Fundamentals of Geographical Information System (GIS)
Reference
GIS deals with what and where components of occurrences. For example, to regulate rapid transportation, government decides to build fly-over (what component) in those areas of the city where traffic jams are common (where component).
GIS means differently to different people and therefore has different definitions. For example, Burrough (1998) defined GIS as “ a powerful set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming and displaying spatial data from the real world for a particular set of purposes”
- Integrating information from multiple sources
- Facilitating complex querying and analysis
- Eliminating redundant data and minimizing duplication
Software : Software is at the heart of a GIS system. The GIS software must have the basic capabilities of data input, storage, transformation, analysis and providing desired outputs. The interfaces could be different for different software. The GIS software being used today belong to either of the category –proprietary or open source. ArcGIS by ESRI is the widely used proprietary GIS software. Others in the same category are MapInfo, Microstation, Geomedia etc. The development of open source GIS has provided us with freely available desktop GIS such as Quantum, uDIG, GRASS, MapWindow GIS etc., GIS softwares.
Data : The data is captured or collected from various sources (such as maps, field observations, photography, satellite imagery etc) and is processed for analysis and presentation.
Procedures : These include the methods or ways by which data has to be input in the system, retrieved, processed, transformed and presented.
People : This component of GIS includes all those individuals (such as programmer, database manager, GIS researcher etc.) who are making the GIS work, and also the individuals who are at the user end using the GIS services, applications and tools
Business: By creating GIS of sales, inventory, demographic profiles, site analysis and marketing. A business can easily take decision after analysing the GIS data.
Logistics: Shipment companies create transport route so that they can ship goods in minimum time.
Emergency Evacuation: Disaster are unpredictable. Scientist can know with help of GIS which area is high risk. It will help to prepare the evacuation plans which needs GIS Implementation.
Environment: In era of increasing urbanization of population. There is loss of habitat, land use change need historical study. GIS models are then run to make predictions for the future.
Reference
INTRODUCTION TO GIS
GIS stands for Geographical Information System. It is defined as an integrated tool, capable of mapping, analyzing, manipulating and storing geographical data in order to provide solutions to real world problems and help in planning for the future.GIS deals with what and where components of occurrences. For example, to regulate rapid transportation, government decides to build fly-over (what component) in those areas of the city where traffic jams are common (where component).
GIS means differently to different people and therefore has different definitions. For example, Burrough (1998) defined GIS as “ a powerful set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming and displaying spatial data from the real world for a particular set of purposes”
Objectives of GIS
- Maximizing the efficiency of planning and decision making- Integrating information from multiple sources
- Facilitating complex querying and analysis
- Eliminating redundant data and minimizing duplication
Components of a GIS
Hardware : It consists of the equipments and support devices that are required to capture, store process and visualize the geographic information. These include computer with hard disk, digitizers, scanners, printers and plottersetc.Software : Software is at the heart of a GIS system. The GIS software must have the basic capabilities of data input, storage, transformation, analysis and providing desired outputs. The interfaces could be different for different software. The GIS software being used today belong to either of the category –proprietary or open source. ArcGIS by ESRI is the widely used proprietary GIS software. Others in the same category are MapInfo, Microstation, Geomedia etc. The development of open source GIS has provided us with freely available desktop GIS such as Quantum, uDIG, GRASS, MapWindow GIS etc., GIS softwares.
Data : The data is captured or collected from various sources (such as maps, field observations, photography, satellite imagery etc) and is processed for analysis and presentation.
Procedures : These include the methods or ways by which data has to be input in the system, retrieved, processed, transformed and presented.
People : This component of GIS includes all those individuals (such as programmer, database manager, GIS researcher etc.) who are making the GIS work, and also the individuals who are at the user end using the GIS services, applications and tools
Application of GIS
Tax Mapping: Raising revenue from property taxes by creating database of land record and link property to their owner. Govt. can easily evaluate tax of that property with respect to area of property.Business: By creating GIS of sales, inventory, demographic profiles, site analysis and marketing. A business can easily take decision after analysing the GIS data.
Logistics: Shipment companies create transport route so that they can ship goods in minimum time.
Emergency Evacuation: Disaster are unpredictable. Scientist can know with help of GIS which area is high risk. It will help to prepare the evacuation plans which needs GIS Implementation.
Environment: In era of increasing urbanization of population. There is loss of habitat, land use change need historical study. GIS models are then run to make predictions for the future.