OXFORD

Geographic
Information Systems
Applications in Natural Resource Management

1
 Second Edition

Geographic
Information Systems
Applications in Natural Resource Management

Michael G. Wing
Pete Bettinger

OXFORD
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Wing. Mid13d
M ichael G
Gcogr.tphic
Geographic information synems:
SYSWllS : applications in forestry and n:1IlIral
nafUr.l.1
Michael
resources management J/ M ichael G.
G. W
Wing
ing & Pete I3cltinger.
Pele Benin ger.- -lnd c:d..
2nd cd

Previous t'd<. by Pete Beninger and i\'li

Pr('ViollS: cds. Mi chad
chael C. Wing.
G. Wing.
19-5426 10-6
ISBN 978-0- 19-542610-6

1. for~try- Remme
I. Forests and forestry- Remote sensing.
)cllSing. 2. ;uur.aJ r('~urccs-Rcmou:
alura.! resources-Re mme
sensing. systems. I. Beltinger.
J . Geographic information systellls.
sensin g. 3. rete. 1962- II. Title.
Ben inger. Pete. Title:..

SD387. R4W562008 634.9 '028

634.9·028 C2008-902309-9
Cove r image: Philip & Karen
KJreu Smith/Geny
milh fGercy Images.
345-
345 - 121110
12 11 10
Thi s book is pri med on permanent
This permant'nt (acid·free)
(ac.id, rree) paper
p:tpt:r e.
c::. .

Primed
Print cd in C
Canada
an ada
3
 Contents

List of Tables XIV

Preface xv

Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems.

Spatial Databases. and Map Design I

Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 2

Objectives 2
What is a Geographic Infonnation System? 3
A Brief History of GIS 4
Why Use GIS in Natural Resource Management Organizations? 7
GIS Technology 8
Data collection processes and inpuc devices 8
Manual map digirizing 10
Scanning 10
Remme sensing II
Phologrammerry 13
Field data collection 1G
Dara s[Qrage rechnology 19
D.ta ma nip ulation and display 19
O utput Devices 20
Prinrers and ploners 20
Screen displays 21
Grap hic images 22
Tabular outpur 22
G IS software programs 22
Summary 24
Applications 24
References 25
4
vi Contents

Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale 27

Objectives 27
The Shope and Size of the Earth 27
Ellipsoids, Geoids, and Datums 28
The Geographical Coordinate System 30
Map Projections 32
Common Types of Map Projections 33
Planar Coordinate Systems 34
GIS Database Structures 38
Raster data srruc[Ure 38
Sa«llite imagery 38
Digital elev'Hio n models 39
Digital orthophotographs 39
Digital raster graphics 40
ar io nal Map Accuracy Standards 43
Vector data st ru cture 44
Topology 45
Comparing raster and vector data structures 47
Alternative data S(fuc£ures 48
Triangular Irregular Nerwork 48
D ynam ic segmentat ion ofli near nerworks 49
Regions 50

Metadata 50
Obtaining Spatial Data 50
Scale and Resolution of Spatial Databases 51
Summary 51
Applications 52
References 53

Chapter 3 Acquiring, Creating, and Editing GIS Databases 54

Objectives 54
Acquiring GIS Databases 55
Creating GIS Databases 57
Editing GIS Databases 59
Editing anribuccs 60
Editing spatial position 61

5
 Contents vii

Checking for missing da,a 62

Checking for inconsistent data 62

Sources of Error in GIS Databases 63

Types of Error in GIS Databases 64
Summary 67
Applications 67
References 70

Chapter 4 Map Design 71

Objectives 71
Map Components 72
Symbology 72
Direction 73
Scale 74
Legend 74
Locational inset 75
N eadine 76
Annotation 76
Typography 76
Color and contrast 77
AnciHary information 78
Caveats and disclaimers 79

Map Types 80
Reference maps 80
Thematic maps 81
O,her types of maps 84
The DeSign Loop 85
Common Map Problems 85
Summary 86
Applications 87
References 88

Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management 89

Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 90

Objectives 90
6
viii Contents

Selecting Landscape Features from a GIS Database 91

Selecting one feature manually 91
Selecting many features manually 91
Selecting all of the features in a GIS database 92
Select ing none of the features in a GIS database 92
Selecting features based on some database cr iteria 92
Single critcrion queries 94
Multiple criteria queries 94
Selecting features from a previously selected set of features 95
Inverting a selection 97
Example 1: Find the landscape features in one GIS database by using
single and mulriple criteria queries and by selecting features from a
previously selected set of features 98
Selecting features within some proximity of other features 99
Example I: Find rhe landscape featu res in one G IS database (har are
inside la ndscape features (polygons) contai ned in anmher G IS database 99
Example 2: Find rhe landsca pe fea [tlres in o ne GIS database that are
cl ose to the landscape features conta ined within anothe r GIS database 100
Exam ple 3: Find landscape featu res from one G IS darabase that are
adjace nt ro other landscape featu res in the sa me G IS database 101
Advanced query applications 102
Syntax errors 102

Summary 102
Applications 103
References 105

Chapter 6 Obtaining Infonnation about a Specific Geographic Region 106

Objectives 106
The Process of Clipping Landscape Features 107
Obtaining information about vegetation reso urces within riparian zones 109
Obtaining informati on about soil resources within an ownership 110
Obtaining information about roads within a forest III
Obtaining information about streams within a forest I 13

The Process of Erasing Landscape Features I 14

Obtaining information about vegetation resources o utside of riparian zones 115

Summary 116
Applications I 16
References 118

7
 Contents ix

Chapter 7 Buffering Landscape Features 119

Objectives 119
How a Buffer Process Works 120
Buffering Streams and Creating Riparian Areas 122
Fixed-width buffers 123
Variable-width buffers 123
Buffering Owl Nest Locations 124
Buffering the Inside of Landscape Features 125
Buffering Concentric Rings around Landscape Features 125
Buffering Shorelines 126
Other Reasons for Using Buffering Processes 127
Summary 128
Applications 128
References 130

Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting Landscape Features,

and Merging GIS Databases 132

Objectives 132
Combining Landscape Features 132
Contiguous, similar landscape features 135
Multiple spatial rep resentations within a single landscape feature o r record 136
Overlapping polygo ns 137
Splitting Landscape Features 138
Merging GIS Databases 140
Determinin g how much land area is unrestricted 140

Summary 142
Applications 142
References 143

Chapter 9 Associating Spatial and Non-spatial Databases 144

Objectives 144
Joining Non-spatial Databases with GIS Databases 145
One-to-one join processes 145
One-to-many joi ns 147

8
x Contents

Many-to-one (or many-to-many) joins 147

Example 1: Determining [he number of hardwood sa wm ills in a stare 148
Example 2: Determining sawmill em ploymenr in a counry 149

Joining Two Spatial GIS Databases ISO

Making Joined Data a Permanent Part of the Target (Destination) Table 153
Linking or Relating Tables 153
Summary 154
Applications ISS
References 156

Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 157

Objectives 157
The Need for Keeping GIS Databases Updated 158
Example 1: Updating a forest stand GIS database managed by a forest
management company 159
Exam ple 2: Updating a streams GIS database managed by a state agency 160
Updating an Existing GIS Database by Adding New Landscape Features 161
Updating a stands GIS database 161
Updating a trails GIS database 162
Updating an Existing GIS Database by Modifying Existing Landscape
Features and Attributes 166
Ed_iring the spatial position of landscape features using digitaJ
ortbophotographs 166
Updating the tabular 3rrribures using a join process 167

Summary 167
Applications 168
References 169

Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 170

Objectives 170
Intersect Processes 171
Identity Processes 174
Union Processes 175
Incorporating Point and Line GIS Databases into an Overlay Analysis 178
Applying Overlay Techniques to Point and Line Databases 179
Additional Overlay Considerations 180
9
 Contents xi
xl

Summary 181
Applications 182
References 183

Chapter 12 Synthesis of Techniques Applied to Advanced Topics 184

Objectives 184
Land Classification 185
Recreation Opportunity Spectrum 188
Habitat Suitability Model with a Road Edge Effect 191
Summary 193
Applications 194
References 19S
195

Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 197

Objectives 197
Digital Elevation
ElevaHon Models (DEMs) 197
Elevation Contours 198
Shaded Relief Maps 200
Slope Class Maps 20 I
Interaction with Vector GIS Databases
Interarnon 202
Viewshed Analysis 20S
205
Watershed Delineation 208
Summary 210
Applications 211
References 212

Chapter 14 Raster GIS Database Analysis II 213

Objectives 213
Raster Data Analysis 213
Raster Analysis Software Parameters 213
Functions
Distance Funrnons 214
Statistical Summary Search Functions
Funrnons 21S
215
Density Functions 216

10
xii Contents
Contents

Raster Reclassilication
Reclassification 217
Raster Map Algebra 218
Database Structure Conversions 218
Getting Started with the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst 219
Determining the Most Efficient Route to a Destination 220
Creating a Density Surface for the Number of Trees Per Acre 221
Summary 223
Applications 223
References 224

Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS 225

Chapter 15 Trends
Tre nds in GIS Technology 226

Objectives 226
Integrated Raster/Vector
RasterNector Software 226
Linkage of GI
GISS Databases with Auxiliary Digital Data 227
High Resolution GIS Databases 228
Distribution of GIS Capabilities to Field Offices 229
Web-based Geograpruc
Geographic Information Systems 230
Data Retrieval via the Internet 230
Portable Devices to Capture, Display, and Update GIS Data 231
Standards for the Exchange of GIS Databases 231
Legal Issues Related to GIS 232
GIS Interoperability and Open Internet Access 234
GIS Education 234
Summary 235
Applications 235
Re ferences
References 235

Chapter 16 Institutional C
Challenges
halle nges and Opportunitie
Opportunitiess Related to GIS 237

Objectives 237
Sharing GIS Databases with Other Natural Resource Organizations 237
Sharing GIS Databases within a Natural Resource Organization 239
11
 Contents xiii

Distribution of GIS Capabilities to Field Offices 240

Technical and Institutional Challenges 241
Benefits of Implementing a GIS Program 243
Successful GIS Implementation 243
Summary 243
Applications 244
References 244

Chapter 17 Certification and Licensing of GIS Users 245

Objectives 245
Current Certification Programs 246
The NCEES Model Law 247
The Need for GIS Certification and Licensing 248
GIS Community Response to Certification and Licensing 249
MAPPS Lawsuit 249
Summary 251
Applications 251
References 251

Appendix A GIS Related Terminology 253

Appendix B GIS Related Professional Organizations and Journals 260

Appendix C GIS Software Developers 263

Index 264

12
List of Tables

1.1 Com mo n sizes of map Outpur

Common fro m plQners
OUtP'" from plouers 2
211
1.2 Common rypes of
o f graph ics image Out
graphics OUtpUt
put files
fi les 22
2.11
2. Map
M ap scales and associa ted
associated ational
ar ia na! Map Accu racy Standards fo r ho
Accuracy horizontal accuracy
ri zonta l accu racy 44
2.2 Comparison of raste
rasterr and vecto
vectorr dara srru c(Ures
doH3 Stru Ctures 47
3.
3.1J TypiC'JJ
Typ ical informarion
info rmat io n associa ted with
assoc iated w ith a GIS
GIS d;nabase
data base request
reques t 55
3.2 Auribures of sl.lI1ds
Attributes stands in rhe Dani
Daniel
el Pickerr
l'ickeoo sra nds GIS
Stands GIS darabase
database 61
3.3 Exa mple Roo
Example Roorr Mea
Meann Square
quare Erro r (RMSE) fo r Grs
calculario n for
(R.'v1SE) ealculaoion coo rd inares
GI'S coordinates 66
5.1 A rimber
lim ber .srand
t.lnd darabase
da tabase 93
6.
6.11 A subse
subS«r of the
rhe tabu
ra bular da,.
lar da co ntained in the
ta contained th e GIS rh ar resulted
.IS database that resulred from cl ip ping
clipping
Brownn T ract
Brow racr stands within
wit hin 50-meIer
50-merer stream
st ream buffers 110
6.2 Length
Lengrh and rype of
o f road within
wi thi n the
rhe roads GIS database
darabase developed
develo ped fo r the
rhe Brown Traer
Tract 11
I 122
6.3 Le ngrh and rype of road wirhin
Length with in the
rhe boundary
bou ndary of ,he
Ihe Brow
Brownn T raer
racr I 12
6.4 Length and T
Lengrh ype of sore.ms
rype rhee Streams
srrea ms within th cb ra bas. used by rhe
SHea rn s GIS database Ihe Brown T
Traer
rac( 11 3
6.5 Lenglh and rype of strea
Length meams withi n the bo
ms within boundary the Brown
undary of rhe Brown T racr
(3Ct I 144
11
7.1
7 .1 Te n hypor
Ten her iicaall streams
hypmher soreams and th
rheir meam
eir st rea m class. length.
length , and width 12 1
7.2 T en hypor
Ten hypothetical meams and th
her ical streams their
eir stream class,
class. lengrh
length,. wi
widd,. buffer distance
dth, and buffer disrancc 122
7.3
7.3 riparia n managemem area policy
O regon riparian
Stale of Oregon
State 124
7 .4
7.4 Samp le stream reaches represenred
Sample represented in the Brown Trace
Trdc[ strcarns
strea ms GIS
GIS darabase.
data base, their
th eir
cha racreristics. and resulring
characreristics. buffer width 124
n:sulring buffer
8.
8. 1 Res ul ts of combi
Results or co mbi ning rwo sra
sta nds 136
9.1 A non-spa rial database
non-spatial ASCIIIItcxt
darabase in AS rexr file format
fo rmat i1lustr:oti
illustrari ng com ma-del imired ,bra
ma-delimited data 145
145
9.2 Spatial
Spadal joi n ooprions mge t and sou
prions by targer rce fea ture
source rure (y
ty pe 151
15 1
10.1 fo r updaring
A sam pling of reaso ns for upd at ing GIS data bases
GIS databases 158
10.2 Inp rim ca n be used to
Inp urs and process thar to ass
assist GI database update
ist a GIS 159
10.3 Attribu res of
Attributes o r sm
sra nds in a 32 .38 hecra
32.3 re (80 acre) land
hectare pur h. < adjace
la nd purchase adjacenr
nt to
10 [he
the Daniel Pickert
Pickett
foresr
foreSt 16 1
11.1
I 1.1 dist ributionn o
Frequency distriburio or
f land allocation categories in research plol locacions
resea rch plot within
locarions wi thin rhe
Brow
Brownn T tact
ract 179
11.2 Frequency disrri
distribution
burio n orla nd allocatio
o fland allocario n caregorit;S
ca tegories in
in retll
relario to stream
ionn ro srrea m segments within
segmenrs wi thi n the
tile:
Brown tact 180
Tract
Brown T
12.1
12. 1 An exam ple of a management-related
ex.m pIe managemenr-related land c1assiflcarion
classi fica ri on sysrem
sYStem 185
12.2 su bsel of rules wi
A subset th sp3rial
with spatia l considerations
co nsiderations for
fo r deline-J.ling recreationall opportunity
delineat in g recreationa
spec rrum (ROS) classes 189
spectrum
13. 1 OutpUt
O UtPUt of percent slope val
percell[ stope va luut::s
es foforr managemem
managemenr units 203
13
Preface

G~ogrtlphic Infonnatioll
T
r-r-his

or
his second edition of Gtogmphic
1. Mnnagtmt!1lt.
Management is intended
or campmer
Infonnatiol1 Sysums: Applications
SysuJns: AppL
inrended for inrroducrory courses in geographic information systems
computer applications Ihat add ress (opics
that address copies relared
related TO
Natural Rtsourct
icatiolls ill NOITlml

narural resource manage-mem.

[0 natural
Rtsourre

management. The
emphasis of the rhe book is on geogrdphical informacion systems (G
geographical information app lications in naru -~
(C IS) applications
fal resource
ral reso urce managemelli.
management. GIS GIS rools
lOols are now considered core tec hnologies for natural
corC' technologies
resource organiZ.1rions
organizations and have b«ome become parr pare of daY-fo-day activities in many pans of dlC
day-co-day acrivities rhe
world. In addirion.
addition , many narural
natural resou
reso urcerce programs in higher education require [hat sru- S[U-

comple[(~ at least
dents comple[e
dems leasl one course rha tha lt comai signific.1nt rre'llmem
contai ns significant rrearmenr of GIS. We provide
derailed discussions and examples of GIS opera
orGIS rions such as querying, buffering, clipping,
o perations cl ipping,
and overlay ana lysis (and ot
analysis 01 hers), as well as background information on the history of GIS, GIS.
database creation
creation,, ediring,
editing, acquisition. and map development. T he 3pplicarions
The applicarions provided
in this
rhis book can be exrended
extended (0 to any region in the rhe wo rld. altho
world, ugh the
although rhe prima ry emphasis
primary
is on Nonh
North America.
America, as 3S portrayed by numerous examples of narural natural resource management
scenarios.
scenariOS.
The conreOiS
contents of rhisthis book were determined largely (hrough through our experiences
ex periences in na[Ural
natural
resource management and research. research, as well as our ex(ensive
extensive instructional experience over
lhe
rhe previous decade. Many appiic.1lions
applications similar to the ones
ro (he oncs we presenr
present in this book have
been performed by natural resource resou rce professionals (as well as by the aurhors) authors) as parr of their
normal job (askstasks in private oorganizadons
rganizations and public ag('ncies.agencies.
goa l of this book is to introduce Sludent
The goal students,. field personnel.
personnel, biologists, aand orher
nd other
natural resource
n31l1ral resou rce professionals to [he mOSt
ro the most common GIS applica rions ti ons and principles asso-
3SS0-
ciared
ciated with managing naturaJ natural resources.
resou rces. Therefore.
Therefore, the book focuses mainly on GIS appli-
cal-ions r:uher Ihan
cations J'<uher than ono n GIS theory. We would be remiss, however, if we did not nor provide
some background on the history, history. technology, and theory that defines GIS. Consequen tl y, y.
the first pan of the book provides a brier b rief background on many of those areas as well as
map development;
development; it is nOl nor all-inclusive.
all- inclusive. however.
however, as we wish (0 focus the rhe [ext
text on
o n GIS
G IS
applications
applicarions in natural resource management.managemenL For a broader rreatmem rrearmem of GIS G IS conceprs.
concepts.
other resources are recommended.
recommended , including more general GIS ,IS books or User Gu Guides s~­
ides spe-
(0 CI
cific [0 software
GIS sofrwa re packages.
With that in mind.
Wirh mind, who comprises rhe audience of this book? Students. Student.s, field person-
nel, biologists. and other natural resourc('
nel. biologis[s. resource professionals (and their managers) who work in
narural resource-relared fidds. but where GIS
resou rce- rel ated fields. G IS is perhaps not nor (heir
their primary job responsibil·
responsibil-
icy. People
ity. Peo ple who already
al ready serve as GIS analystS.
ana lysts, coordinacors,
coordinators. or technicians wililikdy hnd
will likely find
many of the topics
rhe to presenred in this book co
pics presented to be familiar.
F..miliar. We try to focus on topics a
rry co nd
and
applic3t'ions
applications used commonly
common ly by field fidd professionals, dlOse rhar
professio nals, [hose rhal are essemiallO
essemial ro lhdr
their man
man-·
agemem
agement needs. There are aa variecy variety of resources {hat char delve deeper inro into various subjecl
subject
areas of GIS [harrhal will undoubledly
undoubtedly be of va lue ro to GIS analysrs.
analysts. coordi mllor . and techni-
coo rdinators.
cians. In ou ourr experienc('!\
expe ri ences these resources rarely rare ly eonsis[enriy
consistently focus on 011 naruml
narural resoure('
resource
14
xvi
xvi Preface

applicarions
app typicall [0 field pro
li ca ti o ns typica protessionals
fessionals associated with federal. tede ral, stare, p rovincial,
sta te. provi ncial. or pri-
vare
V(ltC' narural
natural resource organizations.
organizatio ns.
To illustrare
illustrate the applications
applicarions of otG. IS to natural
narural resource managemelH,
management. we have: have provided
tourr sets ot
fOll of GGISI databases. The flrsr first ser
set reterences rhe hypotherical
re fere nces the hypotimical D Daniel
aniel Picken
Pickett lo toresr,
rest.
one rharthar may be fa m iliar
fami li ar toro {"hose
those wh who )ulve taken cou
o have manage melH. as it
rses in foresr m3nagemenr,
co urses ir is
one
ont' of th thee landsca pes lIsed used to illustrare managemem alrern
iliustr.Hc management atives in the book Fort'st
alternatives Foust
Mfl1Jflgtmt11l (D
Mal/agflllcm (Davis et al..
avis e[ aI., 2001) . The second set references reterences a fictional fores, foresl called the
Brown T racr. The Brown Tract representS
Trace represe ms a more realistic landscape and includes a digi-
[al
,al oonhophorograph
nh opho togrn ph so that th ar users can acrually
acrllally see rhe resources being managed
so< the managed.. The thi rd
T he third
dara se
da(:l Setr represems
represents land uscs askarchewan. while rhe founh represe
uses in Saskarchewan, rep resentsnt s milliocarions
mill locations
and counties
cou m ies of the southern US.
rhe sourhern U . These databases were derived from aem acrual GIS
al G data, bur
IS data.
were modified significantly
signi fican tl y by the dl C' authors to m make them suitable use in th
suitab le fo r lise thiiss texr.
tocr. Each
E...1ch
of these sets of Gl
ot GIS data can be accessed through a websire websi(e has hosredred by rega n State
by Oregon [ate
University (hrrp:/ /www.fo resrry.o tegonstate.edu/gisbook).
Univers ity (lmp:llwww.forestry.o regollsrare.edu/gisbook).
Parr 1I provides readers not nor on ly with
wirh ,herhe hhistory
isrory and development of GIS. GIS, bur also with
a common
co mmon la nguage and pers pecrive on
perspecrive on C IS. Too ootten
GIS. ften people us usining g GIS have lirrle for- tor-
ma
mall training;
rraining; instead
insre:ld ., they gainga in knowledge and skills skil ls through lrial-and-error applications,
Irial-and-erro r applications.
shorr
sho rr cocourses,
urses, o r ththrough
rough orher other means. We \Vlc do nor wa want m to discourage
[0 disco urage the rhe effons
efio n s otof self·
selt-
mOl
m a l iva ted GIS IIsers;
red CIS users; however,
however. they usuall y have an abridged
rhey usually ab ridged perspective oonn the rhe his
history
lOry of
C I . how and why dara
GIS, srructures are diffe
data strucrures rent, and in othe
difFerenr. otherr rel
reiared
ated mpies.
topics. We ho hope rhat
pe (hat
communication
com munication among naru naruml ral resource professionals as iI' ir rda
reiares
tes to ro GIS
GIS processes and a nd
requests
rC'1uests will rhu s be imp
w ill thus improvedroved with a more mo re thorough
rhoro ugh pers pective,pec rive. allowing
allowi ng work lasks rasks [0 to
accomplis
be acco mplishedhed more efficie ntly. nrl y.
Pan 2 emphasizes GIS ope rations rario ns and introduces
inrroduccs reade r~.ldc rs lO
ro many ot the most power-
of the:
ful and com
ful commonly used GIS
monly lIsed GIS app lica lications
tions in narura
namrall resource
reso urce ma nagemenr. Each chaprer cha pu~r
in Pan
Pa rr 2 inr roduces GIS tech niq
im roclllces ues, an
niques, and d [he
thenn provides app licatio ns related
applicatio relared to ro rhe
the tech-
rech-
niques. The T he co nceprs introduced in Part
concepts Pan 2 are initially
inirially related (Q to the managemenr
mana ge ment and use
vec(Q r GIS d:uabases.
of vecto darabases. The concepts build upon upo n themselves,
themselves. and culm culminare symhc~
ina te in a synthe-
sis of advanced analyses presemed presented in chaprer C hap ters 13 and 14 prov
chapter 12. Chaprers provide
ide [rearments
rreat ments
raste r GIS
of raster GIS database uses in narural naru ral reso
resource
urce managemenl.
m:m age menr.
Pan 3 of the
Parr rhe book introduces a number of ropics related w
wpies relared to the
rhe tre
rre nds in the use ot of GlGIS
in nanarural resource
lUra) resou rce management,
manage ment. {he challenges and opponunities
rhe chaJlenges Faced by those o rgani-
o ppo rruni li es faced
'latio des iring to use GIS
za[io ns desiring ,IS to ass isr in dec ision-mak
isio n-making ing processes, and the rh e o ngoing and
ongoing
contentious
cOl1len[ious issues relared related 10 certification
to ce licensi ng of CIS
rrifl ca rio n and licensing GIS users.
use rs. The appendices
appe nd ices ot rhe
of the
book provide users with wirh :'a1 glossary of [erms, terms, a summary of organ o rgan izations
iz.u ions and acade academic mi c
journals
journ als associated wirh with (he use of GIS.
Ihe lise GIS, and refereferences
rences [0 lhe devdopers
(0 {he developers ot of the most co
rhe mOSt com- m-
mon GIS sofrwa softwa re prog
progra rams.
ms.
This book is dedicated (Q
Tbis to those students
studems who have chall challenged
enged LIS us to ddevelop
evelo p course-
cO ll r.se-
wo rk thar rhat relares directlyy 'to0 [he
rei ates directl r..ks (hat
rhe GIS tasks tha t they will likely perform .5
willlikcly as natural
narural resource
manage rs.

References
Davis. L.S .• Johnson.
.• Johnso n. K.N .• Bellinge r. rP.S
Berringer. ....• & H owa rd. T.E. (200
oward. 1). Form
(2001). Form lIIaul/gem",/:
mOllogelllellf:
To slistain ~colqgicfll, tconomic,
sustain tcological. t rvl/omie, and socifllvfllues
find socia/ (4(h ed.
llaluts (4th ed .).
). New York: McGraw- H ilI.
McG raw-HilI.

15
Part 1

Introduction to Geographic
Information Systems, Spatial
Databases, and Map Design

W e ho pe Pa re 1 of GIS AppiicatiollS in Natural Resouras prov ides readers wirh a com-

mo n la ng uage a nd pe rspecrive o n geogra phic in fo rma t io n sys tems (G IS).
Frequently, peo pl e usin g G IS have li rrle fo rmaJ tra ining, and they ga in rh eir kn owled ge
and skills either thro ugh shorr courses or rh rough [hei r own ini{iarive. Whil e these self-
mociv3 rcd effo rts 3rc laudable, they lIsually result in an ab ridged perspecrive on lhe histOry
o f GIS. how and why data srrllc{tl res di ffe r. and m her rel ated topi cs. Co mmunicat io n
among narum l reso urce p rofessio nals as it rel ates [0 G IS processes and req ucs[s shoul d be
improved with an informed perspecri ve of G IS, enco uragin g work tasks to be acco m-
plished mo re e ffect ively.
In chapte r I , rhe historical development of GIS an d the va rious tools you mi ght use ro
crea re C IS da tabases are exa m ined . The focus of chapte r 2 is an esse nti al ro pic fo r C IS:
data. C haprer 2 begins by describing the ways in w hich we ca n quant ify and measure the
Ea rth 's size a nd shape, and how resulrs from these meth ods ca n be inco rpo rated inco C IS.
C hapter 2 also includes materia l o n ho w data can be stru ctured within C IS and o utlin es
[he o ptions (har a re avai lable fo r t h ~e pu rposes. In add itio n, so me o f rh e mo re co m mo n
so urces of dara for developin g o r augment in g spat ial databases are presented in chapte r 2.
C hapter 3 builds upon the data theme im rodu ced in chapter 2 by exa minin g how o rgan-
iza ri o ns mi ght acquire or develop darabases, and d iscuss ing issues rel ated ro database ed it-
in g and pme nt ial errors. C hapter 4 delves into ca rtogra phy; o ne of many supporting d is-
ci plines from whi ch G IS has evolved bur also o ne of rhe ce mral ways in whi ch C IS resul ts
ca n be comm un ica ted ro ot hers. In addit io n, chapte r 4 incl udes a tho ro ugh d iscussio n of
rhe co ncepts and co mpo nem s that may lead to a successful map. whil e at the sa me time
identifyi ng so me co mmo n pi tfa lls lO avo id in rhe ma p crea ti o n process.

16
Chapter 1
Geographic Information Systems
Geographic Information Systems (G IS) are now core tech-
nology fo r many natu ral resource o rganizatio ns and are
also app lied in disci plines throughout society. The initial
applications of GIS that demo nstrated so me of rhe power
and potential of (his spacial technology, however, were
within namra! resou rce applications (Wing & Beninger,
2003). In one ofrhe firsr papers on the use of GIS in nar-
ural resource manageme nr, de Sreiguer and Giles (1981)
describe the potenrial uses of GIS in naru ra l resou rce man-
agemenr. In adapting o ne of their inrroducrory remarks [0
rhe presenr day, you will find rhe releva nce of G IS ro nar-
lIfal resou rce management clearly sta red:
A natural reso urce ma nage r is often ca ll ed upon to
selecr an area of land to designate as cririca l wildlife
habir3r, as a pmenria l area to implemem a timber
harvest, or as an area to reco mmend a silviculrural
rrear mem, o r to evalu ate a landscape under a lterna-
rive managemem policies. The manager desc ribes
(0 (he GIS the charac teristics of the ideal a rea in
terms of forest s(fu cwrai cond itions, soils, or
(Opograph y. Within seco nds the manage r receives
gra phic a nd rabu lar infor matio n ro loca re the
a ppropriate man age ment area s, or to co mpare
alre rn ative policies. (de Stei g uer & G iles, 198 1,
p. 734)
Obviollsly, natura l reso urce managers ca n perfo rm th e
sa me task of idenr ifYi ng appropriate managemenr areas o r
of analyzi ng policies by examining se ts of paper o r myla r
maps, bur rhe process beco mes mu ch mo re efficienr 'lOd
acc urate when perfo rmed with G IS. Furrher, analyses of
the impact of alternative policies are faci litated , allo wing
managers {Q consider rhe impacts of d ifferenr policies o r
act ions in a more efficienr manner, usually savi ng time
and money.
For ma ny na[Ural resou rce ma nagement o rganiza-
tions, G IS has beco me a n irreplacea ble rool to assis t in
[he day-to-d ay manage menr of la nd , wate r, an d ot her
resources. The applica ti o ns of GIS vary widel y amo ng
o rganiza tions and may ra nge from usin g GIS primarily as
a mapping tool to lIsing C IS to model pol icy aire rn atives
rhat may impact landscape fearures during rh e nexr 100
years and beyo nd. Rega rdless of how a narural reso urce
manage menr o rga nizat io n plans to use G IS, understand-
ing rhe potential appl ica ti ons of C IS to na tural reso urce
manage menr is essenrial for natural resource profession-
als. This text is designed to int roduce readers to GIS con-
cepts an d princi ples a nd to provide exam ples of how [0
apply rhi s knowledge in a narural reso urce manage ment
co nrex[. The introdu cto ry chapler begins by describ in g
the rools an d technol ogy thar co mpri se a GIS, and illus-
rrari ng why G IS has beco m e so impo rtalll for many
o rganizat ions. A brief hi slOry of the evo lu tion of G IS a nd
identification of significanr conr ribmors to G IS develop-
ment is then provided. Toward the end of this chapter
rh e key co mpo nent of any successful G IS (s parial dara ) is
discussed.
Objectives
This chapter represenrs an introdu ction to GIS concepts,
roo ls, technology, history, and significant co ntribu rors.
Given that the focus of this book is on rh e appl icatio ns of
C IS ro natu ral reso urce mana ge ment, what is provided in
(his c hap te r is a co nden sed version of these [opics.
17
 Chapler
Chapter 1 Geographic Inlormabon
Informafion Systems 3

Nevenheless, ar the
Nevertheless. at rhe co nclusion
nclu sion of this cha
chapte r, readers
pter. sparial categorization
spatial categorizarion and analysis analys is is applicab
applicable le (Qto many
should understand and be able to discllss
discuss the perrinent societal issues and problems.
as peas of the following topics:
aspeclS rop ics: Regardless of how a GIS is perceived pe rceived or used. it the
il is (he
inlegraliion
imegrar on of Ihe rhe various rools and services ,hat
variolls (ools rhat leads (0 to
1.
I. [he
the reasons why GIS usc: IS pr~valenl
use is prevalenr in
In natural a successful GIS. Although other ot her sofrware
software programs per-
resource management. form GIS-like
liS-like tasks
rasks (e.g., darabase management,
manilgemCnt, graphics,
graphics.
rhe evolution of the development of GIS technology
22.. the computer ass
or compurer assiSted
isred drafting [CAD] [CAD) software),
sofrwa re). a GIS is
and key figu res.
figures. unique in its ability (0
irs abiLiry to allow lIsers users to
ro create.
crC'dtC, maintain.
maintain,
3. the common spatial data collecrion techniques
tech niqu es and and
:lnd ana lyzelyu geographic or o r spa
spatial data. The term sp
rial dara. atial
spatial
input devices rhat are available,
inpur available. d ata implies that thar a database not nor only describes landscape
4. the commo n GIS G IS OUlptH
omput processes thar are rypical
typical in features
fe-dlures (e.g., candidon, composirion.
(e.g .• condition. composition, SUUClUre stru cture of
natural
narural resource managemenr,
man:l gemellt. a nd forests), bur
forests). but also includes a geographic reference (0 co where
5.
- rhe broad rypes orGIof G IS sofrwa re tim
software rhar are avai lable.
la ble. Features can be found. A GIS allows you to manipulare
features manipulate
and display spatia
:tnd data so fllat
sp:niall d:lIa that quesrions
questions regarding a
What is a Geographic resource a nd its conditions am can be answered. A GIS. when
Information System? used properly. capable of analyzing
properly, is cap.ble ana lyzing a la large
rge volume of
spatial
spa rial data quickly and providing graphical graphical and tabular
geographic
A geog' raphic information sy system
tern consisrs of the necessary results. A GIS GIS stores
sto res spa
spatial
rial data in a digital database file; file;
rools and services lO
{ools ro allow you to collecr,
collect, organize. manip- rhe database
the darabase tile file may be ref<rred
referred to using a numbe numberr of
ulate, inrerprer,
interpret. and display geographic
geogrJphic information. A GIS terms including (hemes.
{erlllS th emes. maps.maps, cove rs, rabies, laye
covers. layers.rs, or
is more {han than JUSt tlit':
rhe h'lrdware
hardware and software softwa re familiar
hlmiliar (Q to GIS databases. The: The terminology for referring (Q to a GIS
mosr people; it extends
most exte nds to lhe the staff who operate the sys- database varies depending on the GI
darabase GIS soFrware
software program
rem, the
tem. r.he databases,
dat.bases. [he the physical facilities,
fuci lities. and lhe the o rgani-
rgan i- being used and, and. in some cases, the: the vers
ve rsiion me
on of the sofrware
sofrwa re
zational commirment
commitmelll necessary {O ro make ir it all work. A GI GIS being used. In most GIS programs, similar land-
.IS software programs.
can be defined by how it is used (e.g (e.g.,.• a land informarion
information featu res are mainraincd
scape fearures mainrained in a single GIS database. For
,IS da[abasc.
system,
sysrcm. a narural
natural resou
resourcerce managemenr infor matio n sys-
management information instance.
insrance. YOli mighr might have a soils G IS database thar that co con~ n-
tem), by what it comainscontains (spadaJly
(sparially distincr
distinct fearurcs.
features, acriv-
activ- tains
rains rhe soil characteristics
characterisrics of:1 of a landscape.
landscape, ita hydrographic
ities.
iciest or events defined as points. points, lines.
lines, polygons,
polygons. or raster database [hat rhal shows rhe locations of rivers and lakes,
the 10C3rions lakes. or a
grid cells),
cells). by itsirs capabilities
capabiliries (a powerful set SCI of 1001s
tools for wildlife GIS daraba databasee Iha(
that contains the me nest locatio
ioc31ions ns of a
collecting. sroring. retrieving. transforming,
collccling. storing, rransforming. and displ:tying
displaying single species or a group of species of animals. CIS GIS allows
all ows
spa rial dara)
sparial data)., or by ils its role in an organization
organizarion (a (~ map pro- the integration :lnd and simultaneous examination of multiple mulriple
syste m . a spadal
duction sysrem. spatial aanalysis
nal ysis system. a system sysl~m for G IS databases through rhrough a process described as ove rl ay
overlay
assisting in making decisions regard regardin ingg basic geographic
geograph ic analysis. Overlay analyses analy~s allow us (0 to determine how fea- fea~
quesrions such as: Where is it? What is il?
questions it? Why is it (Ures
tures in onc one darabase
darabase: relate spatially to anorher
(Q fearures in another

mere?). The co
(here?). core
re component of a GIS however is ...a dara- data- database,
da rabase, aand nd provide liS us a<1 powerful means of supporting
base Ihar
thar contains
conmins a geographic camponelll.
componenr. We wi willll dis- la ndscape mapping and invatigation.
landscape investigation. Overlay analysis.
cuss geographic dara data in more detail shordy. described in further derail dem il )Herlal er in this book, represems
represenrs
GIS can also be defined as geograph geographic ic info rmation
information [he essence of whar what many considerco nside r to ro be {he
Ihe main role of
scie nce (GIScience). GIScience involves the identification
science idemiflcation GIS in natural
nalUral resource management: the rhe abiliry 10 to com-
and srudy of issues that are rdated 10 ro GIS .1 use, affect its ils tWO or more GIS
b ine (wo Gl databases inco datab~lse I(h
inlo a si ngle database at
hat
implementation, and that
implemenr:uion. lhar arise from iu irs applicarion
applic;l(ion demonstrates
demonsu: ues {heir (heir spa rial connecriviry.
spatial connccriviry.
(Goodchi
(Goodchild. ld, 1992). In short.
short, GIScience both borh encourages GIS is related to a number of other lields Relds and
dnd disci-
users 10
lIsers understand the benefits of GIS tec
(0 IInderstand rec hn ology in pro- plines,
pline • including computer compute r aided drafring drafting (CAD),
(CAD). com- om-
viding a powerful set of ana lysis (ools tools and encourages puter carrography. database
pucer cartography. darabase m<lnagement.
managemem, srarislics.
sraristics, and
users roto view Iherhe techno
rechno logy as pan of a broader discipline sensing. In filet.
remOte sensing.
remole FaCt, GIS bolh both comains
coma_ins and rdies relies on
prommcs
rh:H promo
that geographical
tes geogmp hiC'JI th inking a nd problem solvi ng
thinking certain
cerr aspects from
.. in aspec(s rrom each of these fields. and thus is closely
strJtegies as being useful to sociery.
strategies society. The development
deveiopmem of related (0 eac h of them.
to each rhem. However,
However. the diflerence
difference between
bef\veen
GIScience is an outgrowth of the faCt FaCt that
rhac GIS tec hnology
technology G
GISIS and dny any of these orher o ther aallied
llied fields
Relds is notable. For
is avai lable 10 ro more users todayroday than ever before. before, and [hat that example, mosl
example. most CAD software programs have rudimentary
18
4 Part 1 Introduclion to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
In many ways. college and university srudems are
examp les of a living, breat hing GIS. Each day YOli ven-
{Ufe from your home inro rhe world. and make deci-
sions about where you are going. how you will get
rhere, and w hat YOLI will do when you arrive. For
instance, as a rypical srudenr. you probably have a route
that you usually rake [0 campus. Chances 3rc that you
have designed this route over rime and based on your
experiences. so thar you can arrive as quickly and easily
as possible. Perhaps you have included a stop ar your
favorite coffee shop in your roure. If you have a e.u,
rhen you might e1eer to dr ive, and depending on the
rime of day. you might alter your usual route (0 avoid
traffic. Road consrrllcrion may force you to alter your
route for a few days or weeks. You will make orher
adjustments (Q avoid unfo reseen delays. Once you
links [0 a database management system and are often lim-
ired in their abiliry (Q srore and analyze descripdve
information abom fearures, whereas GIS software pro-
grams generally have srrong links (Q a database manage-
menr system. CAD spadal modell ing ca pab ili ties are also
limited, whereas G IS conrains a wide variery of spatial
modelling capabi liries (rhese will be examined in larer
chaprers of this book). The field of compurer cartography
emphasizes map production, and while rhe databases used
may be similar to those lIsed in GIS, computer cartogra-
phy generally purs less emphasis on rhe non-graphic
arrribures of spadal landscape fearures than does GIS.
Database managemelH software programs have rhe abiliry
to store and manage locarion and attribure data of land-
scape fearures, bur rhey genera ll y lack the powe r ro display
the locations and characte risdcs of feamres. Visua l capa-
bi liries are fundamelHal qualities within most GIS, CAD,
and canography soff\vare programs. Statistical programs
are lIsll<llly designed so thar users can quickly develop
summaries of data, such as averages, standard deviations,
or correlations that allow us to describe a large amount of
data or to describe rhe relationship of a single variable to
another. GIS soff\vare can usuall y not only accommodate
basic srarisrical operations, bm can show where rhe resu lts
of statistical operations are cenrered or located, and can
help visually determine whar other var iables may be of
interest in an ana lys is, Inte resti ngly, several of the more
powerful and commonly used statistical packages now
ar rive on campus, you will have to find a parking space,
and then walk another roure to get to your hrsr class.
Of course, you might have decided rhat the rroubles
wirh parking make riding a bike (Q campus more
attractive, bur then you will still need to design a rome
for the bike trip. The choices you make just to get to
school in the morning require you to analyze muhiple
layers of spatial informarion abom you r presenr loca-
tio n, you r desti nation, and rhe interven ing influential
factors. In shon, as you solve your daily rransponation
challenge, you are acring as a GI S. This rype of exam-
ple, in which location is a key component in decision
making, can be applied (Q many activities that people
engage in, ranging from how best (Q cross the street, to
navigating a downhill skiing or snowboarding course,
ro arranging trips to other counrries.
integrate G IS-like funcrional ity in some of their modu les.
Finall y, rem ore sensing-related software programs gener-
ally focus on the manipulation and management of rasrer
GIS dara derived from satellites, scanners, or Olher photo.
g raph ic devices; rhey have a limired capabiliry ro handle
vector GIS databases, which tend to be more commonly
used within natural resource management organizations.
A Brief History of GIS
As previously mentioned, GIS is uniq ue from other software
programs in its inregrat ive ability that enables you to
process, catalog, map, and analyze spalial data. Spatial data
have been collected and maintained for millennia, with
records of pro perry boundary surveys for raxarion purposes
in Egypr daring back ro abour 1400 Be. Ir is only wid,in
the pasr 40 years, however, th:u sociery has learned how to
digitally capture. mainrain, and analyze spatial dara.
Although the term 'geographic information system' was firsr
used in the 1960s, overlay analysis has been demonsrrared
through manual techniques for over 200 years. Overlay
analysis is the process of analyz,ing mu ltiple layers of infor-
mation simulta neously to address management issues. The
layers rep resent different rypes of information bur are reiared
to each orher in that the informadon is drawn from a com-
mon landscape area (Figure 1.1). GIS allows you to drape, or
overlay, rhe layers on top of one anorher and to combine all
pans into a new, imegrared layer thar contains all or some of
19

