1.

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

Some of the major objectives of GIS are to

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
A GIS has following components:

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,
transfosrmation, analysis and providing desired outputs. The interfaces could be different for different softwares. The GIS softwares 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.

History of GIS

Mapmaking (representation of geographical information) has evidences to show independent evolution of maps
in different parts of the earth. The direct evidence of mapping comes from Middle East in the form of Babylonian
Clay Tablets as early as 1000 B.C which depicted earth as a flat circular disk.

Around 200 B.C, Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of earth accurately. Later came, Ptolemy and Al-
Idrisi who made remarkable contributions in the field of cartography. Following them were Mercator and Newton,
their work paved way for the upcoming cartographers and geographers to better understand the earth and the
geographical phenomenon.

Putting layers of data on series of base maps to analyze things geographically has been into existence much
longer than the introduction of computers to the geographical world.

The French cartographer Louis-Alexandre Berthier had drawn the maps of the Battle of Yorktown (1781) that
contained hinged overlays to show troop movements.
 (Image source: http://findingaids.princeton.edu/getEad?eadid=C0022 )

Superimposition of topography, geology, population and traffic flow on the same base map has been shown in
the Atlas to Accompany the Second report of the Irish Railway Commissioners.

Dr. John Snow showed the locations of death by cholera on a map to track the source of outbreak of cholera
in Central London in September, 1854.

(Image source: http://healthcybermap.org/HGeo/pg1_1.htm )

The introduction of computers in the field of geography was a positive step towards understanding and learning
the subject better. Change in cartographic analysis due to improved graphics, development of theories of spatial
processes in economic and social geography, anthropology and regional science, increased social awareness and
improvement in education. The integrated transportation plans of Detroit, Chicago during the period of 1950s
and 1960s used information on routes, origin, destination, and time to produce the maps of traffic flow and
volume is an example of integration of computer technology with geographical data.

Early Developments in GIS

Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS)

The earliest GIS, set up in mid 1960s by Roger Tomlinson and colleagues for Canadian Land Inventory.
It was developed as a measuring tool (to measure area), a producer of tabular information rather than a mapping tool.

Harvard Laboratory

The Harvard laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis was established in 1964 by Howard Fisher at Harvard
University.
The GIS packages developed were SYMAP, CALFORM, SYMVU, GRID, POLYVRT, ODYSSEY

Dual Independent Map Encoding (DIME)

Developed by US Bureau of Census in 1967 to conduct the 1970 census of population.

Digital records of all US streets were created to support automatic referencing and aggregation of census records.

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

Jack Dangermond founded ESRI in 1969 to undertake GIS projects.

In 1981, ESRI launched ArcInfo (major commercial GIS software system) based on vector & relational database data model.

Intergraph Corporation

Jim Meadlock and colleagues formed M&S computing in 1969 which was later renamed as Intergraph.
Global provider of engineering and geospatial software.

Longley et al (2001) have described the period from1980 to 2000 as the era of commercialization in the field of GIS. The period marks the
establishment of commercial GIS industries, research centers, GPS, OpenGIS Consortium, Internet GIS products along with publications on
GIS and allied fields. The period after 2000 is referred to as the era of exploitation. In 2000, it was estimated that GIS was being used by
one million core users and five million casual users.

Importance of GIS

GIS informs not only about the activities and the events but also where they exist. The solutions to problems often require access to several
types of information that can only be linked by geography. GIS allows to store and manipulate information using geography and to analyze
patterns, relationships, and trends in that information to help in making better decisions.

Application of GIS
GIS is involved in various areas. These include topographical mapping, socioeconomic and environment modeling, and education. The role of
GIS is best illustrated with respect to some of the representative application areas that are mentioned below:

Tax Mapping: Raising revenue from property taxes is one of the important functions of the government agencies. The amount of tax payable
depends on the value of the land and the property. The correct assessment of value of land and property determines the equitable distribution
of the community tax. A tax assessor has to evaluate new properties and respond to the existing property valuation. To evaluate taxes the
assessor uses details on current market rents, sale, maintenance, insurance and other expenses. Managing as well as analyzing all this
information simultaneously is time consuming and hence comes the need of GIS. Information about property with its geographical location
and boundary is managed by GIS. Land units stored in parcel database can be linked to their properties. Querying the GIS database can
locate similar type of properties in an area. The characteristics of these properties can then be compared and valuation can be easily done .

Business: Approximately 80 percent of all business data are related to location. Businesses manage a world of information about sales, cus-
tomers, inventory, demographic profiles etc. Demographic analysis is the basis for many other business functions: customer service, site
analysis, and marketing. Understanding your customers and their socioeconomic and purchasing behavior is essential for making good
business decisions. A GIS with relevant data such as number of consumers, brands and sites they go for shopping can give any business unit
a fair idea whether their unit if set up is going to work at a particular location the way they want it to run.

Logistics: Logistics is a field that takes care of transporting goods from one place to another and finally delivering them to their destinations.
It is necessary for the shipping companies to know where their warehouses should be located, which routes should the transport follow that
ensures minimum time and expenditures to deliver the parcels to their destinations. All such logistics decisions need GIS support.

Emergency evacuation: The occurrence of disasters is unpredictable. We as humans are unable to tell when, where and what magnitude of
disaster is going to emerge and therefore solely depend on disaster preparedness as safety measures. It is important to know in which area
the risk is higher, the number of individuals inhabiting that place, the routes by which the vehicles would move to help in evacuating the
individuals. Thus preparing an evacuation plan needs GIS implementation.

Environment: GIS is being increasingly involved in mapping the habitat loss, urban sprawl, land-use change etc. Mapping such phenomena
need historical landuse data, anthropogenic effects which greatly affect these phenomena are also brought into GIS domain. GIS models are
then run to make predictions for the future.
 2. MAPS AND MAP SCALES
Introduction
A map is a two dimensional representation of earth surface which uses graphics to convey geographical information. It describes the
geographical location of features and the relationship between them. Maps are fundamental to society. Cartography refers to the art and
science of map preparation. Though, the earliest of the maps were technically not as impressive as they are today but they certainly
highlighted their role in communicating information about the location and spatial characteristics of the natural world and of society and
culture. The new discoveries in Science and Geography fortified maps with facts and technical details. Improvements in the fields of Geodesy,
Surveying and Cartography helped in bringing the maps to their present form. The digital technology has altered the way of creating,
presenting and distributing the geographic information. The conventional cartography is now getting replaced by computer aided designs and
graphics, and the analog maps (paper maps) by digital maps. The growing field of technology promises to bring more advances to
Cartography to render maps and allied services that serve the society in a better manner.

