GIS for Educators

Topic 1: Introducing GIS Objectives: Understanding what GIS is and what it can be used for. GIS, Co !uter, "a!s, #ata, Infor ation Syste , S!atia$, %na$ysis

Keywords:

Overview: &ust as we use a word !rocessor to write docu ents and dea$ with words on a co !uter, we can use a GIS application to dea$ with spatial information on a co !uter. GIS stands for 'Geographical Information System'. % GIS consists of:

Digital Data ' the geogra!hica$ infor ation that you wi$$ view and ana$yse using co !uter hardware and software. Computer Har ware ' co !uters used for storing data, dis!$aying gra!hics and !rocessing data. Computer Software ' co !uter !rogra s that run on the co !uter hardware and a$$ow you to wor( with digita$ data. % software !rogra that for s !art of the GIS is ca$$ed a GIS %!!$ication.

)ith a GIS a!!$ication you can o!en digita$ a!s on your co !uter, create new s!atia$ infor ation to add to a a!, create !rinted a!s custo ised to your needs and !erfor s!atia$ ana$ysis. *et+s $oo( at a $itt$e e,a !$e of how GIS can be usefu$. I agine you are a hea$th wor(er and you a(e a note of the date and !$ace of residence of every !atient you treat.

*ongitude -../0123. -../././-../.0010 -../7261/ -../77/50 -../7-0.2 -../7200/ -../.610-../.3372

*atitude 435.616756 435.616-76 435.651262 435.6-1076 435.6-56-6 435.6-56-6 435.6-755435.6556// 435.65.21.

#isease "u !s "u !s "u !s "eas$es "eas$es "eas$es "eas$es "u !s Chic(en 9o,

#ate 5385-8-11/ -285-8-11/ --8158-116 558158-116 -.8158-116 5181-8-116 --81-8-116 1-81-8-116 -.81-8-116

If you $oo( at the tab$e above you wi$$ :uic($y see that there were a $ot of eas$es cases in &anuary and ;ebruary. Our hea$th wor(er recorded the $ocation of each !atient+s house by noting its $atitude and $ongitude in the tab$e. Using this data in a GIS %!!$ication, we can :uic($y understand a $ot ore about the !atterns of i$$ness:

Illustration 1: Example showing disease records in a GIS application. It is easy to see that the mumps patients all live close to each other. !ore a"out GIS: GIS is a re$ative$y new fie$d 4 it started in the 5601+s. It used to be that co !uterised GIS was on$y avai$ab$e to co !anies and universities that had e,!ensive co !uter e:ui! ent. <hese days, anyone with a !ersona$ co !uter or $a!to! can use GIS software. Over ti e GIS %!!$ications have a$so beco e easier to use ' it used to re:uire a $ot of training to use a GIS %!!$ication, but now it is uch easier to get started in GIS even for a ateurs and casua$ users. %s we described above, GIS is ore than just software, it refers to a$$ as!ects of anaging and using digita$ geogra!hica$ data. In the tutoria$s that fo$$ow we wi$$ be focusing on GIS Software.

#hat is GIS Software $ a GIS %pplication&: =ou can see an e,a !$e of what a GIS %pplication $oo(s $i(e in I$$ustration 5 above. GIS %!!$ications are nor a$$y !rogra s with a gra!hica$ user interface that can be ani!u$ated using the ouse and (eyboard. <he a!!$ication !rovides menus near to the to! of the window >;i$e, Edit etc.? which, when c$ic(ed using the ouse, show a !ane$ of actions. <hese actions !rovide a way for you to te$$ the GIS %!!$ication what you want to do. ;or e,a !$e you ay use the enus to te$$ the GIS %!!$ication to add a new $ayer to the dis!$ay out!ut.

Illustration 2: Application menus, when clic ed with the mouse, expand to show a list o! actions that can "e carried out. Tool"ars >rows of s a$$ !ictures that can be c$ic(ed with the ouse? nor a$$y sit just be$ow the enus and !rovide a :uic(er way to use fre:uent$y needed actions.

