Fundamentals of

Geographic Information Systems

and Spatial Data

Laurie Schretlen & Leah Vanderjagt

Netspeed October 20, 2005
GIS & Spatial Data - Today

 Introduction to Geographic
Information Systems (GIS)
technology: basics, applications, and
directions
 Spatial data: information resources
for GIS research
 Spatial data access –
 in Canada and in Alberta
 GEODE
 GIS Components
 Map data
 Information about location w/graphics

http://www.zoology.unimelb.edu.au/stats/Eworksheets/images/RandomCoordinates.jpg
GIS Components:

 Attribute
data
 Information
about what
can be
found at a
particular
location

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/images/5740f02.gif
 GIS as database

http://utca.eng.ua.edu/projects/final_reports/02403fnl_files/image004.jpg
Spatial data examples
 Road networks
 Vegetation inventories
 Soil inventories
 Census results
 Municipal boundaries
 Elevation values
 Climate readings
 Habitat ranges
…
 GIS Components
 Software
 A technology for storing and analyzing
location and attribute data

http://www.l.hsr.ch/skripte/gisscripts/media/softwarescreen1.jpg
 GIS Components
 Hardware
 Systems to support rapid graphic
analysis and processing

http://www.gdf-hannover.de/pics/gisrechner.png
GIS Personnel

 People
 Project coordinators
 Data analysts
 Programmers
 Data and knowledge managers
Librarians
 GIS Components
 Methods
 The analysis to be performed on the
data

http://www.wwf.org.co/colombia/images/a28_c.gif
GIS Methods and Analysis

 GIS is used to answer questions

and support decisions

 The quality of the answer depends

on:
 The METHODS chosen
 The DATA (more on that later)
 Data Layers P la c e s

 The ability to H ig h w a y s

‘stack’ layers
in a GIS Census

allows us to
ask questions
about the H y d ro g ra p h y

relationship
between
different T o p o g ra p h y

objects of
study

Image courtesy of Charlene Nielsen, Department of Biology, University of Alberta

 Overlay
 What two things occur at the same
location?

http://www.orthogate.com/guide/workshops/images/image002.gif
Overlay – GIS

 What residences lie beneath this toxic

plume of ammonia?
Overlay GIS

http://www.saultc.on.ca/GIS/images/RedPineTraill_sm.jpg
 Buffering
 What lots are located near this road?

http://news.sina.com.cn/duihua/sars/LearnMoreAboutGIS/gis4.files/buffer.gif
Modeling

 GIS is used to ask ‘what if?’

 Testing scenarios and possible

outcomes
Modeling
Image created by Leah Vanderjagt, 2005: Data: NRCan CDED; City of Edmonton 2001 Digital Orthophotos
Modeling - Site Selection

 Combining best conditions from

multiple layers to come up with the
best location for a proposed facility

 Eg. Good slope drainage + enough

distance from streams + access to
roads = Best site
Modeling
GIS Applications

 GIS applications combine multiple

analytical processes to support
decision-making

 Some examples from non-profit and

government sectors:
Habitat tracking and analysis

maps.gov.bc.ca/imf406/imf.jsp?site=libc_habwiz
www.shim.bc.ca/atlases/shim/shim.htm
Health Care: Disease outbreak
monitoring and modeling
Avian Flu

Affected and at-risk poultry farms

Dispersion of Avian Flu in Thailand

http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/health/links/ma04184pf.htm
SARS Mapping

Distribution map

Outbreak model – Buffalo, NY

Facilities Management for
Municipal Government
Route Optimization Modeling
Crime Analysis
Other uses

 Many groups still need to create

paper maps to support operations -
nearly always GIS-based

 GIS is also used for storage of

information – there is an archiving
function
Directions for GIS

 WEB APPLICATIONS
 Standards
 Unlocking the GIS black box -
distributed experimentation and
collaboration
 GIScience
GIS in Academic Institutions
 GIS is used extensively in
science/ecology disciplines:
 Renewable resources management
 Forestry
 Biology (ecology)
 Geography
 Earth and atmospheric sciences
 Geology
GIS in Academic Institutions
 Also used in:
 Civil engineering
 Business
 Economics
 History
 Psychology
 Health
…
GIS and Libraries
 Community demographic analysis
GIS - Bibliography
Spatial data access