Stand Types Hydrology Roads
Figure 1.1 G IS lhC'lne overlay.
rhe pans of the original layers. depending on rhe rype of
ove rlay selected by the user.
The new inregrared layer allows liS to examine the spa-
rial relationsh ips of rhe in formation contained in rhe o ri g-
inal layers. Although digitally-based GIS has been avail-
able for a relatively shorr period in his[Qry. (here is a
significanr hisrory of ana lysts using the overlay approach
th rough manual techniques. During rhe American
Revolution, rhe French carrograph er Louis-Alexandre
Berrhier overlaid multiple maps to analyze (roop move-
menrs (Wolf & Ghi lani, 2002). In 1854, Dr John Snow
conducted a spa rial analysis by compari ng rhe locations of
cholera deaths ro well locations in London. His analysis
revealed rhar well warer drawn from specific wells was a
means of spreading cholera infecrions. The first wr inen
description of how ro precisely combine multiple maps
rhrough a manual overla y process appea red in a 1954 rex(
titled Town and Country Planning Textbook by Jacqueline
Tyrwhitt (Ste initz et aI. , 1976). In 1964, Ian McHarg
described how ro lise a series of rransparent overlays m
derermine the suirabiliry of areas for developmenr in New
York 's Staren Island. By using a transparent overlay fo r
each layer of interest (soi ls, forests, parks, erc.) and black-
in g-our rhe areas on each overlay rhar presented develop-
ment impedimems. the layers could be overlaid and rhe
final suitable areas defined. McHarg ( 1969) later pub-
lished examples of hi s ove rl ay rechniques in his sem inal
book, D~sign with Natllr~, which continues ro be sold
throughour the world.
in rile early stages of the development of GIS rechnol-
ogy, rwo fac rs were evidenr: {here was little geograph ic or
spada I dam to work with, and rhe rechnology ro srore and
manipulate rh e dara was rudimentary (by mday's stan-
dards), Some may argue t har GIS technology has nor
evolved very much in the passing years simply because
Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 5
"
. ....-........ .
",
Topography Composite Layers
many of the compurarional processes used roday we re ini-
rially developed in rhe 1980s, however, advancements in
computer technology and rhe increasing availabil iry of GIS
darabases indicare orherwise. In addirion, a growing num-
ber of people throughollr sociery have heard of G IS {even
though rhey may often confuse irs purpose w irh that of a
similar acronym, GPS [global positioning systems]} .
We provide a brief history below of rhe developmenr
of'digitall y-based GIS, and note that many of irs advance-
ments were made by innovarors and scienrisrs throughout
North America, During rhe 1960s, orga nizarions in the
Un ited States (i ncludin g the US Geological Survey and
rhe US Deparrment of Agriculture's Natural Resource
Conservarion Service) began m create GIS darabases of
topography and land cover ( Lon gley et aI. , 200 I).
Srudents and resea rche rs began ro write compute r pro-
grams and design hardware devices (such as the precursor
ro roday's digitizing tab le) rhar would allow you (0 rrace
the outlines of landscape fearures on hard co py thematic
maps and rransfer them inro a digital formaL These early
programs were designed ro handle specific [asks and were
ofren limited in scope. As programmers began ro bring
these algorirhms rogerher ro creare more versatile, power-
fu l software programs. rhe era of com purer mapping
applications began. Early examples of mapp in g programs
include IMGRID, CAM, and SYMAP (Clarke, 2001).
In conjuncrion with rhe developmenr of sofrware pro-
grams. other organizarions began ro assemble GIS dara-
bases for mapping and analyz in g fearures of inreresr to
public agencies, The firsr example was rh e GIS darabase
created by the US Centra l Intelligence Agency (CIA) and
was called rhe ' World Dara Bank', Spa rial layers in the
GIS database included coas tlines. major ri ve rs. and poliri-
cal borders from arollnd the world, The US Census
Bureau designed a merhodology for linking census info r-
20
6 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems,
Systems, Spatial Databases,
Databases, and Map Design

maUDn to loca
mauon locatiotionsns in preparation
prepararion for the rhe 1970 US USGS has made features from finer-resolution 1:24,000
ce nsus. The 1970 US Censlis CenSllS was the ce nsus tbar
rhe first census that was scale maps ava ilable for small portions ponions or of rhe co um ry..
COUntry
mai
mailed,led, and rhe oonly nl y piece of information
informa tio n (har that was The USGS has si since
nce become a worldwide leader in map-
returned
rerurned [0 reference
to refe lacarion of rhe respo
rence rhe location ndem was
respondem ping land cover resources reso urces and making maps avai ava ilable
lable in
rhe address.
add ress. The Ce nsus Bureau.
Census Bureau, however. was faced with borh hardcopy and digital format.
both
rhe challenge of matching marching [he rhe response
respo nse addaddresses
resses (Q to a map To manage and analyze
a nd ana lyze spatial datadara for their jurisdic-
jurisdi -
so that
char rhe spa spatiariall di srributi ons of responses could
disrriburi co uld be £ions.
lions. CanadCanadian ian and US orga organizations
nizations began co to develop
mapped and aanalyzed. nalyzed. The Census Bureau developed a sofn.
sofrwa ... are
re programs in the rhe 1960s. One of the th e most
mosr ambi-
system
sYSlem known as DIME (Dua (Duall lnd Ind epe nd ndent
en r Map tious
rio us and noteworthy of these rhese systems was the rhe Canada
Encoding) in response respo nse to (Q this challenge. which nor
rhis challenge, nm only Geographic
Geograph ic Informat io n System (eGIs), (eGIS), which, in 1964,
creared
created digiral reco rds of all srreets,
digi ta l records streets, burbm also associared
associated was
\vas created
creared under (he the guidance of Roger Tomlinson. Tom linson. A
addresses [a ro srreer locarions. The DIM E system
st reet locations. syste m allowed chance mee ting. on a p!;H1e,
chan ce meering, plane. between
berween Tom Tomlinsonli nson and
rhe Censlis
Censlls Bureau [Q (Q understand
understa nd which streets st reets were con- Canada 's MinisterMiniste r of Agriculture
Agriculrure resulted in Tomlinson
nected to which orher
necred other srreets,
streets, and wha wharl lanclsc;-t
landscape pe features
fealUres overseei ng the rhe creation of a national
narional etTon
effort ro inventory
were
we re adjacent to each sstreer. T his method of associating
tree!. This Canada's land resources, resources. and developing ~Ia sofrwa softwa re pro-
the digital represemarions
n:presemarions of landsca landscape pe features (Q orher
to other gram to quanr ifY existing aanndd potential
ro 'luantiry porelllia l land lIses. uses. The
nd sca pe featu res was a c ri
la ndscape ritical advance
rical advan ce because it if CG GISIS is recognized as being the first na t io ional-level
nal -level G GIS.
IS.
enabled the idenrifi ca [ionn of spadaJ
idenrificado spacial relationships within a and thusthu s Tomlinson continues to ra receive recognition
recogn irion as
digital enviro nment.
envi ronment. a GIS pioneer for his effo eilo rts.
rts, Other early landmark efforts efforrs
descriptionn or characterization of the
The descriptio th e spatial rela- evo lution of GIS in
in the evolution include
clude the developmem of the
ttio
io nships between
berween landscape features feat ures in a G GIS
IS database is Land Use and Narural Natural Resource
Resou rce In ventory System
Invenrory
refe rred [Q
referred to as topology. Topology is an imporra importam nr con-
CO I1- (LUN R) in New York
(LUNR) Yo rk in 1967, aand nd the
rhe development of
cept with respect to GIS ap applications
plicatio ns anda nd will be discussed Minnesota Land
the MinneSOta La nd Management System (MLM IS) in
in more detail in chaprer chapter 2. T o pology manages objects
Topology 1969.
and requires objects to be organized
requ ires objecrs orga ni zed and analyzed accord- The success of these rhese early systems
sysrems and need for furrher further
ing to ro their location and with respect respecr widl
with proximiry
proximity to ro refinements we re recog
refinemenrs recognized
ni zed by a groupgrou p of facultyfaculry and <lnd
otherr objects.
othe objecrs. The topological characteristics of dara data students
scude m s 3r ar Harvard Unive rsity's Laborarory for
H a rvard University's
structu res -allow
Structures allow a determinacion.
determinatio n, for example, example. of how Computer
Com puter Graphics and Spa ti al Analysis. The group set
patial Set
water travels
warer rravels through a stream necwo network. rk, the con nectinectiviry
vity forth to create a versatile versad le GIS IS that would map and track
of roads in a forest to other roads.
ro orher road s, or dl thee idemification
id cnrificar ion of loca tions like the DIME system, while
locations wh ile possessing the rhe land
forest stands
sta nds [halthat share a border with other othe r fores
forestt stands.
stand s. measuremenr
measmemclH sstrengths the eGIs.
rre ngclts of rhe CG IS. From rhis effort the
[h is effon rhe
These relationships form the rhe basis of many resource Odyssey GI GIS (containin
(co ntainin g modules named after parts of
analyses thaI that take locationa
locationall posidon
position into imo account in Homer's epic work, The Odyssey) emerged in 1977, t 977, anddnd
problem solvi solving ng techniques.
rcchniques. pioneered rhe lise use ofo f a dara
data strucrure
St ru cture known as trhe he
The DIME syste m was the rhe predecessor to T IGER aarc/node.
rc/node, or vecrar vector data Slructure.
struct ure. We w wiillll discuss
di scuss the
(To pologicall y Integrated Geog Geographic
ra phic Encod ing in g and
a nd vector data structure in more marc detail in the rhe neX[ chapte r.
next chapter,
Referen cin g System)
Referencing ysrem) files. which were inrroduced inr roduced by the however, it is importantimportanr [to0 nore nOte matthat the
rhe specifics of the
US Census Bureau in 1988, aand still used today [0
nd are sdJl to Odyssey vector vecror structure were first published by Peucker
distribute spacially-referenced
d istribute spatially- re ferenced ce nsus and boundary data. an d Ch
and ri s man (1975) and tthe
Chrisman he S[f uc ture
struc rure conrinues
co ntinues to
The avai labil ity of TIGER flfi les
lability ies was insrrumemal
instrumental in pro- influence the design of mode
inAuence modern G IS sof('\.va
rn GIS software re programs.
mo tin g GIS use in the US.
mOting Geologica l Surv<y
U . The US Geological Survey Jack D Daangermond,
ngermon d, a H arvard arv-d rd Lab student, founded the
(USGS) made an addirional additional imporram
important conr cont ributi
ri butionon {Q to Environmental
Envi ronmental Systems Research Insr iwte (ESRI
Resea rch Insritllte (ESRI)) in
spatial dara availabiliry
data availab iliry when they began digitizing d igitizi ng fea-Fea- 1969. and earlie earlierr versions of ArcView and Arclnfo-the
tu res from irs
lUres its II:: I 00,000 scale ha hardrd copy maps in the rhe early most widely
mosr widel y used deskrap
desktop and workst'Jtion
workstarion GIS software
1980s. Spatial
Sparia l data from fro m these
rhese maps were mad e available ava il able programs-were
pro grams-were based on the Odyssey vecto vec rorr da datata st ru
ruc-
c-
as digital line ggraphs rap hs (DLGs) thar, tha t, like the T TIGER
IGER and ture. A
[Ure. rcln fo. in fact,
Arclnfo. fact. was introduced in 1981 198 1,, markjng
marking
DIME sysrems,
systems. were also sto red in a file format that rhat the first major commercial venru venlu re into
inro the developmenr
developrnel1l
allowed the [O to pology of obje",objectS [0 to be characterized. The GIS
GIS technology. Both of these rhese GIS packages have been sig-
format was restructured in the
file formal rhe early 1990s, and the ndy rew
nifica ntly rewrinen
rinen in term s of com puter purer code supporr support
21
 t Geographic InformaMn
Chapter 1 Information Systems 7

tlnd
a nd user
use r illlerfacc;
ilHerface; they rhey are now offered ofTered as differenr expecr suppOrt and lrdining training rdated
rel ared to
ro specific (;15
G IS soft-
licenses within ArcGI
lice nses wirhin ArcGIS.. ware programs,
programs. and expect expecr [hat(ha[ sofnvare
softwa re will be mosdy
The 1980s also wimessedwitnessed [he the proliferation
proli femion of [he rhe micro- perfected
perrecred by [he rhe ririme
me of irs release [Q ro [he
rhe general public.
general publ ic.
compmer. mday's version of rhe
com purer, coday's the personal computer
compucer (PC). Funher,
Further, as GIS .1 dalabases
darabases are a re shared
sha red amongsr organiza-
In response.
response, sofrware manufacmrers
manufacrure rs began to [0 produce GI. GIS lions. rhe need ro standardiu
tions, standardize da[a dara fo rmars
rm ars is evidem,
evident,
sofrwa
softwa re programs thar rhar could operareoperate on the microcom·
rhe microcom- because dara Iransformarions
transformations ca cann require an exrensive
purer (see Appendix
Appe nd ix C for a list Ii" of GIGIS sofrware manuF..c-
manu",c- commirmem
commirmenr of resou rces and may lead to ro flawed
Aawed results
rurers) . In 1986,
[urers). 1986. Maplnfo CorporarionCo rporation was for med. and
formed, if no
nO{r done correctly.
correcdy.
subsequently
subsequemly developed [he rhe world's firsr major deskrop desktop vec- Society iis forrunate
Sociery fonunare roday,today. on one hand. ro have a vari- va ri-
mr
tor GIGIS software
sof[Ware program for the rhe Pc.PC. Soon afte rwards.
afre rwards, eryof
ery of GIS sofrware programs from which to choose. On
.IS software
raster GIS soff\vare
rasrer programs. such as IDRJ
sof£\vare programs, IORISI, I. began co to Ihe orher
the mher hand,
ha nd. evaluating
eval uari ng which of these programs beSt best
appear.
appea r. Some orne software
softwa re programs, such as the me raster GIS su its the
rhe needs of a narunaruralral resource
reso urce managemenr
management organi-
program GRA GRASS, S. utilize:
utilize a software architectuarchirecmre re thai
rhal was zation is problema
zarion problematic. ric. This faCtmct posed a significant
significam chal·
chal-
developed for workstation
works[3rion computer platforms. lenge even in the crea cre-cllion this book. Since each oorgan-
rio n of (his rgan~
Other
Orher significant deveiopmelHsdevelopments in GIS included rhe izatio
izarionl1 (narural
(nar ural resOllrce managemenl., as well as
resource managemem
cmergence
eme rge nce of Gl -related conferences and publications.
GIS-relared academic) may lise use a different GIS sof£\vare
software program,
program. we
The first AuroCano Conference was held in 1974 and decided (0 design {his rhis book
boo k as a general reference
refe rence for
helped [0 to establish
esrablish ,he rhe GIS research agenda. One ne of [helhe describing.
describing, in genera
generall., [he
lhe rypical
ry pical types of or GIS :1pplic:l-
applica-
first
firsr compilations
compilarions of avajlable available mapping programs was tions
rions ",ced
Faced by field-level professio
professionals nals associa,ed with nat-
assoc ia red wirh
published by the rhe International
Internationa l Geog raphical Union in ural resource management organizations.
organizarions. T herefore, spe-
Therefore,
1974. BmicBasic Rmdillgs
Readings ill G~ograpbic Information
in Geographic Infomuuion Systems- Sysum.s-- cific
cifi C examples of how to ro address
ad dress each
eac h applica rion
application
a collecrion
collection of papers thar rhat discussed GI G IS technology-\va_
rechnology-was described in rhis book. book, [hose
rhose lha,rhar are related
relared (0to specific
published in 1984. 1984, and inl in 1986
986 [herhe first
firsr textbook wrinen GIS software programs. will be made 3vailabl<
sof£\va re programs, ava ilable through
spe ifically for GIS.
specifically GIS, Principln
Principles of Geographic
C<ogrllphic Informnrioll
Infonnanoll other
orher means (e.g .• a book-related
(e.g., book-relared websire at al W\,VW.
www.
'YSUIIIS for Land R~souras
Systtms Resources ASJ(JJm~m
Assessmelll was published roresrry.orego nsrare.edu/gisbook).
fores[ry.oregonsra[e.edu/gisbook).
(Burrough.
(Bu rrou gh, 1986). Finally, Fi nally. [hethe firsr GIS- related
rel a[ed academic
journal. the
journal, rhe In ternational
ternatio nal Journal of Geographic G~ograp"i(' Why Use GIS in Natural Resource
Sci~I1U. was
Information Scinlce, \ V'dS publishc:d
published in 1987. Management Organizations?
Mo
More re recenriy,
recently. Intern
In te rn eter technology
rechnol ogy has adva nced (co 0

[he point where people::

Lhe- poim people worldwide
worldw ide can ;Iccess access and an d use It is commonplace [0 to see GI
GIS usC'd
used [Q assisr managers make
to assist
rudimel1lary
rudimemary forms or of GIS .IS for
fo r free. Google Eanh Earth is per- decisions in loday's
roday's nalural
natural rcsource
resource managemC'J1[ environ~
managemenr environ-
haps the
rhe best example of (he the inregra
imcgrarionri on of rel"l1Q(e
remote sensing
sensi ng ment. For examexample.
ple, maps are requrequired
ired roco be submined
submiaed LO ro
rechnology (digital
[echnology (digi[al orthophotographs
onhophorographs and satellite sa[elli[e smre
srate agencies in [he western U
the wesrern US in support
suppo rr of forest man-
imagery) with rransportacion
rransponarion networks and other land- agemem plans. In most
age ment plans. mosr areas ofNoofNonh rrh America. pcsricide
America, pesticide
scape fc:acures
features thatrhar is available online. on line. A limited number plans requi re a map to deraildClail rhe propos~d OIcciviry. as well
proposed acriviry.
of geographical processing rools are a re available: howeve however, r. as Lhe
the nearby
nea rby homes and warer water resources.
reso urces. While maps may
Google Earlh Earth represents
represelHs a significant
significanl advance
advancemenr menr in srill he
still be hand-drawn in a handful of natu naruralral resource
resollfce orga
o rga n-
allowing rhe general public co ro visualize rhe [he landscape.
landscape. iza[ions.
izariol1s, GIS allows map producrion processes pro C'Sses ro be amo-
3U[Q-

Microsoft's Terra TerraServer crver is similar in this rhis respect. mated and repeated,
repeated. reducing a lengrhyl~nglllY drafting exercise
exe rcise
MapQuesr.
MapQuesr , perhaps [he the most widely used geograp hic hi c to only
[0 on ly a few short
sho rr minUles
minmes and li kely producing far fa r more
o nl ine. is now similar in {his
locator online. rhis respect as well. reliable resuils. In addition.
resuirs. In addir ion, GIS allows
all ows some processes (to0
The history of GIS continues
orGI conrinues to evolve. with GIS uscrs users be accomplished that rhat wou
would ld normally [ax taX a person's ana-

providing
pro vid ing a number of challenges. chal lenges. GIS users. for example,
G IS users, example. lyTica l abiliries.
lytica example, a~ n:ttur..tl
abilir ies. For example. narural resource manage-
have the ability
abi li ty to inlluenc< [he
ro influence the development of GIS .IS soft- ment
menr organization in the sourhernsouthern US considering a fertil- fe rcil-
wa re program features. As new and challenging
W3rc challengin g naruralnatural ization project,
izadon pro ject, yet operaring with a limited budget.
operd(ing wirh budget, may
resource
reso urce management
managemenl issues arise. ari se, users identify
use rs identi fY and pro- need to locate those
ro loc3re dlOSC forested arca5
areas (sra
(sta nds) thal
rhar would ben-ben -
pose processes and fu functnctions
ions that
rhat will make [he rhe (asktask of efit
efir mosr in rerms of rhe (he growth
growrh of rhe forest fert i1-
From a fen
foresr from il-
.111;tlyz.ing
analyzing pOlcmia
porenriall nalUr:.ll
narural resouresourcerce decisions more eAl- effi- ization application
appli carion in order to efficient use of their
ro make efficiem
ciem aCClIr:He . In addir
ciCIll and accurare. ion. GIS IIsers
addirion, users increasingly bud get. Irf you were to :1
budget. $Sume lh:H
assume rh ar rhe sta must be
s[a nds musr
22
8 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems.
Systems, Spatial Databases.
Databases, and Map Design

dominated by pine [ree rree species.

species, and located on cerrai cenainn soil Recenr
Recem graduates of many university-level natural
rypes, you can imagine [he enormous (ask
the enormOuS faced by a large
[ask fitced resource management programs complete com plete at leasr one course
alle;)sr
landowner (> 500.000 500,000 acres) if paper maps (soils and involving GIS. GI . Geospar
GeospariaJ ial skills are currently
cu rrend)' in-demand in
stands)
sta nds) were rhe only (eSOlIrCe resource available for analysis. A narural resource
resou rce ma nagement, and aare
managemcnr, re seen
sC'en as panpart of an
process such as [his (his would have required severa) several days to eme rgi ng ind ustry th tharar wi
willll experience
experience: coconrin~
nrinuedl ed growth for
complete with paper maps. maps, bur might require only a few
but mighr fe\v the futu re (Wing & Sessions,
,he near future essions, 2007). One survey of nal- nat-
minures when performed within GIS.
minmcs management employers (Brown & L.assoie.
ural resource managemenr Lassoie,
The application of GIS GIS in natura
naturall resource manage- ma nage- 1998) supportS
supporrs ,hese
these assenions, another indicates
assertio ns, while anomer indicales cllat
rhar
men[ organizadons
ment organizations has become sta standard practice duri
ndard pracrice duringng nea rly half of industrial employers expected
ne-drly expeCted new employees
the
rhe lasr
las, 10 yea
yearsrs (Wing & Beninger.
Berringer, 2003)2003).. ran rarr of ,he
the ro have obtained GIS
to GlS experiences during their undergraduare
undergraduate
reason for widesp read lise is because of rhe efficiencies
ror this widespread education
educalion (Sample et e, al.,
al., 1999). Wha, What skills should students
hinred at
hinted m above, bUt bur also
a lso a resu lt of comillucd
result' ca mi ll ucd technolog-
tech no log- ddevelop
evelop a proficiency prior 10 to graduating?
grad uating? Merr),Merry etel al.
ical advances in computer ha rdware and software.
hardware (2007) surveyed
su rveyed reeent
recent graduares
graduates who were employed in nat- na,-
Compurer
Com pUler prices conriconti nue {Q [0 decline whi le processing ural resource man3gemenr-relared
managemenr-related positions posirions and found that rhar
power and srorage efficiency
smrage efficie ncy have conLinued
continued {Q ( 0 grow. A ESRJ's ArcMap and ArcView sof[\va soFrwa re products were the
software programs
wide variety of GIS sofrvvare progrAms have also emerged, emerged. mOSt
mOSI commonly used GIS sof,ware software packages. OlhersOthe rs rypes of
and therhe [rend sof[\va re program design has been to
(rend in GIS softwa software producls
sof"V'dre products were also being used (e.g., Map lnfo ,
(e.g. , Maplnfo.
make programs more user-friendly while. perhaps. sacri- Google Eanh.Earth, Delorme, Landmark Sysrems' Systems' SoloFidd
SoloFieid CE,
CEo
ficing
fic ing efficiency
efficie ncy of ope rarions.
operacions. and com
(U1d commercial
mercia.l software packages from Davey Resoufces). Resources).
One of lhe the primary reasons for the rhe growth
growrh of GIS u", use and learning how to use at least leasr one
o ne program
p rogram wi ll make
will
in natural resource management organizations is thaI rhat the
rhe adapting '0
Jdapring to the use of others relatively reiariveiy easy. Basic
Bas ic GIS oper-
collection analys is of
co llection and analysis landscape measuremems
oflandscape measuremenrs is fun- (heads~up digirizing,
adons (heads-up
arions digitizing, manual editi ng of anribures. arrributes,
damenral for mosr
damemal most naru
namraJ ral resource analysis and manage- manuaJ editing of spatial pos
manual irions, and querying of tabular
positions.
ment acciviries.
menl acriviries. GIS allows )'ou yo u to work with measuremCni
measurement artribures) were lhe
anributes) most frequently
the moSl frequen tl y lIsed
used GIS processes.
information
informarion lO to facilitate mapping and modelling land- More complex processes, such as combining and erasing fea-
scape featu res or o r {Q suppor[ Ihe
to supporr rhe eval uat ion of manage- [tires. spatia l que
(Ures. a nd spatial ries, were also mode
queries, rarely used by
moderately
menr policies. For example.
mem example, you might m ighr be interested
inrerested in recem
recelll graduates. Of the rypcs rypes of products recem graduates
determining the extenr vegetation resou
exrcnr of vegerarion rces with
resources in a
within creat~ with GIS.
created ,IS. basic 1000donai
locational maps, managemenr deci-
maps. management
watershed,
watershed . the rhe amounr w ildlife habitar
amOllnt of wildlife within a naru-
habilar wirhin nalu- sion-related
sion-reialed maps (i.e., (i.e .. planting maps),maps). and GIS databases
ral area, potenriai impacts of cha nges in ripar
area , or the potencial ripariian
an (e.g.,.. prescribed fire locations.
{e.g locado ns. conservation easemems. inva-
conservarion easemenlS.
managemenr policies.
managemelll pol ic ies. GIS facil
facilitates
it ates an efficient
dTicient explo- sive species distriburions,
disrriburions. soil maps) maps} were me rhe mosr common.
co mmon.
ration rhe informarion
r.nion of rile information relaledrelared to narural
natural resources.
reso urces.
Although
Alrhough many narural resou rce managemenr organ- GIS Technology
izations employ a GIS expert (guru,
izadons (gllru . manager) ar a central-cenrral-
ized GISGI S office, these
rhese people are arc often
oFten ove rl oaded wirh Operating a GIS
G I requires working with a wide range of
work and unable 10 to offer
oHer stlssustained assistance {Q
rained 3ssiS[ance ro field per- technology acquiring. the
rechnology and possessing. or acquiring, rhe skills neces-
sonnel. IInn some cases, the rhe expc
expe rts, parricularly if
n s, particularly iF they have sa ry CO
sary unde rstand and manipulare
to understand manipulate the rechno logy.
rh e techno
a computer background as opposed ro a~I natural narural resource During the chapter. a desc
rhe next part of this chapter, ription of rhe
description
background,, may be unaware of (he
background rhe common types rypes of various technological co mponents of G
omponenls GIS presenred.
IS is presemed.
GIS
G plicatio ns in na
IS ap plications natural
tu ral reso urce management. When Although it may nor
not be important
imporr:mr for GIS users (0[Q be con-

additionally
you 3dditiona lly consider that thar manyman y I1:ltural
natural resource expens in all GIS-related !echnologies.
sidered experts technologies, fam iliariry
F..milia ri ry
management organizations desire new employees to have with the various components
componenrs may help understand
hdp you undersrand
a G IS background.
background, lbe rhe advantages
advanrages for ,hose those involved in the components
how rhe componenrs are integrated.
nalural m ~m agemenl to
naLUral resource managemem ro be famifamiliar ith the
liar w idl
pQ[ential uses of GI
potential G IS are clear. This fami liariry shou ld
F..miliariry Data collection processes
include the [he ability to communicare
communicate using us ing basic GIS- GI ~ ­ and input devices
reiared terminology and
rei31ed a nd the[he abi liry
lity toro perform basic GI CIS
processes,
processes. such as viewing data dara and making maps of fea- tea- Despite (he
Despire sofrwa re ,
the rapid advances of GIS hardware and sofrware.
mres of interesr.
cures interest. one of the
rhe primary challenges
ch311enges for
fOf organizations using GIS
I
23

relines ro the developmenr and maimenance ot G IS da[a-
bases. Collecting spatial data, preparing the data for GIS
use, and documenting rhese processes conri nu e [0 co m-
prise the majoriry ofbudgers allocated fo r GIS processes.
Sparial data qualiry is cemral [0 successtul GIS implemen-
tarion and analys is.
Dara are often described in re rms ot thei r precision
and accuracy, (wo terms that are otren confused.
Precisio n relates ro rhe degree ot specificity {Q which a
measuremenr is desc ribed. A measurement that is
described wit h mulr iple decimal places, such as an a rea
measu rement ot 2.6789 hec ta res, is co nsidered a ve ry
precise measurement. It rhis measuremenr were derived
trom a prope rty bou ndary survey whe re distances were
gathered by cou ncin g paces. and a ngles were meas ured
using a handheld compass, you might quesrio n the accu-
racy ot [he measuremem; however, it is ina rguably pre-
senred in a highly precise manner. Precision can also be
described in rerms ot rhe relative consistency among a set
of measu rements. For insrance, if the measurements
relared ro a property bou ndary were measured multiple
rimes wilh a sophisticated surveyi ng insrrumenr and rhe
resu lting va riario n amo ng measu rem ents was small , YOli
could rhen describe rhe measuremems as being relarively
precise.
Acc u.racy refers ro rhe abiliry of a meas urement to
describe a landscape feature's [ru e lacarion. size, or condi-
[ion. Accuracy is typically described in rerms of a range o r
varia nce [hat derails a duesho ld within which we would
expect to find the likely value. The assessmem of accuracy
anemprs to answe r rhe following question: H ow close are
the measurements to their t rue val ue? Examples of accu-
racy levels include distance meas uremems of ± 0.5 m or
angle measuremenrs of ± 1 seco nd. Yo u can have meas-
uremenrs rhat a re borh highl y precise a nd acc urare
(Figu re 1.2, rarr A), highly precise without being very
accu rare (Figure 1.2, Pan B), nor very precise. bm accu-
rare (Figure 1.2. Pan C), or neirher precise nor accurate
(Figu re 1.2, rart D).
Accuracy and precision may also be stared in relative
terms. Suppose rhe lengrh of a sr ream is measured (\vice
wirh a I ~O-foo t meral rape, resulr ing in measurements of
232.7 and 232.5 feet. The average length of the srream is
232.6 feet. If the meta l tape was previously broken, say at
the I O-foot mark. a nd spliced back rogerher, reducing rhe
dfecr ive lengrh of the rape (Q 99.9 feel , (he rel at ive aCCll-
racy and precision of (he measuremenrs can be calcu lated.
Since rhe tape was used about 2.3 rimes when measuring
Ihe stream, and the broken part of rhe rape was used each
Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 9
A B
c D
Figure 1.2 Examples of accuracy and precision. Pan A shows accur:HC
and precise locations of €lara aro und rhe circle centcr; Pan B shows
predse bUi nor vcry accurare dar. ; Pan C shows acc urau~ bur not very
precise data; and Part D sho...., neither precise nor :accurate d:ata around
the circle center.
rime, rhe accuracy of rh e measuremenrs is aboUt 2.3 X
0 .1 foot = 0.23 foot off of the value you might have
expecred wirh an unbroken rape. You could exp ress the
relative precision of rhe measurements as (232.7 - 232.5)
1 232.6 = I: 1, 163 and the relative accuracy of [he tape as
0.1 I 100.0 = I: 1,000. One advantage of using rel ative
accuracy is rhar it prov ides an assessmenr of rhe expecred
porrion of erro r given some measu red amount. This
allows for lhe reladve comparison of rhese errors berween
differenr measured irems and locations. Relative accuracy
can also provide a means of stating o r assessing re<Juired
o r mi nimal mappin g accuracies. The U Federal
Geodetic Contro l Subcommittee (FG e S) (J 984) and
N a tural Resources Canada (J 978) fo llow this practice
whereby rhe relar ive precision ca n be carego ri zed as
acceptable or unacceprable. given a desired measuremenr
accuracy.
It is important rhar G IS use rs are aware of [he disrin c-
tion berween precision and accu racy. parricularly when
co nside ring rhe value of using a C IS database in an analy-
sis fh ar leads lO a management decis ion . These terms,
despire [heir com mon usage. imply information about dif-
fe renr qu alifies of a measuremen( o r acriviry. Alrhough
acc ura cy and p recisio n impl y differenr cha rac rerisrics,
24
10 Part 1 Introduction 10 Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
many lise these te rms inrerchangeably and. as a resu lt,
incorrecdy.
There are many ways (0 create and co ll ect data, and all
methods require va rying degrees of skill and organiza-
donal commit menr, The following sec rions describe some
of rhe most commo n medlOds for creatin g GIS databases.
Manual map digitizing
The abi lity (0 manually encode vecto r maps using a digi-
tizing tab le (Figure 1.3) and associated software has been
ava ilable since the late I 960s. Paper o r mylar maps are
raped down to a digitizing rabie, in which is embedded a
fine mesh of copper wire. Known reference points on rhe
maps are idclHified using rhe digitizing table 's ' puck'
(s imilar ro a compurer mouse), which sends a signal ro rhe
wire mesh within rhe rable. Once rhe referen ce poincs
have been idemiried, all orher landscape fearures can be
encoded in a Cartesian coord inare sysrem and related ro
rhe reference poinrs. For poim fe-drures. rhis requires lin-
ing up the cross-hairs of the puck wirh the poim locarions
and identifying rhe points. For line and polygon fearures.
ir involves rracing rhe boundaries of rhe lines or polygon
boundaries. noring each c hange in a line's direcrion.
Features can be recorded with eithe r 'srream mode' o r
' poinr mode' referencing processes. In stream mode. the
spa rial locatio n of the digitizing puck is recorded ar either
regular time intervals (e.g., every seco nd) or regular dis-
ranees inrervals (e.g., every 0.25 inch). In poinr mode, rhe
spalia llocario n of rhe digirizing puck. and hence rhe loca-
rion oflandsca pe fe'drures. is recorded every time a button
on rhe puck is pushed.
Manual digitizing of maps can be a redious process
and. like many orher tasks thar are done by hand. subjecr
Figun 1.3 Digitizing table:.
ro human error and variarion. Today, digitizing is sti ll a
necessary function for many namral resource manage-
menr organizations bur reli ance on this technique has dra-
matically decreased as orher dara collection merhods have
emerged or become refin ed.
Scanning
Scann ing involves rhe exam ination of maps by a com-
puter process dlat seeks to ident ify (a nd convert to digital
form) changes in map colo r or rone. which idemi fy land-
scape fearures. Flat-bed scanne rs allow a picture or map,
such as an aerial pho(Qgraph o r a to pographic map. to be
co nvened ro a digita l form. The resuhing images a re
described by rhe rasrer data srrucCllre, and include pixels
or grid cells that may be encoded (o r attribured) dilter-
enriy. depending o n how the scanne r imerprets the color
or rone of each feature. Scanners (Figu re 1.4) generally
move systematically across a picture or map. and record
rhe reAecrance values of the (Ones or colo rs for each grid
cell. Scanned images rend ro look very much like rhe pic-
tures or maps that were scanned, yer there is lIsually some
difference in qualifY due [0 the size of the g rid cells
assumed in rhe sca nning process, rhe qualiry of the pic-
(Ure or map. or the qualiry of rhe scan ner.
- --- ~-~ .
Figure 1.4 Small format JCln n~r.
25