Illustration #: $ool"ars provide %uic access to commonly used !unctions. &olding your mouse over a picture will usually tell you what will happen when you clic on it. % co on function of GIS %!!$ications is to dis!$ay map layers. "a! $ayers are stored as fi$es on a dis( or as records in a database. @or a$$y each a! $ayer wi$$ re!resent so ething in the rea$ wor$d ' a roads $ayer for e,a !$e wi$$ have data about the street networ(. )hen you o!en a $ayer in the GIS %!!$ication it wi$$ a!!ear in the map view. <he a! view shows a gra!hic re!resenting your $ayer. )hen you add ore than one $ayer to a a! view, the $ayers are over$aid on to! of each other. I$$ustrations 2 to 0 be$ow show a a! view that has severa$ $ayers being added to it. %n i !ortant function of the a! view is to a$$ow you to Aoo in to agnify, Aoo out to see a greater area and ove around >!anning? in the 3

a!.

Illustration (: A towns layer added to the map view.

Illustration ': A schools layer added to the map view.

Illustration ): A railways layer added to the map view.

Illustration *: A rivers layer added to the map view.

Un$i(e !a!er a!s, the a!s dis!$ayed in GIS %!!$ications can be changed after they have been created. =ou can change the sym"ology of the a! $ayers to a(e the a!!ear in different co$ours or sy bo$s. ;or e,a !$e, if we ta(e the a! in I$$ustration 0 and change the sy bo$ogy, we can co !$ete$y change how it $oo(s ' as shown in I$$ustration / be$ow. Sy bo$ogy !$ays an i !ortant ro$e in how we inter!ret a!s, and GIS %!!$ications are very good at $etting you change sy bo$ogy :uic($y and easi$y.

Illustration +: GIS So!tware let you easily change sym"ology , the way in!ormation is displayed. %nother co on feature of GIS %!!$ications is the map legen . <he a! $egend !rovides a $ist of $ayers that have been $oaded in the GIS %!!$ication. Un$i(e a !a!er a! $egend, the a! $egend or +$ayers $ist+ in the GIS %!!$ication !rovides a way to re4order, hide, show and grou! $ayers. Changing 2

the $ayer order is done by c$ic(ing on a $ayer in the $egend, ho$ding the ouse button down and then dragging the $ayer to a new !osition. In I$$ustrations 6 and 51 be$ow, the a! $egend is shown as the area to the $eft of the GIS %!!$ication window. By changing the $ayer order, the way that $ayers are drawn can be adjusted ' in this case so that rivers are drawn over the roads instead of be$ow the .

Illustration -: .e!ore changing the layer order, rivers are drawn underneath roads.

Illustration 1/: A!ter changing the layer order, rivers are drawn on top o! roads.

Getting a GIS %pplication for your own computer's(: <here are any different GIS %!!$ications avai$ab$e. So e have any so!histicated features and cost tens of thousands of Cands for each co!y. In other cases, you can obtain a GIS %!!$ication for free. #eciding which GIS %!!$ication to use is a :uestion of how uch oney you can afford and !ersona$ !reference. ;or these tutoria$s, we wi$$ be using the Duantu GIS %!!$ication, a$so (nown as DGIS. Duantu GIS is co !$ete$y free and you can co!y it and share it with your friends as uch as you $i(e. If you received this tutoria$ in !rinted for , you shou$d have received a co!y of DGIS with it. If not, you can a$ways visit htt!:88:gis.org to down$oad your free co!y if you have access to the internet. GIS Data: @ow that we (now what a GIS is and what a GIS %!!$ication can do, $et+s ta$( about GIS ata. #ata is another word for information. <he infor ation we use in a GIS nor a$$y has a geogra!hica$ as!ect to it. <hin( of our e,a !$e above, about the hea$th care wor(er. She created a tab$e to record diseases that $oo(ed $i(e this:

*ongitude -../0123.

*atitude 435.616756

#isease "u !s

#ate 5385-8-11/ 7

<he $ongitude and $atitude co$u ns ho$d geographical ata. <he disease and date co$u ns ho$d non)geographical ata. % co on feature of GIS is that they a$$ow you to associate infor ation >non4geogra!hica$ data? with !$aces >geogra!hica$ data?. In fact, the GIS %!!$ication can store any !ieces of infor ation which are associated with each !$ace ' so ething that !a!er a!s are not very good at. ;or e,a !$e, our hea$th care wor(er cou$d store the !erson+s age and gender on her tab$e. )hen the GIS %!!$ication draws the $ayer, you can te$$ it to draw the $ayer based on gender, or based on disease ty!e, and so on. So, with a GIS %!!$ication we have a way to easi$y change the a!!earance of the a!s we created based on the non4geogra!hica$ data associated with !$aces. GIS Syste s wor( with any different ty!es of data. *ector ata is stored as a series of E,= coordinate !airs inside the co !uter+s e ory. Fector data is used to re!resent !oints, $ines and areas. I$$ustration 55 be$ow shows different ty!es of vector data being viewed in a GIS a!!$ication. In the tutoria$s that fo$$ow we wi$$ be e,!$oring vector data in ore detai$.