Figure 1: Map showing Landuse of Himachal Pradesh

ory of Maps
dest known maps are from Middle East in the form of Babylonian Clay Tablet dating as early as 1000 B.C and depicted earth as a flat circular disk.
 Babylonian clay tablet Interpretive redrawing of the clay tablet

(Image source:http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/AncientWebPages/103.html )

ay tablet shows a flat, round world with Babylonia in the centre. The other regions of the world are beyond the ocean encircling Babylonia.

Around 150 AD, Ptolemy depicted the old world from 60 N to 30 S latitude on a map. The
first use of longitudinal and latitudinal lines on a map along with the specification of terrestrial
sites through observations of the celestial sphere is regarded as one of the important
contribution of Ptolemy in the field of cartography.

Ptolemys world map

Muhammad al-Idrisi is one of the cartographers of the medieval period who

created the world map by combining the information on Africa, Indian Ocean
and the Far East provided by merchants and geographers. His map was
considered the most accurate world map for the next three centuries.

For enlarged view click Idrisi's world map

Al Idrisi's world map

 After the voyages by Columbus and others to the
new world, the full world map started to appear in
the early 16 th Century. Martin Waldseemller in
1507 is credited with the creation of the first true
world map. The map used Ptolemaic projection and
was the first one to use the name America for the
New World. For enlarged view click Waldseemuller map

Waldseemuller world map

Gerardus Mercator, a cartographer of the mid-16th

century developed a cylindrical projection that is still
widely used for navigation charts and global maps.
He then published a map of the world in 1569 based
on this projection.

For enlarged view click Mercator's world map

Mercators world map

uring the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries became increasingly accurate and factual with the application of scientific methods. With the advent of GIS duri
60s, understanding and representation of geographical phenomenon improved significantly. Maps now have improved graphics, and spatial relation
zation.
cale
e of earth is too big to be represented as it is on a map. To represent the whole earth or part thereof on a small map, the concept of scale is used. The
tion chosen for a map is its scale. It is the relationship between distance on map and distance on ground that tells what distance on map corresponds to
e on ground.
entation of scale
are three ways in which a scale can be depicted on a map:
sed in words such as 2 centimeters to the kilometer which means two centimeters on the map represents one kilometer on the ground. Though it is the
st way of expressing a scale but it has the following drawbacks associated with it:
ement
The fractional distances involve mathematical calculations
 Different countries have different units of length, expressing a statement scale on a map may not be understood by the foreigners.

Figure 2: Map with scale in Statement

resentative fraction
pressed in fraction. If the scale is 1:50000, it means that 1 unit of measurement on map represents 50,000 units on ground. It is also known as numeri

stance on map and the distance on the ground must be in the same units of length. The advantage of this scale is that- it can be read into different units
For example the map with a scale 1:50,000 would mean that a distance of 1 cm on ground represents 50,000 cm on the ground or it can also be said t
e of 1 feet on ground represents 50,000 feet on ground.
 Figure 3:Map with scale in Representative fraction

phic: The scale is shown in form of a strip, where the strip is divided into a number of equal parts and is marked to show what these divisions represent
ground. It is also known as plain scale or linear scale.

ample, the above scale represents that 1 division of a strip on map represents 10 km on ground.
vantage of a graphic scale is that it is reduced or enlarged in the same proportion in which the map is reduced or enlarged.

tative nomenclature used to express the relative scale of a map consists of small or large scale. The qualitative differences of these two scales are:

Large scale map Small scale map

Area covered is small Area covered is large
Details are more, objects are seen as large Less details, objects are seen as small

erstand the difference we can take help of representative fraction method.

on a scale of 1:5,000 means that the size of the objects on map is 1/5000 of their size on the ground. Similarly, a map on a scale of 1:50,000 mean tha
the objects on map is 1/50000 of their size on the ground.
map on the scale of 1:5000 shall show the objects on map bigger (as well as smaller objects not visible earlier shall become visible) than those shown b
00 scale map therefore it is a large scale map.
below are the images to depict this difference clearly:
 (a) 1:25,000 [Large scale] (b) 1:50,000 [Small scale]

4 : A portion of map showing the same area on different scales

of Maps
aps can be classified on the following criteria:
Scale
Purpose

s important for correct representation of geographical features and phenomenon. Different features require different scales for their display. For exampl
ation of a cadastral map of a village and the soil map of a state would use different scale for representing the information. According to scale, maps can
ed as follows:
astral : These maps register the ownership of land property. They are prepared by government to realize tax and revenue. A village map is an example
ral map which is drawn on a scale of 16 inches to the mile or 32 inches to the mile.
ographical: Topographical maps are prepared on fairly large scale and are based on precise survey. They dont reveal land parcels but show topographic
s relief, drainage, forest, village, towns etc. The scale of these maps varied conventionally from 1/4 inch to the mile to one inch to the mile. The topogra
of different countries have varying scales.
Topographical survey map of British Ordnance Survey are one inch maps.
The scale of European toposheets varies from 1:25000 to 1:100000.
USA toposheets are drawn on the scale 1:62500 and 1:125000.
 The international map which is a uniform map of the world is produced on the scale of 1:1000000.

rographical/Atlas: Drawn on a very small scale, atlas maps give a generalized view of physical, climatic and economic conditions of different regions of th
The scale of atlas map is generally greater than 1:1000, 000.

basis of Purpose or the content, the maps can be classified as follows:

ural Maps:
maps represent natural features and the processes associated with them. Given below is the list of some such maps:
omical map : It refers to the cartographic representation of the heavenly bodies such as galaxies, stars, planets, moon etc.
ical map : A map that represents the distribution of different type of rocks and surficial deposits on the Earth.
map : A map that depicts the terrain and indicates the bulges and the depressions present on the surface.
e map : A climate map is a depiction of prevailing weather patterns in a given area. These maps can show daily weather conditions, average monthly or
al weather conditions of an area.
tion map : It shows the natural flora of an area.
ap : A soil map describes the soil cover present in an area.