 ‘Map’ + ‘Attribute’ data is usually

referred to as spatial data

 Locating the right spatial data and

obtaining the rights to use it is a
major component of every GIS
project
Spatial data quality: Inconsistencies
 Spatial data quality: Projections

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/gif/twoproj.gif
Spatial data access

 Spatial data is expensive to create

and update

 Government agencies and large

corporations can afford it

 Data sharing is not necessarily a

part of the plan
Spatial data access

 If it’s shared, spatial data is either sold by

the producer or by a designated value-
added reseller

 Public consultations have resulted in open

sharing of more and more spatial data sets
at the federal level

 Some federal data is made available

through the Depository Services Program
Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure
Spatial data access
 There is much more data available for purchase

 Therefore, there is a spatial data economy in

Canada

 This economy is driven by cost-recovery

policies

 Government agencies charge other agencies,

corporations, and individuals for data access
Different models of access
 United States – wide, very open
access to drive commercial
development
 Canada – stewardship model of cost-
recovery
 Provincial economy examples:
 Manitoba
 Alberta
Alberta Policy Environment

 Government agencies: cost-recovery

sales
 Third party vendors: data enhancers
and resellers for profit
 Data producers who do not sell or
distribute their data
Challenges to Access
 What is the result of Alberta’s policy
environment?
 Data creators don’t have sufficient
resources to respond to individual
researcher demand
 Data suppliers do not document or
support data products
 Data suppliers’ primary business is
not data supply, ie. creating happy
data customers
Post-secondary Response
 “Underground data economy” – have and
have-not departments at one institution
 Some data creators provide data in
exchange for research results
 Individuals or projects receive licenses for
data; cannot be shared with institution
 Academic libraries began to acquire data
through license (database model)
 Successful examples: NRCan, DMTI
GEODE
 To address issues of access to spatial
data in Alberta, the GEODE project
was launched in 1999
 Participating institutions:
 University of Alberta
 University of Calgary
 SAIT
 University of Lethbridge
 Miistakis Institute for the Rockies
GEODE
 Access to Alberta-based spatial data
 Digital elevation models
 Topographic data
 Alberta Vegetation Index
 Census boundaries
 Landsat 7 imagery

 Metadata development
 Data browser
 10,000+ files downloaded
Benefits to GIS Researchers

 Consortium-wide access to high quality

data
 Centralized price and acquisition
negotiations
 The opportunity to work with industry-
standard Alberta data
Benefits to suppliers

 One point of access for post-

secondary institutions
 Data support coordinated through
library and departments
 Institutional licensing
 Training of future employees with
industry standard data
GEODE’s Transformation
 GEODE was reconceived in late 2004
as a consortium – to facilitate and
promote access to spatial data for
post-secondary education in Alberta
 Objectives:
 Develop new funding strategies
 Enhance contents of collection
 Expand institutional membership
Benefits of institutional membership
 Access to GEODE collections
 Training and assistance with GEODE
service delivery
 Advocacy and liaison with vendors
 Cost-sharing
 Technology/infrastructure guidance
 Collaborative development of best
practices
GIS for Post-secondary Education
 For access to spatial data for GIS
research and teaching to continue
and thrive in Alberta, academic
libraries need to collaborate to:
 Develop spatial data collections
according to shared research priorities
 Lobby for access with producers and
vendors
 Share resources and expertise
Moving forward
 Long-range technology goal:
database-driven web service delivery
of spatial data files

 GEODE is seeking assistance with the

development of a province-wide
licensing model for spatial data use in
research and teaching
Questions? Discussion?

Laurie Schretlen – lschretl @ ucalgary.ca

Leah Vanderjagt – leahv @ ualberta.ca

 Web Citations
 Google Local: www.google.ca
 Google Earth: earth.google.com
 BC Habitat Wizard:
maps.gov.bc.ca/imf406/imf.jsp?site=
libc_habwiz
 Sensitive Habitat Inventory and
Mapping:
www.shim.bc.ca/atlases/shim/shim.htm