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Getting started with GIS online GIS in the world of work by David Mitchell
Simple, free online GIS viewers make lots of great geography available! Its all about using GIS tools to question, analyse and explore a wide range of issues through maps: in short thinking spatially. Case studies of GIS in the world of work will persuade young people of the point of using GIS and demonstrate why spatial thinking is important. Ten examples are given below. The suggested activities are outlines to be adapted for your needs. Some of the case studies use ESRI software and Ordnance Survey map data; the GA is grateful to both for their support in developing GIS in school geography.

Case study 1: Crime

The police use GIS to give officers clear information quickly and easily and plan their deployment of resources. In these examples from Strathclyde and South Yorkshire, both forces needed to know when and where crime happens. Combining OS map data with datasets recording a range of crime incidents produced these maps showing patterns in both time and space, which allowed the police to target resources more effectively. Police officers query the GIS to produce the crime map they need. Examples here are of violent
Courtesy of Strathclyde police and ESRI UK

crime in Glasgow (a priority for Strathclyde) and anti-social behaviour (a priority for South Yorkshire). Learning activities Look carefully at the Strathclyde map, showing violent crime hot spots in red and yellow. Is there a pattern? Compare the violent crime map with other maps, which help explain the crime pattern. Use Google maps viewer (both aerial view and road map) http://maps.google.com/ or OS map http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/g etamap (the aerial view lets students imagine

they are in a police helicopter). The ESRI Strathclyde case study file document has a very useful graph showing violent crime by time and day (select the view and zoom to enlarge it). Which day of the week is most dangerous? What time of day is it safest to be out on the streets? Is there a violence danger hour in the week? In role as the Strathclyde police, use the violent crime map with the time of crime bar chart to plan when and where you will deploy resources (e.g. 24 police patrol cars; 48 police on foot, 30 CCTV cameras; police working 8hour shifts, five shifts a week). Be prepared to justify your decisions with the map and graph. Extension: Investigate crime patterns in your local area (www.neighbourhood.statistics .gov.uk) and use GIS to produce maps. Are there patterns? Can these be explained by other data (such as housing, health, education)? For Londoners, use the viewer www.met.police .uk/crimefigures to investigate how your borough is doing compared to the rest of London in a range of types of crime.

Case study 2: Retail

An expanding retailer needed to know how the number of shop outlets affected individual

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Courtesy of South Yorkshire police and ESRI UK

Case study 4: Managing Malaria

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is the UN health authority, and uses GIS to monitor health across the world: this information is needed by other UN departments, national governments, NGOs and private companies. One example of using GIS is to predict malaria in Africa (www.who.int/heli/tools /maps/en/: use lower map, second page). WHO used GIS to link data on the climate in which malaria thrives, to actual climate data to make this map of malaria-susceptibility in Africa. Health planners can then target their resources, for instance identifying regions in which malaria may go unreported. Such predictor maps can also be used to show how malaria might spread with climate change. Learning activities Compare the malaria map with climate maps and political/demographic maps (in your atlas; plenty available in Google images) and annotate the malaria map with the natural and human characteristics you find. Draw out the spatial patterns, e.g. the climate-change sensitive, transition zone in the Sahel. Take a blank outline map of Africa. Using the malaria map and the physical/human maps of Africa, produce a reasoned map of priority regions for directing malarial programme aid. This could be done by hand, but an easy way is to paste a free outline map of Africa (e.g. http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxaf rica.htm) into Microsoft Paint and colour in countries appropriately.

shop performance (www.esri.com/map museum/mapbook_gallery/volume20/business 3.html). GIS used data on the probability of residents using their local shop to map the shops sphere of influence. The maps show that the sphere of influence decreases as the number of outlets increases and that certain outlets had greater pulling power than others. This is useful for the retailer to plan where new outlets might locate, to plan advertising and to plan for the decrease in business caused by intra-company competition or cannibalisation. The web page commentary is rather off-putting, but the maps tell a story, invite enquiry and relate well to central place theory. Learning activities Describe and explain the relationship between time, number of outlets and the sphere of influence of each outlet. This can be done both in writing and using sketch graphs to illustrate more clearly. Taking the role of strategy director, write a report to the board using the maps as evidence to advise on the implications of expanding retail outlets further. Consider shop staffing levels, shop stock levels, personnel issues of intra-firm competition and the cannibalisation of shops. The sphere of influence and the approach to managing expansion will be different for different retailers and services. Consider how expansion might be planned by McDonalds; M&S; BMW.