ural Maps
maps tell about the cultural patterns designed over the surface of the earth. They describe the activities of man and related processes. Given below is th
h maps:
l map: A map that shows the boundaries of states, boundaries between different political units of the world or of a particular country which mark the ar
tive political jurisdiction
y map : A military map contains information about routes, points, security and battle plans.
cal map : A map having historical events symbolized on it.
map : A map giving information about the tribes, languages and religions of an area.
tilization map : A map describing the land and the ongoing activities on it.
unication map : A map showing means of communication such as railways, road, airways etc.
tion map : A map showing distribution of human beings over an area.
nd Globe
The word globe comes from the Latin word globus which means round mass or sphere. A terrestrial globe is a three dimensional scaled model
of Earth. The fact that earth resembles a sphere was established by Greek astronomy in the third century BC and the earliest globes came
from that period. Unlike maps, the globe is a representation which is free from distortions (distortion in shape, area). The modern globes
have longitudes and latitudes marked over it so that one is able to tell the approximate coordinates of a specific place. To make the
illustration better, people have tried depicting variations of earth surface over the globe. The relief raised globes allow a user to visualize the
mountain ranges and plains as the features are modeled using elevations and depressions. But the relief is not scaled rather exaggerated.
The raised relief would be virtually invisible if a scale representation were attempted.

Figure 5: A Globe depicting relief

(Image source: http://www.1worldglobes.com/1WorldGlobes/classroom_relief_globe.htm )
The map and the globe are similar in a manner that both of them represent earth (on particular scales) but there also exist a few differences
between them, which are enumerated below:

Globe Map
Two dimensional representation of earth in the form of a flat
Three dimensional representation of earth in the form of a sphere
surface
Impossible to see all the countries of the world at a glance as only half of the All countries of the world can be seen on a world map at a
globe can be seen at a time glance
Due to projection there are distortions in shape and size of
The shape and size of geographical features is correctly represented.
geographical features.
Accurate tracing of the maps is not possible due to the curvature of the globe Maps can be accurately traced
A part of earth cant be separately represented on the globe A part of earth can be separately represented on the map
Inconvenient to carry Easy to carry
3.Georeferencing and Projection

Understanding Earth
ths shape
arth is generally viewed as a sphere; however its shape is not as perfect as a sphere in reality. Given below are the models that have attempted to descr
ape of the earth:

rical model

on a circle, it treats earth as a sphere to make mathematical calculations easier.

oid/ Oblate spheroid model

Based on an ellipse, rotating an ellipse around the semi-minor axis creates an ellipsoid.
Latitude, longitude and planar coordinate systems are determined with respect to the ellipsoid.

Earth is flattened at poles with a bulge at equator and this is attributed to the earths rotation. Rotation of earth has centrifugal force associated with
which causes an object to move away from the centre of gravity. The force is greatest at equator causing an outward bulge and thus giving that regio
larger circumference

model
Describes unique and irregular shape of the earth. The variation in the density of different rock types and irregularities caused by mountain ranges an
ocean depths affect the gravity of earth.

Geoid can be perceived as a sea level surface (where dynamic effects such as tides and waves are excluded) whose irregular shape is attributed to th
earths gravity

No simple surface such as sphere or spheroid/ellipsoid can model the sea level surface completely so best fit of the spheroid/ellipsoid to the sea level
surface is performed.

Figure 1: Representation of geoid model

The geoid differs from the shape of ellipsoid by upto 100 m and this difference is known as geoid separation or geoid undulation

Elevations and contour lines depicted on maps are measured with respect to the geoid

ums
um is a reference point or surface against which measurements are made using models of the shape of the earth.

cal Datum : A vertical datum is a reference surface used to measure elevations of the point on earths surface. It is tidal, based on sea level, or geodetic
on ellipsoid
dal vertical datum takes local mean sea level as reference for height measurement. Mean sea level is the arithmetic mean of the hourly water elevation
over a specific 19 years cycle which is defined as zero elevation for local area and is close approximation to the geoid (geoid and local mean sea level di
more than a couple of meters). As zero elevation defined for one country is not necessarily same for other countries, therefore a number of local vertic
s are defined.

Figure 2 : Vertical Datum

ean sea level height is also known as orthometric height or geoid height.

eodetic vertical datum uses ellipsoid as the reference surface. The surface of the ellipsoid is considered to represent zero altitude. Points above the ellips
ent positive altitude and points below the surface represent negative altitude. The altitude is also known as ellipsoidal or geodetic height. GPS devices
h ellipsoidal heights.

lationship between ellipsoidal height H and geoid height h is given as

N refers to the geoid ellipsoid separation.

ontal datum : A horizontal or geodetic datum is defined as an ellipsoid which is used as a reference surface for the planimetric measurements on the E
e usually expressed in latitudes and longitudes. It can be of two types:

al geodetic datum: The one which best approximates the size and shape of a particular part of earths sea level surface. The centre of this spheroid doe
de with centre of mass of the earth
 Figure 3: Local geodetic datum
bal/Geocentric datum: The one that best approximates the size and shape of the whole earth. The centre of this spheroid coincides with centre of mas
rth. The US Global Positioning System uses geocentric datum

Figure 4: Geocentric datum

se of local datums results in uneven connectivity of longitudinal and latitudinal lines between different countries/regions. These mismatches were comm
undred meters and created confusion about locating an area correctly. With the advent of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology this disagreemen
o longer acceptable. World-wide datums which are now used in all countries/regions began to be developed.

atum presently used for GPS is called WGS 84 (World Geodetic System 1984). It consists of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system and an
ated ellipsoid. The positions can either be described as XYZ Cartesian coordinates or latitude, longitude and ellipsoid height coordinates. The origin of th
is the centre of mass of the Earth and it is designed for positioning anywhere on Earth.
Coordinate System
A coordinate system is a reference system used for locating objects in a two or three dimensional space

Geographic Coordinate System

A geographic coordinate system, also known as global or spherical coordinate system is a reference system that uses a three-dimensional
spherical surface to determine locations on the earth. Any location on earth can be referenced by a point with longitude and latitude.

We must familiarize ourselves with the geographic terms with respect to the Earth coordinate system in order to use the GIS technologies
effectively.

Pole: The geographic pole of earth is defined as either of the two points where the axis of rotation of the earth meets its surface. The North Pole
lies 90 north of the equator and the South Pole lies 90 south of the equator

Latitude : Imaginary lines that run horizontally around the globe and are measured from 90 north to 90 south. Also known as parallels,
latitudes are equidistant from each other.

Equator : An imaginary line on the earth with zero degree latitude, divides the earth into two halvesNorthern and Southern Hemisphere. This
parallel has the widest circumference.