A second method of scan ni ng involves the use of d ig-
iral cameras. An array of phoroderectors located within
digital cameras allows you to caprure and store an image.
The images are saved with a raster data srructure and can
be tra nsfe rred ro a computer system and rhen used in a
manner si mil ar to the sca nned images mentioned above.
DigitaJ cameras can be synchron ized with CPS rece ive rs so
that a coordinare value and elevation a re potenrially asso-
ciared with each image.
Remote sensing
Remote sensing involves rhe use of a sensor that is nOt in
physical contact with its subject of interest (Avery &
Berlin , 1992). Ir can include a wide variery of rechniques,
and in faCt, capturing images with a digitaJ camera rheorer-
ically uses remme sensing technology, since the camera is
nor necessarily in contact with the image being co ll ecred
(the landscape). However, when discussing remore sensing
technology in natural resource ma nagemem, the use of
satellites or cameras mounted on airplanes is frequently
referenced. Remore sensing devices capture electromag-
netic energy, generated by the sun or perhaps by some
other device, such as a radar eminer, that is reflected off of
landscape features. Most sa tellite senso rs a re designed to
record the reflectance of light or heat from objects on the
Earth 's surface. These e1ectromagneric reflecrances are
reco rded by rhe sensors in terms of their wavelength of
energy, as described by rhe e1ectromagneric specrrum. The
electromagnetic wavelengths are then convened to a digi-
(al formar and transmirred back to a computer for process-
in g and inte rpolation. Satelli tes such as rhe Landsat
On-board computer
Camera field of view - - -.....
Figure 1.5 Digi tal camera mounled on airpla ne.
Chapter t Geographic Information Systems 11
Thematic Mapper™ series can capture wide swaths of rhe
Earth's su rface ( 185 km, or 115 miles), and rhus have rhe
potencial to reco rd vast amounts of informarion over a
shorr time period. The launching and operation of sa tel-
lires for dara collection has increasingly been cond ucted by
private o rganizations, and as a result many different forms
ofhighly accurate and precise data are becoming available,
such as the I In resolurion IKONOS satell ite data (Land
Info Worldwide Mappi ng, LLC, 2006). Alrhough rhese
advances in remote sensing technology have in creased the
variety of products available to cons um ers, the cOSt of
acq uiring and processing sa tellite-collected data is sri II pro-
hibirive for many organizarions.
D igiral cameras ca n be mounred on airplanes (Figu re
1.5) , and can genera ll y p rovide higher reso lurion images
than that provided by satellites, yet rhis distincrio n is get-
ring less clear with each passing year. It is also possible to
mount digiral cameras on smaller, remore cont rolled a ir-
crafr, and to synch ro nize color or infrared photograp hy
with CPS measuremems. This coupli ng of technology
may become more widespread in the futu re.
A relarively new rechnology called LiDAR (light derec-
tion and ranging) has emerged that allows for rhe collec-
tion of ropographic or elevation data . LiDAR sysrems are
rypically mounred on an aircralT (although ground-based
plat fo rms are also used), and include a laser, an inertial
navigation sysrem, a CPS receiver, and an on-board com-
purer fo r dara processing. LiDAR measuremenr rechnol-
ogy allows scienriscs [0 remotely sense and create digital
models oflandscape features such as vegera ti on, ropogra-
phy, and strucru res. LiDAR techno logy has been applied
26
12 Part 1 Introductioo to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
[0 natural resources (Q meas ure foresl ca no py str ucrure,
inventory, and bio mass (Reutebuch et aI., 2005). LiDAR
airborne lase r sca nnin g invo lves directing discrete pulses
of light onro a landscape in o rder ro rerurn rhe posirions
and dimen sions orJandscape features.
A LiDAR lighr pulse is emined from a u ansmi [(er as rhe
aircraft moves and rravds unli l it reac hes a solid o bject
(Figure 1.6). Depending on the type, density, and reAec-
ci viry of 3n o bject, the li ght pulse is either refl ected back ro
an airborne se nsor o r conrinues (0 deflect off of other
objeclS unril it reaches a solid surface. such as [he ground.
T ypica lly, up [Q fou r reflecred va lues ca n be retu rned from
a si ngle pulse. T he combi nation of repear (e(Urns ca n be
fused with orher multiple reru m pulses [Q create a rhree-
dim ens io nal visuali za cio n of la ndscape fearures. The
round-trip lravel rime of individual lighr pulses is meas-
ured and sro red by an airborne se nsor rhar is coo rdin ared
w irh an o n-board globa l posi t ioning system (C PS) . By
comparing rhe rerum rime ro rhe speed of light, rhe d is-
ra nce ro the gro und or the landsca pe fear ure ca n be calcu-
laled. The couplin g of pu lse se nso r and CPS measurements
res ults in the geo-referenci ng of retu rn pulses so thar coor-
dinates (lo ngilllde and latitude) and height (elevat ion) are
assoc iared with each returned pulse. In addition, rhe iner-
laser ~
scanner
..
Figun 1.6 LiDAR system o n ai rcraft (cou rtes)' Dr Jason Drake. US Forest Service ).
tial nav iga tion sys rem [racks [he irregul arities of rhe ai r-
crdft's Aight path and att itude (yaw, pitch, and roll) and all
informarion is collected and processed by the on-boa rd
com puter. Up to 150,000 pulses per second ca n be gener-
ated with contemporary LiDAR systems (YII et aI., 2006).
This rapid pulse rate leads to LiDAR databases of hundreds
of gigabytes for even modest sized areas (e.g. 4,000 hal .
Image p rocessin g sofr""are can convert rhe millions of
rerurn pulses rhat are ryp ical of LiDAR da ta projects into
twO and rhree-dimensional represenrarions of lan dscape
characrerisrics including streams, roads, an d vegetation.
In addition ro posirion a nd heigh t measuremelHs, rhe
reflecrance inrensiry of each LiDAR pulse is measured and
sro red with rhe geo-referenced information. Researchers
have rece nrly recognized (har rhe sr ren gdl of reflecrance
inrensiry values can pOlenrially provide descriptive info r-
marion abom landscape features. Reflecra nce intensity is
the rat io o f srre ngdl of ('he refl ected pulse ro thal of the
emined pulse. The reAecra nce inrensiry informarion is a
spectral signa[ure and ca n be used [0 derermine the na[ure
of landscape objens. There are few pu blished studi es of
usi ng LiDAR reflectance inrensiry values for na rural
resou rce appl ications bur researchers ha ve used LiDAR ro
investigare differences between con ife ro us and deciduous
28
24
20
§: 16
;:
~ 12
'"
8
4
0
0 50 100
Number of laser shots
27

In ou r sociery, electromagnetic energy is generated by
a va ri ety of sou rces, including su nl amps, fi res,
microwaves, radio [Owers, rada r detectors. and lase rs.
Devices or techniques for capturing this e nergy can
~ characterized as passive or act ive. Passive data cap-
[Ure techn iques. suc h as aer ial photography o r
LandsarTM, record electromagnetic energy that is nat-
urally emitted or reAected. The most obvious narural
producer of e1ecrromagneric energy is the sun. The
sun produces eiecrromagneric energy at multiple
wavelengrhs, some of which a re visible to the human
eye. Devices that employ rada r or lase r rec hn o logy
(fansmir elecrromagnecic e nergy a nd record rhe
rrees (So ng et aI., 2002) and <0 dete rmin e rree healrh
(McCombs et aI. , 2003). While these prior research find-
ings have had modeSt success in app lyi ng LiDAR
reAectance intensities, the more powerful emitters and
sensors that are rypical of contemporary LiDAR equip-
mell[ may provide descriptive information such as tree
species and healrh, land cove r rype, o r eype of structure
fo r mapped positions.
LiDAR has shown great porenrial in foresrry a nd naru-
ral resou rce applica rions, nOt only in generating high-res-
o lution digital elevation models (DEMs), but also in meas-
uring stand strucrural co nd itions. Although the COSt of
acquiring LiDAR data is still prohibitive for many o rgani-
zations. large areas can lx Aown ar a COSt of abom $ 1 per
acre; COS[5 are expected to decrease in th e furure.
Photogramme t ry
Phorogram metry is perhaps the primary method used for
rhe creation of spacial data in forestry and narural resource
management, alr hough LiDAR acquisition is gaining
steadily in its app lication. Within the US, many of the
products produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS),
including elevation surfaces and other represemarions of
natural resources, were derived from phorogrammerric
techniques. Photogrammetry ca n be defined as the act of
collecting measuremenrs from rhe image of an object o r
resource. T his tech n ique dates back to the mid-nine-
teemh century. soon after the first phorograph was cre-
ated (Wolf & Dewitt, 2000). Through va ri ous tec h-
niques, pholOg rammetry fac ilitates the interpretatio n and
Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 13
amounr of time ir rakes for rhe energy (Q rerurn; rhese
are defined as acrive techn iques. The enti re range of
electromagnetic energy is known as rhe electromag-
neric spectru m. The range of electromagneric ene rgy
humans can see is ca lled the visible porrion of the
elecrromagneric specrr um , which co nta ins wave-
lengrhs between 0.4 and 0.7 mm. Other portions of
the spectrum that are nOt visible to hum a ns include
rhe cosmic, ultravioler , infrared, microwave, and
radar wavelengths. Mosr digital imagery developed
from remore sensi ng devices makes use of rhe visible
and infrared portions (0.4- 0.9 mm) of the elecrro-
magnetic spect rum .
meas u re ment of features capt ured on photogra phs.
Phorog rammetry requires a firm understanding of pho-
tography, stro ng quantit3rive skills, and ar rimes, creariv-
iry; successful interpretacio n so metimes becomes an a rt.
Phorogrammerry offers several advantages ove r
ground-based dara collectio n techniques. Usi ng airc rafts,
phorographs ca n be ta ken of a reas at heiglHs th at mi ght
ordinarily be inaccessible by orhe r devices. Large la nd -
scape areas can be capru red. creati ng a permanent reco rd
of a reso urce ar the time of data collection. Photographs
can also be used for hisrorical resea rch because it is rela-
tively easy [0 reexamine a ph otograph, as opposed to
reviewing a field survey of a reso urce, which genera ll y is
d ifficulr to reproduce. The accuracy. speed of acquisir ion,
a nd cos r of photog ra mmer ri c products are consra nri y
improv ing, thus phorogra mmerry remains a popular
mer hod for collecting spatial dara an d for the creation of
GIS darabases. Digital methods ofcapruring images, how-
ever, are steadil y rep lacing those rha t use phowgraphic
film.
The mOS t crucial physical co mpo nenr of phorogra m-
merry is the photographic system utilized. Single lens
cameras are most common, a nd a rypical frame measures
23 X 23 cm (9 X 9 in.). The camera lens is held ar a fixed
distance, o r focal length, from rhe frame. Knowing this
distance is critical in facili tating furu re measu rements
from photOgraphs (Figure 1.7) . The most common focal
length is 152.4 mm (6 in.), bur orher lengths are also used
(90, 210, and 305 mm ). Photogra phic images a re cap-
(ured when a shuner near (he lens is opened, momemarily
28
14 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

Principal point graph [Q all ow yo u [0 define the geometric ce nrer of the

Film surface + phorograph.

Ae rial phorographs are described by rhe angle in which
f ocal length they were cap mred: ve rtica l o r ob lique. A venical aer ial
(I) phmograph is o ne where rhe position of the camera axis is
a nearly perpendicu lar orie ntat ion [0 rhe grou nd su rface.
An ob liq ue ae ri al pholOgraph is one where the positio n of
rhe camera axis is located somewhere between a vertica l
Height and hor izontal or ientat io n ro rhe gro und . For measu re-
(H-h) ment purposes. most phOlogram merrisrs prefer verr ica l
phorographs (Figure 1.8) while obliqu e phorographs are
mos rl y useful fo r imerprerive purposes.
Verrical aeria l phorographs usually capture images at
regular imervals along a consisrenr heading. known as a
flight line. This systema ti c data collecrio n ap proach is fol-
Ground Surface
lowed ro ensure tora l coverage of a resource. Flight lines
are usually designed so rhat subsequent photographs will
Figurr: 1.7 A ~ rial phot og~p h y geometry.
have an ove rlap of 60 per ce nL In addirio n. phorographs
captured on adjacent Aighr lines should have an ove rl ap
allowi ng lighr ro srrike rhe fi lm su rface . Fiducial ma rks- or 30 per cem. An advamage or crearing ove rl ap ping pho-
usually in the form of four or eight markings located in rographs is thar YOll can see landsca pe feat ures in Ste reo
the sides or corners of the photograph margins-are pro- with a stereosco pe (Figure 1.9) when s illluh aneously
jecred onto the film during rhe ex pos ure of rhe phoro- viewin g phorographs ca prured of rhe same area yet a[ di f-

Figur~ J.8 A~riaJ photogra ph.

29

Figure: 1.9 Mirror $le:re:osc:opt.
ferem angles. In additio n. phorograph ic mosaics can be
more eas ily c reated when using overlapping phorogra phs.
T he scale of an ae rial photograph is desc ribed by the
rari o o f phmo dista nces ro grou nd distances. A sca le can
be calculated for any point on a pho tOgraph by usi ng the
following formula:
s= f
(H -h)
where 5 is Ihe sca le, l is the ca mera focal length. H is the
heig ht of rhe ca mera above a co mro l sur face. such as
mean sea level (Figure 1.7), and IJ is the poinr's e1evalion.
Variables f H. and h. all need to be stated in [he same
uni ts of meas uremen t. If the focal lengt h were 6", th e
he ight of the ca mera 2.000'. and the height of the point
in question 450'. th e absol ute scale would be 0.5 / (2000
- 450) = 0.000323. Expressed as a rel at ive sca le (t he
inverse of rhe abso lure scale). these meas uremenrs repre-
sent 1:3 100.
If a map is ava ilable of the photographed area. scale
can be derived withom using the focall engrh and ca mera
height. bur instead by co mparing the photo distance with
the map disrance berween twO points. T he fo llowin g for-
mu la ca n then be used:
photo disca nce
photo scale = ( - - - - - , - - - - ) X map scale.
map dista nce
The distances lIsed in this formula must be in the same
units, and the phoro scale wi ll reAecr rhe average elevation
between rhe tw O points. Once rhe phoro sca le is known ,
Chapter t Geographic Information Systems 15
phoro distances ca n be co nvened to ground dislances by
multiplyi ng the pho to distance by the scale. For exa mple.
assu me that the distan ce between rwo points o n a phmo
distan ce was 2.5 in ches, rh e di stance berween rhe same
[\-Yo points o n a map was 4 .5 inches, and thar the map
scale was I :24.000. The scale of the photo is (2.5 /4 .5) X
24.000 = 13.333. o r expressed as a rati o I: 13.333.
Ana lytical phmogrammerry involves the use of math-
emat ics to precisely defi ne the locarions of landsca pe fea-
tures on srereo pairs of phorograp hs. Srereop lotters are
often used in analytical photogrammetry 10 register and
measure photOgraphs (Figu re 1.10). There are several di f-
ferenr rypes of srereoploners; newer models inrerfilce w irh
a co mputer ro increase the speed of d:Ha creat io n and cor-
rec ri o n. Once rh e pho rogra phic images are placed o n the
ste reo plo ner, lights projecred from differem angles are
directed throu gh the photOgrd phs. The lights are adjusted
so thar a srereomodel is formed from rhe overlapping
areas of me projected images o n the photOgraphs. Once
rhe srereo plotrer o peraro r brings the srereo model into
focus, landscape featu res can be measured and mapped,
and a porenrial GIS database is created. The accu racy of
measurements obtained rhrough anaJytica l phorogram-
merry is usually expressed as a rario of the camera heigh I
involved in rhe imaging process. Accuracy levels of
arou nd 1/12. 000 of the camera height are typica l. For
came ra heiglHs of 12,000 fr , [his rranslares into an accu-
racy of abo ut ± I ft.
A relarively new produc t th ar is developed from ae ri al
photographs is a digit al orthophotogtap h. While an
orthophotograph is derived fro m aerial photographs. the
Figure: 1.10 S l e: re:op l otl~ r.
30
16 Part 1 Introductioo to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
relief displacemenr inherent in rhe phorographs is mini-
mized. and measurements of landscape fearures can be
taken direcdy from rhe orrhophomgraph withom the
need ro r displacement corrections. To create a digital
orthophomgraph, scanned aerial phomgraphs an d digital
e leva tion models (OEMs) are required . Orrhophoro-
graphs a nd DEMs a rc discussed in mo re derail in
cha pter 2.
Field data collection
Field coll ectio n techniques for the c rearion of G IS data-
bases have adva nced tremendously over rhe past 20 yea rs
and a re now fully enmeshed in rhe digital age.
Increasingl y, field dara collection processes in natural
reso urce e nvironm enrs are using digital data collection
techniques (Wing & Kellogg, 2004) . Field collection
techniques were once limited [0 m anu a l [ools that
required physical skill on the part of the operamr and,
depending on rhe ins trument, technica l compete ncy
equivalenr to that possessed by a p rofessiona l land sur-
veyor (Kavanagh & Bird, 2000) . Field c rews would lise
meral or synthetic rapes co measure distances between
objects. and clinometers or level guns [0 determine gradi-
ents and elevation differences. Approximate angles co uld
be derermined from compass readings, and more precise
a ngl e measurements were calcula ted from rransirs or
rheodolites. Measurements were recorded in field nore-
books a nd processed in an office se ning. Post-process in g
and adjustment of the data we re almost always necessary
{Q ensure [har data collection and insrrumenr errors were
acco tllHed for and balanced (hroughom rhe measure-
ments. These practices a re sri ll com mon and approp riate
tOday fo r many field crews who are invo lved in collectin g
spada l data for forestry and natural resource purposes.
Alth ough technica l competency with d igita l instru-
mentarion and an understanding of measuremenr error
and co rrections a re necessa ry skills for field crews using
this techno logy, spatia l data can be collected and
processed wiLh an efficiency and precisio n thar far sur-
passes other manual field measu remem techniques.
Electronic distance measu ring devices (EDMs) were first
developed abour 50 yea rs ago and represented a major
breakthrough in data collection (Wo lf & Ghilani, 2002).
These devices measure the amounr of time ir rook a beam
of electromagnetic energy to (ravel from an instrument, (0
a reflective su rface. and back. With (his information, a
distance ca n be calculated. Currenr technology includes
rhe abiliry IO nor only ca pture distance measurements.
bur also the angles berween objects. In addirion, th e
measurementS a re s{Qred in a digiral dambase. In some
cases, these measuremenrs can be highly accurate, provid-
ing positions that are within centimeters, or less, of their
[rue locarions va lues. Total S[3rions a nd laser range find-
ers (Figure 1.11) are examples of tools that make ir possi-
ble for field crews to sigh t and 's hoor' d istant o bjects.
Typically, these insrrumenrs require thar a reflective sur-
face be placed on the object of inrerest so that a beam can
be projeC[ed onro the surface and returned for measure-
ment. Measurements include not only horizontal dis-
rances and a ngles, bur also rhe elevation difference from
rh e ins trument's position. Aurom arica lly storing rhe
measuremenrs within the surveying instruments elimi-
nares rhe potenrial errors rh ar may a ri se when data
recorded by hand on field forms is transferred to a G IS
database.
Another technology [har ha s become bmh more
affordable and more useable in recent yea rs is that of
global positio ning systems (GPS). GPS requires [har a
receiver, locared on the Earth's surface, collect and record
sign als transmitted by satellites o rbiting the Earth (Figure
1.12). Many narural resource professionals conside r GPS
receivers ro be a source of frusrrar ion but recenr evidence
suggests (har so me GPS receivers are ca pable of reliably
collec ting measuremelHs under ca nopy. The com mon
limiring factor for GPS appl ica tion s in narural resources
has been that lines-of-s iglu between GPS rece ivers on-(he-
ground and space-based satellite sysrcms have been
obscured by ca nopy co ndition s. [Opographic barriers. or
some combi nation thereof.
A GPS receive r calculates a position by being ab le to
receive signals from at leas t four sa tellites, wid1 more sa rel-
Fig ure 1.11 Laser rangt" fi ndc r.
31

Satellite
Figure 1.1 2 GPS schenl2lic.
lites leading ro berrer data collection opponu nities. GPS
receivers (Figure 1.13) calculate rhe amou nt of time it
takes each signal to travel from the satelli re. The GPS
receiver uses information contained in the signals ro cal-
culare rhe range (dis£an ce) berween the rece iver and all
satellites in com munication. Ranges arc lIsed to estimate
a posirio n through rrilare ration. Satellite signal quality
and rel iabiliry for measuremeIH determinacion depends
on sarellite availabil ity and geometry of avai lable satell ites
in relarion ro the GPS receiver. Satellite signal qua li ry is
esrimated as a Posirion Dilution of Precision (POOr) sta-
tisric. Mission planning softw are is designed ro idenrify
the potemiaHy best or preferred data collection rimes for
GPS. Mission planning softwa re ca n calculate an expected
POOl> statistic and potemially ava ilab le number of satel-
lires fo r a field sire. La rger va lues of POOP (> 8) infer
diminished satell ite geometry and measu rement reliability
with values of 6 or below being preferred for data collec-
rion (Kennedy. 2002).
Measuremenr variability and error for GPS receivers
can be inrroduced by atmospheric interference of satellite
signa ls, ti min g errors between sarellires and rhe CPS
receiver, the rotation of the Eanh, and satellire orbiral
____ --------------~L.--
----~-:I-li~-t-h-er-r~----~~
Figure 1. 14 Example of multipath error in da12 collccttd through GPS.
Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 17
FigUR 1. 13 GPS receiver and antenna.
parrerns (Leick. 2004). A porrion of these errors can be
es timated and removed through the process of differential
co rrection. Differential co rrecdon uses a fixed CPS base
station at a known locatio n rhat co nrinuously co mpares
calculated CPS-derived posirions to its own location. C PS
base stalion locations are derermined through repeated
measurements tha t lead ro an accurate an d precise dete r-
mination. Calculated differences between rhe known
location and the GPS-derived locations serve as a correc-
tion facror that can also be applied to other GI)S receivers
that are collecting measurements nearby.
Anmhe r pote m ial so urce of error for GPS receivers is
that of mulriparh. Multipath erro rs occur when satell ite
signals reAect off of Olher objects before rea ching a C PS
receiver. This can inrroduce positional er rors into the
measuremems (Figure 1.14). These errors generall y must
Trail
location
32
18 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems.
Systems, Spatial Databases.
Databases, and Map Design

be removed manually bur some GPS manufacru rers offer

so me CPS ofTer more s3fel lites expected in fumr.
satellires furure yea rs. Altho ugh a single
Although
software romines mat 3re designed [0
ma r are [0 defect
delee, and reduce WAA
WAAS satell ire signal is required fo r a CPS
sate llite GI'S (eceiver
receiver to apply
mulriparh errors.
multipath er rors. rea l-ti
real me co rrec tion factors.
-rime receptionn from additional
factors, receptio
Anorher way in which to [0 reduce CPS GPS receiver measure- WAAS satellite
sarellite signals ca cann provide a back
backupup should recep-
ment
m enr erro
errorr is (0 ro collect muhiple measurements at
collecr multiple al single tion from
rion rrom one satellite
sa tellite become unavailable. Other SBAS
locations,
locations. a process known as precise po point
int positioning. include the European Geostatio Geostationary
nary Navigation Overlay
Statistical probability [dis mal a coordin
tells us that coordjnarc ate dete rm ina-
determina- Sysrem
)'Stem (EGNOS)
(EG OS) and the Japanese MTSAT Sarell ite-based
Sa tel lite-based
tion based on the rhe average of multiple measurements measuremenrs Augmenration System (MSAS). Some
Augmentation co nremporary
orne conte mporary GPS
sho uld be more reliabl
should reli ablee (han
t ha n trhhat ar bbased
ased on o n a ssingle
in gle receivers
rece C,ln opera te w ith all SBAS.
ivers can SHAS.
measurement.
measuremc:nt. Orher GPS sa satellite
tellite systems include GLO ASS (Global
GLONASS
In addition to rhe the difficulty
difficulry in receivi ng sa<elli satellite(. sig- Navigation
Navigar ion Satellite
.. e1lire System), which was developed by ,he
the
nals in natural resource senings in fo rested
reso urce settings res ted te teridi n. until
rrai n, Ru
Russ ia n military. Although G
ssian GLOLO NAS ASSS was made fully
fu ll y
relatively recerecently
ndy the re has been only on ly one sarellirc
satellite sysrem
system operarional
operat ional with 1996, it has been incon-
wirh 24 satellites in 1996.
availab le to uscrs users worl
worldwide.
dwid e. This primary satdlite sarell ire sys- wich regard (0
sistent with
sisrcnr to rhe
the number of operationalsatdlites.
operatio nal satellites.
<em is ,he
tem AVSTAR (Navigatio
the NAVSTAR (N av igarionn Satellite Tracking and In ad didon. anorher
addition, 'Inorher sys
systtem
em , ca ll ed Galileo.
e d Ga lil eo. is under
Ra nging) system
Ranging) sYStem operated
opera red by the rhe US Depanme Department nt of th rough the European Space
development through pace Age
Agency
ncy and is
Defense (0 00). NAV
D efense (000). NAVSTAR TAR became avai lable in the early eady operatio nal in 2008.
expected to be operational
1980sj it has :Ia minimum of 24 o peratio nal satell
19805; sa tell ires
ites at com
The key co ponent of
mponem GPS from a user's perspective
o f a CPS
anyone cime rime and makes ma kes sa rellire signals freely and
satellite a nd co ndn-
ntin- that of the'
is (har the CPS
GP recei ver. CPS
receiver. GPS receivers
receive rs can be separated
separa ted
ava ilable to
uously available ro GPS users worl dwide. U
worldwide. ntil 2001,
Until 200 I, rh e measurement
by measu reme m accuracy and price into three broad
000,
DoD , in the me im eres{ of national
interest narional secu riry, ilHenr
security, ionall y
inrenrionally grades or catego ri es: survey,
categories: survey. mapping, and consumer
scrambled CPS GPS sate
satellll i«
ite signals so rha thatt random erro e rrorsrs pre- (Wing & Kellogg, 2004). Accuracy in this distinction is
ve illed acc
vented accurate
urate locatio
locario n information
informarion from rrom being co col-l- [he
the difference between a CPS-coll
di ffe re nce berween CPS-collected measurement and
ected measuremenr
lected . The scrambling
lecred. scrambl in g process was known as selective se l~ctive me true location of rhe CPS receiver when
the w hen it coll ected the
availabili(y (SA)
availability ( A) and co could
uld lead to measuremem
measurement e rrors of measuremenc. The mo
measuremem. most accurate
st accura te and expensive
ex pens ive C CPS
PS
100 IIIm or more.. The random erro rs co
o r more coulduld be removed
re moved by receivers are survey grade and ca n calculcalcu late posi tions to
ate positions
mapping- and survey-grade C CPPS' receiver software
sofrware through
duough within
wit hin one em ot
o ne cm of true location
locarion when used co correctly.
rrectly.
difTerenrial co rrecrion.
differential rrection. Since S ince 200 1, selective
select ive ava il abi lility ty Survey-grade CPS GP receivers are rhethe mosr
most full-fearured
full-fearu red of
has been removed an and d several
several new sa tellit e sys
satellire tems have
systems rhe
the th ree receiver grades and enable users to differentially
three
become operatio
o pe ratio nal. There is no guarantee, guaramee, however, thar that co
correcr collected dat;}.
rrect In addition
data. In addirion ro
to the rel atively high
selective
selecr ive avaavailabiliry
ilability will remai remainn off in the rhe fumre.
futu re. COst
COSt of survey-grade GPS (rypically
(rypica liy greater thathann $10,000)
In additio
addit io n to NAVSTAR,
NAV TAR, (here there are now Space Based operaro p roficiency
o perato r profic with {h
ie ncy wirh rhee hardwa
h ardwa re aand
nd sofrwa re
so ftware
Augmentarion Systems (SBA (SBAS)) (hatthar can provide co nven-
conven- applicatio ns is necessary. Survey-grade
applications urvey-grade CPS G PS rece
receiver
iver use
tional real-time
re-dl-rime differential
diff'ereOlial corrections
corrt:crions to CPS GPS receivers as 3S resource
in natural resou ap plicalions
rce applica ti o ns has beebeenn very limited
rhey
they collect data.
dara. Convenrional real-dme real-ri me diffe re ntial correc-
differential beca use of the
because [he del icare I'w[U re or
icate na[Ure rhe equipmenl
o f the eq uipme nr and rhe
tion uses the more easily access accessibleible coarse/acq uisi tion (CIA)
uisition (C/A) requi reme
require mcncnt for sustained sarellire
satellite reception in o rder (Q ro
sa rellire
","e1l s ign als
itc signa ls rathe
r3rherr rhanthan phase
p hase code.
cod e. Alt A I(hhough
ough phase derive measurements efflciendy.
efficiently. Su rvey-grdde CPS
urvey-grade GI)S ;ICCU-
accu-
code signals have greare grearerr potenrial
pore n da l fo forr accurate
accura te CPS meas- are likely g rearer
racies arc rearcr th
rhan rhat required
an thar ma llY na[U-
req u ired for many mll u-
uremems,
urements, conri nuous and uni nte
co nrinuous rrupted sarellite
merrupted satellite signals are ral resource app lications.
licarions.
requi
req uired. onri nuous and unin
red. Conrinuous uni nrerrupted
terrupted satellite
satellire signals are Mapping- or resource-grade CPS GI'S falls into the
rhe second
seco nd
o f len
ofte n difficlllr
difficulr fO maint ain unde
to maimain underr forest ca nopy and a nd in level of ,he
the three GPS
CPS categories and ca n be purchased for
Ilneven rerrain
uneven termin.. SBAS BAS derives measurement correction correcrion fac- $1,500-$10,000,
$1 ,500-$10,000, depending
dependin g on
o n tthe
he features a nd therhe
ror seve ral po
tors for potemial
tenrial (;1'5
CPS eerror
rro r sOllTces
so urces includi ng atmos- armos· rn:lOu facturer.
manu r.,ctll rer. These
T hese G
GPS a re also
PS receive rs are a lso so me
merimes
times
pheri inte
pheric rrerence of signals. time
inrerference ti me sequences for satelli satellitete ca lllled
ed GiS-grade Many
G iS-grade GPS. Ma ny mapping-grade GPS have
signal range (disra ncc) enim:ues.
(di sta nce) estimates. and sa tell rdliite
te orb ital pat-
o rbital associared
associa ted software for diffe renrial
rcmial correction.
terns. T he primp rimary
ary SBAS for many mall Y users
lIsers in North Ameri America ca Manufacrurer eSlima[es
Manufacrucer accu racy are 1-5 III
posilional accuracy
esr im atcs of posilional m
is Ihe
the US Federal Aviation Aviat ion Administrarion's
Administ ration's Wide Area receiverr configura
depending on the receive configurarion and
ti on an d mapping
Augmenrarion System (WAAS). In 2008, four WAAS sarel-
Augmentation sa tel- app licadon. Accuracy estimates
application. esrimares oftt'n bc=st~casc
reAecrr rhe best-case
often reAec
lites were in oorbir
Iires rbi( with at ar least (wotWO being operational,
opermionai. with data co ll ecrio
ectionn scenarios, wh ich may nor
sce narios, which nO( be possib
possibllee in
33
 hapler 1
Chapter I Geographic Information Syslems
Systems 19

forested
rorested enviro nmems; rhere
environments; there have been several studies on reported by Ithesehese srudies (S to 10m) may be acceptable
studies (5
,his
this issue. Sigrisr
igrist et 3J. (1999) found
er al. fo und positional accuracies for many natural
nalllral resou
resource
rce applications. consumer GP CPS
be"veen
belween 3.8 and 8.8 m durin during g leaf-off
leaf-ofT anda nd between
berween 12.3 receive r limitations,
receiver inability ro
limirarions, including the inabiliry to set mini-
and 25.6 m during leaf-on co conditions
nditions within a mixed mixed-- mum sa leltel lite qual iry
ity standards, the possibility of poinr
rhe possibiliry
hardwood forest during selective availabiliry. availability. Naesset aesser and different ial correccion
averaging. and rhe lack of dilTerenrial correction proce-
Jonmeister (2002) reported positional
Jonmdsler posidonal errors be[\veen berween 0.5 dures, mllsr
dures. must be co nsidered.
nsidered .
nd 5.6 m in sitka spruce (Pian
aand (Piun sitchmsis).
sitch",;;s). Liu (2002)
tested several mapping grade receivers under dense hard hard-- D ata
a ta slorage
sto rage technology
techn o logy
wood canopycano py and reponed averdge average posidonal
positional errors of Commonly, G
COlllmonly. GIS databases co
IS darabases nsist of large quanrities
consisr quantir ies of
4.0 ITI.m. Wing and Karsky (2005) found measuremenr measurement that muSt be slored
data thal
dala Stored and replicaled
r<plicated {'backed-up')
('backed-up') in a
accurf1cies berween 1I and 4 m depend
accuracies belWeen depending ing oon n the amount [hat allows easy access for CIS
system thar I managers an
and use rs
d users
canopy
of ca nopy closu re a nd tthe
clos ure he type of CPS configu ration. rarion. nafUra l resource managemenr
at nawraJ O1anagemem organization field offices.
BolSlad et
Bolstad aJ. (2005) twed
et oj. tesled a va variety
ri ery of mapping-grade Jusr a.1 few years ago magnetic rapes
JUSt tapes and magneric
magnetic disks
Grs
GPS receiver configurAtions
configurations :Ind and found accuracies
accurac ies bcrween
between were commonly used ro store
were: computer
sto re co mpmcr files on nerworks
networks
2.4 and 4.5 m under unde r forest canopy
ca no py in deciduous and red- aand nall comp
nd perso na urers (Burrough &
co mputers & McDonnell, 1998)
forests . Wing el
pine foresls. et al. (in
(i n press) tesred severalI mapp
resred severn mapping-ing- bur srorage technology continues
rechnology com to develop at a ra
inuc.s to rapid
pid
grade GPS con configurations
figura tions and determdeterminedined acc accuracies
uracies from pace.
POst-processed
post-processed da data 0 . 1 and 1.2 m in you
r. of 0.1 young foresr aand
ng forcsl nd Many people use oprical
optical storage
s{Qrage devices such as com-
closed canopy conditions, respect respectively.
ivel y. pact
pad discs (CD) and ddigital igiral versalile
versatile discs (OVO)
(DVD) as Stan-stan-
Consumer-grade GP GPS receivers are a re rhe
the leaS! accu rate
least accurare dard Storage techno
slorage tech logy. C
no logy. CDs
Ds generally can hold about
and most affordable of rhe C GPSPS g rades with receive receivers rs 650 MB of dala.data. and many personal compurers computers now con-
costing
cos between $50-
ring berween $50-$750.
$750_ This price range may ma y be rain CD
ram 0 ddrives
rives that allow users to ro both read and writ wriree to
ro
att ractive for many potential
anracrive porenrial lIsers bur several
users but seve ral disadvan-
d isadvan- CDs.
Ds. The read and wrile write speeds of CDs are proh ibirive ibitive for
tages
rages must be considered. Consumer-grade CPS GPS receivers GIS lIsers
CIS users who wo work rk wirh large GIS I databases. DVDs look
don't
don 't allow o operators
perators LO ro ser
se t minimum rluesholds rhresholds for very similar
imilar lOto CDs,
Os. al also com purer drive co
0 require a computer ro oper-
sa tellite
relli re signal qua li ty through rhrough the rhe establishmel1l
establishment of a are. and
ale, an d are sim ilar
il ar in speed. Many manufacturers
manufacrure rs now
minimum POOP level as a quality conlrol. camrol. Mission plan- ofTe r 'combo' drives w
offer whic
hichh can read and write bo(h both CD
ning software is usually nor included with wirh consumer GP CPS DVD formalS.
and OVo fo rmats. A DVO DVD can hold approximarely
approximately 4.5 CB GB
receivers and some so me do not enable users to conduct poilH poim dam,, with
of di1ta wi dl some varicries
va rieties being
bei ng able to stOre even more.
[0 store