Case study 3: Geology

The US Geological Survey (USGS) provides reliable scientific information to the US government, business and individuals. GIS is essential to the analysis of a range of data to understand and map the earths crust and tectonic movement. USGS works to minimise loss of life and property from natural disasters, but also to manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect quality of life. US building codes now always incorporate ground motion hazard maps. These use GIS to combine data about soils, liquefaction (the liquefying of loosely consolidated rocks and soils by shaking) and the probability of earthquakes and aftershocks. The GIS methods used by USGS and a range of interactive maps can be found at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/topics. php?areaID=7 but there is a very useful GIS viewer using the USGS data, suitable for key stage 3 upwards, at http://gis.abag.ca.gov /website/Shaking-Maps/viewer.htm. Learning activities Use the Shaking-Maps viewer with other socio-economic maps of San Francisco (e.g. via www.google.com/maps) to compare a range of earthquake scenarios, such as at: the northern Golden Gate Monte Vista (southern district) the entire San Andreas fault. Examine the resultant range of hazards (liquefaction, flooding, landslides and wildfires). Produce a risk matrix with the data found to help planners.

Case study 5: Global disease

WHO uses GIS to produce an interactive global health atlas (www.who.int/csr/ resources/maps/en/): this co-ordinated information is needed by the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, among others. Students will find the atlas easy to use with a vast amount of data for many diseases, showing changes over time and space. Learning activities Ask pupils to use the interactive global atlas, focusing on Africa, to investigate and present the spatial and temporal pattern of diseases such as cholera, yellow fever or rabies. An example of WHO using their GIS is the 2006 outbreak of bird flu in humans (www.who .int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/). There are a number of good maps and written reports within this area of the WHO website showing spatial patterns of bird flu and the relationship

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between outbreaks in humans and birds. Investigate bird flu outbreaks through maps. Is there a spatial pattern? Can you suggest actions which might control an outbreak? For example, what measures would you advise for airport authorities and travellers from the UK? The World Bank and the FAO have used GIS to produce fascinating maps (www.fivims.net/map.jspx?show_result=tr ue&lang=en and http://info.worldbank .org/governance/wgi2007/worldmap_start. asp?allcountries=1) with strong classroom potential relating to themes such as political stability and food security. A good way to understand buffer zones is by examining Defras 2007 foot and mouth maps (http://www.gisdiseasemap.defra.gov.uk/intm aps).

Also from the main section, graphs can be created (by clicking on the map) for different monitoring stations for a range of time periods and parameters. Compare graphs to investigate, for example the relationship between weather (rainfall, temperature, pressure, wind direction and speed) and pollution. Try this to enquire into how a local pollution forecast could warn residents of high pollution in Neasden.

Case study 7: Flood risk

The Environment Agency (EA) used GIS to combine datasets (including waves, tides, height of the land and flood defences) and produce a flood risk map of the UK (www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects /flood/) This map is used by local authorities and emergency services, local planning

authorities (to avoid building in areas at high risk), utility companies (to manage essential services like electricity and water supply during a flood) and the general public (to check whether their home is at risk). The EA also sells its data to insurance companies. A clear written document, best for KS4 and 5, (www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ commondata/acrobat/floodmapeng_1368736. pdf) explains how and why GIS was used to produce the flood map. Learning activities Using the map viewer, compare a range of places including your home location and flood prone areas such as Gloucester, York, Oxford or the Thames Estuary. Which properties are prone to flooding? (Consider confluence, position downstream, urbanisation, flood protection.) Paste an appropriate flood map (e.g. Gloucester) into PowerPoint and hyperlink to

Case study 6: Air quality

To inform future policy on air pollution and protect public health and the environment, the London Air Quality Network (www.london air.org.uk/london) from Defra/Kings College London monitors air pollution. London boroughs supply information and a GIS is used to map this. Episodes of high pollution show how summer smogs produce high levels of ozone, winter smogs high levels of particulates (PM soot) and road traffic high levels of nitrous oxide (NO). The maps (www.londonair.org.uk/ london/asp/news.asp?NewsId=News21) show the impact of major arterial roads and junctions. The monitoring station Brent 5 (Neasden Lane) in north west London shows a local problem caused by lorries from a goods yard. The striking interactive 3D viewer (www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/virtual maps.asp) shows clearly both how central London parks are the citys green lungs and also how pollution is reducing since the introduction of the congestion charge. Learning activities Use the 3D viewer to investigate change in pollution over time. Take stills to produce a presentation putting a case for a) extending traffic charging to urban centres across the UK and b) maintaining open green spaces in urban environments. Investigate pollution episodes in the main website section (www.londonair.org.uk/ london). Which conditions seem to favour high levels of NOs and PMs in terms of both space and time?