Figure 5: Division of earth into hemispheres

Longitude : Imaginary lines that run vertically around the globe. Also known as meridians, longitudes are measured from 180 east to 180
west. Longitudes meet at the poles and are widest apart at the equator
Prime meridian : Zero degree longitude which divides the earth into two halvesEastern and Western hemisphere. As it runs through the Royal
Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England it is also known as Greenwich meridian
 Figure 6: Latitude and longitude measurements

Equator (0) is the reference for the measurement of latitude. Latitude is measured north or south of the equator. For measurement of longitude,
prime meridian (0) is used as a reference. Longitude is measured east or west of prime meridian. The grid of latitude and longitude over the
globe is known as graticule. The intersection point of the equator and the prime meridian is the origin (0, 0) of the graticule.

Coordinate measurement

The geographic coordinates are measured in angles. The angle measurement can be understood as per following:

A full circle has 360 degrees 1 circle = 360

A degree is further divided into 60 minutes 1 = 60
A minute is further divided into 60 seconds 1 = 60
An angle is expressed in Degree Minute Second.

While writing coordinates of a location, latitude is followed by longitude. For example, coordinates of Delhi is written as 28 36 50 N,
77 12 32 E.

Decimal Degree is another format of expressing the coordinates of a location. To convert a coordinate pair from degree minute second to decimal
degree following method is adopted:

We have 28 full degrees, 36 minutes - each 1/60 of a degree, and 50 seconds - each 1/60 of 1/60 of a degree

While writing coordinates of a location, latitude is followed by longitude. For example, coordinates of Delhi is written as

Similarly 77 12 32 can be written as 77.2088. So, we can write coordinates of Delhi in decimal degree format as: 28.6138 N, 77.2088 E

Local Time and Time Zones

With rotation of earth on its axis, at any moment one of the longitudes faces the Sun (noon meridian), and at that moment, it is noon everywhere
on it. After 24 hours the earth completes one full rotation with respect to the Sun, and the same meridian again faces the noon. Thus each hour
the Earth rotates by 360/24 = 15 degrees.
This implies that with every 15 of longitude change a new time zone is created which is marked by a difference of one hour from the neighboring
longitudes specified at 15 gap. The earth's time zones are measured from the prime meridian (0) and the time at Prime meridian is called
Greenwich Mean Time. Thus, there are 24 time zones created around the globe.
Date
The International Date Line is the imaginary line on the Earth that separates two consecutive calendar days. Generally, it is said to be lying
exactly opposite to the prime meridian having a measurement of 180 meridian but it is not so. It zigs and zags the 180 meridian following the
political jurisdiction of the states but for sake of simplicity it is taken as 180 meridian. Starting at midnight and going east to the International
 Date Line, the date is one day ahead of the date on the rest of the Earth.

Projected Coordinate system

A projected coordinate system is defined as two dimensional representation of the Earth. It is based on a spheroid geographic coordinate system,
but it uses linear units of measure for coordinates. It is also known as Cartesian coordinate system.

In such a coordinate system the location of a point on the grid is identified by (x, y) coordinate pair and the origin lies at the centre of grid. The x
coordinate determines the horizontal position and y coordinate determines the vertical position of the point.

Figure 7: Cartesian coordinate system

In such a coordinate system the location of a point on the grid is identified by (x, y) coordinate pair and the origin lies at the centre of grid. The x
coordinate determines the horizontal position and y coordinate determines the vertical position of the point.

p Projection

projection is a mathematical expression using which the three-dimensional surface of earth is represented in a two dimensional plane. The process of
ction results in distortion of one or more map properties such as shape, size, area or direction.

gle projection system can never account for the correct representation of all map properties for all the regions of the world. Therefore, hundreds of
ction systems have been defined for accurate representation of a particular map element for a particular region of the world.

ssification of Map Projections

projections are classified on the following criteria:

Method of construction
Development surface used
Projection properties
Position of light source

hod of Construction
erm map projection implies projecting the graticule of the earth onto a flat surface with the help of shadow cast. However, not all of the map projections
oped in this manner. Some projections are developed using mathematical calculations only. Given below are the projections that are based on the meth
nstruction:

pective Projections : These projections are made with the help of shadow cast from an illuminated globe on to a developable surface

Perspective Projections :These projections do not use shadow cast from an illuminated globe on to a developable surface. A developable surface is on
med to be covering the globe and the construction of projections is done using mathematical calculations.

elopment Surface
ction transforms the coordinates of earth on to a surface that can be flattened to a plane without distortion (shearing or stretching). Such a surface is ca
elopable surface. The three basic projections are based on the types of developable surface and are introduced below:

lindrical Projection

It can be visualized as a cylinder wrapped around the globe.

Once the graticule is projected onto the cylinder, the cylinder is opened to get a grid like pattern of latitudes and longitudes.

The longitudes (meridians) and latitudes (parallels) appear as straight lines

Length of equator on the cylinder is equal to the length of the equator therefore is suitable for showing equatorial regions.

cts of cylindrical projection:

 (a) (b) (c)

ormal: when cylinder has line of tangency to the equator. It includes Equirectangular Projection, the Mercator projection, Lambert's Cylindrical Equal Are
Stereographic Cylindrical, and Miller cylindrical projection.

ransverse: when cylinder has line of tangency to the meridian. It includes the Cassini Projection, Transverse Mercator, Transverse cylindrical Equal Area
ction, and Modified Transverse Mercator.

blique: when cylinder has line of tangency to another point on the globe. It only consists of the Oblique Mercator projection.

nic Projection

It can be visualized as a cone placed on the globe, tangent to it at some parallel.

After projecting the graticule on to the cone, the cone is cut along one of the meridian and unfolded. Parallels appear as arcs with a pole and meridia
as straight lines that converge to the same point.

It can represent only one hemisphere, at a time, northern or southern.

Suitable for representing middle latitudes.

cts of conic projection:

angent: when the cone is tangent to only one of the parallel.

ecant: when the cone is not big enough to cover the curvature of earth, it intersects the earth twice at two parallels.

imuthal/Zenithal Projection

It can be visualized as a flat sheet of paper tangent to any point on the globe

The sheet will have the tangent point as the centre of the circular map, where meridians passing through the centre are straight line and the paralle
are seen as concentric circle.

