toolbars - There are several toolbars displayed on the interface and can be found below the
Menu Bar and beside the Table of Contents window. These toolbars contain icons with their
corresponding functions. These are equivalent icons of the functions under each menu.
Hover the mouse cursor and inspect the names of the icons. You can drag these toolbars
anywhere by clicking on the left most part (the space with vertical dotted lines). A white
crosshair will appear prompting you to drag the toolbar.
Layers Panel - The Layers Panel serves as Table of Contents (TOC) window that contains
your datasets that are loaded into QGIS.
Data Frame and Status Bar - This part of the interface contains the data frame properties of
your input data such as coordinate system, scale, and rotation values. The rendering or
displaying option for your data is also included in this portion.
Map View - This is the large window that displays the input data. You can view and select
layers/features in this window if the layers are enabled in the Layers Panel.
Zooming tools - The zoom tools are useful for focusing and looking at the spatial aspect of
your geographic data. Inspect the different Zoom tools.
The 19 properties included are the following:
Information, Source, Symbology, Labels, Diagram, 3D view, Source Fields, Attributes Form
Joins, Auxiliary Storage, Actions, Display, Rendering, Variables, Metadata, Dependencies,
Legend, QGIS Server, and Digitizing.