Illustration 11: 0ector data is used to represent points 1e.g. towns2, lines 1e.g. rivers2 and polygons 1e.g. municipal "oundaries2. +aster ata are stored as a grid of va$ues. <here are any sate$$ites circ$ing the earth and the !hotogra!hs they ta(e are a (ind of raster data that can be viewed in a GIS. One i !ortant difference between raster and vector data is that if you Aoo in too uch on a raster i age, it wi$$ start to a!!ear +b$oc(y+ >see i$$ustrations 5- and 53 be$ow?. In fact these b$oc(s are the individua$ ce$$s of the data grid that a(es u! the raster i age. )e wi$$ be $oo(ing at raster data in greater detai$ in $ater tutoria$s.

Illustration 12: 3aster data are o!ten images ta en "y satellites. &ere we can see mountains in the Eastern 4ape. #hat have we learne &

Illustration 1#: $he same raster data, "ut this time 5oomed in. $he grid nature o! the data can "e seen.

*et+s wra! u! what we covered in this wor(sheet: % GIS is a syste of co !uter hardware, co !uter software and geogra!hica$ data. % GIS %pplication a$$ows you to view geogra!hica$ data and is an i !ortant !art of the GIS. % GIS %!!$ication nor a$$y consists of a menu "ar, tool"ars, a map view and a legen . *ector and raster data are geogra!hica$ data used in a GIS a!!$ication. Geographical data can have associated non)geographical data. ,ow you tryGere are so e ideas for you to try with your $earners:

Geography: #escribe the conce!t of GIS to your $earners as out$ined in this tutoria$. %s( the to try to thin( of 3 reasons why it ight be handy to use a GIS instead of !a!er a!s. Gere are so e that we cou$d thin( of: GIS %!!$ications a$$ow you to create any different ty!es of a!s fro the sa e data. GIS is a great visua$isation too$ that can show you things about your data and how they are re$ated in s!ace >e.g. those disease outbrea(s we saw ear$ier?. 9a!er a!s need to be fi$ed and are ti e consu ing to view. <he GIS can ho$d a very $arge a ount of a! data and a(e it :uic( and easy to find a !$ace you are interested in. Geography: Can you and your $earners thin( of how raster data fro sate$$ites cou$d be usefu$H Gere are so e ideas we had: #uring natura$ disasters, raster data can be usefu$ to show where the i !acted areas are. ;or e,a !$e a recent sate$$ite i age ta(en during a f$ood can he$! to show where !eo!$e ay need rescuing. 0

So eti es !eo!$e do bad things to the the environ ent, $i(e du !ing dangerous che ica$s that (i$$ !$ants and ani a$s. Using raster data fro sate$$ites can he$! us to onitor for these ty!e of !rob$e s. <own !$anners can use raster data fro sate$$ites to see where infor a$ sett$e ents are and to he$! in !$anning infrastructure.

Something to thin. a"out: If you don+t have a co !uter avai$ab$e, any of the to!ics we cover in this tutoria$ can be re!roduced using an overhead and trans!arency as it uses the sa e techni:ue of $ayering infor ation. Gowever, to !ro!er$y understand GIS it is a$ways better to $earn it using a co !uter. /urther rea ing: 0oo.: #es(to! GIS: "a!!ing the 9$anet with O!en Source <oo$s. %uthor: Gary Sher an. IS0,: 60/563237.1.0 #e"site: htt!:88www.gisdeve$o! ent.net8tutoria$s8tu an11..ht <he DGIS User Guide a$so has #hat's ne1t& In the sections that fo$$ow we are going to go into ore detai$, showing you how to use a GIS %!!$ication. %$$ of the tutoria$s wi$$ be done using DGIS. @e,t u!, $et+s $oo( at vectorsI ore detai$ed infor ation on wor(ing with DGIS.