averaging
ave rag in g to ro determine a single position. posicion. While most
Whil e mosl rnpid rC'ad
Recently, rapid read and write speeds (- (-10
10 ms) have been
co n urner GPS affo
consumer afford
rd users the ability LO to srore measure-
store mc:asure- achieved by many brands portable
b rands of port"db le exrernal
external hard drives.
menrs
me ll( S individually, a co common
mmon srorage limir limit of 500 enernal hard drives can be quickly connecled
These external connected to a
poinrs can limir
poims rhe amount of rime a.1 co
limit the consumer CPS
nsum e r GPS computer's
com purer's universal serial bus (USB)
(U B) port. They provide
receiver ca cann be used in the field befo re the rhe receive
receiverr mem- fast
fust backup and recovery, and can ca n also serve as an addi-
o ry is full.
ful l. Differential
Differentia l co correction
rreclion capab
capabiillities
ities through
th rough rional hard drive if
[ional needed. U
ir needed. keys. oorr whal
USBB keys, what some referrere r
data po posr-processing
(-processing techn techniques
iques are not generallgenerallyy avaavail-
il- ' thumb dri
to as 'rhumb drives' popular. inexpensive solu-
ves' are very popular,
able lO co nsumer grade CPS.
to consumer rions for rransponi
rransp rring ng 'smaller' « 2 CB) GB) darabascs.
databases. These
Like survey grade GPS receiver accuracy. consu consumer mer devices
devi ces are comparable in size (0 to a key-c
key-chain
hain and less,rhan
iess,rhan
G
CPSP receiver accu accuracy
racy in forested settings sc::rtings has been $50 in price for a large ca capacity
paciry (2 C GB)
B) version.
"crsion. It Ir wou ld
reponed
reported in previous srudies. studies. Wing er et al.
aJ. (2005) lesled
tested the
rhe not
nor seem unreasonab le tor for a GI
GIS wo works rat ion lO
rks larion ro include
inch lde
positionJI accurac ies and reliabiliry
posirional accuracies reliabil ity of six consumer
s ix co nsumer grade the
,he following data disk drives: CD and DVD co
rollowing dara combo
mbo drive,
CPS
GPS rece receivers
ivers within several different forest
se veral dirrerenr rypes an
lorest types andd large (100-200 CB) GB) eXlernal
external USB drive, add irional USB
additional
reponed me;:asurement accu rac ies wirhi
measure ment accuracies wi thinn 10 meters
mete rs of true drives for rransfer, and a 100-200 GBB inrerna
data transfer,
lor d3[a internall hard
posirion under dense conifer
position GIIlOPY and wi
co nifer canopy within
thin 5 merers
meters drive.
drive.
under partial canopy. depending
ca nopy. depend ing on the[he:: type of co consumer
nsumer
grade CPS receiver. Ave Average
rage accuracies
accumcies of o f' co nsu merr CPS
nsume GPS manipulation
D a ta manipula
Data ti o n and dis
di splay
play
be[\veen 6.5 and 7.
receivers between 7.11 m under dense primarily Persona l co
computers wo rksrations
mpurers and workstati nearlyy syn-
o ns are now nearl
hardwood c.mopies canopies were reponed by Bolstad Bolsrad er al. onymous in mean
meaning,
ing. although JUSt
jusr 10 ye'J
years ago [he
rsago the term
(200S). Althou gh lhe
(2005) . Although rypical reported average accuracies
the typical worksration implied rhe use of a UN UNIX (unip lexed info r-
IX {unip
34
20 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
marion a nd comp uting syste m } operating system .
Perso nal compute rs a re now rhe primary plarfo rm upon
which to urilize GIS sofr\,l<u e programs and manipulate
GIS databases. Even though rhe distinctio n between per-
so nal co mputers and worksrario ns has beco me blu rred ,
co mpu te rs ca n be chamcrerized by crite ria [hat co nstan d y
chan ge w idl adva nces in co mpme r techno logy, such as
speed , memory, and rhe o perating system. Key com po-
nems within a com pu te r include random access memory
(RAM), cent ral processing unitS (C PUs), and storage
devices (hard drives o r o prical discs). Windows" and
Linu operating systems have beco me mu ch more co m-
mon (han U IX- run computers. Most GIS software
designers now focus t hei r development effo n s on
Wind ows<i'l -com p3lible sys tem s and no longer d evel o p
UN IX-based sofrware.
The resolutio n and memory o f co mputer monirors is
also imporranr fo r the quick and clea r display of GIS dara-
bases. Video memory cards are installed in most co mpur-
ers to manage the level of pixel resolmio n of raster GIS
databases. to display a wider a rray of colors, a nd ro
inc rease rhe speed at whi ch images are displayed o n a
compu te r monitor. A bel o w-a verage video card ca n
reduce the effectiveness of an othe rwise fiIsr- processing
co mputer. Video ca rds are often rated by the am OUIH of
RA.t\4 insta ll ed on rhe ca rd. At rhe rim e of w ritin g o f this
book, 256 MB wou ld be an adequa re amou nr of RANI for
sta ndard G IS p rocesses. Fo r those workin g with larger GIS
d atabases, a video ca rd with 5 12 MB or more mem ory
should be co nsidered.
1- •
A GIS wo rkstatio n usually includes a hi ghe r-e nd com-
purer with a fast processor and large amountS of RAM
a nd imernai disk sto rage space. H oweve r, fo r the type
of wo rk pe rfor med by field for este rs an d natural
resource m anagers, a typica l pe rsonal com puter (PC),
or even a laptop co mpmer, will gene rall y suffi ce to
facil irate rhe use of desktop G IS softwa re such as
ArcG1S or Map ln fo. What are [he desired cha racrer is-
rics of a PC com pute r [hat might allow you to use
d eskrop GIS sofrwa re ' Obviousl y a fasr processo r
Output devices
G IS darabases a nd [he resulrs of G IS analyses can be pre-
sented in a varie[), of manners , both in gra ph ica l and tab-
ula r fo rm . Fo r examp le, when examining the impacts of
altern ative riparia n manage m ent policies on a landscape,
ir may be important to present data in ta bular fo rm (Q
describe the potential eco no mi c impacts of alte rn atives,
and in grap hical form to visually display th e area each
policy affects. A number of co mmon om pur devi ces thar
ca n be used to presenr GIS analys is res ults are d escribed in
the nex t few sectio ns.
Prin ters and p lotters
T he m ost obvious output d evices associa ted with GIS are
primers and pio((ers. Fifteen yea rs ago, line printers were
co mmon peripherals to computer systems. Their o utput
qualiry was low and [he range of symbol s and co lors was
limited. Today, a va riety of color and black and white
prinrers are avai lable (hal' ca n produce hi gh qua li ty maps.
Thus the ca rtographi c creariviry of G IS users is virtu al ly
unhindered. Printers are generally class ified as lase r o r in k
jer, dependin g on how ink is transfe rred (Q paper. Laser
printers a re mo re expensive ($ 100-$2,000) rhan ink jer
prinre rs « $500), and rhey require re usable laser ca r-
tridges. H o wever, (hey generally p roduce Outp Ut products
that are more stab le. with regard (Q ex posure ro moisture,
than ink jet printers. In k jet printers require disposa ble
ink ca rtrid ges and the o mput products produced are more
easi ly affected by exposure to mo isture.
wou ld be beneficia l: rhe faster rhe processor, t he
quicker a p rocess is complered. such as buffering o r
overlayin g. In addir io n, 1 GB of RAJ"t is perhaps rhe
m inimum RAM necessary to easily handle large pro-
cessing rasks. And finally, a 100-140 G B ha rd drive is
perhaps the minimum size necessary to srore GIS d ata-
bases YO ll mi ght develo p and use over rhe useful life of
a personal co mpllter (2-3 years). If LiDA R o r o rhe r
la rge r-size G IS databases are to be used , the m inimum
ha rd drive size mighr begin ar 200 GB.
35
 Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 21

The main drawback with moSt primers is the format of
the ourpm. which is generall y limited to BIh" X II " or
1 I" X 14" media. Plouers allow GIS users to produce maps
of a variery of sizes (Ta ble 1.1 ). Plo([ers, however, are gen-
era ll y more expensive than primers. {hough they are now
ava ilable for prices beginning at $ \000; they also typically
req uire special paper and ink cartridges. One way {Q ca re-
gorize planers is to use a vecto r/ras ter analogy. Venor plot-
ters incl ude (hose termed as Aad>ed or drum. Vector plot-
ters draw lines using planing pens of differelll colors and
can prod uce some very precisely d rawn maps. Raster plot-
ters include those termed electrostatic, laser, ink jel, and
warm wax. Electrostatic ploners use an a rray of elect ric
contaClS (> 100 per inch) that ap ply a charge ro paper,
which then co mes in CO IHacr with nega ri vely charged to ner
to produce images. The technology that is used in laser and
ink jet plotters is similar (0 thar in laser and ink jet prim-
ers-each featu re on rhe map is drawn pixel by pi xel.
Warm wax ploners are simila r to ink jet plouers bur rhe
resultin g producrs have a glossy appeara nce. Some of these
primers and planers. in co njun ction with h igh-qu ality
TABLE l.l Common sizes of map output
from plotte rs
Map siu D im t:RsiORs
ANSI A 805''' X 11.0" (2 16 mm x 279 mm)
ANSI B 11.0" x 1 7.0 ~ (279 mm x 432 nun)
ANSI C 17.0" X 22.0" (432 mm X SS9 mm)
paper, enable G IS users ro produce photograp hi c-qual ity
oucpur products. A tho rough examinarion at the needs at
a n organization is warranted prior ro making a decisio n
rega rd ing an in vest ment in primers or plotters.
Screen displays
A more rudimemary set of outp m products trom C IS are
those relared to rhe image displays YO ll can view on a
computer sc reen. These processes co nsist of capturing
inform atio n (data o r maps) d isplayed on [he sc reen at a
computer and tempora rily sro rin g {he information in a
digita l database. A number of methods a re avai lable to
ca pcu re co mp uter sc reen images. The resolution a nd
derail of rh e resulting captu red image, however, depends
on the method used for image ca pture. Screen displays are
someti mes ca ptured and saved as image flies, and ar ot her
ti mes simp ly sto red in the com purer's 'clipboard', and
thu s a re available for past in g into a variety of othe r soft-
ware programs. Fo r exam ple, mOSt personal co mpmers
allow users [0 save what may be displayed on a compmer
sc ree n by pressing (all at o nce) the Alt a nd Pmt Scm but-
rons on a compute r keyboa rd . This Stores (he entire
image di splayed o n th e sc ree n ro the compu ter's clip-
board, JUSt like if yo u we re copying text in a word pro-
cessing prog ram. Then, YO ll ca n paste the ca ptu red image
imo either a word processing or graphi cs softwa re pro-
gram (Figure 1.15). One potential drawback is thar screen
~"'J.o .. , ..... _ .. _ _ ... ,_ ,::,x
f"(.Oo~ _ _ ~ _ _

._...;;0
.-,-
ANSID 22.0" X 34.0" (559 mm X 864 nun)
ANSIE 34.0" X 44.0" (864 mm X 1118 mm)
o-
r
ANSI ~ 28.0" X 40.0" (7 11 mm X 1016 mm)

ISOM 8.3" X 11.7" (210 mm X 297 mm)

ISOAJ 11.7" X 16S (297 mm X 420 mm )

ISOA2 16.5" X 23.4" (420 mill X 594 mm)

ISOAI 23.4" X .n. I" (594 mm X 841 mm)

ISOAO 33. 1" X 46.8" (S4 1 mm X IIS9mm)

ISO B4 9.S" X 13.9" (250 mm X JS3 mm )

ISO B3 13.9" X 19.7" (353 mm X 500 mm)

ISO B2 19.7" X 27.S" (500 mm X 707 mOl)
ISOBI 27.S" X 39.4" (707 mm X 1000 mm)

ANSI . Ametican Nalional SI:lndards InSfiWIt: ~ .. "_.-- -------------"

ISO", International Standards Organizalion Fig urt: 1. 15 Scrt:c:n d is play.

36
22 Part t Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

ca prures a re raster images. eve n tho ugh YO li m ay be

TABLE 1.2 Common types of graphics
3ncmpling {Q caplU re a represenration of a vector GIS
image output files
darabase displayed on [he screen.
FiI ~ CIt~ nsion Description

Graphic images Windows® bilmap formal

In addition {Q sc ree n cap rures , most GIS sof~\Ia re pro- Corel DtaW® formal
grams allow lIse rs (Q direcrly store images viewed on the cgm Computer graphics metafile fo rmal
screen as inclependenr compmcr files. These products are
AutoCad@ digiml exc hange f..le format
also raster images. yet they 3rc slighdy difFerem ('han rhe
emf Windows® Enhanced M etafile fornu.t
scree n displays desc ri bed above in [hac, generally, only rhe
map image is ca prured and stored (Figu re 1.16) , and nor 'P' Encapsu lated PostScript format

everything else fhar may be vis ible on [he scree n. These gif Graphics interchange format

images can be sro red in a w ide va riety of fo rm ats (Tab le jps JPEG Fil~ interchange format
1.2) depending on rhe availabili ry within [he GIS sofrware Macill{Qsh® PICT formal
PC'
program bein g used . H oweve r, transferring grap hi c PC paintbrush formal
images from one system (e.g., GIS) ro anot her (gra phics
png Ilo rtable network graphics form:J1
editing programs) or vice ve rsa ca n somerimes be prob-
lema dc because offo rm ar inconsistenc ies. In addition , [he
,g, Targa format

size of rhe resu lring graphic image files will vary depend- tif Tagged image file forl11:1.1
ing on the formar lIsed ro save rhe image. wmf Windows@ metafile formal

wpg WordPerfcct«l graphics format

Tabular output
As you mi ght assu me, rab ula r ourpuc consists of tabl es or
sets of data (numbers, rex ,) derived direcrly from a GIS
database or from rhe resul, of a GIS a nalysis. While maps
are engagi ng- rh ey draw peo ple in and all ow rhem ro
visua lize rhe qualifies and conditions of a landscape-rab-
ular dara are also importanr fo r illustra ring non -spa rial
information. For exam ple, while developing a map of
habita, qualiry fo r the sporred owl (Strix occidmln/i,) may
provide an in re resfing and compelling view of a land -
scape, decisio n- makers might also be inre resred in how
mu ch land of h ighe r quality habirat ex ists. O r, as alrerna-
rive riparian ma nagemem policies are evaluated, [he effect
(e.g .• rhe area or timber vol um e wirhin rhe riparian man -
age ment areas) will likely be of inre rest [Q decision mak-
ers. Tabula r da ta fro m GIS a nalyses ca n be di s played
direcrly on a map. or d rawn rogerher imo an independelll
table for incorporation wirhin a report.

GIS software programs

There are many GIS softwa re programs available to natu-
ra l resource managemenr orga ni za rio ns raday. The co m-
meI1[S provided in rhis secrion are general in natu re, how-
ever a lisr of dle co mmon GIS so ftware programs is
provided in Appendix C.
GIS softwa re programs are categorized in a number of
ways. One characterizat ion is based on w hich of rhe twO
co mmon dara slrucm res (raste r or vecto r) is accommo~
dated. Rasrer and vecror data st ru ctures is disc ussed in
more deprh in chapler 2. GIS software programs have also
been c haracrer ized by rhe ope rat in g sys tem used . For
example, GIS sofrwa re programs developed for UNIX
wo rksta tions were once considered 'workstario n GIS sofr-
Figure 1. 16 Graphic imag~ . ware\ and GIS softwa re programs developed for pes were

37
 Chapter 1 Geographic Information Systems 23

GIS sofrware'
'PC GIS
considered 'I)C sofrware',. This distinction essen~
diS[incrion has essen- ing field dara data collecrion processes, o r La
collectio n processes. to perfo
performrm water-
riaJly d isappea red as wori<sration
tial ly disappeared workstarion GIS C IS sofrwa
sofrware re is now used delineation and ana
shed delinearion analysis
lysis processe
processes wirh with aDEM.
a OEM.
com purers using both Windows® and
oonn computer an d U UN IX opeT<lt~
operat- If
If,••afrer
fter pondering th rhese
ese issues.
issues, the rhe choi
choicece of a GIS
ing
in g systems. A contemporary
comemporary diSlincrion
distinction amongamo ng Gl GIS soft- sofnva
software re program r('mains remai ns unclear. perhaps choos choosingin g a
progra ms has
ware programs has emerged [hat" that also makes use of the GIS software
sofnva re program (har that seems co ro have the capabiliry
capabili ty to
term 'workstation'
'wo rkstation ' and cont raslS i[
comrasts it with 'desktop' systems. ex pand
txpan with tht
d wirh t he needs of an orga ni za tion would be a
o rganizarion
In {his
[his categorizacion, workstation GIS softwa
catego rization, worksrarion software re programs good de decisio n. Inc
ision. reasingly.
In creasingl ,IS software
y, GIS so ftware programs are a re
are rhose
,hose ,ha,
rh at include ,he the full range of ofGIGIS pprocesses
roc<sses ,ha,that desi gned in a modular manner.
designed ma nner, which allows users use rs coto
a ll ow lIsers
all users (0 to c reare.
reate, edit.
edi t, and
a nd analyze spatia spadall data.
d ata. purchase sepa rate software
separate sof['\vare modules intended [0 to work
Examples of full-fea,ured
full-featured worksr;"ion
workstation GIS sof,ware soflWa re pro- with a base GI GIS program
progra m.. Users then [hen purchase rhe the base
grams include Arclnfo and MGE Microsral Microstation. ion. Desklop
Desktop GIS program and oonly nl y tthose
hose modules Iha, that they deem
GIS
GIS softwa
sofrware re programs are considered
co nsidered 10 to be SCAled-down
scaled-down necessary..
necessary
versions of workstation
worlu(ation GIS GIS sofrware programs, possessing
software programs. Maintenaanncee cha rges are
Mainren a re also beco
becomingming more typicaJty pical
a portion
po rti on of ,he the rool GIS processes found in full-
roo Iss oorr GIS fo G IS soFtware
forr CIS software program prog rams, and are often overlooked
s. :Hld overloo ked
featured wo rkstation GI
worksradon GIS sonware
sof('\.va re programs. Examples when natu narural ra) resource managemem
managemenr organizations create
of deshop
desktop GIS solTware software prog rams incl include
ud e ArcView,
ArcView. rheir budgets. Users can either purchase annual a nnu al maime-
mainre-
Maplnfo, and
Maplnfo. a nd GeoMedia. A primary disrincrion disrin ction benveen
belwccn !lance suppOrt for a3 GIS
nance SUppOfl GIS software program, oorr pay for
workstation
worksCdlion and desktop GIS programs (beside their rheir asso- technical
techn ical sup pOrt as issues arist.
suppOrt arise. An annual fee is eas easier
ier to
ciared cose) COSt) has been rhe the abiliry
ability to ensure rh:H reb~
th at spatial rela- predict
pred ict,, and to include
in clude in rhe budge r, bur a per-incident
the budger, per-incidenr
ti o nships between
donships berween rhe the locadons
locuions described in GI GIS databases fee may resuh result in a lower lowe r [Oral cOSt (depending on rhe
roral COSt the
(the topology) remains trlle rrec£. Some desktop GIS
rrue o r co rrect. .IS amount of suppo
;1mounr su ppo rt rr a user needs).
needs). For some so me G software
IS softwa
GIS re
sofrware programs are limited in their abi li ry ty 10
to maintain
maimain maimena nce fees cover product upgrades, and
programs, mainrenance
lopological
topological relationships
relalionships wilhoul
without ,he rhe use of (and, (a nd, thrhere-
ere- so as nC\'V
new vers io ns of the
versions rhe sofrware
soflware are rel eased. rhey
released. they may
fore.. pu
fore purcrchase
hase of) addi
add itio nal sofrware
,ional software modu les. availa ble :H
be availd af no cosr ro [hose rhose wirh annua annuall maimenance
I n choosing
In choosi ng a GIS sofnva sof[ware re program. purchasers need agreements. As an alternative,
agreemems. al terna t ive, ononline
line GISGIS user suppOrt
to co nsider the
ro consider rhe price,
price. ,hethe GIS
GIS databases ro be man aged. groups
grou a re available
ps are avai lable for users with lilimil mired ed access ro rech-
tech-
and ,he the nexibiliry
Aexibility of rhe the softwa
soflWa re to ro perform the ,he likely nical support
nica1 suppOrt from the sofrware developer. Reliance Reli ance on
analyses required to to suppOrt managemenr decisions. The
SUppOf[ management grou ps ca n result
these groups res ulr in an inexpensive
inex pe nsive and ofte n rapid
price for lor most GIS GIS sonware
soflWare programs ranges from $500 resou rce for [hose
response resource with so
those wirh Frware and
sofrware <lnd hardware
for a ras ter-based deskrop
raSler-based desktop GIS sofrwaresofnva re program to ro well d ifficulties.
difficulries.
ove r $ 15,000
over 15.000 for a fnll-featured
fu ll-featured workstation
worksr.,ion GIS sonwa softwa re When eval eva luati
uating GIS software programs.
ng GIS programs, oorganizations
rganizations
program . Those on:l
progrJm. on a eight
tighr budgel
budger might
mighr cons
co nsider
ider a re rececmnr sho
shoulduld also conside
considerr the projected longevity of rhe the lise
use of
,micle
artic le by Berna Bernard rd and
an d Pri Prisley
sley (2005)
(2 005) ,ided
tided ' Digital
Digiral thee software.
rh sofrwa re. Ir Ir is expensive lO ro impl
implement maintain a
eme nt and maimain
Mapping Aherna,ives:
Alternatives: GIS GIS for rhe the Busy Foresrer'.
Forester'. This G IS system. Once a software
GIS sofrware selectio
selectionn has been made and
article compared
anicle abiliries of nine GIS
co mpared the abilities I software prod~ prod- a commirment
commitment by tht' rhe organ
o rgan izatio
iza(ionn to the sofrware
LO rhe softwa re has
nClS
ucts cosring
costing less lhan tha n $500. institutio nalized,, changing ro a di£fercl1l
been illsrirU[ionalized different GIS GIS software
The types of spalial darab..es LilOl
spatial databases that are access ible by a program is difficuh
difficult and expensive.
expe nsi ve. Organizations
O rganizations may not nor
GIS softwa
software re program should shou ld be carefu
ca refu lly evaluared
eva luated . For have a choice
cho ice in (his matte mane r- there.He
there are many exam ples of
examples
exa mple, if primarily raster GIS
example. GI daraba
databases es will be usod. used, the obsolescence of GIS GI sonware
softwa re programs.
programs, and th rhee subse-
ra srer-based GIS sofrware
perhaps a raslt"r-bdsed software program is mort' more quent elimination or
quenr of support
supporr (or for GIGIS software prog programs
rams
appropriate (as op
appropri"'" posed [0
opposed ro a GIS softwa re program rhar
GI sofrwa tha t (from rhe sofrwar<
softwa re developer) as new product products are devel-
focuses
foclIses on the development
o n {he develo pmenr and a nd maintenance
mai nrena nce of vcc vector
lor oped . However, organizations
oped. orga niz.1tions should consider [he the length
GIS.1. darabases). Finally. a considerarion
databases). Finally, co nsiderat io n of the ry pes of C
th e rypes GISIS time [hal
of rime that a G GIS I developer has been in business. business, and
processes likely 10 to be perform
pe rfo rmed ed is imporranr
impof[am in making attempt to gauge
artempt ga uge its irs future prospects.
furure prospe (5. GIS sofrware pro~
GIS software pro-
an informed
info rm ed purchase decision. exa mp le, GIS users
dec isio n. For example. ggra mss thar have been ava
ram lable for at
avaiilable ,H leas
leastt five yea rs rs,,
ma
mayy need to geo- geo-refe inrcrprcr, and classify satellite
refe rence, interpret, demonstrate conri co m inually
nuaJly growing sales. aod an d have wcll-
welI-
imagery. and
imagery, Jnd m:lyma y need to c reate Vector vecror GIS C IS databases
d3rabases es tablished . acdve
esrablished, active useruse r support
supporr gro ups. ups, might serve as cri· cri-
(e.g., roads or srreams) measuremenrs co
streams) from measurements llected
collec dur~
red dur- ceria
teria [0to consid
consider. er.

38
24 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
Summary
This introdu crory chapter described the history of GIS
developmenr. why GIS is imporranr in natural resource
management, and rhe wide variety of inpur and output
devices associated with G IS. In addidon. a num ber of
issues related (Q rhe selectio n and purchase of GIS sof{~
ware programs were ourlined; hopefully (his summary of
issues will stimulate discussion amo ng those considering
rhe development of a GIS system within a narural resource
organization. The applications of GIS to narural resource
Applications
1.1 Developing the s pecifications for a GIS system.
You have been as ked by the Distr ict Manage r of you r nat-
ural resource management o rga nization. Jane Lerner, ro
develop the specificat ions for a computer (Q be purchased
and used for, among other things, GIS analysis and map
production in a narura l resource managemenr orga niza -
tion field office. Use resources avai lable on the Internet to
design a com purer sys rem (har would be ca pable of run -
ning deskrop GIS software in a forestry or natural resource
field office.
a) What are the specifications of rhe compute r system
[hat you would recommend. and how much might
it cost?
b) If yoll r budget were limited to $2,500 (max imum),
how might your recommendation change?
c) You have been asked to decide whether marc RAM
or video memory wou ld be a berrer investment for
a G IS com purer system. What is the difference
between these (wo types of memory and which
would you select?
1.2 Terminology. The District Manager of you r nam -
ral resource managemenr o rganization, Steve Sm ith, is
unEulliliar with a numbe r of terms related to GIS. H e has
heard these term s distribllIed freely during staff meetings,
and during one of your weekJy reviews he asks you to help
him understand what they mean. Briefly describe for him
GIScience, [Opology. and overlay analysis.
1.3 C haracterizing GIS software systems. Your super-
visor, John Darling, has heard rhe terms 'workstation ' and
' desktop ' GIS sofrware. bur remains confused about how
they diffe r. Explain to him the differences between the
twO types of GIS software.
man agemenr iss ues will vary widely among organizations,
however, und erstanding the capabilities and porcnria l use
of GIS is essenrial fo r na tura l resou rce management pro-
fessionals. The following applications, as with those in
subsequenr chapte rs, are inrended ro provide srude nts
with a taste of the typical types of GIS requestS posed to
field fo reste rs. biologists. and other professio nals fami li ar
with GIS. who work in narural resource management field
offices.
1.4 History of GIS. While on vacation and VISlfll1g
yo ur relatives. you find that the conversation around rhe
dinner table has rurned to the rypes of work you perform
in your role as a narural resource manager. Describe for
your relatives, many of whom have never heard of GIS,
the orig in of G IS. how GIS has evo lved into irs current
form. a nd how YOll mighr use GIS in narural resource
management.
1.5 GIS pioneers. IdentifY and list the noteworrhy con-
tribut io ns of so meone who has made significant contri bu-
tions to the development of GIS.
1.6 GIS data. Identi fY and describe o ne of the GIS
databases described in [his chapter thar contained data ror
the resources of an entire counrry or for a portion of the
world.
1.7 A question of scale. YOll measure the distance
between twO owl nests o n a 1:24,000 scale ropographic
map to be 6 cm. Whar is (he ac(Ual g round disrance
between the nesrs?
1.8 Scale revis ited . YOli have measured (he distance
bel"ween two campgrou nd s on a ropographic map to be
2 cm . From a field vis it, you know that rhe co rresponding
g rou nd distance berween rhe campgrounds is 1 km. What
is th e sca le of the topographic map'
1.9 GIS software. List and briefly describe three GIS
softwa re packages (hat were avai lable prior to 1990.
1.10 Relat ive error. YOll measure the perimeter of a
field plor wirh a meta l rape an d derermine a tota l
39

perimeter of 134.5 meters. Your instrllcror tells you that
he used a (Otal station and determined rhar rhe (Oral
perimete r is actually 136.2 meters.
a) Whar is rhe closure error between your measure~
menr and yo ur insrrucror's?
b) Whar is rhe relative precision of your meraJ tape
measurements?
1.11 GIS d ata fro m above. You have been asked (Q
develop a database of your counry that co ntains elevation
and landform informatio n. Whar are three remore se ns~
ing data co ll ectio n tech niques [har would be used (0
develop rhis database and what are rhe relative strengths
and weaknesses of each ?
1. 12 GIS d ata from the ground. You have been asked
(0 create a GIS database that conrains the boundaries of a
set of tree stand boundaries in a research forest. Describe
th ree approaches (0 co ll ecting this data and the relative
strengths an d weaknesses of each approach.
1. 13 GPS consideration s. A friend of you rs has recendy
purchased a nC\v GPS receiver from a local departmelH
Store for $75 and has told YOll that she is excited thar she
will be able ro collect coo rdinates of fearures that repre~
References
Avery, T.E, & Berlin , G.L. ( 1992). Fllndammtais of
remote Jeming and airphoto interpretation (5 th ed .).
New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Berna rd , A.M. , & Prisley, S.P. (2005). Digital mappi ng
alternatives: GIS for the busy forester. journal of
Formry, 103(4), 163-8.
Bolsead, P., Je nks, A., Berkin, J., Horne, K. , & Reading,
W.H. (2005) . A compa rison of auto nomous, WAAS ,
real- time, and post~p rocessed global posit ioning sys~
terns (GPS) accuracies in nonhern forests. Northern
jOllmal ofApplitd Formry, 22( I ), 5- 1 \.
Brown , T.L., & Lassoie, J.P. (1998). Entry-level compe-
tency and sk ill requiremenrs for foresters . journal of
Forestry, 96(2), 8- 14.
Burrough , P. (1986). Principl.s of geographical informa-
tion sysums for land resourus assessment. Oxford:
Oxford Universiry Press.
Burrough , P.A. , & McDonnell, R.A. (1998). Principk, of
geographical information sysums. Oxford: Oxford
Universiry Press.
Chapler 1 Geographic Information Syslems 25
sem 'exact loeadons' on the Earth's surface. What advice
would you offer her aboUT rhe measu rement accuracy of a
$75 GPS receiver?
1.14 Data input d evi ces. The Bu reau of Land Manage-
ment has hired you as a fo restry technicia n. Your supervi-
sor is aware that you have a background in GIS. and asks
for your input regarding the technology that can be used
to develop a vegetation GIS database. Describe th ree
options. and their srrengrhs and weaknesses in terms of
collecting data and developing a G IS database.
1. 15 Data dh play o ptions. It is Friday afternoon in a
narural resou rce organization's field office. As you are day~
dreaming abour the fo rthcoming weekend's events, your
supervisor enters your office and rells you rhat he has a
meeting Monday morning with a neighboring landowner
[0 describe rhe management alrernatives for a pordon of
the forest you r organ izatio n manages. A fC\v graph ics that
desc ribe rhe alrernatives under co nsideration would be
beneficial to the meeting, and maps are the obvious choice
of ourpur products to engage [he public. However, the
color plo[[er in your office is not working. Describe three
m her methods for examin ing ourpur from GIS that mighr
be useful for your supervisor's Monday meeting.
Clarke, K.C. (200 I). Getting "aned with geographic infor-
mation sy"",u (3 rd ed.). New Jersey: Prem ice H all, Inc.
de Steiguer, J.E., & Giles, R.H. (1981). Introduction to
compute ri zed la n d~i n fo r marion systems. JournaL of
Formry, 79,734-7.
Goodchild, M .F. (1992) . Geograph ical informatio n sci-
ence,lmernatiollaL jOlirnaL ofGeographiCtll lnformation
Sy"",u, 6(1),31--45.
Kava nag h, B.F. , & Bird, S.J.G. (2000). SlIrvqing:
Principl.s and practim (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice
Hall , Inc.
Kennedy, M. (2002). The global positioning system and
GIS. London and New York: Taylor and Francis.
Land Info Worldwide Mapping, LLC. (2006) . IKONOS
high-ruollllion ,aftllift imagery. Highlands Ranch ,
CO: Land Info Worldwide Mapping, LLC. Retrieved
April 21 , 2007 , from http: //www.lan dinfo. com/
s(lrprices.htm.
Leick, A. (2004). CPS ,at"li" survqing. Hoboken , NJ:
John Wiley & Sons.
40
26 Part 1 Introduclion
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases,
Databases, and Map
Map Design

Liu , c.J.
,j. (2002). Effecrs
EffectS of seleerive
selective availability
ava ilability oonn GPS
CPS Phorogram metry
Photogramme Remore Sensing (ISI'
rry and Remote (ISP R5)
RS),.
pos irioning accu racy.
positioning Sou/bun Journal of Appli~d
racy. Sourban Commission III111 Symposium. 9-13 September,
ymposium,9-13 eptember, Gra ••
G raz,
Forestry,
Formry, 26(3), 140- 140-5.. Ausrria, Vol.
Austria, Vo!' XXXiV,
XXXIV, B-259-62.
Longley, P.A P.A..., Goodchild,
Goodchi ld, M.F.,
M.F. , Magui re, D.j D.J ..., & teinitz. c.
Steinitz, c.,, Parke P.• & Jordan,
Parker,r, P., jordan. L. ( 1976)
1976).. H an d-
Rhind, D.W. (200 1). Ceographic
Rhind. CeogroplJir illformolioll
information 'ystems
systems drawn overlays: Their history and
an d prospecrive
prospective uses.
flnd s(i~nct. New York: John Wi
find science. ley and Sons,
Wiley Sons. Inc. LOlldSCIlp'
LflIu/scap' IlrriJirechrr,.
Architectllre, 66(5) ,444-55.
66(5),444-55.
McHarg,
M 1969). Design
Harg. I.L. ((1969). with 1II1I/m.
Dnigll wi," Ilfltllrt . New York: U eodetic Control
US Federal Geoderic Control CommCommittee ittee (FCeS).
(FGeS).
johnn Wiley and Sons,
Joh ons. Inc.
Inc. (1984). Siamiords
Stalldards I11ld Iptcificoriolll for geodetic
alld 'p"ijicariollS g,odnic cOlltrol
Me ombs, J.W.,
McCombs, j .W., Robe"s, S.D.,.• & Evans.
Roberts, S.D Evans, D.L. (2003). lI<l'work,. Rockvi
networks. Ro ckville. MD : National Geodetic
ll e. MD:
Influence of fusing LiDAR and multispectral
Innuence ll1uhispecrral imagery IJ nformarion Branch.
B ...dnch.
o n remorely
on eS(im
remo tely sensed es ~HCS of stand
rim ates srand den
density
s it y and
Jnd M .G.,.• & Bettinger.
Wing, M.G Berringer, P. (2003). GI
C IS:: An updared
updated
mean
mean tree heigh I in
lfee height in a managed loblolly pine planta-
planra- o n a powerful management
primer on journal
tool. Jo
mana gemel1l rool. urnal of
tion,. Form Sci",u.
tion Sci",,,, 49(3), 457-66,
49(3),457-66. Fomtry.
Formry, 101
101(4),4-8.
(4),4-8.
Merry,
Merry. K.L., Berringer.
Beninger, P P., Cl un er, M .•., Hepinstall,
.• Cluner. Hepinstall. J.,
j .• & M.G.,, & Kell
Wing, M.G.
Wing. Kellogg, L.D . (2004). Locating and
ogg. L.D.
Nibbelink, N. N.P.P. (2007) . An assessment of geographic
geogra ph ic mobile mapping rechniques
techniques for forestry applicar ions.
applic.1rions.
informalion system (C
info rmarion sysrem (G IS) skills used by field-Ievd
field-level na(-
nal- C,ographic IlIformOlioll
C,ograpiJic IlIformatioll Srimm.
Scimm, 10(2).
10(2), I175-82.
5--.s2.
ural resollrce
lIral resource ma managers. Forestry. 105(7)'
nagers. journal of Forestry, 105(7), M.G.,.. Eklund , A.,
Wing, M.G A.• & Kellogg, L.D L.D.. (2005).
364-70. onsumer global pos
ons um er grade global positioning system
itio nin g syste (GI'S)
m (CPS)
Naesset. E.
NaesSCI, E.., & Jonmeister,
jonmeister. T. (2002). Assessing poilll poinr acc uracy and rel
reliabili ty. jOllrlllri
iability. jOllmal of Fomtry.
Fomtry, 103(4)
103(4),,
accuracy
accu racy of ot DGPS under
under fo foresr nopy
rest ca no dara
py before data 169-73.
acqu isition,
acqui ilion. in rh th e field.
fie ld , an
and d afrer postprocessing.
after postprocessing. Wing, M.G .,.• & Karsky.
Karsky, R. R. (2006). Standard
Srandard and real-
S{(lIIdi1lllVioll jot/mol of Forest
Scandinavian journal Foml R",orrh. 17, 3
ReunrriJ, 17. 351-8.
1-8. rime accumey
time accuracy and reliability of a map mapping-grade
ping-grade GI'S
CPS
arura l Resources Ca
Narural Canada. (1978).. SptcijicariollS
nada. (1978) Sptcificnli01lS olld
and rec- in a co niferous
conifero us western \Y/~Slem Journal
foresr. Western
wes[ern Oregon forest. journal
onmundntiom for control surll9s
OlmlltlldllliollJ surveys and Sf/TVt] markus.
Ilnd survey markers. Fomtry,. 21(4),
ofApplied FomlrJ' 2 1(4), 222-7.
Onawa, ON: Canada Centre
OWlwa. Cemre for fo r Remore
Remote Sensing. Wi ng, M.G
Wing. M.G.,.. & Sessions, J. j. (2007). Geosparial rechnol-
Geospatialleehnol-
Peucker, T,K
T.K..., & Chrisman.
Ch risman, N. (1975). Cartographic
C.nographic ogy ed ucllion. jOlinUlI
education. jourtlol ofFowtry.Formry. 105(4), 173-173-88..
dara Americoll Cartograph",
structures. Am"imll
data structures. Cllrrogrllpher. 2(1), 5--69.
55-69. W ing, M.G
Wing, M.G.,.. Eklund
Eklund., A A.,.. & K.rsky,
Karsky, R. (In press).
pres ).
Reutebuch, .E..
Reutebuch. .E., Andersen, H.-E., & McG.ughey,
McGaughey, R.J. R.j. H orizonra
Hori zonta l measure
measurement menr pe rformance of five map-
performance
(2005). Lighr
Ligh t detection
detectio n and rangi rangingng (Ll DAR): An
(L1DAR): pin g-grade GPS
ping-grade rece ive r co nfigurations
CPS receiver nfi gllradons in s(,vc:ral
seve ral
emerging rool
lool fo
forr multipl
muhiplee resource in venrory. Journal
invclHory.Joumal fore
foresred se((ings. W",,,"
ted se((ings. \\'It'SltrJI jOlmlol
jOllmal ofAppli_d
Applied Fomtry.
ofFomtry, 103(6),286--92.
ofFomrry, 103(6),286-92. Wolf. P.R .• & Dewitt, B.A.
Wolf, P.R., B.A. (2000). Elm,,,,,,
EI,mmts of pho-
Sample, V.A., Rin
Sample. ggold,, P.c..
Ringgold P.c., Block.
Block, N.E., & Giltmier.
Gil rmi er, 10grfllllllJelry:
togrfllllm,try: \\'Iilh
With applicatiollS
applicfllioJlS ill GIS (3rd
(3 rd ed.). New
j.W.
J. W. (1999). Forestry educarion:
education: .dapting
adapting toro the
rhe York: McGraw-H
McGraw-HilI. ilI.
ch.nging dem.nds. jOlmlll1
changing demands. jOllrnal of Foresrry.
Forestry, 97(9), 4-
4-10.
10. P.R.. & Ghil.n;'
Wolf. P.R.,
Wolf, Ghila ni, .0. (2002) (2002).. Elmtmurry
Elemmtary ",rory-
mrvry-
igrisr, P..
Sigrist, P., oppin. P.•, & Hermy.
oppin, P. Herm y, MM.. (I 999). Impact
(1999). Impac r orof illgo' An introduction
ing: geolnlllics (1
iutToduClioll to geomntics (I Olh
O[ h cd.).
ed.). Engle-
forest of CPS measu
Forest canopy on qualiry and accuracy ofcp. re-
measure- wood Cliffs,
ClilTs. NJ:
j: Prentice
Prenrice Hall,Hall , Inc.
ments. IIIf~r/lllfiolllll journal ofRemou
Imt'rnational Journal ~nsillg. 20( 18).
Remote Sensing. 18), Yu.
Yu , X,.
X., Hyyppii.
H yy ppa, J. j.,, Kukko.
Kukko, A. A.., Malramo,
Maltamo, M., M .. &
3595-610. Kaaninen , H. (2006). Change
Kaarlinen, Cha nge dete rion techniques
detection
ong. j.-H
Song, J.- H .,.• Han.
Han, S.-H
S.- H .,.• Yu,
Yu , K.. & Kim , Y.-I. (2002) .
K., fo r canopy heighl
height growrh
growth measurel1lC'I1[S
measuremems using air-
Assessing rhe
lhe possibi li ty of
possibiliry or land-cover classifica tion
classification dara. Phologrllmmtfrir
borne laser scanner dat:t. Engillt'l'ring
Photogrammetric Engineering
using
us ing UDAR inren siry data.
LIDAR intensiry dala. Inrernational
IlHern:uional Society
ociery of alld
fwd RtII,olt
Remote Stilling.
S""ing, 72( 12), 1339-48.
72(12), 1339--48.

