Professional Documents
Culture Documents
8. GIS Fundamentals
Dr. Bo Wu
wu.573@osu.edu
Data-centered
In 1966, the Canada Geographic Information System
(CGIS) was initiated to serve the needs of the Canada
Land Inventory to map current land uses and the
capability of these areas for agriculture, forestry, wildlife
and recreation.
Technological innovations:
no previous experience in how to structure data internally
no precedent for GIS operations of overlay, area measurement
experimental scanner had to be built for map input
Geographical Information
Systems (GIS)
• 1. GIS: A type of software
– A computer system that allows us to handle
information about the location of features or
phenomena on the Earth’s surface
– Has all the functionality of a conventional DBMS plus
much of the functionality of a computer mapping system
– GIS as a DBMS that allows us to explicitly handle the
spatial
– Common examples:
• ArcView
• ArcGIS
• MapInfo
Geographical Information
Systems (2)
• 2. GIS: A tool-kit
• Manipulate spatially:
– Calculate distances and adjacencies
– Change projections and scales
– Integrate disparate sources
• Analyse spatially:
– Quantitative analysis
– Exploratory spatial data analysis
– Qualitative analysis
• Visualise data:
– Maps!
– Tables, graphs, etc.
– Animations
– Virtual landscapes
Geographical Information
Systems (3)
• 3. Approach:
– Explore the database:
• In conventional ways
• AND geographically
– Allows us to think about the implications of location
– Allows us to think holistically
– Should not be restricted by vendor-provided
functionality
– Should be used imaginatively taking into
account :
• the advantages and limitations of geographical
information
• the traditions of humanities scholarship
Professional GIS
The distinctive features of professional GIS include data collection and editing, database
administration, advanced geoprocessing and analysis, and other specialist tools, such as ESRI
ArcInfo, Samllworld GIS
Desktop GIS
Desktop GIS focus on data use, rather than data creation, and provide excellent tools for making
maps, reports, and charts. Well-know examples include ESRI ArcView, Intergraph GeoMedia,
MapInfor professional, Clark Lab's Idrisi
Hand-held GIS
Hand-held GIS are lightweight systems designed for mobile and field use, such as
Autodesk Onsite, ESRI ArcPad, and Smallworld Scout.
Component GIS
Component GIS are tool kits and used by knowledgeable programmers to create focused
applications. Examples include Blue Marble Geographic GeoObjects, and MapInfo MapX.
GIS viewer
GIS viewer are able to display and query popular file formats, such as ESRI ArcExplorer,
Intergraph's GeoMedia, and MapInfo's ProViewer
Internet GIS
Internet GIS focus on display and query applications, as well as maping. Examples include
Autodestk MapGuide, ESRI ArcIMS, Intergraph GeoMedia Web Map, and MapInfo MapXtreme.
vertex vertex
vertex vertex
node
• Lines start and end at nodes
• line #1 goes from node #2 to node #1
• Vertices determine shape of line
• Nodes and vertices are stored as coordinate pairs_
Vector Data Model
Polygons: represent bounded areas
• digital orthophoto
• digital elevation
model (DEM)
Raster Data Model
• Characteristics of the raster data model:
– Rectangular grid of square cells
– – Shape of discrete polygonal features
generalized by cells
– + Continuous (surface) data represented
easily
– + Simple data structure_
Raster Data Model
• Raster data are good at representing
continuous phenomena, e.g.,
– Wind speed
– Elevation, slope, aspect
– Chemical concentration
– Likelihood of existence of a certain species
– Electromagnetic reflectance (photographic or
satellite imagery)
Geo-referencing data
• Capturing data
– Scanning: all of map converted into raster data
– Digitising: individual features selected from map as
points, lines or polygons
• Geo-referencing
– Initial scanning digitising gives co-ordinates in inches
from bottom left corner of digitiser/scanner
– Real-world co-ordinates are found for four registration
points on the captured data
– These are used to convert the entire map onto a real-
world co-ordinate system
Example of geo-referencing
Layers
• Data on different themes are stored in
separate “layers”
• As each layer is geo-referenced layers
from different sources can easily be
integrated using location
• This can be used to build up complex
models of the real world from widely
disparate sources
Spatial Database
90 WATER
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