Suitable for showing polar areas

cts of zenithal projection:

quatorial zenithal: When the plane is tangent to a point on the equator.

blique zenithal: when the plane is tangent to a point between a pole and the equator.

olar zenithal: when the plane is tangent to one of the poles.

ection Properties

ding to properties map projections can be classified as:

l area projection: Also known as homolographic projections. The areas of different parts of earth are correctly represented by such projections.

shape projection: Also known as orthomorphic projections. The shapes of different parts of earth are correctly represented on these projections.
scale or equidistant projections: Projections that maintain correct scale are called true scale projections. However, no projection can maintain the
ct scale throughout. Correct scale can only be maintained along some parallel or meridian.

tion of light source

ng light source illuminating the globe at different positions results in the development of different projections. These projections are:

monic projection: when the source of light is placed at the centre of the globe

eographic Projection: when the source of light is placed at the periphery of the globe, diametrically opposite to the point at which developable surface
es the globe

ographic Projection: when the source of light is placed at infinity from the globe opposite to the point at which developable surface touches the globe
 Figure 8: Projections and position of light source
(Imagesource:http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/~jochen/GTECH201/Lectures/Lec6concepts/Map%20coordinate%20systems/Perspective.htm)

structing Map Projections

pted from Singh, G 2004, Map work and practical geography )
ndrical Projection
s draw a network of Simple cylindrical Projection for the whole globe on the scale of 1: 400,000,000 spacing meridians and parallels at 30 interval

culations:
 Figure 9 : Simple cylindrical projection graticule

s of constrution:

Draw a line AB, 9.975 cm long to represent the equator. The equator is a circle on the globe and is subtended by 360.

Since the meridians are to be drawn at an interval of 30 divide AB into 360/30 or 12 equal parts.

The length of a meridian is equal to half the length of the equator i.e. 9.975/2 or 4.987 cm.

To draw meridians, erect perpendiculars on the points of divisions of AB. Take these perpendiculars equal to the length specified for a meridian and
keep half of their length on either side of the equator.

A meridian on a globe is subtended by 180. Since the parallels are to be drawn at an interval of 30, divide the central meridian into 180/30 i.e. 6
parts.

Through these points of divisions draw lines parallel to the equator. These lines will be parallels of latitude. Mark the equator and the central meridia
with 0 and the parallels and other meridians. EFGH is the required graticule.

cal Projection

s draw a graticule on simple conical projection with one standard parallel on the scale of 1: 180,000,000 for the area extending from the equator to 90
de and from 60 W longitude to 100 E longitude with parallels spaced at 15 interval, meridians at 20, and standard parallel 45 N.

lations:
s of construction:
1. Draw a circle with a radius of 3.527 cm that represents the globe. Let NS be the polar diameter and WE be the equatorial diameter which intersect e
other at right angles at O.
2. To draw the standard parallel 45 N, draw OP making an angle of 45 with OE.
3. Draw QP tangent to OP and extend ON to meet PQ at point Q.
4. Draw OA making an angle equal to the parallel interval i.e. 15 with OE.

line LM, it represents the central meridian

L as the centre and QP as the radius, draw an arc intersecting LM at n. This arc describes the standard parallel 45 N.

istance between the successive parallels is 15. The length of the arc subtended by 15 is calculated as under:

point n, mark off distances nr, rs, st, nu, uv and vM , each distance being equal to 0.923 cm. With L as centre, draw arcs passing through the points t,
and M. These arcs represent the parallels.

5. Draw OB making an angle of 20 with OW Length of the arc subtended by 20 is calculated as under:

1. With O as centre and radius equal to the arc WB (1.231 cm) draw arc abc.
2. From point b, drop perpendicular bd on line ON. Now db is the distance between the meridians.

ng in view the number of meridians to be drawn, mark off distances along the standard parallel toward the east and west of the point n, each distance
equal to db.

point L with the points of divisions marked on the standard parallel and produce them to meet the equator.

Figure 10 : Simple conic projection

muthal Projection

s draw Polar zenithal equal area projection for the northern hemisphere on the scale of 1: 200,000,000 spacing parallels at 15 interval and meridians a
nterval.

lations:
s of construction:

Draw a circle with radius equal to 3.175 cm representing a globe. Let NS and WE be the polar and equatorial diameter respectively which intersect e
other at right angles at O, the centre of the circle.
Draw radii Oa, Ob, Oc, Od, and Oe making angles of 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 respectively with OE. Join Ne, Nd, Nc, Nb, Na and NE by straight lin
With radius equal to Ne, and N as centre draw a circle. This circle represents 75 parallel. Similarly with centre N and radii equal to Nd, Nc, Nb, Na
NE draw circles to represent the parallels of 60, 45, 30, 15 and 0 respectively.
Draw straight lines AB and CD intersecting each other at the centre i.e. point N.
Radius NB represents 0 meridian, NA 180 meridian, ND 90 E meridian and NC 90 W meridian.
Using protractor, draw other radii at 30 interval to represent other meridians

Figure 11 : Polar zenithal equal area projection

ection of Map Projection
sing a correct map projection for an area depends on the following:

Purpose

dering the purpose of the map is important while choosing the map projection. If a map has a specific purpose, one may need to preserve a certain
erty such as shape, area or direction

e basis of the property preserved, maps can be categorized as following

aps that preserve shapes.

for showing local directions and representing the shapes of the features. Such maps include:
Topographic and cadastral maps.
Navigation charts (for plotting course bearings and wind direction).
Civil engineering maps and military maps.
Weather maps (for showing the local direction in which weather systems are moving).

aps that preserve area

ize of any area on the map is in true proportion to its size on the earth. Such projections can be used to show
Density of an attribute e.g. population density with dots
Spatial extent of a categorical attribute e.g. land use maps
Quantitative attributes by area e.g. Gross Domestic Product by country
World political maps to correct popular misconceptions about the relative sizes of countries.

aps that preserve scale

rves true scale from a single point to all other points on the map. The maps that use this property include:
Maps of airline distances from a single city to several other cities
Seismic maps showing distances from the epicenter of an earthquake
Maps used to calculate ranges; for example, the cruising ranges of airplanes or the habitats of animal species

aps that preserve direction

ny Azimuthal projection, all azimuths, or directions, are true from a single specified point to all other points on the map. On a conformal projection,
tions are locally true, but are distorted with distance.