41
Chapter 2
GIS Databases: Map Projections,
Structures, and Scale
Objectives
This chapre r imrocluces rhe concepts of map projections
and dara srrucru res. After compierin g (his chap rer. readers
should have an understanding of th e following top ics
rdared ro rhe sr rucru re and composition of GIS darabases:
I . the defi nirion of a map projection, and rhe compo-
nents rhat comprise a projeccion.
2. the compone nts a nd characrc ri sri cs of a ras rer dara
structure,
3. the componems an d cha racrerisrics of a vec[Q r clara
structu re,
4. the purpose and srrucrure of meradar3,
5. the likely so urces of GIS databases that describe natu -
ral resources with in North America,
G. rhe rypes of info rmation available on a typ ical [OPO-
graphic map. an d
7. the definirion of scale and reso lm ion as rhey relate to
GIS databases.
Perform in g G IS processes a nd analyses in suppo rt of
natural resource management decisions requires obta inin g
and wo rking with spatial databases. Many GIS lIsers find
rhar they spend a g rear deal of time and efforr acquiring
and modifying GIS darabases ro ensu re rhar rhe most su it-
ab le and approp ri ate data is be in g used in subsequenr
ana lyses. One of the g reat challenges in working wirh fea-
(Ures locared on rhe su rface of the Earth is thar the Earth
is very irregularly shaped , and is in a constant sta re of
change. When you arrempr to create a n.vo-dimensional
represenration of the Earth (as is typically represenred on
maps), rhe Earrh 's irregu larities musr be ad dressed.
Di fferent map project ions and pro jecr ion components
have been creared so {hat data from the Ea rth 's surfa,c e
ca n be displayed on ma ps and othe r fl at su rfaces.
Understanding [har s par ial dara can be re prese n ted
through any numb<r o f different map projections. and
that data can be transfo rmed from one map projection to
anmher, is a very impona nr compone nt in rh e process of
learning to manage G IS databases successfully. This chap-
rer is intended ro introduce readers to co mmo n GIS dara-
base formats, [he ways in which G IS data can be srruc-
tured a nd adjusted to represenr rhe Earth 's surface, an d
how GIS databases are documented an d described. Some
direction is also prov ided to allow yo u to begin to think
about sou rces of GIS databases. although mo re detailed
trearmem on {his subject is provided in chapter 3.
The Shape and Size of the Earth
GIS software programs are designed to work with data
describing rh e Ean h's featu res. (Q provide merhods fo r
fearu re measurements, and ro allow comparisons of fea-
rures of interest. A number of options exist by which you
can coll ect, stru cture, and access GIS data. Spatial data
use rs, however, must always be cognizant that represenra-
tio n of landscape fea rures o n n.vo-dimensional surfaces.
such as maps or co mputer monitors, are subject to disror-
tio n based on the sp herical sha pe or the Earth. These
42
30 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
poi nr loeadons within a datum , rhe greater the potential
of rhe darum [Q acr as a reliable surface upon which you
can reference other landscape features.
Hundreds of darums have been developed to describe
the Earth, many o f which are specific [0 a pani cular cou n-
try or region. Within Noreh America, [wo darums are
pro minenr: the arc h American Datum of 192 7
( AD2? ) an d rhe Norrh American Darum of 1983
(NA D83). Anothe r, WGS84, is co mmonl y used in co n-
ju ncrion wir h GPS dara collecrion effom. The NAD83
and WGS84 are very si m ilar, an d are sometimes used
interchangeably, although this practice may nor be suit-
able for applicarions tha t require high data accu racy lev-
els; rh e NAD83 was designed fo r Norrh America whereas
rhe WGS84 rakes a global approach in representing rhe
Earlh . Differences berween AD83 and WGS84 a re in rhe
neighborhood of 1 co 2 m within rhe conrerminous US.
The primary differe nces berween NAD2? and NAD83
darums are rhe number of longirude and latitude loca-
tions (hat we re measured (0 creare each darum , and rh e
way in wh ich rhe measu red locario ns are re fere nced (0 rh e
surfa ce of rhe Ea rth . Abo ur 25,000 poinr locarions were
lI sed to crea re rhe NAD27 datum , each of which was ref-
erenced to a cemrallocari o n- the Meades Carde Ran ch
loca ted in Kansas. Some 270,000 locatio ns were used (Q
c reate rhe NA D83 datum. Instead of referencin g loca rion s
to a cem ralloca ri on on the Earrh 's surface, loeadons are
referenced to the cem er of rhe Ea rth 's mass . The NAD83
datum has become the preferred datum for use in No rth
Ameri ca alrhough man y GIS databases co minue to co n-
ra in landsca pe fearures described by rhe NA D2? datum.
Geoids and ellipsoids are ohen associa red with a par-
ricular datum. For insrance, rhe Cla rke Ellipsoid of 1866
was desi gned [0 describe rhe landsca pe fea tures of Nonh
Ame rica, and is co mm on ly used in conju ncr ion wit h rhe
NAD2? darum. Borh GRS80 a nd WGS84 rake a more
global app roach and are thus bener sui led for desc ribin g
wo rldwi de sur Fd.ces. Wh ereas GRS8 0 is co mmonly associ-
ared wirh NAD83, WGS84 ca n be rhoughr o f as barh an
ell ipsoid and hor izomal datum.
D atums are so metimes upd ared [Q renecr additio nal
co mrol measuremems, shifrs in rhe Earrh's lan dm asses, or
dara co rrecrio ns. When a da tum is updated, the most
recenr yea r in which data we re coHecred is often appe nded
ro rhe datum name. As an exa mple. AD83/91 would indi-
cal< rim rhe NAD83 darum has been adj usted wirh addi -
rional dara rhar were collecred rhrough 199 1. These darum
adjusrmenrs are o ften small (o n rhe order of cenrimerers, o r
less) and are so merimes referred ro as darum realizatio ns.
M any agencies and organ izations th at are involved in
working with spatial dara in onh America use NAD27,
NAD83, o r an adj usred NAD83 darum. A co mm on error
among users of GIS, es pecial ly those who have acqui red
clara from a number of differen ce so urces, is in forgercing
to convert their darabases to a common da(Um. In rerrns
of co mpari son, in the US , landsca pe fe-d. rures re feren ced in
barh AD2? and NAD83 will appea r up ro 40 m offser
from each other in latitude and as many as 100 m off in
longitude. T hese differences vary by region and may be
ha rd to derec r visually when using G IS to view large
reso urce areas. Th is overs ighr ca n o bviou sly lead to inac-
cu ra te analys is resulrs .
The discussion of da(U ms, {Q rhis poim , has focused
on rhose relared to horizomal sur faces. When worki ng
wim elevation dara, such as a DEM , GIS users musr also be
awa re thar daru ms have also been developed [Q desc ri be
rhe verrical dimension . A verrical datum allows us ro
derermine where '0' eievarion begins and rhe heighrs of
orher objecrs locared eirh er above o r below this poinr.
The Narional Geoderic Verrical Darum of 1929
( GVD29) was esrablished from 26 gauging srarions in
rhe US an d Ca nada and was a direcr efTorr in determining
rhe posido n or mean sea level. The Norrh Ame rica n
Vert ical Darum of 1988 (NAVD88) used addirional meas-
uremenrs fro m a large numbe r of elevario n pro files (Q c re-
ate a single sea level co mcol surface. Between 1929 and
1988, ove r 600,000 km oflevel profiles were com plered,
and changes that had occurred ro ex irin g elevation bench-
marks were (aken inro acco unr. These addirionai meas-
uremenrs and adjusrm en rs provided a m o re reliable
mea ns of esrabli shing eleva ti on surfaces and fo r rhi s rea-
son NAVD88 has beco me (he preferred verrical darum.
Elevarion d ifferences berween NGVD29 and NAV D88 in
rhe US could di ffe r by as mu ch as 1.5 m in some areas.
The Geographical
Coordinate System
N ow thar a desc rip tio n of [he size and s hape or rhe
Earth's surface has been prese nted , an enri o n is rurned (Q
rhe merhods by w hic h landseape fea rures are locared on
rhe Earrh's surface. Rene D escartes. a sevenreenrh-cen-
lU ry French marhematician and philosopher, devised one
of rhe fi rsr wrinen methods fo r loca ring landscape fe-d-
(Ures o n a planar surface. D esca rres superi mposed rwo
axes, o rienred perpendicular ro one anorher, with grada-
tions alo ng bot h axes to create eq ual distance inrervals
(Figure 2.4). The horizonral axis is rermed {he x-axis and
43
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale
9
7
2,6
6
y 5
3
2
6,1
o 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Figure 2.5 GC'ogr"phic coordinalC's as determ ined from angular
x and prime meridian.
Figur~ 2.4 Exampl~ of point locations as idcmtific=d by Cartesian
coordinate geometry.
[he ve rr ical is [he y-axis. The (ocarian of any po int o n rhe
planar surface covered by rhis rype of gr id can be defined
wirh respec( to rhe inrerval lines that it inrersec(s or chat
ir most closely neighbors. This basis of determinin g loca-
rion is known as a Ca rtes ian coo rcl inare sysrem .
The most common coo rdin ate system is rhe sysrem of
larirude and longirude. so meti mes refer red ro as rhe geo-
graph ic coo rd inare sys tem . Although [his system can be
rega rd ed as having x- and y-axes. angular measurements
miller than distance-orienred imervals. esta blish rhe axes
and imcrsecrions. The geograp hic coordinate sysrem has
an or igi n at rhe ce nrer of the Earth and co ncains a ser of
perpendicular Jines running rhrough the cemer [Q approx-
imate the x- and y-axes of rhe Ca rtes ian coo rd inare sys-
rem. The o rienrario n of rhe perpendicular lin es is based
on the rota ri an of rhe Earth . The Earth sp ins on an axis
rhat, if ex rended, coi ncides very closely wirh rhe Norrh
Sta r (Polaris}-th is ax is is called the axis of rotarian. Th is
ro rari o n axis di vides rhe Earrh in half [Q creare a line of
longitude that approx imares rhe y-axis. A line perpendi-
cu lar to the lin e o f longitude fa lls a lo ng th e equatOr
(Ea rth 's widest exrenr) ro crea re a line of lar itude that is
co nce pruall y si mil ar ro rhe x-axis. Laritudes are expressed
ro a maxi mum of 90°, in a no[(h o r sourh direction from
Ihe equaror with the equamr deno[ing 0° (F igure 2.5) .
Trave ll ing 90° norrh from the eq uaro r would leave YO ll ar
rhe mosr norrhern poi nt of rhe Eart h and would be noted
as 90· N. Sim ilarly a position half'vay between the South
31
90· North lalilude
0" latitude
30' 5,60' E
90' 5001h la1i1ude meridian
distance from the cenler of the Earth and referenced to the equator
Pole and rhe equ ato r would be referen ced as 45· S. The
equator and o rh er lines oflatitude that parallel the equa-
tor a re also called parallels.
Altho ugh the axis of roratio n splits the Earth in half, a
reference line must be established from which coord in ares
can srart. This reference line is referred ro as [he prime
meridian, and altho ugh there are dozens in exisrence, rhe
most widely recogni zed prime meridi an circles rhe globe
while passing across the Brirish Royal Observdtory loca ted
in Greenwich, En gland. Longiwde mea suremems a re
made from this reference line an d a re designared from 0°
ro 180°, in a wesrern o r eas rern di reccion. North America
is loca red in a regio n (h ar is wesr of rhe prime meridian
and is correcrly described as falli ng inro an area o f nega-
rive lon gi tud e (a ll areas rh ar ex tend wirh in 180° west of
rhe prime meridian) , alrhough many ma ps rhal are
regional o r loca l with lIsually omir rhe negarive sig n.
Other lines tim pass through the Norrh and So uth Po les
(0 acr as guides a nd mark prominent longirude differences
from rhe prime meridian are simpl y called meridians. The
co nce prual co ll ecrion o f meridians an d parallels superim-
posed on the Ea rth 's surface is known as a grar.icule.
The geogra phi c coo rdin a[e system ca n be used to
locate any po int on [he Ea rth 's surFace. To achieve a hi gh
level of precis io n wh en locating la nds cape fea rures,
degrees are funher subdivided imo minures and seconds.
There are 60 minutes (noted by ') wirhin each degree,
and 60 seco nds (no red by") within each minme. A loca-
[ion rh ar is desc ribed as 38°30' laritude would ind icare a
44
34 Part t Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
LZI ~ LZ/ \~
LL \~ \~
L!
'\\ II '\:\ 17
""'"\.
/L/
""'"\.
/L/
a. Mercator b. Transverse Mercator
Figure 2.8 Thf: o ricn U.lio n of the Mercator and Tra nsverse MUC2tOr
to the p rojection cylinder.
related [Q ae rial navigation. meteorological uses, and
[Opographic maps. The emphasis is usually placed on
mid-Iarlrude features of the world, such as those found in
rhe conterminolls US. Detailed applicarions of this pro-
jection system should focus on smaller land areas, since
mainraining angular imegriry across large areas is difficult.
Equal area or equ ivalent projections are wel l suited for
mainraining rhe relative size and shape of landscape fea-
tures when size comparisons are of imerest. Equal area
projections preserve the siz.e and shape of landscape fea-
tu res bur sacrifice linear or d isrance relationships in doing
so. A tenet of map projection techniques and an impor-
tam distinction berween equal area and conformal projec-
(ions is rhat areas and angles cannor be maimained simul-
taneollsly-you mUSt decide which is more important [0
your work. One example of (he equal area projection is
the Albers ' equal a rea projecri on. T his projection is widely
used and is typica ll y based on a secam conic map surface.
Similar (0 rhe Lambert's conformal co nic projection.
mid-latitude areas, which have extensive east-wesr orie n-
[adons, are bener candidates. This projection system has
been selected by many US agencies as a base map projec-
tion. The Lambert equal area projection is anomer co m-
monly used equal area projection , however, i[ is based on
an az.imutha l map surFace.
Azimurhal projecrions are llseful for maintain ing
direction on a mapped surface. Az immhal projectio ns can
be based on one (ra ll gem) or [wo (seca m) points of refer-
ence. Wirh one poilU of reference. distortion w ill occu r
radially from the reference point but directions near the
reference poim should remain rrue. For this reason, the
az imutha l projectio n is appropriate for maps that have
reladvely the same amoum of area in nonh-sourh and
east-west o rientatio ns. When using two points of refer-
ence. direcrions emanating from either reference point
should be true. The azimuthal equidistant project ion
offers rhe unique abi lity of maintaining uniform direc-
tion and distance from reference poims. Azimuthal pro-
jecrions are usefu l for demonstrating the shortest route
between tWO poims (Robinson et aI., 1995). Applications
include those related to air navigation romes, radio wave
ranges, and the description of celestial bodies. Azimuthal
projecrion approaches include Lambert's equal area, ste re-
ographic, orthographic, and gnomic.
\'Q'hen pondering which projection sysrem ro use to
descr ibe GIS databases, you sho uld consider the size of
the area being managed, and whether maimaining direc-
tion o r area is more important (Cla rke , 2001). ProjeClion
distortions and the resulring analytical errors can become
magnified as the size of a management area inc reases. A
conformal o r azimuthal projection should be considered
when navigational or other directional properties are
importanr. If maimaining the size, shape, and dis rribu -
rion oflandscape featu res is important. an equal area pro-
jection should be employed.
Planar Coordinate Systems
Now that the process of taking shapes located on the sur-
face of a sphere and projecti ng rhem on a flat su rface has
been discussed. it is rime to explo re the coordinate sys-
tems that are useful in order (0 locare landscape features
on a flat surface. These systems are known as plana r
coordinates. or rectangu lar coordi nates. Previously, [he
framewo rk for examining plane coordinates was intro-
duced with [he concep( of the Cartesian coordinate sys-
[em . Th is same framework appl ies to planar coo rdina res,
wirh a few minor mod ificatio ns. Fo r example, depending
on the type of planar coordinate systems. coordinates are
so metimes referred to as east in gs or nonhi n gs. An eaSl-
ing measu res distance easr of the coo rdi nate sysrem's ori-
gin whi le a northi ng measures distance north of the ori-
gin. These are usually specified by following the ' right-up'
approac h; easrings are numerically organized so rhal pos-
itive measuremems begin ar the o rigin and increase to [he
right (to rhe east) of the origin, while northings a re
numerically o rga n ized so that positive measu rements
begin ar the origin and inc rease up (to the north) of the
origin. One inconvenience of this approach is rhar if a
coo rdinate system 's origin is in the middle of a landscape,
negarive eas tings and northings may occur, since some of
(he landscape is (0 the west' a nd somh of the origin. These
negative coordinares might complicate the calculation of
45

distances and areas with in GIS softwa re. and rhey also
make manual calculations more cha1lenging. As a remedy
to these ci rcums[3nces. false origin s or False castings can be
constructed to preve nt nega ti ve coordinates. This involves
shifting rhe coo rdinate grid's numeric origin from the
cemcr of a landscape ro rhe lower lefr corner (the fdrrhes(
poim west and so urh locatio n o f rhe landscape), o r JUSt
outside rhe lower left corner, so that all areas of rhe land-
scape are IOC3ted east and north of rhe origi n. and can be
represenred by positive coordinate va lues.
The most co mm o n coordinarc system in the US and
Ca nada is that of lhe U niversal Transverse Mercato r
(UTM). which has even been lI sed to describe rhe surface
of Mars (Cla rke, 200 I). T he UTM system has been used
for remOle sensi ng, foresrry, and topographic map appli-
cations. and if has been used in many ocher countries duc.
in parr co its world-wide applicabili ty and relative simplic-
ity. The UTM system d ivides rhe Earth into 60 vertical
lo nes, each zone covering 6° oflongirude. The zo nes 3re
numbered I-GO starring at 180 0 longirude (rhe inrerna-
donal dare line) and proceeding eastward. The ren zones
lhac cover rhe conterminous US and Canada a re illus-
rrared in Figure 2.9. The system ex rends no rrh wa rd (0
84°N iarirude, and sourhward 80 0 S lari[t1cle. A uni versal
polar stereographic (UPS) grid system is used for th e polar
regions. Coord in ares for each zone scan af rhe equator for
areas covering rhe nonhern hemisphere and at 80 0 S lari-
tud e fo r areas in rhe southern hemisphere. A fa lse o rigin
," ,'<.' ...
2 3 4 5 6 7
F i g UJ"~ 2.9 UTM "lo n ~s and longitud~ lin~s
Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale 35
is established for each zone so that the central meridian of
each zone has an easting of 500,000 meters. This arrange-
menr ensures rhar all easrings are positive. and that areas
of zones can overlap, if needed. As the name implies, the
UTM coord inate system uses the Mercaro r projectio n ro
minimize distortion. The level of accu racy in the sysrem
is assumed ro be one part in every 2,500 (Robinson er aI. ,
1995). Another ve rsion of the UTM is th e military grid
version. The mili ta ry grid version utilizes many princi ples
of the UTM, yet di vid es each zone inro rows, and each
row covers 8° oflatirude. Rows are denoted usi ng rhe let-
ters C ro X wirh X occupyi ng the no nhern lati tude
between 72° and 84° latitude. The military UTM can be
used to further define blocks of zones into 100,000 meter
sq uares.
The state plane coo rdinate system (SPC) was devel-
oped in the 1930s by the US Coast and Geoderic Survey
(k now n today as the US C hart an d Geodetic Survey),
which crea ted a unique set of planar coordinates for each
of the 50 Uni ted Srates. The SPC was originally designed
fo r land surveying purposes, so that location mo numems
co uld be permanently established. Unde r this system,
mosr stares are spli t inro a smaller set of zones depending
o n rhe size and shape of rhe stare. For in sta nce, Florida
has twO zones and Ca lifornia has four. The SPC system
uses eith er a Lambert's conforma l conic or Transverse
Mercaror projection , the choice of which is usually influ-
enced by rhe dimensions of the sta le (Lamben is lIsed for
'.' '. • •
'. .•
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
•
for North A m~ rica.
46
36 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

large wcsr-eaS( dimensions relative to north-south) and
rhe dimensions of the zones of each srare. The level of
accuracy of rhe SPC system is approximately olle parr in
10,000.
Mosr of rhe o riginal surveys in the US and Canada
were described by metes (rhe act of metering. measuring,
and ass igning by measure a straigh t course) and bounds (a
refe rence [0 general property boundaries), These were sys-
and so on. The metes and bounds sysrem is inadequate
roday because of the subjecrive and transiem narure of
physical features; however, many of the original surveys
were described in this manner and can be seen in properry
maps associated with land surveyed prior ro abom 1830.
In some of [he original US colonies. metes and bounds
were used in [he Head right systems char were developed
[Q distribure land ro setders. Other more regular systems

tems of describing real esrare (hat wefe based on English of describing land, such as rhe lorrery system used [0
ammon Law, and involved describing rhe boundaries of describe abom two-thirds of the State of Georgia, fol-
by physical land feafllres such as streams, trees,
a property lowed (Cad le. 1991). Unforeseen problems wirh rhese

a.
First Standard Parallel North

T2N
R3E

Baseline

c
~
I~
:2 " Innial
,.
a; Point
~
u
.s
0:

First Standard Parallel South

b. T2N R3E c. NW 114 , NE 1/4, Seclion 17

6 5 4 3 2 1 NW1I4 NE 1/4
NE 1/4 NE 1/4
7 8 9 10 11 12 NW 114
SW 1/4 SE 1/4
18 17 16 15 14 13 NE 1/4 NE 1/4

19 20 21 22 23 24
N 1/2
SW 1/4
30 29 28 27 26 25 WII2 E 112
SE 114 SE 114
S 112
31 32 33 34 35 36
SW 1/4

Fig u r~ 2. 10 Origin (a), township (b). and ~ction (c) co mpon~nu of lh~ Public Land Su("\'~Y Syst~m.

47
 Chapter
Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections.
Projections, Structures, and
and Scale
Scale 37

early
ea rly surveying systems included
includ ed ex((nsive
extensive fraud.
fraud . survey- miles
mi les square,
squa re, and is further
fu rther divided into
ineo sections,
secrions. with
ing
in g errors, a lack of consisrency
co nsisten cy in the surveying processes, each section measuring one o ne square mile; there are 36 sec-
m ilei {here
hostil ity fro
hostility from n~tives.
m nat ives. and
an d remoteness of the te rrain. As a
rhe (ccrain. cions wirhin
[ions within a rowns
wwnship.hip. Seccions
Sect ion s are numbered 1-36
resulr,
resu lt. several rectangul
reCtangular systems of describing land were
ar sysrems wore with [he
the 361h
36th secrion
sect ion being ar ar ,he
rhe lower righr-hand
lowe r ri glu-h and cor-
ranging
proposed, rangi ng from 6 or 7 square miles to ro 1,000 oror ner of a [Ownship.
ner [Qwnship. Sections
Sectio ns can
ca n be apportioned
appo rrioned inca in to
2,400 acres each (Ladell,
(Ladell , 1993). Thes< recrangular
These rectan gular lOWI1-
town- smaller
smalle r components
compo nems such as quanerquarter sections.
sectio ns. half sec-
ships were mea meant
nr CO facilitate
fO fac rhe development of com-
ilitate the tions,
tio ns, oorr quarrer quarter
quarrer seCTions.
sections. In {he
the naming conven-
co nve n-
munities (Srew:m,
(Stewart, 1979). tion, rhe
the smallest
smaJlesr component is named nrsc, first, starting
scarr ing with
Thee rectangular
Th recrangular US Public Publ ic Land
La nd Survey System rhe portion of a section
the porrion thai a piece of land resides,
secti o n rhar res id es, then
(PLSS) system was established
CSlablished in 1785 by ,he the US the rownship.
rownship, range, and name of the princ ipal meridian.
principal
Congress as a national
nalionaJ sys tem for the meas
system uremenr and
measuremenl An example would be the NWI/4, NE 114, Sec,ion
Ihe NWII4, Sectio n 17,
subdividing of public lands. Approximarely
Approximately 75 per cem
ce nt of T2N., R3W,
T2N R3W , M,
Mt Diablo Meridia
Meridian.
n. Use of ,he
[he recta
rec,angular
ngular
the U
US was subjeCt measuremenr by rhe PLSS. The
su bject to measurement system limired within CIS
systems is limited GIS to visualizing survey sysrem
sys rem
origina l 13 colonies, which com
origin.1 composed
posed a significanl
significant hold- themes. but it is likely.
themes, esp~cia ll y in namra
likely , especia narurall resource
reso urce
ing, were nor
not included in thi
[hiss system
sysrem because rhey
they had applicadons.
ap plicar ions, that you
you will encounter
enco umer th is system as your
this
already
al ready been invenroried
inventoried ,hrough
through meres and bounds sys- work wilh GIS progresses. This
wo rk wirh particularly
T his is particu larl y (Cue
true for
fo r
lems.
tems. InIn 1872 a similar
simil ar system, rhe Dominion Land
sysrem , the projects that
rhat involve
invo lve property
properry ownership issues., as most
ownersh ip issues
urvey. was creared for adminisrration
Survey, adm inisrrarion of the Dominion properry locarions
locations and boundar
boundariesies in areas covered
cove red by We me
Lands of western
L1nds weSlern Canada.
Ca nada. The objec' ives of
objectives o f ,Ihe
he PLSS aand
nd rectangular
rectangu lar systems
sys Lems are described
desc ribed using
us ing sections. tOWI1-
sections, tOwn-
Dominion Land Survey were [0
ro quantitatively
quanrirariveiy measure ships.
sh ips, ranges. and principal merid ians. At some poim
meridians. po int you
YO LI

previously non-planed land. land , create

c reate land portpa rdons
io ns th<lr
{hat may be reqllired
required co re~p rojec
ro re-p rojecrt ow nership
ne rsh ip bounda
boundaries ries
could
coul d bc
be sold
so ld or
o r disrribuecd.
discribured , and
an d provide
prov id e a means
mean s of derived from the recrangular
rhe rectangu lar sysrems so [hat
[haT (hey
rhey match
march
r~cording ownership
recording ownersh ip information. Neither system
informatio n. Neirher sysrem is asso- rhe
the projection
projectio n systems used in Olhermher GIS dar-abases.
databases.
ciated wi
ciared wirhd1 a map projection and therefore neieher neirher one
o ne Misma(ched map projectio
Mismatched projections ns h3ve
have been [he b"1I1e of
the bane
can be considered
cons idered a coord
coordinaTe
inate SYSTem
system , although
ah hough you can many sparial analysisis efrons
spa rial analys effof{s and doubtlessly, ,here are
do ubrless ly, [here
use rh~m
rhe m to specify
spec ifY [he
the gegeneral
neral locations pro perry
lo car io ns of prope rty many publ ished and reported
man y published study resules
repof{ed smdy that
res ults rh at suffer
suffe r
boundaries or other feacures. r~clangular systems
features. These rectangular from Ihis
th is malady. The likelihood
likel ihood is ,ha, rhere will be
,hat there
begin widl
wirh an inidal
in iriaJ point
po inr for a region.
region, provin
province,e, or
o r state
srate many furu re sruclies
future sr udies and wrinen
wrirten products (har will also
prod ucts {hat
through
rhro wh ich a.1 prin
ugh which principal
cipal meridian is astronomically
asrrollom ica ll y be subjec,
subject toro map
map projection
projecrion problems. One of rhe Ihe rea-
2. I0). A baseline is also established,
derived (Figure 2.10). es rablished, and ir il sons fororr projections
projc rions problems is [hal
thar many GIS GIS users are
incersecls a princi
intersects principal point at a righe angle ro
pal poine to the princi- unaware of the intent of projections
unaWate projec ti ons and filii
fail co
ro realize
pal meridian. For exam example,
ple. 37 principal points
poin,s exist
exisr that chere
thar there are sub-componellls. coo rdinate sys-
sub-com ponents, such as coordinate ys-
wilhin
wirhin Ihe US.. In ,he
(he US (he US, at 24-m ile inlcrva
interva ls north
north and tems and datums.
[CI11S datum s, which ne- cd to bl!
need be considered
co ns ide red when
sou,h
so uth of each baseline,
b.. e1ine, Slandard
standard parallels are eSl3blished
established working with a projection.
projecrion. Anmher
Another conrriburor
cont ribu tOr (Qto This
rhis
that extended e:lst
east and west of rhe
the principal meridian problem is ,he
the inabiliry
inab ili ty or
of many
ma ny deskrop
des ktOp GIS
GIS soliware
softwa re
(Ihus
(thus parallel to
ro the
rhe baseline). Parallels are numbered, and to manipuhne
programs [0 manipu late spatia
s pariall darabase
database projections.
:Ire
are referred ~lS either
refe rred to as eithe r being north or
o r south From rhe
somh from the Although projection
proj ect io n .t!gorithms
algo rithm s are becoming more
baseline (e.g., 2nd parallel north
basdine norrh or 71h paralld
7th para llel sou lh of
so uth of a co mmon in deskmp
common desktop CIS ~IS software
sofrware programs,
programs. they are ryp-
typ-
baseline).. Guide meridi
baseline) meridiansans were also established
escabl ished atal 24- ically
ica robuS! in a full-realured
lly more robust fu ll -featu red GIS GIS sof,ware
software pro-
mile intervals cast and west of the pri
inrervals easr pr innciple
ciple meridian. The gr3ms.s. As a GIS
gram CIS user or ana
analyslyst,t, you
yo u musr
must be cogniz31H
cognizanr of
guide meridians were established
esrablished astronomically
astronomica lly and are the projections that are associated wirh spatial spatia l databases.
numbered relarive to their
rel ative ro thei r posicion east or wesrr of rhe
o r wes the \Xlhen
Wh en obtai ningg GIS
ob tainin GI. databases.
databases , eithereith e r from wi within
rhin or
principle meridian (e.g .. 4rh
(e.g., 4th meridian east.
e'dSt, 8th
8th meridian from ooutside
U[side an organization.
o rgan iza ti on, it is critical to obrainobtain as
west of the principle
princi ple meridian). The grid of meridi:ans
merid ia ns muchh info
mll rmarion as possible abou
information the srrucrure
aboulr rhe structu re of rhe
the
and pa rallels
rall els creales
c rea tes blocks, each nominallyy 24 miles
eac h nominall data ,. which
wh ich should
sho uld at leaSt
leas[ minimally include info informa-
rma-
square. lion .Jbour
rion aoour rhe map projection. Informadon abo
projecrion. Information 300m U[ sprlli~1
spatial
Townships are created
creared by forming
fo rming mnge
range lines (run·
(run- darabases can
databases ca n be stored
s[Qred in a metadara
metadata document.
documenr. We'll
ni ng north and soulh)
ning south) .md
and (Ownship
township lines (running
(ru nn ing easT
east discllss
disc llss meradar3
meradara in more detail laler in this chapter
deraillarer chapre r bur
.and
Jnd wesc)
west) boch
borh :H
ar six-mi le imervals. Each [Qwnship
township is six rurn
turn ouOUtr anC'mion no\.... ro
ane mi on now to GIS data s(ru turd
st ructu res..
48
38 Part 1 Introduc1ioo 10 Geographic Informalion Syslems, Spalial Dalabases, and Map Design
GIS Database Structures
Like moS[ digilal fi les, spa(ial databases muS[ be con-
S[ruc(ed so rim (hey can be recognized and read by a GIS
software program. Although GIS manufacmre rs have
developed the ir ow n data fo rmats. there are still [wo com-
monly lIsed data structures for GIS clara: rasrer and vector.
Many GIS manufacrurers have created their own spatial
dam formats bue al most all make lise of ras ter or veeror
formar principles. T he ras te r and vector data structures
are as diffe renr as n ight and day, and borh have strengths
and weaknesses to be conside red for use in va rious appli-
cations. Ahhough many of the applications in this book
involve vector databases, most GIS users will evenrually
find themselves using a combinati o n of both raster and
veem f databases.
Raster data structure
Ras te r dara Strucrures are co nsrructed by whar can be
considered grid cells or pixels (picture dements) that are
organized and referenced by their row and column posi-
tion in a darabase file. Raster data st ruct ures arremp{ (Q
divide up and represenr the landsca pe duough rhe use of
regu lar shapes (Wolf & Ghi lani, 2002). The shape (har is
almost exclusively used is (he sq uare (Figure 2. 11), yer
other shapes can also cover the Earth completely and in a
regular fashion. such as {riangles and octagons. For each
cell or shape in a rasrer database. an atrrib ure va lue [har
... r- Raster or grid cell
Columns
Figure 2.11 G~ n ~ric ra.Sler dala SlrUClure.
S(Qres information abom the resources or characrerisrics is
associated with rhe cell. These values can be numeric (e.g.
remperam re, e1evarion) o r ca n be descrip tive (e.g. fo rested,
prai rie) an d are used to desc ribe all areas represented by
each cell. Some common rasrer GIS databases include
rhose rela red (Q satellire imagery, digiral elevation models.
digi(a l orthophotographs, and digita l raSler graphics.
AI(hough (he particular fo rmal {how they are sto red digi-
rally} d iffers a mong raster databases a nd the tech niques
used to creare raster databases may also diffe r, rhe raster
approach co scoring spatial information is consistem: a sys-
rem of cells (usually sq uare) that covers a la ndsca pe.
Satellite imagery
Satellite imagery is a term used ro describe a wide array
of products generated by remore sensors comained widlin
satellites (Figure 2.12). Satellites are either positioned sta-
tio nary above some loca ti o n on rhe Ea rrh , o r ci rcumnav-
igate (he Eart h using a fixed orbit. Although satellites
have been sent inro deep space, and have returned
imagery co Earth. nam ral resource management is gene r-
ally co ncerned only wirh imagery rhar provides informa-
[ion abo ur pla neta ry fearures. Whe n view in g sarell i[e
imagery of the Ea rth. ir may seem as if [here is no relief
associared with the landscape. since the images were col-
lected from a very high e1evarion (l00+ miles), however,
you ca n assoc iate elevation data (OEMs) w ith raster
images, and subsequently view them in rhree dimensions.
Fig ure: 2. 12 La nds:H 7 sa te:lli l ~ image capmred using Ihe: Enhanced
Thema t ic M a pp~ r Pl us Sensor that shows the Los AlamoslCe':rro
Grande fire': in May 2000. This simulalcd natural colour compositc
image was crealcd through a combination of Ihr« ~nsor bandwidths
(3, 2, I) operaling in the visiblC' speCIrUIll . Image councsy ofWa)'llC' A.
MillC'r. USGS/EROS Data Ontt"r.
49
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale
Digital elevation models
Digital elevation models (OEMs) are databases that con-
min informacion abol![ the [O pography of a landscape.
The grid cells in these data bases cama in measurements of
elevation across a landscape (Figu re 2. 13). It is possible (0
derive rerrai n models from OEMs char represent aspect,
gro und slope classes, and shaded relief maps. It is also
possible co perform a wide va riery of rerrain-based analy-
ses, such as landsca pe visualizario n o r wate rshed ana lysis.
Elevation data can be co Heered by a variery of mean s,
including sensors located on satellite or aerial platforms.
o r phorogrammercic techn iques chat use aerial phorogra-
phy in co njunction with CPS dara. Elevation data may
also be collected from the bonom of wate r bodies such as
oceans, lakes. or screams, th ro ugh rhe use of so nar and
acoustica l se nso rs operated fro m bOa£s o r submersible
wate rcraft. This data can be used w create cross secrion
profiles or w support enginee ring projects that involve
bridges o r other infrastrucru re.
Digital ortbophotographs
Digital orthophotographs are essentially digital ae ri al
photographs (or ae ri al photographs that have been
Fi gu r~ 2. 13 Digi tal ~ l ~vali o n model (OEM ).
39
scanned) th at have been registered to a coo rd ina te system.
The displacement com mon w aerial phowgraphs is usu-
ally corrected through the use of precise positional data,
OEMs, and information about the platform sensor (e.g.
camera system used). The majori ty of the US has been rep-
resented by d igital o rrho pitotograph y. created through a
mapping program sponsored by the US Geological urvey
(USGS). Digital orrhophotographs are generally made
avai lable in porrions that match [he extent of USGS 7.5
Minute Series Quadrangle maps, and are often reFerred to
as digital orrhophoro quadrangles (OOQs). Since the USGS
Quadrangle maps cover large grou nd areas (7.5 minutes of
lo ngitude and latitude). digital orrhophorographs have
been developed w cove r portions o f Quad rangle maps as
well. Many count ies in the US have also commissioned
more derailed d igi tal o rthophorographs, as have private
co mpan ies. Digita l o rrh ophotographs provide a data
so urce fo r rhose interesred in ob£a ining a relatively fine
scale image of landscape o r in obtai nin g a base data layer
fo r digitizing landscape features (Figure 2.14).
One of the strengths of digital orrho photographs is
that each image is geo referen ced wa coo rdinate and pro-
jection syste m; the refo re. GIS users can use a deskwp GIS
software programs w digitize and crea te GIS databases
Figun 2. 14 Digital onhopholO quadrang1~ (DOQ) .
50
411 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
using 'heads-up' digirizing. The rerm 'heads-up' digitizing
indica res that the person doing the digitizing is looking ar
a co mpurer screen (i.e., (heir head is up) rather than a
digitizing table (w hich requires rhem [Q look down ) when
digirizing landscape fearures. Through heads- up digiriz-
ing, you can quickly creare a GIS darabase from a di giral
orrhophorograph image on a compurer screen .
Digital raster graphics
Digital raster graphics (D RGs) are digirally scanned rep-
resemarions of [he USGS topographic maps (Figure 2. I 5).
These maps cover the emire United Scares, are published
- ..:..:.-=-
-~...:-
Figure: 2. 15 Digi[al raslc: r graphic (ORG) image:.
at several different scales. comai n a wealth of information,
and, very importantly for GIS projec[5, are avai lable as dig-
ital databases that can be lIsed by most GIS sofrwa re pro-
grams that have raster display capabilities. Within Canada.
[he Nat ional Topographic D ara Base (NTDB) is main-
tained under the adm inistration of Natu ral Resources
Canada. The NTDB co ntains vecror databases (hat are
similar to rhe USGS ropographic maps and are availab le in
severa l digital formars ar scales of I :50000 and 1:250000.
The most detailed of [he maps produced by [he USGS
are rhe 7.5 Minute (7.5') Quadrangle maps, which have a
published map scale of I :24,000. The 7.5' refers [0 [he total
amounr of laritude and longirude , in degrees,
on rhe Earth's surface rim each Q uadrangle
represenrs. In some cases, fearu res from the
Quadrangle maps are available in a vecro r for-
mar as a digi,al line gra phic (DLG) . Si nce [he
7.5 M inute Series maps typically illustrare cul-
[Ural resources, such as roads, large buildings.
elevation conrours, and narural features such
as water bodies, similarly ro DOQs, georefe r-
ell ced Quadrangle raster databases can be used
as a base layer for digitizing orher landsca pe
features ofinreresL Quadrangles also provide a
great resource for rhose who wam ro learn
more about a landscape .
A closer look at USGS 7.5 Minute
Quadrangle map Given [he broad avai l-
ability of [he 7.5 ' maps, rheir cartogra phic
detail. and their populariry as a GIS darabase
template for foresr ry and natural reso urce
app lic3rions, we will closely examine one of
rhese maps. and describe some of the more
norewonhy components. Alrhough this
close r look is focused on an example using
[he Corvallis Quadrangle from Oregon (also
rhe subject of rhe previous figures demon-
SHaring a OEM and DOQ), the reatures
desc ribed below should be avai lable on most
orher 7.5' maps. In panicular, you should
look closely at rhe information (hat appears
<I, rhe bortom of rhe map (F igure 2. I G) .
Quadrangle maps also provide information
primed along rhe rop margin or the map, bur
....... -
'
rhi s is gene rall y much more limited and a
subser of what YOli find along {he bonom
margi n of [he map. A[ [he time this book
was being devel o ped a digi[al copy of ,his
51
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale 41

Quadrangle could be downloaded from page 8 of the list

of quadrangles avai lable at Imp:llwww.reo.gov/gis/data/
drg.,files/indexes/orequadindex.asp.