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images from BBC news of the 2007 floods to create an interactive presentation. Compare a flood map with an OS map and aerial photograph. You could use paper copies, but www.multimap.com, www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/geta map/ or http://earth.google.com/ increase the possibilities. Using Google Earth, PowerPoint or your IWB functions you can introduce transparent layers to analyse the area at risk of flooding and areas with flood defences. Carry out an assessment of at risk zones, categorising land use and identifying sites of special value (e.g. residential, CBD, historic or industrial buildings). For areas with flood defences, such as central and east London, carry out a simple cost-benefit matrix (figures

Which areas of this region, (using N/S/E/W to describe) can you deduce are the most fruitful for selling? Extension Using population and road maps of the UK, take the role of UK fundraising director for a national charity. You have a team of eight fundraising managers, and your task is to set up eight regional offices. Where will you locate the offices? Explain your choices through the maps. Here is an example of one real charitys regional distribution (www.rnli. org.uk/rnli_near_you/contact_details_for_regi onal_fundraising_offices). Which region is much smaller than the others and why?

Case study 9: House hunting

Many estate agents, like Kinleigh, Folkard & Hayward (www.kfh.co.uk) are using GIS to make property searches quicker, easier and more attractive. This means more viewings arranged and more business for them. There is another map element to the viewer at a different scale the floor plan of the property. Learning activity In pairs, students take the role of a London couple looking for a flat. (You may want to set a budget, and minimum criteria for floor area, number of rooms and outdoor space.) Use the map viewer and other data from the website to explore the value of different areas. Report back to the class what you find. Considerations: Is there a spatial pattern to prices? (You may be able to sketch areas of high, medium and lower cost housing, on an outline map.) What may affect this? Proximity to schools, town centre, open spaces, prestigious roads? On a visit to the area, what would you like to find out that the website doesnt show? Is the area affordable? www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ allows you to map the socio-economic profile of the area; www.housepricemaps.co.uk gives you the picture in your area and across the UK; www.mouseprice.com/hot_spots/heat_ map.aspx lets you identify UK, regional and local patterns more clearly.

are not essential) using a table to identify planning/engineering needed and land use characteristics of protected areas.

Case study 8: Social services

Often, GIS is about mapping a range of factors which determine the likelihood of an event and identifying areas of highest risk. Here (www.esri.com/mapmuseum/mapbook _gallery/volume20/health1.html) a family service department in New Jersey uses GIS to combine data predicting risk of child abuse or neglect, and family service office location. The resulting map shows gaps in provision, identifying areas where new offices are needed. Learning activity Take the role of researcher for the Department of Youth and Family Services, New Jersey, USA. Prepare a presentation to the state authority to persuade them to fund three new family service offices. Your presentation can be written or on PowerPoint, and must use a range of maps to make your case. Be sure to refer to N/S/E/W and boundary areas to make your description clear.

Going further
You can watch video case studies, and find out more about how ESRI helps a wide range of organisations through GIS on www.esriuk. com/industries/industry.asp?indid=34

Case study 8: Sales territories

A US sales team used GIS (www.esri.com/map museum/mapbook_gallery/volume20/business 4.html) to help them assign sales territories more efficiently. Sales (here called sum of floor cov) were mapped and analysed; then the territories were redistributed to sales representatives according to the sales potential of a particular region. This was fairer to the representatives, in that each was responsible for an area of roughly equivalent potential, but also meant the management could measure the effectiveness of each sales rep! Learning activities Which sales personnel had their sales potential increased, and which decreased, following the realignment?

David Mitchell is the GA ICT Projects Leader

Ordnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey education pages (www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/gisfil es) are excellent for an explanation of the underlying principles of GIS. Spatially Speaking The GAs Spatially Speaking project (www.geography.org. uk/projects/spatiallyspeaking /furthermaterials) has links to a range of materials showing how GIS is used in the workplace.