eral purpose maps

e are many projections which show the world with a balanced distortion of shape and area. Few of these are Winkel Tripel, Robinson and Miller
drical.For larger-scale maps, from continents to large countries, equidistant projections are good at balancing shape and area distortion. Depending on t
of interest, one might use Azimuthal Equidistant,Equidistant Conic and Plate Carre.

y area

graphical location

ne of zero distortion for a cylindrical projection is equator. For conical projections it is parallels and for Azimuthal it is one of the poles. If the study area
pics use cylindrical projection, for middle latitudes use conical and for Polar Regions use Azimuthal projections.

e of the area

g in 1920 described a way of selecting the map projection which is known as Youngs rule. According to this rule, if the ratio of maximum extent (z)
sured from the centre of the country to its most distant boundary) and the width () of the country comes out to be less than 1.41, Azimuthal projection
rable. If the ratio is greater than 1.41 a conical or cylindrical projection should be used.
< 1.41 Azimuthal Projection
>1.41 Conical or Cylindrical projections

jection Systems

n below is the description of the projection systems that are mostly used:

ndrical Projection

uirectangular projection
s a Projection on to a cylinder which is tangent to the equator. It is believed to be invented by Marinus of Tyre, about A.D. 100.

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Equirectangular_projection_SW.jpg )

1. Poles are straight lines equal in length to the equator

2. Meridians are straight parallel lines, equally spaced and are half as long as the equator. All meridians are of same length therefore scale is true along
meridians.
3. Parallels are straight, equally spaced lines which are perpendicular to the meridians and are equal to the length of the equator.
4. Length of the equator on the map is the same as that on the globe but the length of other parallels on map is more than the length of corresponding
parallels on the globe. So the scale is true only along the Equator and not along other parallels.
5. Distance between the parallels and meridians remain same throughout the map.
6. Since the projection is neither equal area nor orthomorphic, maps on this projection are used for general purposes only.

ambert's cylindrical equal-area projection

devised by JH Lambert in 1772. It is a normal perspective projection onto a cylinder tangent at the equator

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lambert_cylindrical_equal-area_projection_SW.jpg )

1. Parallels and meridians are straight lines

2. The meridians intersect parallels at right angles
3. The distance between parallels decrease toward the poles but meridians are equally spaced
4. The length of the equator on this projection is same as that on globe but other parallels are longer than corresponding parallels on globe. So, the sca
 is true along the equator but is exaggerated along other parallels
5. Shape and scale distortions increase near points 90 degrees from the central line resulting in vertical exaggeration of Equatorial regions with
compression of regions in middle latitudes
6. Despite the shape distortion in some portions of a world map, this projection is well suited for equal-area mapping of regions which are predominant
north-south in extent, which have an oblique central line, or which lie near the Equator.

Gall's stereographic cylindrical projection

nted by James Gall in 1855, this projection is a cylindrical projection with two standard parallels at 45N and 45S.

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection_SW.jpg )

Poles are straight lines.

Meridians are straight lines and are equally spaced.

Parallels are straight lines but the distance between them increases away from the equator.

Shapes are true at the standard parallels. Distortion increases on moving away from these latitudes and is highest at the poles.

Scale is true in all directions along 45N and 45S.

Used for world maps in British atlases.

Mercator projection

dus Mercator in 1569 invented this projection.

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercator_projection_SW.jpg )

Parallels and meridians are straight lines

Meridians intersect parallels at right angle

Distance between the meridians remains the same but distance between the parallels increases towards the pole

The length of equator on the projection is equal to the length of the equator on the globe whereas other parallels are drawn longer than what they a
 on the globe, therefore the scale along the equator is correct but is incorrect for other parallels

As scale varies from parallel to parallel and is exaggerated towards the pole, the shapes of large sized countries are distorted more towards pole and
less towards equator. However, shapes of small countries are preserved

The image of the poles are at infinity

Commonly used for navigational purposes, ocean currents and wind direction are shown on this projection

ansverse Mercator

projection results from projecting the sphere onto a cylinder tangent to a central meridian.

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transverse_Mercator_projection )

Only centre meridian and equator are projected as straight lines. The other parallels and meridians are projected as curves.

The meridians and the parallels intersect at right angles

Small shapes are maintained but larger shapes distort away from the central meridian.

The area distortion increases with distance from the central meridian

Used to portray areas with larger north-south extent. British National Grid is based on this projection only.

udo-cylindrical Projections
udo cylindrical projection is that projection in which latitudes are parallel straight lines but meridians are curved.

ollweide Projection
 (Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=69#Mollweide )

The poles are points and the central meridian is a straight line

The meridians 90 away from central meridians are circular arcs and all other meridians are elliptical arcs.

The parallels are straight but unequally spaced.

Scale is true along 40 44' North and 40 44' South.

Equal area projection

Used for preparing world maps

inusoidal Projection

(Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=110#sinusoidal )

The central meridian is a straight line and all other meridians are equally spaced sinusoidal curves.

The parallels are straight lines that intersect centre meridian at right angles.

Shape and angles are correct along the central meridian and equator

The distortion of shape and angles increases away from the central meridian and is high near the edges

Equal area projection

Used for world maps illustrating area characteristics. Used for continental maps of South America, Africa, and occasionally other land masses, where
each has its own central meridian.

Eckert VI
 (Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=54#Eckert%20VI )

Parallels are unequally spaced straight lines.

Meridians are equally spaced sinusoidal curves.

The poles and the central meridians are straight lines and half as long as equator.

It stretches shapes and scale by 29% in the north-south direction, along the equator. This stretching reduces to zero at 49 16' N and 49 16' S.

The areas near the poles are compressed in north-south direction.

Suitable for thematic mapping of the world.

cal Projection

nnes Projection

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bonne_projection_SW.jpg )

Pole is represented as a point and parallels as concentric arcs of circles

Scale along all the parallels is correct

 Central meridian is a straight line along which the scale is correct.

Other meridians are curved and longer than corresponding meridians on the globe. Scale along meridians increases away from the central meridian

Central meridian intersects all parallels at right angle. Other meridians intersect standard parallel at right angle but other parallels obliquely. Shape i
only preserved along central meridian and standard parallel

The distance and scale between two parallels are correct. Area between projected parallels is equal to the area between the same parallels on the gl
Therefore, is an equal area projection

Maps of European countries are shown in this projection. It is also used for preparing topographical sheets of small countries of middle latitudes.

olyonic Projection

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polyconic_projection_SW.jpg )

The parallels are arcs of circles with different centers

Each parallel is a standard parallel i.e. each parallel is developed from a different cone

Equator is represented as a straight line and the pole as a point

Parallels are equally spaced along central meridian but the distance between them increases away from the central meridian.