Lower right corner

The lower right corner of the Corvallis Quadrangle (Figure
2.17) contains a representative scale (1 :24,000) and several
scale bars with units exp ressed in miles. feet. and meters.
lnfo rm arion is also provided for (Wo comour inrervals: the
main contour inrerval 0(20 feet (s hown by solid lines on the
map's su rface) and a seco ndary contour inrervaJ of 5 (eet
that is represented by dashed lines. The reason for dual con-
lOur intervals is that the Corvallis Quadrangle includes a
mixtu re of moderately-sloped, forested areas and relatively
fl ar areas where urban and agricultural development has
occurred; the dashed five-foor contours are lISed for [he flar-
rer areas. Below the scale bar is a sraremenr about compli-
ance with the National Map Accuracy Standards, a subjecr
rhar will be examined in more derail shoerly. Below the con-
tour inrerval descriptions. there is informat ion abom where
to purchase hard-copies of [he Corvallis Quadrangle and the
ava ilability of topographic map and symbol descriptions.
Moving to rhe right. a graphic ca n be seen that indi-
cates rhe location of rhe Quadrangle relative (Q rhe
Oregon State border. Below [his graphic, a note clarifies
Figure 2. 16 Corval lis Quad rangle with neatJines around map areas 10 (hat [he purple areas of (he map were updated with aerial
be described in detail.
photography captured 111 1982 {and hence edited in

, l
I
!, ,
• ~
•~
..
~
1
< '
~
~
• :; .. j.

,. J
r I• :
<
~

r
~ ' 1_.
. \

i
....... ,,/

"""_.co _ _l4M
""-'J"-'._ _ ...._
_.___

tot<'O"'~ ' .. 'L ..... ' :10 ,tU

_...._"'""
...."".D 1',_,,,,
<~ .., " 00,· •""'•" ,_
"""oc.o.. "".~ r-,
' __ I --- ------.....
-..,~ .... . """ ..---
"'~
.,

L
_ _--_Y,,--
---
.-. --......... .._-
I
.... .. ____ .. CORV
_ _ALUS.OREO
.... 'r~

.- ............
_000 5.0. . ..
. " . ~ .... "" .. .... It ... , .. . ~" ....... _
u..L&cOlOGC.OI.~"

- -- .-~.---
,,"U"';' " ...1>0._
Dl.....,. 0I:Il0lA00 aont.,OIIIUU... _
.... -~.
.. _ __"",".a; " 'l) U-JJ-OU

- ,,,
,-
1'toO'<lIIf"o~n,_

Figure 2.1 7 Lower right corner of the Corvall is Quadrangle.

52
42 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

1986). Moving ro JUSt below the bottom right corner of
the map, you will fin d a legend for road ma p symbols.
The name of the map is liSted (CO RVALLIS, OREG.) and
the map is descr ibed as ,he bottom righr corner (SE/4) of
rhe 15' Corvallis Quad rangle. The Ohio code descrip-
tion, sometimes refe rred (Q as rhe USGS M ap Reference
Code, is liSted as 44 I 23-E3. This means rim the map is
locared in a block of geograph ic lar irude and longitude
that begins at rhe intersection of 44° larirude and 123 0
longirude (USDI US Geological Survey. 1995).
Each block oflarirude and longirude can comain up ro
sixry-fou r 7.5' Quadrangle maps rhar co mprise an eigh r
by eight matrix . Leners are used from A- H [0 denoce
rows starr ing from rhe corner of rhe latitude and longi-
tude inrersecdon and moving upward. umbers are lIsed
from 1- 8 movi ng westwa rd [Q signify columns. Thus, rhe
Corvallis Quadra ngle is located in [he matrix at the inrer-
secrion of rhe 5rh row and the 3rd col umn (Figu re 2.18).
Many map disrri buro rs use th is Ohio code system to
idenriry rhe relative location of quadrangles. T he yea r of
rhe o riginal aerial ph orography (1969) used to create rhe
map is liSted, as is the laSt revision yea r (1986). The bot-
ro m corner of the mapped area has a set of geographic
coo rdinates (44°30' and 123° 15') rhat desc ri be itS loca-
rion. JUSt ro the east and slighd y north of (his corner, a
cross appears. These crosses are loeared in simila r loca-
tions relative [0 all four mapped area corners and demon-
strate how the mapped su rface co rn ers can be adjusted [0
switch rhe datum of rhe ma p's projection from AD27 ro
NAD83 ( AD is short fo r North American Datum). A
full Unive rsa l Transverse M e rca to r (UT M) casti ng
(479000 m) is found JUSt weSt of this corner and a full
UTM northing (4928000 m) to Ihe north. Fu ll UTM
coo rdinates are also given along the o pposite map co rn er.
H ash marks [hat extend o utward from {he mapped area
indica te the locat ion on rhese coordinates relative ro rhe
rest of the map. T hese hash ma rks continue around rhe
emire peri meter of rhe map's su rface. but the last three
digits of rhe easri ngs and notthings that accompany the
marks are nOt primed in order [0 co nserve map space.
LOlUty Itft comty
The lowe r lefr co rner of the map (Figure 2. t 9) States thar
[he map was produced by (he USGS w ith control o r rete r-

,
~
,
M
~ ~
45'

"--":',
F (,
, ,
E3 E

B
1'oIoo<""".,00K1_ 1927 ...."' ........ U"Ie.'~~
10,()()O<_ .. ..t ""... a~ 0. ..... <_4,."•• ,.,_.
" .. 1 ~ .....
1000 .... .. ' U"..WI • •• • ..... w "'.... tot I~C Uk>.
_ 1 0_,,101_
A
._--- - ......_---.01
__ -u. .....
T. pIocI _ _ 1"tId"'.. U
"""", ""-"-'
_ "DoIurot 1M.),
--'.... """...... "",.
w- .. .... _ , _ _ "" _ ...

__ _......,--
44' _

___ ... _--.._ ....

4
...... -
8 7 6 5 3 2 I t1-.frUoI_ .. SIt1Oo _ _ ..... .....
,.,. ..... ..
Figu.rc 2. 18 Ohio codc loca ti on of the Corva.l lis Quadrangle. Figure 2. 19 Lower Itfl corner of Ihe Corvallis Quadrangle.
53
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases:
Oatabases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale 43

ence points eStablished

established by [he rhe u. USGS,
G ,U US CoaS!
CoaSt aand nd [(r, mOSt of the western
rer, most wesrern U was o
US was riginally divided accord-
originally
Geode[ic Su
Geodetic Survey,
rvey, an
andd [he
the S,ate
Srare of Oregon. Mapped sur- ing [0to [he PLSS. The PLS
rhe PIS. PLSS splir
spli[ regio
regions [he US
ns of lhe U in a grid
Faces raken from 1967 ae rial phorography
F.rces were taken photography and were of tow
rownships
nships (a(approxima
pproximatelytely six by six mile blocks created
fieldd checked
fiel checked in 1969. Projection
Projeclio n info rmacion
rmar ion is rhenthen inrersecrions of mwnsh
by rhe intersecrions township ip and range lines) (hatthar were
listed
lis red and ci,e
the base s"su rflee
rface is described as a polyco
polyconicni c pro- created from a reference meridian with townships
creared towns hips furrher
jectio n, NAD27, usi using
ng [he
the Oregon Srare S,a,e Plane No Nonh nh divided into secrions
ections measuring approximarely
approximately one square
Coordinate
Coord inal< System.
ystem. A line follows to (Q describe rhe
the coloring mile. Section
ection numbers range fro m 1-36 in almoSt almost all PLSS
PI_SS
of {he
rhe UTM coordinmes th iU are lisred
coordinates that listed around [he perime~
rhe perime- srares though you
srates rhough yo u might findI1nd an occasional section
secrion num-
[er
rer of ,he
the map, and [he the UTM zo zonene (10) [hal
rim was used used.. bered 37 where measurement irregularities irregularit ies warr3IHed
wa rranted
Instructions
In SHlIcrions for converting rhe
fo r convening rh e mapped su rface from
surface adjus[mems
adjustments to rhe the PI..5S.
PLSS. Someorne Slares,
stares, including Oregon .,
NAD27 to NAD83 are also given and provide a qquanti[a- uanti ta- Florida, and New ew Mexico, had adopted
adopred less rigorous land
tive assessme
rive assessmelH nr of how these twO datums darums differ in the th t measurement
measu rement sys rems [hat
systems rhat superseded the lhe PLSS.
PLSS. Through
quadrangle area. This information is usefu usefull fo
forr pOlcnrial
porenrial rhese systems, sealers
these sysrems, serders could stake
srake claims (Q lands and rhese
cla ims [Q
coo rdinate
coord conversions
ina te conversio GIS . In addition. the
ns in a GI [he [ot(
text srates
states systems were ge generally
nerally re!erred
refe rred to as DL DLCs.. DLe
DLC bobound-
und-
Ihat only landmark
(hat la ndmark buildings arc are shown in map areas [hat aries are numbered
numbered. srart ing with 37.
srarring
are tinted red
3re rimed those dlat
red.. Landmark buildings are [hose that serve rhe
the In ge neral,
ner. l, green shadin
shad ing g (gray in the black and while white
public. have cu ltu ra l or historical sign
cuimrai iftc3 l1ce. or are
significance. image of Figure 2. 19) is used to represenr
2.19) represen t fo rested or
foresred o r nar-
unusually large in relation
relarion ra surrounding
to surrou nding buildings. ural
lIral areas. shad in g is used to represeO(
areas, and no shading represent developed
To [he lhe righ[
righl of th rhese S[3(ements,
ese Slatemen lS, a graph ic at of rherh e Roads, streams,
areas. Roads. screams, and other cultural and "arural natu ral
map's o rienrarion
rientation [0m severaJ
seve raj definidons
definirions at of nonh
norch is shown
shown landscape featu res are arc also visible rhroughour
throu ghout [hethe map.
map.
text bc:low
and (exl below the graphic explains that the orientation is
fro
tromm the map's center. The longest nonh line is lopped topped National Map Accuracy Standards
by a Sta rr symbol
symbol and refers to to astro
asrronomic
nom ic norch.
nord,. The line Accord
According ing (Qto information
informacion illustmed
illusrrared in Figure 2. 17. I 7. rhe
the
to [he
[Q the left
lefr of astronomic
as trono mi c norrh
nonh refers
refe rs to grid norrh
nonh (GN) orvallis Quadrangle map complies wirh
Corvallis with [helhe Na[ional
Natio nal
and is ooriented
riented 0°13'
0° 13' (0.22°) wesr west of ot astron
astronomic
omic nor[h.
north. Map Accuracy Standards
Standa rds (NMAS).
( MAS). The U US Bureau of [he rhe
norch is (he
Grid north rhe dire
direcrionrion in which rhe Oregon State Stare Budge[
Budger ooriri ginall y developed [hese these standards in 194 1I so
Plane Coordinate
Coo rdinare Sysrem ysrem is referenced.
reterenced. The line ro to (he
rhe that guidelines wou
,hal would ld be available for [he establishment of
right at
ofaasrronomi
st'ronomicc north shows rhe the magneric declination
declinarion horizontal verrical map accu
ho rizontal and vertical accuracyracy a[ at multiple scales.
((19°0
19 east),
easr), relative
relarive [0[Q astronomic norrh, nonh. [hatthar existed
exiSled in The guideli
guidel ines
nes were also intended [0 (Q help protect and

1986. Since ince magnetic nonh north can Auctuate

AucUlate fromtrom yeaye-A rr (0
[Q inform consumers abom aOOm rhethe qualiry of map map product
products rheythey
yea r (eve n small daily shifts are also possible), ,he
year the dale
date of acqui red. The guidelines assume that
acquired. thar orga nizations claim-
organizations
the measurement
(he measuremenr is important
imporranr for to r those who wish [0 (0 con-
COI1- ing adherence
ad herence ro to NMAS guidelines are responsible for fo r
vert their data
ven [heir data to march
match rh map's projection.
thee map' ensu ring compliance.
ensuring co mpl iance. The NMAS MAS was last lasr revised in 1947
Geographic coo rdinates appear ar at rhe sourhwesr
sourhwest cor- (Thompson , 1979)
(Thompson, 1979)..
ner at of rhe mapped su surface.
rtace, and
an d rhe UTM coo rdinate The guidel ines (Figure 2.20) provide horiwnral horizontal accu-
abbrev
abb reviatiiations
o ns are lisred
li sted.. A full lisring
listing of Stare Plane racy standards for map scales larger [han I :20,000, and for
Coo rdin
Coord inates
a[es (NAD27) are liSted listed and also ma marked
rked by harch scales at
a[ I :20.000
:20,000 oorr smaller. For [he lhe larger map scales, no
lines to [helhe norrh
nonh (320,000 fee feet)
r) and eaSt (1,260.000
(1,260,000 feet)leer) more than 10 per cem of ot rhe points verified shall be in
of corner. FilII
ot this corner. Full stare coordinates are also listed
srare plane coordinares I130r h of
error by 1/30th
error o f an
an inch.
inch, as measured on rhe the map sur-su r-
along rhe the upper right co rner. Unmarked hash marks
righr corner. face
F.ce.. For smal
smallerler scale maps, this tolerance
rolerance is 1/5 0th of an
I150rh
around the rest resr of {he
the map's perimerer
perimeter denote
denore gradations inch. The Co Corvallis
rvallis Quadrangle
Quadra ngle Falls F.rlls in Lhe
the latter
laner Clcate-
te-
of rhthee stare
sta re plane coordin ares. ates. Periodicall
Periodically, y. range and gory. To (esr
resr ror
tor NMAS compliance.
comp liance, locations or or elevations
township divisions appear as longer longer dashed
dashed. lines oonn the {he from map points poims are compared to their actual acrual measure-
surface. Alo
map's surflee. Alongng [he latitudinal axis of Figure 2. 19,
the la[i[udinal I 9, mems, where locations
locadons or or elevations
e1evarions have been derived by
you em ca n see R. 6 W. and R. 5 W. T This
his signifies [he
rh e d ivi- highly
high ly accurare
accurate ground surveys. Within these compar-
sion
sion between
berween RangeRa nge 6 and 5. west wesr of (he merid~
the reference merid- o nl y 10 per cent
isons, only cem of (he the points ca n be in error by
ia n (Willamcne)
(Willamene) rhar [hat was used lIsed for cre-dring
crearing rhethe PLSS for tor more lhan
than meLhe tolerance.
tolerance. Table 2.1 2. I describes the rhe tolerances
Oregon. Larger numbers ap appear
pea r on the map mapped ped surF.rce
surface in relation ro some of rhe the more common
commo n map scales. scaJes. For
and describe the boundaries between secrions sections and dona- [he
the Corvallis
Co rvallis Quadra
Quadrangle,ngle, [his
this [hreshold
threshold wou would ld be 40 feer,
feet,
rion land claims (OLCs).
tion (DLCs). As menrioned earlier this chap-
in this
earl ier in indicating
ind icating rhat
rhar not
nor more {han r.han 10 per cenr cem of 54 rhe rested
lested
44 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

bur represent locations that are read ily visible on the pho-
Umlnl Stllt~ NfltlOlUU Map /\((1IMy SIIIIIdllfds
\'oOI. __ "'doo _ _ _ .... pNI .. "''''~'''''I''' .. hIrto'''!,-ill ......... , .... 1>ro.od
tograp hy from whi ch the map was created, such as road
..... 100 .u...wcl '" I"'ftCIf"I _"". I>uf .......... ""......"'" porunol>r - . . oI ..... idouI . ....-
our40, c!' «j ..,,,,";v!IlI .... blbhaI .... po..., ~ .. ~.
i nrersections, bridges, and other noreworthy srructures .
I . .....-.1 ~....,. . . ............ OII.....-- ..... 1Mpt I..... 1-3I.IlUD...,. ........ tlw .. }O ptm'N 01
1hr~_.wloor .. _~ _ _ l "lC1_1>.-..-..d ....... ~~""""-r>
Th us, yo u wo uld expect that the po ims represem [he
. . ~~...,.,.,. <It 1.lO,cro. -a.... l -,o!nth. ".".. __ .. - - - ,- .twII""Y"" 00 .....
.. ~.,. ....,..6ffitw,J J"IItIl.. 00II) w" dtm.:.i 1""_ .... ,"'-!Nt ........'" """""' ...... mapped areas whe re the phorogramme[ric methods used
"",,, •• bIIoOllIN pound . ouch o. """ klIIow...,; _"""",t... ....11 ..... """" Of to.·""h .... ,.... I""'I"'fn·
10...........,. .-......mIl; _o«tl<>nJ "' ....... ,.oi~ • • "'" - - " 011.0. . buIldlrop .........,.......
(.. _.-.ol.....n~ ttc.1n ............ k,otlo ...,.dftirW'd _ _ Ioo~_~ ro crea te the map were [he most reliable for mapping pur-
"!wl"~"" Ihr,.,. '"
Lht .... ...u..
1100.,.h no ..... hAI rtIr...--- "' ...... 0\l00J Of
poses. It is also worth noring rhat 10 per cem of those
~ ...... - . . . .. ~~ ... - I J _ .. Ilhon.omoilIkl~. ~~ .....
_ _....... '" -tI rw-. _ .... AI ..... __ ............Id ob>->ouo.lv _ boo p' ....... bIrt "'-0 wi,,,,""'1hoo
nIL ....... ;,,;....,..... _
o. _
u,.,.a.f..w.. "f'M .... 5""'tw;! .. iIhon cIo+r 1orIoiI. ~
I"""" ..."'" rho- - ' . . , . - l ""... th."'I!h ,,..., . _ .... \ bot __. 1«.1 dootIj wpon Ihr
""' ... bot ~'II po ilUS could be off by any distance, and [he resulting map
...plftlh;.<il..i""-..w«l'llf ............... .... ~ ...
2. V............"')'.... "rP'1od •• ru.. _ ""'1" "" .011 poaI.u.-...... """';.,., .li.oii bot.....,. th.I. !WI _ would still be MAS compliant. Even though you a re
dldnW,..,..,..,.... , .... ...,.,...............,>h.oIIbt ................ ltt.tn ' ........uIhe""'lOoninw...·.oI tr.
~ .... ..-.- .....". 1ft... ,Iw..,. "'" oPf>M"" wttIC4II ...... _ .... -..",.,.,;1.,.. ~. assured compliance with a published standa rd , potenrial
~~- .... ,..,..........~ .......... • ... r~~.".,"'"""
). n.. MftI."'Y ., .., ..., .or ... -.II t... """f'U"'I "'" , . - '" "'....... ",,,,- Ioc.o_ ..
...... _ ..., .......n ap........ ~II _~ r - - .........."'"""-'d by ............. ..r
4 hr~
fo r errors related to the accuracy of locarion of landscape
• ",........ rht. """~ to. nwde l') ,.... pn>d ........ ~ .~~ ...."'.. whkh .ho.lI ...... Jo1<'rml ...... hl<h,~ 11> ....1"
_.,l't~ •...,Uwn_ol...ch1dC!ft,t featu res can still be signif\canr .
L p,.........r . .,.~ ... u-._..,.""'I-...- oh.oII_dwf..a_ ....... ~ ..
-n.._,,"-rt- ""Ito ~ Moop _4C)'St.t~
"*"""
, . hlolitoMd..."._ ........ _ _ _ .f~ ohalI_ ""'" '''''''."'''''' _ ...... "''''
Our discussion of raster data s[rucrures and CIS data-
•. "'_..I""", ..)' ....... -........
..... . ,.....;.a,.,., ~ "'._pJr ...
'Injr (-...-..... p'l"''''.f'''W'"''td bases above provided examples of so me of th e more com-
INJ' '''''' *" ...... t.....,0<1 '" "'" IfrJ "" ~""""" ·ill.. ""'I' It ... ~.!I"_ 01. I~.tm
•••01....... Ju~, ",.. -0. .... " ~~"...,tup_ ~ . r.!4.00J..c.0Io,.....IIN .... p mon rypes of raster data and a few porenrial applications .
7. T. roc\u,OI, nooly I.... rdt.at>s • ....r
... of It.Ml< h.~1oot "" ... ,. c-Irudlooto _
.. 011 r...kt.r

_ ......... •.............._""_rlO
"..~ ~

~IS_
1>IIiCrif'I .... ""
o.nol
. . pu/>Ikht<l-r-....w""'"'.....
Io.:F"". _
... '"*"-..-J~."'~,-.
~
......... .......-_~~ .......
}..J. ~ _ ... _
<mi' ........__ Ras[er data provide a powerful means ofi nve nrory ing and
analyzi ng Earrh 's featu res and no doubt new raster dara
•• _,,..... ,01 , , .. . UIl .. u Of THlluocrr
_'''':'''1'1<
_ , . ... 1· ,... · fo rma ts and applica rions will arise in future years. The
usefulness of raste r CIS databases will depend on the
Figu r~ 2.20 US alional Map Accur:.lIcy Slandards. needs and ca pabiliries of each narural resource organiza-
tion. bur if is increasingly likely that raster data will be
map points should diffe r from rhei r acma l locadons by parr of every o rganization 's data holdings. parr icul arly as
more {han 40 feer. Vertical accuracy srandards are applied technological adva nces conrinue ro b ri ng economies to
by using half of rhe como ur inrerval as a benchmark. For remmely sensed landscape data. We now {Urn our atten-
verr ical accu racy of rhe primary COntour lines (20' inrer· tion to the other primary data strucru re fo r sparial data-
vals) of the Corvallis Quadrangle, the standa rd indicates bases: the vecto r data structure.
char 90 per ce nr of [he elevation points checked along [he
co ntour lines should nor be in erro r by more [han 10 feer. Vector data structure
Typically on USGS 7.5' Quadrangles, 28 points are
examined fo r accu racy verificatio n, represe nting a very Vector dara. as co mpared to raster data, is generally con-
small portion of rhe population of map poims. h is also sidered ' irregular' in irs construction and appearance.
worth noti ng thar rhese poims are not random ly selected, T his descrip ti o n is nor a co mm enr o n the quality or use-
fulness of vector data srrucrures. bur JUSt a characreriza-
rion of rhe rype of dara it represems. Vecro r data are gen-
TABLE 2, \ Map scales and associated erally grou ped inro three catego ri es: points, lin es, o r
National Map Accuracy
polygons. This categorization is sometimes referred (0 as
Standards for horizontal
accuracy rhe fearure model of GIS. Almost any landscape feature on
rhe Earth ca n be des cribed usin g one of these three
Standard
shapes. or a combination thereof (F igure 2.21). Points a re
1,1.200 :l 3.33 f~~l

102,400 :l 6.67 fcel

Poin t line Polygon
1,4.800 :l 13.33 feel

UO.OOO .t. 27.78 fcci

1, 12,000 .t. 33.33 f~el

1024,000 J: 40.00 feel

1,63,360 :l 105.60 fC~1

uoo.OOO ± 166.67 fee l

Figur~ 2.21 Poine . line, and polygon v«to r shapes.

55
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale
rhe mOSt basic of rhe shapes btl[ define the essence of all
three fo rms. A line is a set o f co nn ec red paines. A polygon
is a co ll ection of lines thal form a dosed loop.
Poim. line, and polygon vecror fearures ca n be refer-
enced by almos[ any coordinare system . To represent a
poinr, a si ngle measure from each X (east-west) and Y
(no rch- sourh) axis is needed ro describe rhe location of
rhe poinr wi th in a coo rdin a te system. Wi th lines and
polygons. each coordinare pair is referred [0 as either a
node o r as a venex. The coo rdin ates of poinr, line, and
polygon fearures allow calculations of distances berween
features. and in rhe case o f lines and polygo ns, dimen-
sions of featu res. Point features have no dim ension, or
size, beca use a sin gle pair of coordinares represenrs rhem.
A coord inare pair does nO{ allow for length, area, or vol-
um e calc ulati o ns. Line feawres a re singl e dim ensio n
shapes in which coo rdina[e pairs can be used ro cakula re
a length. Polygon features are rwo dimensional in naru re.
wirh coo rdinate pairs being used ro nor only cakulare a
perimeter d isra nce a round a polygon. but also being used
ro calculate an area within rhe polygon.
Topology
Mos t GIS software programs Sto re loca ti on informacion
(X, Y coordinates that describe the position of landscape
feam res) in separate GIS dacabases fo r each ropic of inrer-
est. For example. the coordi nates that are used ro describe
a roads GIS database are separate from the coo rdinales char
describe a ",earns GIS database. Although moS( of the
location information thar defi nes vec[Q r feamres will be
rranspa rent to users of desktop GIS software programs, it is
vital in eS(abl ishing and mai nrai ning topology. Topology
describes the spatial rela tions hips between (o r among)
poinrs. li nes. and polygons. and is a very impo rtant co n-
siderarion when conducling spatial analyses. Topology
all ows you [Q delermine s uch thin gs as the distance
between points. whether lines intersect, or whether a poi nr
(or line) is located within the boundary of a polygo n.
Topology can be defined in a number of ways but the
most common defi niti ons invo lve aspects of adjace ncy,
connectivity, and conrainmenr (Figure 2.22). Adjacency is
used ro describe a landscape featll re's neighbo rin g features.
You might use adjacency relationships to describe poly-
gons rhat share common bo rders (e.g., in suppo rt of green-
lip requi remenrs in a forest managemenr conrexr). or to
identify lhe lines rhal make up a pol ygo n (a rea).
Connectivity is rypically used (0 describe: linear ner\vo rks,
such as a network of culverts thar m ight be connected by
drainage d itches or a sr ream network. Co nnectivity would
45
co
Adjacent polygons Connected stream One polygon contained
network inside another polygon
Figure 2.22 Exam ples of adjacency, conn~ctivity, and containment.
allow you ro (race rh e fl ow of water (hrough [he strea m
system. You can also incorporare direction in [heir descrip-
ti o n of co nn ectiviry. Based on the topograp hy of a la nd-
scape in which a culven system is siruared , you cou ld
determine the ove rland fl ow paths o f warer rhrough the
system, given tha[ water flows downhill. Conrainmenr
allows you (0 describe which landscape features a re
located w ith in . o r inrersect, the boundary of polygons.
Conrai nmenr in fo rm at io n can be used ro describe (he well
locations (po ints) or the power lines (lines) that are located
w ithin a pro posed urban growth boundary, for example.
In order for ropology (Q exist. a system of coding
topology thar can be undersrood and manipulated by a
computer must also exist. With GIS darabases co mai ning
point features, there is li[tie need for anythi ng more than
a file of coordi nare pairs (X, Y coordinates) since all points
are idea ll y se para te from one anot her, and thus there a re
no issues of adjacency. co nn ecti vi ty. and comainmenr ro
resolve. H owever, you must be ca reful in describin g fea-
ture locations and linkages when using GIS databases con-
tainin g line and polygo n fearures. The spatial integrity of
lines and polygons is mainrained by managing rhe nodes.
ve rtices. and lin ks of each feature. A node is rhe starrin g
a nd ending point of a li ne. and also represents rhe inter-
sec tion of twO or more lines (Figure 2.23). A vertex is any
poim rhar is nor a node but specifies a location or creares
¥ Vertex
.........Node - - - -
Figure 2.23 Examples of nod~$, links. and vertices.
56
46 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

a. Network of nodes, links, and polygons b. node coordinate file

C 5 Node X Y
4
1 0.5 2.4
2 0
6 2 2 2.1 3.1
Y
5
3 3 3.2 1.7
E
7 4 4.7 3.3
B 6 A
5 5.4 5.0
X
6 3.6 0.5

c. topological relationship file

link Begin End Left Righi

node node polygon polygon
1 1 5 A C

2 5 6 A E

3 1 2 C B

4 2 4 C 0

5 4 3 E 0

6 3 2 B 0

7 3 6 E B

Figure! 2.24 V~Clo r topological data. (a) Network of nodes, links. and polygons. (b) node coordin:lIc fi le, and (el topological rdationship file.

a directional cha nge in a line. A link, sometimes called an
arc, is a line [har con nects points as defined by nodes and
verr ices. Nodes, ve rt ices. and lin ks are usually numbe red
and mainrained in a C IS database fi le [Q mainrain wpol-
ogy. In a network of lines and polygons (Figu re 2.24), this
woul d invo lve us ing num eric codes fo r network pieces
(nodes and links) to identilY the node locations, the nodes
cha r afC attached CO eac h link, a nd the polygo ns th at may
fo rm o n either side of each link.
Topology a lso allows yo u [Q inspecr rh e spa cial
inregr iry of lines a nd polygons. Fo r instance, yo u ca n lise
topo logy informario n ro determine whe rhe r any breaks o r
gaps occu r in lines that are meant to rep rese nt streams.
F rom a pol ygo n perspecrive, topology wou ld all ow you [0
dere rmine wherher a pol ygon fo rms a closed boundary, o r
whether an ex rra neous polygon ex isrs inside, or alo ng rhe
outside border, of a not her polygo n (Figure 2.25).
One of the primary differences between full-featured
G IS softwa re programs a nd desktop GIS software pro-
gra ms is whether they can identify and co rrect topology
problems in v<owr GIS database features. Many deskwp
G IS software programs, such as ArcView 3.2, GeoMedi a,
and M aplnfo, may use vecto r clara form ars thar are not
topo logicall y- based (C hang, 2002). Thus landsca pe fea-
tures, such as adjacent polygons, may nor be represented
as sha ring a common boundary line wirh orher polygo ns.
Most full-featured GIS software programs such as ArcGIS
may also allow lise of vecro r fo rm ars char are nor rypolog~
ically based. but will usually have tools or options to draw
and ma nipulate rypo logy. I n so me cases, use rs may be
a. An un-closed polygoo b. An extraneous polygon
Figure 2.25 Examplu or lopological urou. In (a). an undershoot has
occurred and instead of a closed figure crcat ing a 1>olygon, a line has
been crated. In (b), a small loop has been rormed extraneously adjacent
to a pol)·gon . This might reprCUllt a digitiz.ing error or the result or a
nawed o\'crlay process.