Scale is correct along every parallel.

Central meridian intersects all parallels at right angle so the scale along it, is correct. Other meridians are curved and longer than corresponding
meridians on the globe and so scale along meridians increases away from the central meridian.

It is used for preparing topographical sheets of small areas.

muthal/Zenithal Projection

lar Zenithal Equal area projection

projection is invented by J.H Lambert in the year 1772. It is also known as Lamberts Equal Area Projection.
 (Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=167#zenithal%20equal-area )

The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the parallels are concentric circles.

The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having correct angular distance between them.

The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.

The scale along the parallels increases away from the centre of the projection.

The decrease in the scale along meridians is in the same proportion in which there is an increase in the scale along the parallels away from the centr
the projection. Thus the projection is an equal area projection.

Shapes are distorted away from the centre of the projection. Scale along the meridians is small and along the parallels is large so the shapes are
compressed along the meridians but stretched along the parallels.

Used for preparing political and distribution maps of polar regions. It can also be used for preparing general purpose maps of large areas in Northern
Hemisphere.

olar Zenithal Equidistant Projection

(Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=168#zenithal%20equidistant )

 The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the parallels are concentric circles.

The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having correct angular distance between them.

The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.

The spacing between the parallels represent true distances, therefore the scale along the meridians is correct.

The scale along the parallels increases away from the centre of the projection.

The exaggeration and distortion of shapes increases away from the centre of the projection.

The projection is neither equal area nor orthomorphic.

It is used for preparing maps of polar areas for general purposes.

Gnomonic Projection
also known as great-circle sailing chart.

(Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=156#gnomonic )

The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the parallels are concentric circles.

The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having correct angular distance between them.

The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.

The parallels are unequally spaced. The distances between the parallels increase rapidly toward the margin of the projection. This causes exaggerati
of the scale along the meridians.

The scale along the parallels increases away from the centre of the projection.

The exaggeration and distortion of shapes increases away from the centre of the projection. The exaggeration in the meridian scale is greater than t
in any other zenithal projection.

It is neither equal area nor orthomorphic.

An arc on the globe which is a part of a great circle is represented as a straight line on this projection. This is because the radii from the centre of th
globe are produced to meet the plane placed tangentially at the pole.

It is used to show great-circle paths as straight lines and thus to assist navigators and aviators in determining appropriate courses.

ereographic Projection
 (Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=162#stereographic )

The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the parallels are concentric circles.

The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having correct angular distance between them.

The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.

The parallels are unequally spaced. The distances between the parallels increase toward the margin of the projection. The exaggeration in the merid
scale is less than that in the case of Gnomonic projection.

The scale along the parallels also increases away from the meridian and in the same proportion in which it increases along the meridians. At any poi
scale along the parallel is equal to the scale along the meridian.

The areas are exaggerated on this projection and the exaggeration increases away from the centre of the projection.

A circle drawn on the globe is represented by a circle on this projection.

It is used to show world in hemispheres. Also used for preparing aeronautical charts and daily weather maps of the polar areas.

thographic Projection

(Image source: http://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList.php?Projection=159#orthographic )

The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the parallels are concentric circles.
 The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having correct angular distance between them.

The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.

The parallels are not equally spaced. The distances between them decrease rapidly towards the margin of the projection. So, the scale along the
meridians decreases away from the centre of the projection.

The scale along the parallel is correct.

The distortion of the shapes increases away from the centre of the projection.

It is neither equal area nor orthomorphic.

The projection is used to prepare charts for showing the celestial bodies such as moon and other planets.

ersal Transverse Mercator (UTM)

projection divides the surface of the Earth into a number of zones, each zone having a 6 degree longitudinal extent, Transverse Mercator projection with
al meridian in the center of the zone. UTM zones extend from 80 degrees South latitude to 84 degrees North latitude. The zones are numbered from wes
The first zone begins at the International Date Line (180).

(Image source: http://www.resurgentsoftware.com/GeoMag/utm_coordinates.htm )

articular transverse Mercator map that is used to represent each zone has its central meridian running north-to-south down the center of the zone. This
s that no portion of any particular zone is very far from the central meridian of the transverse Mercator map that is used to depict the zone. Since a
rsal Transverse Mercator zone is 6 of longitude wide, no portion of a UTM zone is more than 3 of longitude from the zone's central meridian. Since the
rtion in a transverse Mercator map is relatively low near the map's central meridian, the result of this close proximity to the map's central meridian is tha
ansverse Mercator map used to depict each zone within the coordinate system contains relatively little distortion.

ted from the report Map Projections of Europe (2001), the table gives an account of the commonly used projection systems.

Property Developable Aspect Projections Extent of use

surface
Normal Mercator Equatorial regions (east-west extent)
Transverse UTM (Universal Whole world except polar areas
Transverse Mercator)
Oblique Rosenmund Oblique Small regions, oblique & east - west
Mercator extent

Cylinder
Cone Normal Lambert Conformal Small regions, oblique & east - west
Conic extent (1 or 2 standard parallels)
Plane Any Stereographic Small regions upto the hemisphere
Polar UPS (Universal Polar Polar regions
 Stereographic)

Conformal

(True shape)
Cylinder Normal Lambert Equal Area Equatorial areas (east-west extent)
Cone Normal Albers Equal Area Smaller regions & continents with east-
west extent
Any Lambert Azimuthal Smaller regions about same north-
Equal Area south , east-west extent
Plane Equatorial Hammer-Aitoff World
Homolographic

(Equal area)
Cylinder Normal Plate Caree World
Transverse Cassini Soldner Locally used for large scale mapping
Cone Normal Equidistant Conic Smaller regions & continents with (1
or 2 standard parallels) east-west extent
Plane Any Azimuthal Equidistant Smaller regions about same north-
south , east-west extent

Equidistant

nsformation
ocess of transformation, maps every point from one coordinate space to another. Using transforms, one can rotate, translate and scale content freely in
mensional space.

ion

tion is a transformation that is performed by spinning the object around a fixed point known as the center of rotation. It can be performed clockwise as
nterclockwise. The angle by which the object is turned is called the angle of rotation.
 Figure 12 :Rotation (a) Clockwise (b) Counterclockwise

lation

he process of moving each point of an object by the same distance in the same direction. It involves shifting the origin of the current coordinate system
ntally and vertically by a specific amount.