57
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale 47

What is topology? Topology, o r topological coding,
provides the intelligence in (he data structure relat ive
to the spatial relationships among landscape feacuces
(Lillesand & Kiefer, 2000). For example, in a vector
GIS database containing polygons, topological coding
keeps "ack of each line [hat forms each polygon, and
the common nodes each line shares with each other
line. In addition, the polygons that are formed on
either side of each line (since polygons may share a
boundary defined by a line) are known. Thus with
topology you can understand which forest stands, for
example. are next to which other forest stands.

able [0 define their own copological rules. or whether cer-
tain topological relationships can be ignored in a specific
database. The dange r for users of desktop GIS software
programs is that some programs will allow users co pro-
ceed, without warning, with spatial processes and analyses
even though ropological problems exist. Th is condition
may lead [Q errors in linear and area measuremenr calcu-
lations, or an inabilicy to complete certain spatial opera-
tions (hat rely on these dimensions for processing. Users
of desktop GIS sofrware programs may only become
aware of (apological problems after ca reful examination
of GIS databases and associated analyses. or may not
notice potential problems altogether.
The point. line. and polygon vecmr data structure pro-
vides a method to represent irregularly-shaped Earth fea-
tures. More often than not. vector GIS databases do nO[
completely cover a landscape of interest (e.g .• a vegetation
GIS database may only contain the vegetation located
within the ownership boundary of a natu ral reso u rce
management organization. and nOt the vegetation outside
of the ownership boundary-<juite different from satellite
imagery or digital orthophotographs), and represent land-
scape features that are quite diverse (e.g .• polygons of dif-
ferent sizes and shapes. rather than a regu lar size and
arrangement of pixels). Examples of diverse vecmr data-
bases include road and st ream representations. Both of
these rypes of databases tend to have unique geographic
shapes that do not completely occupy a landscape (unless,
of cou rse, the 'landscape' is the size of a pothole. or some
pool in a stream). Some poim databases. such as those
that describe timber inventory cruise plots. come close to
a regular arrangement across a landscape. yet they usually
System or other culturally-based land delineations have
been implemented. so me edges of forest stands now seem
to have an aspect of regulariry built into them.
Comparing raster and vector data
structures
There are a number of ways in which the differences
between vector and raste r GIS data can be described
(T able 2.2). Since GIS users will ultimately use databases
representing both structures. and since users sometimes
conve rt raster to vecCQr data. and vice versa. an illustration
of the differences is needed. Therefo re. an examination of
a generic dara structure conversion process might be help-
fu l to ill ustrate how the three main rypes of vector data
(points, lines, and polygons) might be represented in a
raste r GIS database. The right side of Figure 2.26 also
illus trates these three features but demonstrates how they
might be represented in a raste r database structure. The
vecto r representation of points can yield fairly precise
locations, depending on the rype of coo rdinate system
used to reference the points. This means that you co uld
use a GIS to determine with some degree of precision
where these points could be located on a map that
TABLE 2.2 Comparison of raster and
vector data structures
Raster Vector
Structure complexiry Simple Complex
Location specificiry Limited Not limited

deviate from regularity as a result of the sampling method Computational efficiency High Low
selected for each stand. Point locations of wi ld life sight- Data volume High Low
ings are usually very irregularly distributed across a land-
Spatial rcsolu[ion Limited NO(lim iu!"d
scape. Polygons. whether they represent sta nds of similar
Representation of topology Difficult NO( djfficult
trees. soils. or recreation areas. tend to be very irregular in
among feamrcs
shape. although in areas where the Public Land Survey
58
48 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
• precise loca tion of a well, road junction, or propeny
• •
• •
Figure 2.26 Point, line, and polygon fe atures represen ted in vector
and ras ter data StruCtures.
includes coordinate refe rence marks on its axes. While the
raSter represemation also shows these point locatio ns,
there is less precision (specificity) in their map location,
which is dependent upo n the raster gri d cell size assu med.
You would know that the point is iocared somewhere in
the grid cell. bur th e precise locatio n is elusive.
You can also see some similar relationships be[Ween the
data S[rucrures when describin g line and polygon features.
Both the line and polygon vector features have very discrete
shapes that are somecimes lost when co nverted to the raster
data structure. This faCt is perhaps most noticeable when
yo u examine the junctions. or nodes. of the line featu re
(A), or those places where polygon features intersecr (B).
The loss of specificity when co nve rting a vector feature
imo a raster ca n, at least in pan, be overco me by selecting
a smaller raSter grid cell size to rep resent the rasterized
vecto r features. This choice comes with a price, however:
a n inc reasing storage size requiremem fo r the resuhing
raSter GIS database, and greate r strain on computer pro-
cessing resources. The loss of specificity when converting
from vecto r to raster data structures may be acceptable if
you r goal was to simply represent the rdative locatio ns of
landscape features. However, if you needed to know (he
boundary, representing these landsca pe features with a
vector da ta structure may be more appropriate .
In general. raster data struCtu res may be more ap pro-
priate for representing continuous surfaces than the vec-
tor data structure. For exam ple, if yo u were inrerested in
describing precipitation, temperature, or species diversity
across a landscape, raster data structures may do this more
efficiently because rhe dara may be more appropriately
sw red and illustrated with grid cells. Because of the regu-
larity of features (i.e., each grid cell is the same size a nd
shape) the co mpu te r processing requ ireme ms are lower
when usi ng raste r data structures. When performin g G IS
processes wi th raste r data, generally no calculatio n of the
intersection of landscape features (lines or polygons) is
needed , given rhe regular shape of the cells. In contrast,
analysis processes that involve vector G IS data usually
must deal with the potential intersection of landscape fea-
tures (e.g., overlapping polygo ns) .
Unfortunately, GIS databases sto red in the raster data
structure can become very large, especially when fine reso-
lution cells are assumed . One of the hindrances to using
raSter data is that every cell must have a value associated
with it; even cells where no landscape featu res of interest
are present (e.g., vegetation outside of an ownership). From
a computer storage perspective, this means that all raster
grid cells have a value (e ither a valid value or a null value)
that must be s[Qred and maintai ned. In conrrast, vecto r GIS
data need only have points, lines, o r polygon featu res in
locations where landscape information is present.
Alternative data structures
Although points, lines, and polygons represent the most
common forms of vector G IS data, several other forms of
vector GIS data that may be useful in representing land-
scape features. These other data structures include triangu-
lar irregular networks (TINs), dynamically segmenred net-
works, and regions. What follows is a brief discussion of
each of these mysterious-soundi ng dara structures, and a
po tential applicatio n that might be useful in understand-
ing the potential uses of these ahernarive data structures.
Triangular Irregular Network
A Triangular Irregular Network (TIN), like a ras rer data
structure, is useful for representing a continuous sur face
59
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale
(an entire landscape). A TIN, however, add resses some of
[he problems (hat raster data structures have in accurately
representing landscape feamres , especially those problems
that result when you use regularly sized raster grid cells to
describe landscape feamres. If the raster grid cells are
small. in comparison (Q the size of other landscape fea-
tures , you will probably have success in accurately repre-
senti ng mose features. If the raster grid cells are large, in
comparison co orner landscape features , you might lose
some of {he integrity of [he landscape features in [he
resulcing raster GIS database. A TIN attempts to avoid (his
problem by us in g. as the name implies, a set of trian-
gles-rather than a set of squares-co represent landscape
features (DeMers, 2000). Each of the th ree sides of each
triangle can, in fact, have a different length, making the
rriangles irregu lar in nature. Thus a TIN is composed of
irregularly shaped objects. yet covers an entire landscape.
I n most applications. TINs are used to represent elevation
models. An elevation is associated with each triangle co r-
ner, as illustrated in Figure 2.27. In landscapes that are
highly irregu lar in te rms of elevation (as are many forested
landscapes, for example), the TIN may berrer represent
topography than a raster-based data structure . Working
with TINs, however, is beyond the abili ty of many stan-
dard desktop GIS sofrware programs because of the com-
plexity involved in storin g and processing irregularly sized
triangles and represent in g three-dimensiona l surfaces .
Some software developers ofTer modules associated with
desktop GIS sonware programs (at add itional cost) that
will allow GIS users ro utilize TINs.
Dynamic segmentation of linear networks
A data structure that uses dynamic segmentation is based
on a netvlork of lines. and thus is a va riation of the vector
Figure 2.27 TIN representation of an elevation surface.
49
data structure. The dynamic segmentation data structure
is designed to represent linear features. and traditional uses
of this strucrure include moddling efforts related co river
systems. utility distributions , and road networks.
Dynamic segmentat ion allows GIS users co create rOutes
that represent the movement or presence of an endty
along a linear network. The routes are actually stored as
information within a vector GIS database. Dynamic seg-
mentation eliminates the need to create a separate GIS
database fo r each route and fucil itates advanced data han-
dling and manipulation of GIS databases.
Underlying the route structure are sections and event
cables. Sections are the li near components o r segments
that. w hen added together. form a route. Event themes
are (he data sources or attribute tables (hat are connected
ro the routes. The dynamic segmentation data model has
the capability to associate information with any portion
or segment of a linear feature. Event themes can be asso-
cia ted w ith each line o r a single point on a line. This
in formation can then be stored, queried. analyzed. and
displayed without affecting the Structure of the original
vecror GIS database.
Dynamic segmentation anempts to link a network of
lines based on a common attribute so that the lines are
grouped into catego ri es of interest. An example of this
app roach might relate ro a screams GIS database. A typi-
cal Streams GIS database uses a series of lines to represent
a stream netvlork. Each of the lines would have a set of
nodes, or beginning and ending points, and the nodes
wou ld be placed at all tributary junctions along the
Stream netvlork. Depending on the size of the stream net-
work, hundreds Ot thousands of lines might exist. A
stream ecologist interested in analyzing the stream sys-
tem. for example, could associate all lines that are used to
represent the main channel of a river. Any an ributes th at
are used to describe the main channel, such as length,
depth. or temperature, can then be summarized. The
stream ecologist might use this dynamic segmentation
approach for the entire stream netvlork to create a new
GIS database that groups all lines based on some attrib ute
(such as the stream name) . The scream ecologist may also
be interested in maintaining specific point locations along
the stream database that contain features of interest. such
as a smolt trap o r culvert location. Point evenr tab les of
these features could be stored within the dynamically seg-
mented stream, and show not only (he locations of these
features. but also distances and directions from other fea-
[Ures within the database.
Dynamic segmentation allows GIS users to organize a
60
50 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
GIS da[3base so that analysis and storage can be easier and
more efficient. Dynam ic segmemat ion can also be used to
ass ist in schedul ing management operations that involve
transportation or movement with in a resource area, or in
planning or tracking almost any phenomenon that is
associated w ith a linear netwo rk.
Regions
Another alrernarive vectOr data srrucmre is called [he
region . This data srrucmce is based on polygo ns or
approxim at ions of areas, slich as stand boundaries or
ownership parcels. One of the featu res of a ' topologically
correct' polygon srruc(Ure is that polygon features can nor
be represented as overlapping areas in a topo log icall y
enforced polygon database. When two polygons meet, a
new polygon is created. to represent the overlapping area.
As mentioned earl ier , some deskrop GIS software pro-
grams do not allow you ro determine whether polygons
are topo logically correct. A region data st ructure will
allow (he existence of overl apping polygons while also
maimain ing (Opology. A forest scientist interested in cap-
turing the locations of Fallen (fees within a steam channel
would find regions to be useful (Figure 2.28) . Polygons
could be used co represent the lengths and widths of the
trees, bur any trees that are s[3cked on (Op of each o ther,
like you might expec( co find in a log jam, will not be
accu ratel y represented in a ropologically correct polygon
structure. Two fal len trees that overlap each other might
result in multiple tOpo logically-correcc polygons: one or
Figure 2 .28 Example of me region data structure used to capture the
placement of downed woody debris in a stream channel. Typical
polygon topology would create II polygons (Q represent the: five woody
debris pieces . Regions allow for polygons ro overlap. crearing a five-
shape database. with one complete shape for each piece.
more polygons co represent the non-overlapping areas of
trees, and other polygons for each of the overlapping areas
of logs. For the five F...llen trees displayed in Figure 2.28,
enforcing co rrec t ropology for these landscape features
would create a total of II polygons. This would result in
both a loss of information and the creation of a larger set
of database records than might be appropriate to describe
the trees. With the use of the region data structure, you
can retain individual (fee data records. while also associat-
ing th e overlapping trees with one another.
Metadata
Metadata is 'data about data'; this is a relatively recent
phenomenon in working with spat ial databases.
T ypically, metadara is a di gital document that acco mpa-
nies a GIS database that describes the content and quality
of th e data. With recent advancements in some of the
full-featured GIS software programs it is now possible to
have a metadata file digitally linked to a GIS database.
New sofrware programs also make it easier ro create and
populate meradata fields with information about the data.
Metadata is an excellent place to store and retrieve infor-
macion about the characte ristics of a database. including
the map projection and coo rdin ate sys tems used. Other
useful information in a metadata file might include a
desc ription of the original data so urce, any editing that
has been done, a list of the attributes, the intended use of
the darabase. an d info rm acion related ro the database
developer. The descrip tions should allow users [Q trace
the evolution of the GIS database. In the US, most federal
and state agencies are required to make mecadaca available
for any GIS dacabase that is offered for public use. The US
Federal Government has developed standards for produc-
ing and repo rting meradata. Requirements fo r producing
metadata are highl y variable among private natural
resource management organ izations because no govern ing
body enforces meradata compliance. GIS users should
always ask for metadata wheneve r acqu ir ing a GIS
database.
Obtaining Spatial Data
The USGS has developed the most comprehensive collec-
tion of spatial data in the world. This collection includes
OEMs, OOQs, ORGs, di gital line graphs (OLGs), and
many sou rces of raster and vector data fo r [he US. The
major ity of this co ll ect ion is available via the Interner,
along with associated meradata. Several US and Canadian
61
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale
federal agencies, as well as state and provincial groups,
produce and maintain spacial databases for [he lands that
they manage, and this information is also available to the
public online. A more detailed discussion of data acquisi-
tion processes is provided in chapter 3.
Scale and Resolution of
Spatial Databases
GIS dacabases are often characterized in terms of their
scale or reso lution . Scale or resolU[ion refers [Q [he size of
landscape features represenred in GIS databases. Issues of
scale are usually associated with vector GIS databases.
while issues of reso lution are associated with raster GIS
databases. Typically, the scale or resolution of a GIS data-
base relates to {he source material from which the GIS
database was created. Source material. as described in
chapter 1, can include aerial phocographs. existing maps.
sate ll ite data. o r information gatheted from survey
instruments such as total stations or GPS receivers. Many
sources of veccor data are derived from remote sensing
techniques, particularly from aerial photographs. The
scale that is associated with vector GIS databases typically
relates to photographic scale (a function of camera
height, lens length , and photo size) . Scale is often
expressed as a ratio, or representative fraction, such as
I :24,000 o r 1:100,000 (Muehrcke & Muehrcke, 1998).
The ratio ex pression is unidess, and implies that 1 unit of
measurement on a map or phoco represenrs 24.000 or
100,00D unirs on the ground . Sometimes, confusion
exists as to the correct use of the terms 'large scale' o r
'small scale'. The ratio I :24,00D is a larger ratio than
1:100,000 (I is a larger portion of 24,000 than of
100,000) and thus, 1:24 ,000 is a larger scale than
I: 100,000. If you examine both 1:24,000 and I: I 00,000
scale maps printed on the same size paper, the I :24,ODO
map would show less area bur greater detail than the
1: 100,000 map (Figure 2.29). Scale can also be referred
Summary
This chapter discussed one of the fundamemal consider-
ations of any successful GIS program: spatial data. One of
the main issues when working with GIS databa ses is
knowing what projection system the database is set
within, and how this coincides with other databases
being used within an organization. or perhaps by other
organizations with which data is shared. This chapter was
51
1:100,000 map 1:24,000 map
Figure 2 .29 Map of stream network displayed at scales of 1:100,000
and ' ,24,000.
co in terms of relative units, such as 1 cm = 1 km, or
through the use of a scale [hat graphically illustrates
approximate ground distances .
Wi[h imagery derived from satellite or aerial pla<-
forms, rhe abi lity of the electromagnet ic sensor on rhe
platfo rm to delinea<e landscape features on the ground
determines the resolution. A I m resolution image implies
that the senso rs used [Q colleer the imagery captured a
value for each square meter of the landscape. For raster
GIS databases that were developed by scanning from maps
or photographs, such as a DRG or DOQ, the size of the
raster grid cell in representing landscape features deter-
mines the resolution. If each raster grid cell spans a 30 m
ground distance, the raSter GIS database is said co have a
' 30 m resolution'. This means that each raster grid cell
represents 900 m' (30 m X 30 m) of ground area.
Although scales or resolutions are associated with spa-
rial databases . some users mistakenly believe that they can
improve [he detai l of GIS databases by focusing on small
land areas . Users need co be cognizant that the scale or
resolution of a GIS database remains static, regardless of
how closely yo u view an area of the landscape.
developed to provide readers with a brief description of
data projections and data structures-both raster and
veccor-as well as a few alternatives. In some cases, exist-
ing databases such as DOQs or DRGs may provide an
excellent source of base data from wh ich to verify other
spatia l databases or CO create new spatial databases alto-
gether. How GIS databases are stored and managed is a
62
52 Part 1 IntroductiOIl to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
function of the decisions natural resource managers make
regarding rhe purpose and inrenr of use for each GIS
database. In many cases, however, YOli have no choice
regarding rhe strucmre of GIS darabases. For example,
satellite imagery uses a faSter dara Structure whereas veg-
erarion and soils darabases acquired from rhe US Foresr
Service ge nerally use rhe vec[Qr data structure. In addi-
rion, most natural resource organizations use venor data
srruc[U res [0 rep resem management units, roads . and
ocher landscape feamres . Meradara are useful in helping
Applications
2. 1. Projection param e te rs . Your supervisor. Steve
Smith, h as JUSt learn ed (hat another natural resource
organization that you intend ro share spatial data with
srores their GIS databases in a projection format that is
different from yours. Steve is unfamiliar with projections,
and asks YOll co provide some background for him.
a) Whar is a projecrion?
b) Why are projecrions necessary'
c) Whar is an ellipsoid?
d) What is a geoid'
e) What are the major projection rypes, what are their
assumptions, and how have they been used?
2. 2 . C ho o sing a projection. You 've been asked ro rec-
ommend either a Lambert or Mercaror projection that
best fits the dimensions of the State or province mat you
live in.
a) What is the largest north-south dimension of your
state or province in miles and kilometers ?
b) Wh at is the largest west-easr dimension of your
state or province in miles and kilometers?
c) Which of rhe cwo projecrions would YOll choose?
d) Defend your projecrion choice.
2.3. Public land survey system. Wirh rhe exceprion of
rhe original 13 colonies, seve ral other states, and other
des ig nated ownerships, much of the US has been sur-
veyed (meas ured) using rhe PLSS. Significanr areas in
Canada have also been surveyed using a similar app roach.
Given the broad use of this system and its counterparts in
Nonh America, it is imponant that you understand sev-
era l key components.
a) H ow many square miles (or square kilometers)
would you expect to find in a township?
you determine rhe characteristics of a GIS da tabase.
including rhe projection system used. Finally, under-
standing the scale or resolution of GIS databases and thei r
associated landscape fearures is important, as it relates co
the usefulness of a GIS database in assisting with analyses
related ro management decisions. Perhaps an interesting
ropic of conversation over a cup of coffee might be how
well 30 m grid cells obtained from sarellire images por-
reay forest vegetadon and help you develop management
recommendations.
b) How many ac res (or square meters) would yo u
expect to find in a section?
2.4. GIS data structures. You have been hired as a land
ma nagement forester for a timbe r company in the south-
ern United States. As a recent college graduate you are
expected to have the most cu rrent knowledge of forest
measu rement and data acquisition techn iques. Your
supervisor, John Delaney, an older forester, is interested
in GIS and is cu rious about database struc tures. Describe
to him the difference between a raster and vector data
structure. an d give an example of a GIS database that
m ight be designed with each structure.
2.5 Quadrangle challenge. Locare rhe USGS 7.5
m inute Quadra ngle that contains your GIS classroo m or
work location.
a) Whar is rhe name of rhe quadrangle?
b) When was me map originally compiled?
c) If rhe map has been updared, when was ir updared?
d) Whar is rhe Ohio code descrip rion of rhe map?
e) When was rhe copography developed?
f) How much magnet ic declin atio n existS in the map?
2.6. Resolution and scale. A consulranr has proposed
using sarellire imagery co quickly updare rhe foresr
resources thar your natu ral resource management organi-
zation manages. Some peop le in your organizarion are
arguing for a complete and fresh phow interpretation of
rhe land base to accomplish (his goal, resulring in a vector
GIS database of the vegetation condition of the la ndscape.
The differences in resolution and scale are two of me hot
copies when comparing these alternatives . Explain the dif-
ference belVv'een resolutio n and sca le. and how they relate
[Q raster and vector data structures.
63
 Chapter 2 GIS Databases: Map Projections, Structures, and Scale
2.7. Designing GIS databases. You have been hired by
a natural resou rce co nsu lting agency [0 develop an d
maimain a small GIS operation . While your expertise is in
natural resource management, the owners of [he consulrp
ing agency we re incrigued by your GIS expertise, and have
been interested in providing chese services (0 their clients.
You, of course, (Oak the job because it is an opponuniry
to pur your GIS and namral resource management skills
to usc. As a stan, what data Structu re might you use to
describe the landscape features in the following databases?
a) timber stands g) precipitation
b) screams h) land ownership
c) roads i) scream buffers
d) inventory plots j) owl locations
e) culverts k) owl habitat
f) logs in scream
2.8. Map scale and ground distances. You are
employed as a field forester for the Ministry of Natural
Resou rces , and arc stati oned in northern Maniroba. You
References
Cadle, F.W. (1991 ). Georgia land surveying history and
law. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press.
Chang, K. (2002) . Introduction to geographic information
systnm. New York: McGraw-Hili.
Clarke, K.c. (2001). Getting starud with geographic infor-
mation systems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.
DeMers, M.N. (2000) . Fundammtals ofgeographic infor-
mation systems. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Dent, B.D . (1999). Cartography thematic map design .
New York: McGraw·Hili.
Ladell, J.L. (1993). They kft their mark: Surveyors and
th~ir role in the settlement of Ontario. Toromo, ON:
Oundurn Press.
Lillesand, T.M., & Kiefer, R.W. (2000). Remote smsing
and image interpretation (4 th ed.). New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Muehrcke, P.c., & Muehrcke, J.O. (1998). Map use:
Reading, analysis, and interpretation (4th ed.).
Madison, WI: JP Publications.
53
have been inventorying timber for the past three hours,
and now it is time for lunch. Your lunch. of course, is
located in yo ur truck. The distance you measure on your
map from your current posicion to [he Huck is 12 cm. If
the map scale was 1: 12000, how far are you fro m your
£ruck?
2.9. Spatial resolution. The natural resource manage-
ment agency you work for in [he imermoumain wes[ is
considering [he purchase of 30 m resolmion sa[e lli [e
imagery for assiscing in [he managemem of [heir natural
resources. How much area, in acres, does a single 30 m
grid cell cover? How much area would be covered by a
single 100 m resolu tion grid cell?
2.10. Spatial scale. Your supervisor has asked that you
bring a map at the largest map scale possible to yo ur next
plann ing meeting. You have you r choice of the following
map scales: 1:24000 or 1: 100000. Which map do you
bring with you?
Robinson, A.H , Morrison , J.L. , Muehrcke, P.c. ,
Kimeriing, A.J., & Guptill, S.c. (1995) . Ekmmts of
cartography. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Snyder, J.P. (1987). Map projectiom-a working manual.
Washington, DC: Uni[ed 5ca[es Governmem Priming
Office.
Stewan, L.a. (1979). Public land surveys. New York:
Arno Press.
Thompson, M.M. (1979) . Mapsfor America (3rd ed. ).
Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
USDI US Geological Survey. (1995) . Geographic names
information system, data users guide 6. RestOn, VA: US
Geological Survey. Retrieved January 15,2003, from
from: http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/ti/GNIS/gnis_
users-suide_toc.hcrnl .
Wolf, P.R., & Ghilani, C.O. (2002) . Ekmentary survey-
ing: An introduction to geomatics (10th ed.). Engle-
wood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.
64
Chapter 3
Acquiring, Creating, and Editing
GIS Databases
Objectives
This chapter discusses a number of topics related co
acquiring, creating, and edidng GIS databases. Readers
should gain an understanding of the opportunities and
challenges associated with the need [Q obtain GIS data
from a variety of sou rces. At the conclusion of this chap-
ter, readers should be able to understand and discuss
issues related [0:
I . {he acqu isition of GIS databases, panicularly via the
Imerner,
2. [he various methods for creari ng new GIS databases,
3. the processes for editing existing GIS databases, and
4. the error types and sources [hat are poremialiy associ-
ated with GIS databases.
Acquiring, creating, and editing GIS databases to address
rhe needs of natural resource management decision-
making processes is a co ntinual process. Ideally, narural
resource professionals would have a complete and robust
set of GIS databases at their disposal prior to performing
an analysis. However. as new and inreresting opportuni-
ties to incorporate GIS analysis in decision-making
processes arise, the G IS database needs change as well.
Four general cases a re common in natural resource o rgan-
izations. as rhey relate to the availabi li ty of GIS databases:
1. GIS darabases required for a specific analysis do nor
eXIst.
2. GIS databases exist. bue they were created for other
general uses and may not be quite appropriate to
address [he issues rel ated to a specific analysis.
3. GIS databases exist, bue rhey were created for other
specific analyses and a re not quire appropriate to
address the issues rel ated to another specific analysis.
4. GIS databases exist, and they are adequate and appro-
priate to address the issues of a specific analysis.
Ideally, you would hope that your organization is con-
tinually positioned near the fourth case noted above.
However many GIS users find. evenrually, that the first
three cases are real , and that time mUSt be spenr acquiring
or develo ping a GIS database. Several options are available
to GIS users faced with having to acquire, create, or edit
GIS databases. These options include having someone else
create a GIS database (e.g., a GIS contractor) based on
maps and oth er input provided to them, using C PS or
some other field-based data collection method to fuc ilitate
the development of a new GIS database, modifYing or
editing an existing C IS database. creat ing a new GIS data-
base by digitizing maps, acq uiring a GIS database from
the Internet (for example, the National Werlands
In vento ry from t he US Fish and Wildlife Service
[http://weriands.lWs.govl]), o r acq uiring a GIS database
from mher organizations. The decision [Q pursue one of
these strategies will depend on several factors inherent to
a person's job. such as the budgetary resources, time con-
straints. a nd the skills and computing resources that are
available within the natural resource organization.
65
 Chapter 3 Acquiring. Creating. and Editing GIS Oatabases
Acquiring GIS Databases
One of the main concerns of natu ral resource managers is
locating and acquiring GIS data. Physically receiving the
GIS databases is relatively easy; they can be sen< and
received as an email attachment via the Internet or by way
of media such as portable USB drives, compact discs
(CDs). or DVD disks. GIS databases can be acquired from
a variety of clearinghouses. many of which are maintained
and supported by federal, provincial, or state organiza-
tions. The US federal government, in fact, is perhaps the
larges< source of GIS dara in the world. A variety of federal
agencies in the US provide data , and the Manual of
Federal Geographic Data Products (US Geo logical
Survey. Federal Geographic Data Committee. 2002) pro-
vides a wealth of informacion concern ing rhe agencies
from which GIS databases can be acquired. Natural
Resources Canada (Natural Resources Canada. 2007) and
the Geography Network Canada (Geography Network
Canada. 2007) provide access to many types of geo-
graphic data within Canada. Provincial and state agen-
cies. such as rhe Washingcon Depanment of Natu ral
Resources. also d isrribuce a large number of GIS databases
related to the resou rces of each state.
Acquiring GIS databases over the Internet has become
a widely used practice over the past few years. The disad-
vantage, however, is that the fo rmat of the data is gener-
ally limited to that of the most popularly used data. and
may not be directly compatible with some GIS software
programs. Agencies that require GIS users {Q make
requests for GIS databases may provide a wider variety of
products to be acquired, as well as a wider variety of for-
mats, depending on the provider. In the case of data
requests, however, the agency may require mat a payment
accompany each request. The payment covers the Cost of
the media and staff time required to package and deliver
the GIS databases; the rates are usually reasonable because
public organizations provide the data. People requesting
GIS databases are asked to provide a va ri ety of info rma-
tion specific to their request (Table 3. I). so that the final
product will meet (as closely as possible) their needs with-
out the staff investing extra effort in formatting, re-
projecting. or adjusting the GIS databases.
As a n example of acquiring GIS databases via an
Internet site, rhe Gifford Pinchot N ational Forest
(Washington State) maintains a website where a number of
GIS databases can be acquired (Gifford Pinchot National
Forest. 2007). The Internet site is located at http://
www.fs.fed .us/gpnflforest-research/gis/. By accessing this
55
TABLE 3.1 Typical information associated
with a GIS database reque st
• G IS database requested
• Locarion (Township/Range/Section. Topographic quad indO[ Ohio
code [or nameD
• File format (e.g., Spatial Data Transfer Standard [SOTS] . Ardnfo
export format, ESRI shaptfile. Tagged Image File Format [TIF 1.
Imagine format [IMG], ESRI geodat1lbase)
• Map projection. coordinate system. horizontal and vertical
measurement units, and related parameters
• Metadara
• Contact person for questions related to the GIS database
• Delivery method (USB drin. DVD. CD. e·maiI. FTP, ere.)
Database compression format (Zipped. MrSID. TAR, ere.)
Billing information
Product license agreements
website. you will find that all of the vector GIS databases are
available in Arclnfo coverage (ESRI. 2005) expOrt format.
D atabases can either be downloaded directly from this
Interner site, or obtained on a CD-ROM or 8 mm tape.
The COst of obtaining GIS databases on media is $40 (US
currency). In addition. some meradara related to each GIS
database can be accessed through the Gifford Pinchot
Nati<;>nal Forest website. The data related to the forest trail
system, for example. indicates that the source scale for the
GIS database was I :24.000. that it was last updated in
1999, that the projection system is the T ransverse Mercator
using the Clarke 1866 spheroid. that the coordinate system
is the UTM system. and that the datum is NAD27. In addi-
tion, the me[adata identifies the primary contact person
and alerts GIS users [hat some gaps in the trai l system may
exist so that users know to examine the data closely before
using i[ to make management decisions.
As you may have no ticed from the Gifford Pinchot
example. a variety of GIS databases are available in addi-
tion to [he forest trails system, including hydrology, eleva-
tion, forest stands, roads, streams, and others. While these
GIS database a re commonly used to support resource
management on rhe National Forest, they are main ly vec-
tor GIS databases. Raster GIS databases. such as digital
orrhophotographs, related to a particular landscape are
perhaps more difficult to obtain . As mentioned in chap-
<er I. digital orthophotographs look like aerial photo-
graphs but {hey are srored in digital form and are regis-
tered to a coo rdinate and projection system . Raster GIS
66
56 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
,. ~ l'_
t ~'In" Depth '
~1:..1~~<.. '.~ . .
Reference is made in this book to a number ofInrernet
sites that you can visit for additional informatio n and
resources. The Internet is in a constant state of Aux,
however, and organizations often change website
addresses, o r URLs. Since URLs change periodically,
you might find that some examples provided in this
book have become obsolete. Should you have a prob-
lem accessing the URLs we have provided, twO
gies can be employed to reach the approptiate address.
First, verify that the website address being used
<xactly matches the URL listed in the book. Even the
smallest of differences (one incorrect letter, or an extra
space) can resuh in not reaching the app ropriate web-
site. Second, with a li ule ingen ui ty you can locate the
In ternet sites listed in this book by using an onl ine
search engine. For example, the URL to the
Washington Department of Natural Resources
Information Techno logy Division order form has
changed several times since the first edition of th is
book. To locate the most cu rrent version of the order
form, you could anempr an online search similar to
the one oudine below:
databases can also be acqui red via the Internet. The
Minnesota Planning, Land Management Information
Center (2007), for example, maintains a clearinghouse
( http://www.lmic.state.mn.us!chouse!metalong.htmll)
where GIS users can access the 'Imagery and Photographs'
How do YOli acqu ire data over th e Internet? Usually.
clicking on an Internet link will starr the download
process by presenting a dialog box that asks where the
downloaded file should be stored. Another way is to
download GIS database files to a computer is to use a
FIP. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and it is a
widely used method of transferring data over the
Internet. This method allows you to transfer computer
files to other remote computers. or ro download com-
puter files from a remote computer. One advantage of
• Search the Inrernet for 'Washington Departmenr
of Natural Resources'
- Result: http://www.dnLwa.gov!
• Select 'Publications & Data' from [he list of items
on [he DNR main page.
- Result: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/baselpublications.
html
strate-
• Select 'GIS Data' from the lise of item s under
Publications and Data sub-heading
- Result: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/dataandmaps!
index.html
• Select the 'Available GIS Data' choice from the
available links on the Data page.
- Result: http://www3.wadnr.gov!dnrapp6/data
web!dmmatrix.html
At this point, you should be presented with a list of
available databases that can be downloaded in an ESRI
shapefile format (ESRl, 2005). Thus in four steps, you
can reach the currenr website from wh ich spacial da[a
can be accessed from the Washington State DNR.
data category and download county-level digital aerial
imagery, including orthophotographs, varying from 1 m
to 10m spatial resolution. In add ition, the clearinghouse
provides CIS users w ith some meradar3 related to the dig-
ital imagery. You can ascertain from viewi ng meradar3
this process is that PCs are able to communicate w ith
UNIX-based machines, and GIS database file fo rm ats
are automatically convened into a Windows~-compat­
ible format during the transfer process. FTP was once
only ava ilable on a PC th rough a DOS interface, but
severa l low-cost Windows@ appli cations are available
that simpli fy this process and make additional file
transfer or sharing op tions available. To locate such a
utility, try an Internet search using the keywords 'FfP'
and 'Windows' together.
67

that much of the imagery uses coordinates referenced
within the UTM system, with an GRS80 ellipsoid and
NAD83 datum. The clearinghouse also provides informa-
tion on the accuracy, consistency. and completeness for
some of the imagery.
With advances in technology, many private firms have
emerged in recent years that develop and sell GIS data-
bases. Most GIS and land surveying trade magazines will
fearure advenisements from these firms . The breadth of
GIS databases and daca creation services cont inues (0
improve and all indicacions are that growth in [his area
will continue. The current possibilities range from small
land surveying firms who are capable of collecting highly
precise and accurate vector data from relatively small land
areas using either digital tOtal stations or ground-based
LiOAR, to larger organizations that offer raster imagery
captured from aerial or satellite platforms that are capable
of imaging large land areas (regions. nations, continents.
the globe). Many of these organizations also advertise
their services via the Internet.
Creating GIS Databases
If GIS databases required for an analysis do not exist in
digital form in your organization, and cannot be obtai ned
through other means, such as via the Internet or by
request from a state. provincial, or federal agency, you
may conside r creating a new GIS database. Several factors
mUSt be considered when creating a new GIS database.
including the type of information needed to adequately
develop the database, the intended format of the data, the
projection and coordinate system required. and (he accu-
racy desired of the resulting GIS database. Creating new
490000
510436: +----,-1----c---="--,,,--t 510436
490000, +--=:=...l.-JL....1-L-_c..._+ 500435
500000
Figure 3.1 Measurement reference poinu for the Daniel Pickett forest to enable digitizing additional landscape features for the creation of new
GIS databases.
Chapter 3 Acquiring, Creating, and Editing GIS Databases 57
GIS databases can be a time-consuming and costly endeav-
our. The most common methods used to create new vec-
tor-based GIS databases include traditional digitizing,
heads-up digitizing, and scanning. The process of creat-
ing GIS databases, either by digitizing maps, using a GPS
to capture spatial coordinates that describe landscape fea-
tures, or by other means, usually amounts to 70-75 per
cent of the total time invested in GIS in support of a spa-
tial analysis (DeMers, 2000) . As you will find in subse-
quent chapters. new GIS databases can be created as a
result of spatial analysis processes such as buffering, dip-
ping, and overlay analysis. When creating new GIS data-
bases with spatial analysis processes, concerns about the
projection system, the coordinate system. me datum, and
map units are lessened because the resulting GIS database:
is usually represented by the characteristics of the other
GIS databases involved in the spatial analysis process.
If GIS darabases do not exist, but maps of the land-
scape featu res of interest exist , these maps can be digi-
tized using a manual digitizer. A series of measurement
reference points (sometimes called control points or 'tics')
mUSt be available to allow you to register the map to a
digitizing table. Reference points can include easily
located landscape features, such as road intersections and
building corners, or less easily located landscape features,
such as property corners, section corners, or a systematic
grid of points (Figure 3.1). Each of these reference points
must be in a dearly definable location on the map, and
the ground coordinates (coordinate system units) must be
known . A common source for ground coordinates is
USGS 7.5' Quadrangle Maps since they usually feature
coordinates along the map border in geographic, UTM,
and State Plane Coordinate systems. It should be noted
500435
- Roads
D Stands
+ Reference points
(with associated
XandY
cOOfdinates)
5~
68
58 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
that coordinates derived from paper Quadrangle maps
would nor have high accuracy since the coord inates are
listed at broad unit imervals, and you must incerpolare
the location of landscape features. At least four registra~
cion points or rics are required to facilitate the digitizing
of a map. Additional reference points, if available, will
likely increase the accuracy of the spatial position ofland-
scape features in the resulting GIS database.
At beSt, digitizing is an imperfect practice. and the
quality of results can be dependent upon many factors.
The accuracy of digitized GIS databases can be affecred by
the experience of the person doing the digiti zing, by
errors in either the location of reference marks or their
associated geographic coordinates, and by imperfections
in digitizing equipment and software (Keefer et aI., 1988;
Prisley et aI., 1989). One of the often-misunderstood
accuracy issues relates co the digirizarion of the map itSelf.
If the map is old, or if it had been exposed to moisture (or
even humidity), it may be subject to shrinkage or expan-
sion. The shrinkage or expansion could vary across the
map's su rEace, and thus the locatio n (as well as the shape)
of any landscape features that are digitized from it may be
distorted. I n addition, the methods used to delineate
landscape features for digitizing cou ld cause inaccuracies
in the resulting GIS database. Regardless of how experi-
enced a digitizing technician may be, if the map being
digirized includes poorly delineared landscape features
(Figure 3.2), then perhaps the 'garbage in, garbage out'
Figure 3.2 A landslide drawn on a map with a r~gular sharpen~d
p~ncil ( upp~r left), a mark~r (upper right), a sharpened pencil, y~t in a
sloppy manner- me landslide are:& is not closed (lower left), :& m2rk~r.
yet in a sloppy manner-me landslide ar~a is barely closed ( Iow~r
right).
principle applies. In this example, digitizing technicians
may have rather precisely drawn landscape features to ref-
erence (upper left image) when creating a landslide GIS
database, or so me rather imprecisely drawn landscape fea-
tures. When digitizi ng the upper right im age of Figu re
3.2, for example, would the landslide be defined by the
outer edge of the thick line used to describe the landslide
area, the inner edge of the thick line, or the center of the
thick line? When using the lower left image, the landslide
area is not represented by a closed polygon, thus the tech-
nician would need to use judgment or intuition in digitiz-
ing a closed polygon from the model provided.
Within some GIS software programs, landscape fea-
tures can be digitized directly from a registered image that
is displayed on a computer screen without havin g {O
establish registration points. This process is known as
'heads-up' digitizing and has increased the usefulness and
popularity of goo-referenced raster products (such as the
digital raster graphics and digital orthophotographs dis-
cussed in chapter 2). By not having {O establish registra-
tion poims, the digitizing process does not require a dig-
itizing tablet, is faster, and offers less opportunicy for
error. Two advantages of heads-up digitizing are the abil-
ity {O use digital imagery as an on-screen backdrop during
the digitizing process, and the ab ility to change scales at
which the digitizing takes place (by zooming in or Out).
Heads-up digitizing is explored in more detail in chapter
8, when the processes of updating GIS databases are
described .
Scanning. as discussed in chapter 1, can also be used [0
conven a hardcopy map to a GIS database. Scanners sense
the differences in reflection of objects o n a map and
encode these differences numerically in a digital file. For
instance, lines and points (if identified by dark ink) would
generall y be distinguished from background areas (if [he
lines and points were drawn on white paper), and raster
grid cells would be created to describe rhese features
(Figure 3.3). The size of the grid cell (a rasrer data struc-
ture) will obviously be important when scann ing land-
scape features . With increased resolution, or a greater
number of grid cells per unit area, the greater the ability
of the scanni ng process [0 return discrete shapes from a
scanned surface will be. With larger grid cell sizes, less
compute r storage space is be required. bur some landscape
featu res may not be as accurately captured as desired. If
needed , raster grid ce lls can then be converted to points.
lines, or polygons (vector data structu res) using ras ter-to-
vecror conve rsion algorithms that are common to most
GIS software.
69
 Chapter 3 Acquiring. Creating. and Editing GIS Databases
(al
Figure 3.3 A limber stand (a) in vector format. from tbe Brown
T ract, scanned (b) or converted to a raster format wing 25 m grid
cells, then convcru~d back to vector fo rmat (e) by con necting lines to
the center of each grid cell .
Editing GIS Databases
There are numerous reasons why you would edit a GIS
database, such as re-projecting a GIS database to a com-
mon proj ect ion system used by a particular natural
resource organization, edge-matching GIS databases
describing landscape features in adjacem areas (e.g .• (Qwn-
ships. quadrangles. ece.) so tha[ they fie [oge[her seam-
lessly, and other generalization and transformation
processes necessary to convert a GIS database to a standard
format or reso lmion . In addi tio n, some GIS databases
need co be continually updated and maintained, as land-
scape features and their attributes change over time.
Processes rela[ed co upd a[i ng G IS da[a bases will be
explored further in chapter 8, bue as an example, most
forest industry organizations update their timber stands
G IS da[abase annually co accoune for [he changes [hac
have occurred in the forest land base over [he previous 12
months as a result of harvesting and Q[her management
activities, growth of the forest reso urces, and disturbance
evenes (e.g .• floods or wildfires). The da", collec[ion and
repo rting associated with updating processes can be labor-
imcnsive and error-prone, indicating a need for standard-
ized ve rification and editing processes.
59
The processes tha[ you would use co find landscape
features or 3nribuces requiring editing ca n be class ified as
'verification processes'. Wirh a verificadon process, [he
goal is to verify [hat a parricuiar set of values within a
database is appropriate (o r reasonable, or within some
s[andard). Verifica[ion processes should be devised so [hac
bo[h [he landscape fea[ures and [heir amibu[e da", can be
assessed for completeness an d consistency. These
processes are probably bes[ accomplished by involving
mulciple personnel so [hac G IS da[abases ace checked
independently. and [hac a[ lease twO da", qualicy assess-
menes are performed. The cypes of error [hac can easily be
recognized include [he improper loca[ion of landscape
feamres, an improper projection system, and mi ss ing or
inappropriate attribute data (data o utside a reasonable
range of values). These data errors could arise at any stage
in the da[abase upda[e process. and regardless of [heir ori-
gin. should probably be correc[ed. If errors are loca[ed. or
ocher changes need co be made. [hen [he G IS da[abases
need CO be edi[ed.
The following represents a shorr example illustrating a
framework for verifying da ta and locati ng errors in GIS
databases:
Assume you work for an organizat ion that manages
a large area of forestland. over 200.000 ha. Wi[hin
{his organization there are a variety of people who
have responsibili [ies for upda[ing and managi ng
[he GIS da",bases tha[ desc[ibe [he forestland. from
inventory fores ters who collect (he data. to infor-
mation systems analysts who incorporate the data
into standard database formats for use within the
organization. A general process of updating the
inventory databases (both tabular inventory and
spa[ial landscape fea[ures) might S[a[[ wi[h the
inventory forester compiling new inventory data
(cimber cruise repons) and maps showing changes
to {he forestland due to management acci vities over
a period of [ime. perhaps [he las[ yea r (Figure 3.4).
This information is passed to the info rmation sys-
cems analyses. who verilY tha[ [he data (boch maps
and inventory) co ntain the appropriate type and
forma[ of da[a needed ro successfully comple[e [he
upda[ing process (verifica[ion process # 1). If errors
are located, some of this information is passed back
to the inventory forester for clarification and edit-
ing. If the inform ation is complete. and formatted
co rrectly. the maps are digitized and the invemory
da", files are encoded (e.g .• da[a is keypunched ineo
70
60 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

Inventory forester Information systems

analysts
maps, data files
r - ------- -- - - ---- - -- - -,
~ . I
Delineate changes Check data f(l(
to be made to
inventory
maps, data files

,
,. mistakes and
omissions
Verification
process #1

, ,
,, Lmaps, data files
,
,, Digitize changes
to spatial data, ~ -;I
,,
maps, data files I
encode inventory
,,
I

!
I
, I

,,
I
GIS I
databases , Check data f(l(

,,, mistakes and

omissions
- J Verification
process #2

,,, ! maps, data files

,,, Integrate into

,, GIS ~
,, database

,,
Check data for
GIS
J
Check data for
I
I

- J process
Verification mistakes and databases Verification
mistakes and
process #4 omissions omissions #3

Figure 3.4 A gc ncraliud process for updating a forest inventory GIS databa.sc.

a compurer file format), and a subsequem verifica- I. Add new landscape features (points, lines, polygons)
tion process (#2) is used to check whether these [0 an exist ing GIS database.

processes were performed successfully. The inven-
[Ory data is then integrated into a standard GIS
database format, and a third verification process is
used to ensure that all of the changes have been
incorporated into the updared GIS database. One
way to do so would be to check the resulting GIS
database against the information supplied by the
inventory forester. Finally, the GIS database(s) are
distributed back to the field office, where the
inventory forester has the opportunity [0 verify
(process #4) whether the proposed changes have
been incorporated into the GIS databases.
It becomes obvious that editing processes, not JUSt for
annual inventory updates bur also for periodic changes
that sho uld be made when discrepancies are found.
should be considered in time and budget estimates to
develop and distribute GIS databases to field offices. Some
of the more common methods used [0 edit GIS databases
include:
2. Change the shape o r position of existing landscape
fe-atures.
3. Add new fields (columns) to the tabular portion of the
G IS database.
4. Edit data in fields (columns and rows) in the tabular
portion of a GIS database.
Editing attributes
Attributes, as described in chapter 2, are values used to
characterize or describe landscape fearures and, thus, the
qualities of the landscape. Through verification processes
you can determine whether the attributes of landscape
features are appropriate by assessing whether they are out-
side of the range of appropriate values. or missing
entirely. In addition , as GIS databases are updated. you
might assume that some attributes change over time. For
examp le, as trees grow the characteristics of a forest will
change. In the Daniel Pickett forest stands GIS database
(Ta ble 3.2), each stand is represented by a vegetation

71
 Chapter 3 Acquiring, Creating, and Editing GIS Databases 61

the stream segments was also of imerest. [he positions of

TABLE 3.2 Attributes of stands in the
lines or areas that capture stream locations may also need
Daniel Pickell s tand.
GIS databas e to be adjusted.