Figure 13: Illustrating translation of (2, 1).

ng
g changes the size of the grid. It lets the stretching and shrinking of the grid along the x and y axes independently.

Figure 14: Scaling

(Image Source: http://commons.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Image:SVG_Essentials_I_5_tt74.png )

s not change the origin of the grid but makes the grid multiplied by a given value. The figure above shows scaling transformation, which doubles the sca
xes. The square maintains its origin at (10, 10) even after scaling. Because the scale is made twice, therefore origin i.e. (10, 10) of the new grid lies at
the original grid.

ging Map Projections

nsform data from one coordinate system to another, forward and inverse equations are used. The inverse equation of the source projection transforms t
nates of source projection into geographic coordinates. Then, the forward equation of the target projection is used to transform the geographic coordina
e target projection coordinates.

sian coordinate Transformation

imensional Cartesian coordinates (x, y) can be transformed from one coordinate system to another coordinate system using three primary transformatio
ds which are:

rmal Transformation : It is a linear transformation which changes one coordinate system into another by the process of rotation, uniform scale chang
ed by translation

e Transformation : It is a linear transformation which changes one coordinate system into another by the process of rotation , scale change in x and y
on, followed by translation.

fference between the conformal and affine transformations could be understood by the figure given below.
 Figure 15 : Transformation (a) Conformal (b) Affine
(Image Source: http://kartoweb.itc.nl/geometrics/Coordinate%20transformations/coordtrans.html )

hape of the original rectangular grid is maintained due to the uniform scale change in the case of conformal transformation whereas in affine transformat
ape of the rectangular grid is changed due to the difference in scale in x and y direction.

omial Transformation : It is a non-linear transformation which relates two 2D Cartesian coordinate systems through a translation, a rotation and a variab
change

m transformation
m transformation is a transformation of a three dimensional coordinate system into another three dimensional coordinate system. It is done when the sou
tion is based on a different datum than the target projection. The transformation parameters are estimated on the basis of a set of selected points whos
nates are known in both datum systems.

matically a datum transformation can be realized directly by relating the geographic coordinates of both datum systems or indirectly by relating the
ntric coordinates of the datums.

m transformation via geographic coordinates

Geographic Offset
Molodensky and Abridged Molodensky transformation
Multiple regression transformation

m transformation via geocentric coordinates

Geocentric translation
Helmert 7-parameter transformations
Molodensky-Badekas 10-parameter transformation
oreferencing
process of locating an entity in real world coordinates. It aligns geographic data to a known coordinate system representing earth defined through
ction systems so it can be viewed, queried, and analyzed with other geographic data.

oreference a geographic data, the positions of known points, called control points, are determined. The Ground Control Points (GCPs) are defined as the
s with known geographical location, whose positions on map correspond to their positions on earth. GCPs are collected from fixed objects and are marke
ata to be georeferenced that define where the data is on earth. The whole data adjusts itself according to these GCPs. At least three control points are
ed for georeferencing a data. Additional control points help increasing the accuracy. Once the data is georeferenced, each point has a coordinate
iated to it which means the location of any object in the data (map) can now be determined

Figure 16 : Georeferencing an image

In brief, the process of georeferencing establishes control points; inputs the known geographic coordinates of these control points,
chooses the coordinate system and other projection parameters and then minimizes residuals. Residuals are the difference between the
actual coordinates of the control points and the coordinates predicted by the geographic model created using the control points. The
residuals help in determining the level of accuracy of the process. The quality of the rectification depends on the number, accuracy, and
distribution of the control points and the choice of transformation model.

Georeferencing Raster Data

The raster data occupy a raster space which is defined as a digital image of the arrangement of the pixels in a grid. The computer reads
the header of the data file and determines the dimension of the raster space. The position of a cell in the raster space is referenced by
row and column (row, column). This system of referencing the raster cells is called raster coordinate system. The origin for this system
lies at the upper left corner of the monitor because the computer monitor displays an image from left to right and from top to bottom.
The method of referencing positions in raster space is different from that on maps. The origin of the map coordinate system is the lower
left corner. To visualize raster data spatially raster data needs to be transformed into a map coordinate system i.e. the raster
coordinates (row, column) are transformed into corresponding ground coordinates (East, West).

There are two approaches to georeferencing:

1. Image to Map rectification

2. Image to Image registration

Image to Map: rectification is the process by which geometry of an image is made planimetric. It involves the measurement of the
image coordinates of the reference cells (GCPs) and the corresponding ground coordinates to relate the image with the real world. The
two sets of coordinates are used to solve a set of polynomial equations whose order depends upon the amount of geometric distortion in
the raster image. Generally affine transformation is used for the purpose:
 Where X and Y are the ground coordinates, and, x and y are the image coordinates.

A minimum of three GCPs are required to solve these equations, though greater the GCPs more accurate is the rectification. On solving
the equations we get the values of the six (a, b, c, d, e and f) coefficients. Any image coordinate can then be substituted in the
equations to get the corresponding ground position on the used map coordinate system. The positions of the original grid cells will have
to be interpolated in the mapping coordinate system.
After the coordinate transformation the raster cells may have been oriented differently than the way they were originally in the raster
coordinate system. The attribute value is to be interpolated for the cells oriented to the new coordinate system. This is called
resampling. There are three common methods of resampling:

Nearest neighbor: In this method, the attribute value of the original cell nearest to a cell in the output raster layer is assigned to the
corresponding cell.
a. Bilinear interpolation: It assigns the value to a cell in the output raster layer by taking weighted average of the surrounding four cells in
the original grid nearest to it.
b. Cubic convolution: It assigns the value to a cell in the output raster layer by taking weighted average of the surrounding sixteen cells in
the original grid nearest to it.

Among these three the nearest neighbor is preferred because it doesnt change the values of the original grid cells assigned to the
reoriented grid cells but it produces blocky images. The cubic convolution on the other side does change the values but it generates
smoother images.

The result of an image to map rectification is a geometrically correct grid of raster cells.

Image to Image registration is a method of georeferencing a raster layer with the help of another raster, which is already
georeferenced by the process of image to map rectification. The already georeferenced raster is used as a reference for the raster which
is to be rectified. Control points are selected from the two raster layers, the coordinate transformation and resampling is then done in
the similar manner as it is done for image to map rectification. Image to Image registration is used to spatially match several raster
layers to a single reference raster layer.