Re·
Vegetation BaW O riginal inventoried Editing spatial position
Stand Age MBF" MBP
"'P' u ...•
Attributes of landscape featu res can also include [he spa-
A 200 50 21.2 23.2
tiaJ coordinates of the feacures, and as these change, or are
2 C 175 40 12.9 15.3
found to be inaccurate, chey require editing. For example,
3 A 210 55 25.8 26.8 as owls disperse, the spatial location of their nests may
4 A 250 65 34.2 37.0 change, and the X, Y coordinates that describe owl-
20 3.1 5.6
nesting sites require editing. Or as vegetation panerns
5 C 90
change within a research plot, the polygon representing
6 A 220 55 25.7 28.2
the plot may require splining so that all patterns are rec-
7 C 150 35 8.7 10.5 ognized. Or as GPS data are collected and incorporated
into a GIS database, multi-pam error may be present, and
30 C 190 45 17.3 20.3 should perhaps be either eliminated or corrected. GPS col-
lection of data can also improve the accuracy of the loca-
31 C 110 25 4.1 7.7
tion of landscape features that were previously defined
• square (ttl ~r acre and delineated with less accurate methods. For example,
h thousand board feet ~ r acre at [he dme of original inventory GPS data collection methods can improve the accuracy of
• thousand board fect per acre afrer compiling new inventory a roads GIS database [hat was originally created from
measurements collected from aerial photographs or with a
staff compass and surveying tape.
type, basal area, age, and volume (thousand board feet per Spatial position edicing techniques vary widely across
acre, or MBF) at some panicuiar time in [he history of GIS software programs due, in part, to the different file
management of [he forest. If you had re-inventoried me formats that the different programs use. In general. how-
forest a few years after the stands GIS database was cre~ ever, editing the spatial position of a landscape feature
ated, you might have found that the trees within the for- requires chat GIS users make a spatial layer 'editable' .
est have grown, and tha< the stands GIS database may be Once a GIS database is editable, edi ting tools are used to
in need of edicing (as the age, basal area, and vo lume have move, copy. create, or delece points. lines, and polygons.
likely changed). While GIS databases containing point landscape features
Another example might include aquacic habir3r inven- are typically easy ro edit because a single coordinate pair
cories that attempt ro monitor change in habitat condi- represents them, databases that comain line and polygon
tions. such as fallen large woody debr is concenrcarions or landscape features usuaJly require more care because the
pool densities within a suearn system. Aquatic habitat topological integrity oflines and polygons must be main-
variables are consrantly in Aux within river systems as flow tained. As discussed in the last chapter, topology describes
characteristics vaty both by season and annually. Large (he spacial structure oflandscape features and is essentiaJ
woody debris is continually introduced into some stream when comparing the positions of features to other fea-
systems as the result of natural processes or management tures. While some GIS software programs have fearures to
activities, and is cransponed through a river system as auromatically examine and correct topological problems.
flow regimes allow. An inventory of such streams would others offer no rools for topological considerations and
likely determine changing patterns of woody debris and will consequently produce flawed analysis results when
pool concemrarions on at least an annual basis. If natural correct topology is not in place.
resource managers wanted to track changes, new data Depending on the amoum of editing that is necessary.
columns could be added for each of the habitat character- ahering the spatial position of landscape features can be a
istics chat are of imerest. and the updated invemory data demanding chore. and one that requires great attention to
could be entered into che new columns. If the position of detail. Regardless of the GIS software program used , a

72
62 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

good first step fo r any spacial editing process would be to data. the value should be a number that is far outside the
ensure that a back-up copy of the database is made and range of acceptable data values and large enough to have
securely srored. Once in the editing process, it may be a very noticeable effect in results if inadvertendy used for
imponant to remember to save the changes to GIS data- analysis.
bases often (to avoid losing work due [Q power shortages
or computet failure). and to periodically document the Checking for inconsistent data
editing progress (to avoid forgetting what work has been
done. and what work needs to be done next) . You should expect some level of map error in each GIS
Documentation may be particularly important if multiple database simply because all hard-copy paper maps contain
people are editing (at various times) a single GIS database. errors and these errors are carried along inco any digital
form of the map that results from digitizing or scanning
Checking for missing data processes. With app ropriate co ntrol in map creation
processes, this error should be kept within desired toler-
One issue that affects the accuracy of GIS databases is the ances. Map error can also result from inconsistencies in
omission of cenain landscape feacuces. How would you how landscape features are defined. For example some
know if one, or many, landscape feacures have been om it- timber stands might be very finely delineated. whereas
ted from a GIS database? Comparing GIS databases to ref- others are more coarsely delineated (Figure 3.5). In other
erence maps or photographs is perhaps [he simplest cases, error arises because rwo (or more) GIS data bases
process. Feacures could be omined because of improper were created independendy, using different encoding
map creation procedures or other blunders (for example. processes. This may result in features within a GIS data-
changes in the landscape that were not accou nted for in base being represented with different precision. For exam-
an update process). Omissions may also occur in the ple, one database may have used one process (e.g .. digitiz-
3n ribure data assoc iated w ith landscape features. For ing) to create a fo rest stand GIS database. and anmher
example. wh ile a streams GIS database may contain all of process (e.g .• GPS) might have been used to independ-
the streams associated with a watershed , it may lack cer- ently create a roads GIS database (Figure 3.6). Upon close
tain characteristics of some streams, such as the width or inspection. GIS users may find some public roads con-
depth. Performing queries of landscape features to lea rn ta ined w ithin timber sta nds , when they shou ld more
where attributes have been omitted will allow you to accu rately be represemed as being located outside of tim-
locate the landscape features that need editing. In the
example illustrated in Figure 3.4, an information systems
analyse could query the updated GIS database (as part of
verification process #3) for stands that were altered during
the update process, then examine the attributes of those
stands for missing data. In doing so. the analysts could
verifY that all of the stands needing to be updated were. in
fact. updated correctly (by comparing the updated GIS
database against the maps and inventory data provided
by the inventory forester).
Some GIS software programs are unable to explicitly
handle missing data values for numeric attribute variables
and will assume that a default value of 0 if an attribu te
value has not been specified. As you might imagine, this
shortcom ing can result in sign ificant problems if these
values are included in analysis resul ts, as most statistical
summaries or testS take sa mple size imo account, and
samples of '0 ' are included in the computations. One
strategy for handling this problem is [Q assign a large neg- Figure 3.5 A tim~r stand drawn more precisely (tOp) and less
ative val ue. such as -999 o r -9999, to missing attribme precisely (bottom). Note that the lines on the south and ea5[ern portion
values. Regardless of what value is used to signify missing of the figures are different.

73
 Chapter 3 Acquiring. Creating. and Editing GIS Databases
Inconsistency
_ Roads
o Timber stands
Figure 3.6 Spatial inconsistency betwttn a timber stand CIS
databau: created through digitizing and a roads database created
through GPS meuurtments.
ber stands, and under the jurisdiction of some state,
county. or municipality. Depending on the quality of the
GPS receiver that was used. the likelihood is that the GPS
database would more accurately represent the location of
the road. Performing attribute queries of landscape fea-
{Ures with values that are unusual, or outside of some log-
ical range of data. and observing the results either through
tabular or graphical means. should help identify whether
problems exist and where editing processes are needed.
eressie (1991) provides some gu idance with identifying
spatial data outliers, and suggestS verification processes
such as creating histograms and distribution modelling.
Sources of Error in
GIS Databases
One of the fundamental facts about computers is that
they follow the instructions provided by computer users
(unless they are suffering from an internal hardware prob-
lem or a computer virus). Computers have no sense of
right or wrong. Therefore, assuming that the hardware is
functioning correcdy and you have been diligent in scan-
ning for viruses. any errors that are found in GIS databases
should be assumed to be a result of eithe r encoding (data-
base creadon) or editing processes. Granted. some com-
puter software programs are not perfect, and go through
a number of versions to correct processing problems
inherent in their computer code. However, when an error
is located in a GIS database. it likely arose from a data
creation or editing process. The re are three sources of
error commonly found in GIS databases: systematic
errors, gross errors, and random errors.
Systematic errors, sometimes called instrumental
errors, are propagated by problems in the processes and
63
tools used to measure spatial locations or other attribute
data. Systematic errors are sometimes called cumulative
errors, since they tend to accumulate during data collec-
tion. They can be corrected if you can understand how
each measurement is systematically affected. For exam-
ple. suppose in digitizing a map that the reference points
that were used to establish the initial location of the map
were all erroneously shifted the same amount slightly ofT
to the east. The landscape features that are digitized after
this error is introduced will also be systematically posi-
tioned the same distance to the east of their true location.
You might correct fo r this displacement by adding the
corresponding distance, in coordinate units, in a westerly
direction to the coordinates of all of the landscape fea-
[Ures in a GIS database. Systematic errors in the collecting
and processing of attribute data can also exist. For exam-
ple, if you we re [Q compute the area of a series of water-
sheds using acres, and then convert the area measure-
ments to SI units (hectares) using an inappropriate
conversion factor (e.g., 2.4 hectares per acre rather than
2.471). the metric areas would all be systematically incor-
rect. Corrections in this case can be made by a recalcula-
tion of the SI units by using the appropriate conversion
factor.
Gross errors, sometimes called human errors, are blun-
ders or other mistakes made somewhere in the data collec-
tion, map creation, or editing processes. For example,
when digitizing a set of landscape features. such as land-
slides. a landslide that was delineated on the map being
digitized might be omitted from the resulting GIS data-
base. Or, when collecting forest stand information, an
incorrect species code may be used to describe cerrain tree
species. There may be no pattern in the occurrence of
these errors, thus they may only be identified and cor-
rected through verification processes. A thorough verifica-
tion process will involve database checks by someone who
did not participate in data collection or recording.
Undoubtedly, human errors have the potencial to exist in
almost every GIS database.
Random errors are a by-product of how humans meas-
ure and describe landscape features. In contrast to
machines, most humans are incapable of repeating a task
over and over without any difference between repetitions.
In the context of landscape measurements, ic is unlikely
that a person will be able to use a measurement instru-
ment and return measurements that are consistently accu-
rate and precise. No maner how carefully data such as
tree heights from a forest are collected, there wi ll be error
in the representation oflandscape features and their asso-
74
64 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
cjared attributes. Chances are that recorded meas ure-
ments will be ar leasr slightly off from rhe [Cue mark due
to (he limitations of vision, musculature, and instrument
se[p up and application. As long as consistent procedures
are followed and no blunders occur, measurements will
tend to be grouped closely around the actual measure-
ment, with differences occurring slighdy in all directions.
These types of small errors are called random errors; rhey
remain after all sys tem atic errors and blunders are
removed. Random error occurrence does tend to follow
rhe laws of probability, and rhus should be normally dis-
tributed in a statisrical sense. The statistical distribution
of repeated measuremems can be estimated in order to
obtain an idea of the variation expected in either the spa-
tiallocarion of a landscape feacuee or the associated attrib-
ure dara. Through the process of least sq uares adjusr-
ments, you can attempt to remove random error from GIS
data bases when concern about accu racy issues is hi gh
(Ghilani & Wolf, 2006). More ofren howeve r, in narural
resource management it is assumed that data collection
efforts were carried Out diligently with respect to [he accu-
racy and precision of measurements, and {hat random
errors rend to ca ncel each other out. For this reason, ran-
dom errOfS are sometimes termed compensadng errors.
Two (erms are important w hen assessing the useful-
ness of a G IS database: logical co nsistency an d com-
pleteness. Logical co nsistency is (he term most GIS afi-
cionados use co describe how well the relationsh ips of
di ffe renr types of dara fir rogetlher within a system . In
some cases (his refers to the consistency of the ropological
relationships amo ng GIS databases. For exa mple, when
streams are disp layed in conjunction with the contour
lines of an elevation GIS database. all streams shou ld
What is error? Error can be defined as something
produced by misrake or as t he difference between rhe
true va lue of a feature and its observed value
(Merriam-Websrer, 2007). How would you know
there was an error in a GIS database? Perhaps by
compa rin g rhe va lue (o r shape of a landscape fearure)
in a GIS database to what is known as the correct
value (or sha pe of a fearure) from a field survey, pho-
cograph, etc. When you co nsider GIS database erro rs,
the goal is to understand three issues: the type of
appear fl ow downhill (as opposed ro uphill) . In orher
cases. logical consistency refers to the anribme dara of a
particular GIS database. For example, the dominant tree
species in o ne polygon may be labeled 'Loblolly', whi le in
ano rher polygon ir may be labeled 'Loblolly Pine', and in
a rhird, 'Pinus taeda'. Completeness is a term used to
describe rhe types and exrent oflandseape features rhat are
included in a GIS database, and conversely, those that are
omitted. For example, in some cases not all types of
streams (e.g .• ephemeral streams that only contain flowing
water during rain events) are included in a streams GIS
database. In add ition, smaHer streams may be omined
because they weren't apparent in the remotely-sensed da ta
that were used co create the database. If only a portion of
total number of stream types were included in a streams
GIS darabase, you might co nclude that rhe database is not
complete.
Types of Error in GIS Databases
Since creating, editing. and acqu iring GIS databases may
involve many different processes, a variety of errors can
obviously crop up. Some of the more commo n types
include those relared to the locacional position of a land-
scape fearure, those rela ted co the tabular att ribmes of a
landsca pe feature, and those resulting from compma-
tional problems.
Positional errors simply imply that a landscape feature
is locared in the wrong place in a GIS darabase. These
errors can arise during GIS database creation processes,
such as digitizing or scann ing maps. As mentioned ea rlier,
the digitizing of landscape features requires that a map be
registered (Q a set of ground coordinates. How well the
error that exists, the so urce of the erro r, and the
extent of the error. All of these relate CO the unce r-
tainty associated with the landscape features con-
tained in a sparial database. Hopefully you have a
hi gh level of co nfidence in the dara (i.e., uncertainty
regarding the location oflandseape fearures and their
attri butes is minim ized), so that analysis efforts can
be used with confidence to positively facilitate deci-
sions made regarding the management of natural
resources.
75
 Chapter 3 Acquiring. Creating. and Editing GIS Databases
registration is performed and how accu rate the coordi-
nates are represented on a map are both factOrs that con-
tribute to errors in a resulting GIS database. Those who
digitize maps also make e rrors-sometimes systematic
errors (nor using a digitizing puck correctly throughout
an enrire digitizing session), and sometimes gross errors
(missing or displacing some objects entirely) . Estimates
of positional error usually indicate thar some percentage
of landscape features should be located within some dis-
rance either horizontally or verticaIly from their true posi-
ti on. A statement of positional accuracy, for example,
might indicate that 90 per cent of the landscape features
are within 150 meters of their true, or on the ground ,
position .
The ultimate use of a GIS database is also considered
when describing the positional accuracy of the landscape
features rhey contain. If the risk of a GIS user making a
catastrophic mistake (e.g., an event that impacts human
safety) when using the GIS database is high. developers of
GIS databases may broaden the accuracy statement to
safeguard themselves against lawsuits. An example of a sit-
uation when human safety could be affected by the accu-
racy of a GIS database is in databases that are used as nav-
igational maps for maritime app li cations. Using an
appropriate set of comrol standa rds may minimize the
amount of error in a CIS database. Control standards can
Root mean square error (RMSE) is a common term
used in GIS. RMSE measures the error between a
mapped point and its associated true ground position.
Commonly used when digitizing a map, RMSE meas-
ures the positional error inherent in the registration
points on the hardcopy map. RMSE calculates the
squared differences between each reference point and
its known or estimated position, sums these differ-
ences, than uses the square root of the sum to compute
a measure of the positional accuracy. The formula for
RMSE when location coordinates are of interest is:
RMSE=
n are exacdy the same as control points that are lIsed to
Where:
Xciata.i X (longitude) coordinate of each
collected point i
65
include using a minimum root mean square error
(RMSE) when registering maps for digitizing processes or
for establishing a set of verification processes for elimina-
tion of gross and systematic errors. In addition , when
measurements ace taken of a featu re, be it point coordi-
nates collected by a GPS receiver, linear features such as
scream o r trail lengths, or area features sllch as watershed
boundaries. a RMSE can be used to assess and repof( dif-
ferences between collected measurements and the true or
estimated positions of featu res (FGDC. 1998).
While the positional accuracy oflandscape features in
a CIS database can be estimated, the uncertainty about
what are termed 'local shapes' is more elusive (Schne ider,
2001) . For example. assume that a road has been digi-
tized (Figure 3.7) . and that one segment of the road has
been represented by four vertices. The actual location of
the road between the vertices is unknown, and can be
described in a number ways other than by a direct line
between each vertices. The positional accuracy of these
local shapes is therefore a function of the quality of the
digital encoding process associated with the landscape fea-
ture (whether manual digitizing, heads-up digitizing, or
capture of data through GPS field techniques was
applied).
Errors in the attributes of landscape features arise
when incorrect values are assigned to features. either
Xch«k.i x (longitude) coordinate of true or
estimated location i
Ydm .; Y (latitude) coordinate of each collected
point i
y (latitude) coordinate of true or
estimated location i
n = number of observations (number of
collected coordinate pairs)
A perfect RMSE is 0.00 where the reference points are
located in a GIS database in exacdy the same relative
position as on the ground or whe n GPS collected data
test accuracy. This is rarely obtained when using real-
world data. A sample RMSE calculat ion is shown in
Table 3.3.
76
66 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

TABLE 3.3 Example of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) calculation for GPS coordinates

Squared
Point GPS-X (m) Known-X (m) GPS-Y (m) Known-Y (m) Error (m)'

477395.3 477397.2 4934669.5 4934671.8 8.90

2 477399.7 477398.7 4934677.2 4934675.2 5.00
3 477405.5 477405.3 4934670.8 4934675.3 20.29
4 477407.5 477406.9 4934673.9 4934671.7 5.20
5 477406.9 477405.7 4934670.4 4934668.5 5.05

Sum of squared crror (m l )!> 44.44

Average squared error sum {m l)e 8.89

Root Mean Squared Error (m)d 2.98

• Squared straight-line differences between CPS coordinates actual known positions: (X-direction error 2 + V-direction error !)
I> Su m of [he squared errors
C Average of the sum of the squared errors: (Sum of squared errors I number of poinu)
d RMSE: Square root of the average of squared errors: (Avt.l'Olge squared error) tI~

through editing processes or through spatial joins (which
are discussed in chapter 9), or arise because the attribute
data is outdated. Keyboard entry of attribute data can
result in attribute data erro rs, particularly if (he people
performing the anribmion processes are nO[ paying close
Digitized road segment
Real-world representation #1
Real-world representation #2
Real-world representation #3
Figure 3.7 Uncertainty of thc local shape of a road scgment (after
Schneider, 200 1).
anentian to the quality of their work. As we mentioned
earlier, verification processes can range from an examina-
tion of primed maps and tabular databases related to the
GIS database of interest, to an independent third-party
examination of the landscape features a nd associated
anribures comained in the resulting G IS database.
Compurational processes can lead to anothe r source
of error that can be rather trans parent to GIS users.
Processes such as general ization. vector-to-raster conver-
sion (or vice-versa), and interpolation cause alterations in
the characterization of landscapes. I n vector-faster con-
versio n. fo r example. vector fearures are converted to
raster grid cells. Obviously the size of the resulting grid
cells, as discussed in chapter 2, will influence the quality
of the landscape features contained in the converted GIS
database. With large grid cells (e.g., 30 m or larger), the
curvature of roads and streams could be lost. as well as
small (and perhaps important) extensions of polygons.
Users of the converted GIS databases wou ld also need to
determine whethe r the spati al resolut ion of the grid cells
tha t result after vector-faster conversion is appropriate for
the landscape fearures being represented. For example. are
30 m (or larger) grid cells appropriate for representing all
roads and streams? Is a 10m resolut ion more appropr iate?
The drawback of using a 10 m grid cell resolutio n is [he
relatively large amount of data required-nine times the
amount of data contained in a 30 m resolucion database
(nine 10m cells are contained withi n a single 30 m grid
cell).
77
 Chapter 3 Acquiring, Creating, and Editing GIS Databases
Ideally, in lieu of starements of error, the processes
used to develop GIS da tabases. such as any transforma-
tions and conversions, should be documemoo and made
known co allow users [Q understand the potential direc-
tion and magnitude of error associated with subsequenc
GIS analyses. In addition. meradara. such as projection
and coordinate systems, should be made available to allow
Summary
Ultimately, most narural resource managemenc organiza-
rions will develop needs rhar will ourgrow rhe capabiliries
of their current collection of GIS databases. Acquiring, cre-
ating. and ed iting GIS databases are common processes
encountered by natural resource professionals when they
are in need of data or databases to assist in making man-
agement decisions or evaluadng alternacive management
policies. When rhe GIS darabases rhar are available to a
natural resource management organizacion are not suitable
Applications
3.1. Acquiring GIS data about Arizona National
Forests. Assume you are interested in o btaining informa-
tion about the streams related to the Prescott National
Forest in Arizona. The website related to the GIS data is
h rrp:llwww.fs.fed .us/r31 prescorrl gisl index.shrml (USDA
Foresr Service, 2007). Based on rhe informarion rhat rhe
GIS data s ite provides, what are the ca tego ries that
describe rhe available GIS darabases? In reviewing rhe
meradara for rhe 'Fire History' GIS darabase:
a) Whar is rhe purpose of rhe Fire History darabase?
b) How were the data creared?
c) What datum, projection, and spheroid are used to
represent fires?
d) What data structure is used to represent the fires?
e) What is rhe spa rial extent of rhe fire hisrory dara-
base in longitude and latitude?
f) Who is rhe primary contact should you have fur-
ther questions?
Note: Please do not contact the Prescott Forest GIS coor-
dinator for answers to these questions.
3.2. Acquiring digital orthophotographs about
Massachusetts. Your position as a natural resource con-
sultant has allowed you to become invo lved in a project
67
users to consider how a GIS darabase was developed. This
is, of course, rhe ideal case. For example, rhe GIS dara-
bases used extensively in (his book are void of S[3[emems
of error and of meradara. They were developed as hypo-
rhericallandscapes for students in rhe aurhors' GIS appli-
cations courses.
to address a particular cask. acquisition. creation. and edit-
ing processes must be considered. Those who simply view
GIS as a sysrem to make maps will likely underesrimare
the amount of work required to acquire. create, or edit the
GIS darabases necessary to make rhose maps. In addirion,
regardless of how GIS darabases are generared, rhe pres-
ence and elimination of errors must be considered, and
will likely require extensive verification processes to ensure
mat the pmential errors are minimized.
situated in Massachusetts. As such. you are interested in
obtaining digital orthophorographs about an area in
Massachusetts . One source of this data might be the
Massachuserrs GIS websire (http: //www.srare.ma. u.1
mgisl) (Commonwealrh of Massachuserrs, Office of
Energy and Environmental Affairs, 2007) . Based on whar
you can gather from the website:
a) Whar rypes of black and whire digiral orrhophoro-
graphic imagery are available?
b) Whar spatial resolurions are available for 1:5000
color orrhophorographic imagery '
c) Whar sparial resol urions are available for 1:5000
black and whire imagery?
d) What datum and coordinate system are used to
represent these images?
3.3. Data acquisition (1). You have been hired by a
private consultant in Washington State to develop a GIS
program . The con sultant has a small office, com prised of
only five employees, and is interesred in developing a GIS
program thar will urilize desktop GIS software (A rcGIS
ArcView, MapInfo, or GeoMedia) and GIS darabases cre-
ated by other organizations. To get started, you decide
that acquiring base maps describing the counties, towns,
secrion lines, and ownership of rhe Stare is important.
78
68 Part 1 Introduction
Introduction to Geographic Information
Information Systems, Databases, and Map Design
Systems. Spatial Databases.

a) Is each of mese
these databases
da<abases available?
ava ilable? List
liS[ any data-
da<a- timber stands
map ,. and then hand-draw the additional [imber srands to
(Q
bases that are not available.
ava ilable. be digitized by the contractor. Use the digital orthopho-
b) Wha<
What steps
S[eps would you have [Q to go mrough
through to[0 be tograph
cogl"dph associated with
wirh [he
me Brown Tract
Tracr to hand-draw
able to
<0 download [he the data? the new srands.
stands.
c) What is the spatial
spatial reference of available data?
d) Who would you contact if you had problems 3.7. Owl locations on the tbe Daniel Pickett forest.
forest. The
downloading
downloadin the data?
g me data' wildlife biologist associated with the Daniel Pickett forest,
forest.
Kim Dennis, is co ncerned about the
concerned rhe quali ty of the owl
quality
Hint:
Hint: See Washington Department
Departmenc ofNarural
of Natural Resources database.
nest location GIS database.
2007a for
fo r additional
additio nal info rmation. a) How could yo u determine whether the me owl nest
locations
locarions on the
rhe Daniel Picken
Picker t forest
forese are rep re-
repre-
3.4. Data acquisition (2) . Assuming you were inter- inter· semed as being in the correcr
sented correCt place?
ested in acquiring
acqu iring soils GIS databases for 10 townships
rownships in b) What are [hethe coordinates
coordin ates associated w ith each owl
with
Was
Washington
hington State from the Washington
Washing<on Department of nest location?
locarion ?
Natural
Natura l Resources (see Washington Department of
Wash in gtOn Deparrmenc
Natural
Namral Resources. 2007b):
2007b) : 3.8. Errors in landscape feature and attribute data.
format of the database?
a) What is the formar database? As a user of the Brown Tract GIS databases,
databases. you are very
the coordinate units?
b) What are (he ime rested in the quality
inrerested quali ty of data that
rha t each provides. What
c) Who is [he
me comact
contact for more information about the might you say about the possible errors in the stands
srands GIS
G IS
soils database? database features that are located in the fo llowing places?
following
d) Where did methe soils information come from? a) X == 1263950; Y Y== 371726
b) X == 1273647; Y == 363943
3.5. Data acquisition (3). The Washington Washi ng<on Natural
Namral
Heritage Program (Washington Department of Natural Namral 3.9. Verification processes. As technology progresses
Resources, 2007c) maintains a GIS
Resources. G IS database of the high- me capabil
and the capabilities increase (with
ities of field personnel increase (wi th new
quality rerresuial
qualiry terrestrial and we dan d ecosystems of the Stare.
werland State, as co llege co urses in GIS, cont
college inuin g educa
conrinuing tion co
educadon urses,
courses)
well as locations of rare planes of concern.
r-are plams etc.),
Ctc.), the co llection and transfer
collection transfer of data
dara can occur with
a) What groups of professionals are the intended users processes that would seem seemingly
ingly save effort and COSt toco an
of lhe
the Washington
Washing<on Natural Heritage GIS data set? organization.
organizadon. For example,
example. in Figure 3.4 the inventory
invencory
b) How would yo
b) youu gain access to Washing<on
<0 the Washington foreSter would transfer cruise reports (hard co
forester copies)
pies) and
Narural Heritage GIS dara data sec?
set? maps (hand-draw
(hand-drawn) n) to informatio
informarionn system analysts
<1nalysrs in an
c) What data formars are available for me the GIS
GIS data- annual update process. Several verification
verifkation processes were
base?
base? noted
nmed in an efforr
effort to(Q maintain the
rhe consistency
consisrency and qu qual-
al-
d) Are you allowed to <0 display
disp lay GIS maps of the dataset ity of data moving from the
me field to
[ 0 the information
informatio n sys-
{he Incerner?
on (he Incerner? tems
rems deparrment
department and vice versa.
a) H ow mighr
might these processes
process es in the flow chart
3.6. Development of base map for a digitizing con- cchange
hange if the
me inventory
invemory fo res terr were to
resre [Q provide

char the standard

tractor. Assume that stand ard process within your
yo ur spatial data that was digitized in the field office,
office.
managemem organizarion
natural resource management organization for updating
updat ing and cruise data that was collected
coUeeted with a hand-held
GIS
G IS databases is ro
to develop hand-drawn maps of the data
dam coll ector?
coiJector?
changes desi red, and then [0
des ired, to deliver these po tential
tentia l b) Could the
me verifica tion responsibilities shift under
verification
changes to
[0 a COlHractor
contractor for digitizing work. In the
(he cemer these ccircumstances?
ircumstances?
of the Brown Tract is an open
o pen area of land. Assume thar
that
rhe the Brow
the owners of the: Brownn TTract
racr recently acquired this Sources
3.10. So urces of error. Your supervisor, Steve
S teve Sm ith,
idt , is
D evelop a base:
land. Develop base m
map. the currenc sstands
ap. showing [he tands interested in understanding
undersranding the types of error [hat
that may be
and the current roads. Create a GIS database of fou r [icstics inherent
in herenr in GIS
GIS databases.
daraba ses. Describe fo
forr Steve
Sreve the differ-
ma rks) and place them on the map as well.
(reference marks) well, ences between the foHowing
following three
mree types
rypes of error: system-
along
alo with their
ng wirh thei r assoc ia[ed
iated X
Xand
and Y coo rdin
rdinates. Print [he
ates. Prine the atic, random, and gross error.

79
 Chapter 3 Acquiring, Creating, and Editing GIS Databases 69

3.11. Types of error. Given the inventory updating 3.14 Calculating Root Mean Squared Error: Tree
process oared in Figure 3.4, describe [he sources of error location database . Assume you work as a nacu ral
(posi tional. a[[cibure. comput3rional) that could result at resource manager in Oregon. and your supervisor is con-
each step in the process. cerned about the qualiry of data that you are colleCting
wich a GPS receiver. You supervisor has asked you co cal-
3.12. Calculating Root Mean Squared Error: Wood- culate the RMSE between GPS-collected coordinates and
pecker nest GIS database. Assume you are digitizing a coordinates that had been collected by a digital total sta-
map of red-cockaded woodpecker nest cree locations of a cion . Boch secs of coordinates are lisred below.
Nacional Forest in Florida. You have four reference marks
Total Total
that you can use [0 reference the map [Q known coordi-
Point GPS-X Station-X GPS-Y Station-Y
nates. When registering the map you find that the X-
direcrion and V-direction difference berween the refer- 4934688.3 4934691.9 477311.7 477309.0

ence marks and the acwal known locations are as follows: 2 4934693.6 4934690.8 4773 10.5 47731 1.9

3 4934686.9 4934687.0 4773 16. 1 4773 13.8

Registration X-direction Y.direction
Point error (ft) error (ft) 4 4934686.1 4934683.9 4773 12.7 4773 12.7
3.526 0.963 5 4934678.8 4934682. 1 4773 10.2 477309.0
2 -2 .890 -2.452 6 4934680.3 4934683.2 477307.6 477306.0
3 0. 985 -1.987

4 - 1.598 -2.850 3.15 Calculating Root Mean Squared Error: Stream

gauging stations. Assume chac you are collecdng daca
Whar is the RMSE, or positional error, associarcd with the from a stream survey. A stream ecologisc has given you a
resulting woodpecke r nest GIS database? set of GPS coordinates that had been collected from gaug-
ing stations locared nexc co a scream. She has also pro-
3.13. Calculating Root Mean Squared Error: Trails vided a sec of coordinaces from the same gauging scadons
GIS database. Assume you are employed by a National that were collected from LiDAR data. What is the RMSE
Park in Alberta, and are in the process of digirizing a map of che differences between chese secs of coordinaces?
of trails [har were drawn by the recreadon specialist asso-
Point GPS-X GPS-Y UDAR-X LiDAR-Y
ciared with ch e park. On the recreadon specialise's map
chere are six reference marks chat you can use co regisrer 934681.0 477392.8 934676.6 477402 .2
che map [Q known coordinaces. When regiscering che map 2 934670.8 477405.5 934675 .3 477405.3
you find that the X-direction and Y-direction difference 3 934673.9 477407.5 934671.7 477406.9
becween the reference marks and (he accual known loca-
4 934670.4 477406.9 934668 .5 477405.7
dons are as follows:
5 934665.8 477399.2 934666.9 477402.1
Registration X-direction Y-direction
6 934668. 1 477399.5 934668.6 477398.3
Poine ~rror (m ) ~rro r (m)

3. 125 - 1.588

2 2.564 -1.992

3 2.548 -2.987
4 1.998 - 2.856

5 1.268 2.857

6 1.489 3.897

Whar is che RM SE, or posidonal error, associ aced. wich [he

resulcing cra ils GIS darabase?

80
70 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
References
Commonweal th of Massachusetts, Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs . (2007). Massachusetts g'o-
graphic information sysum. Retrieved April 19,2007,
from http://www.state.ma.us/mgisl.
Cressie, N. (1991). Statistics for spatial data. New York:
John Wiley & Sons.
DeMers , M .N. (2000). Fundamentals of g,ographic
information systems. New Yo rk: John Wiley and Sons,
Inc.
Envi ronmental Systems Research Institute. (2005). GIS
topology. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.
esri.comllibrary/whitepapers/pdfs/gis_topology.pdf.
Federal Geographic Data Comm itree (FGDC) . (1998).
GeospatiaL positioning accuracy standards. Part 3:
National standard fo r spatial data accuracy. Reston ,
VA: US Geological Survey.
Geography Network Canada. (2007). Data. Retrieved
April 27, 2007, from http://www.geographynetwork.
ca/datalindex.html.
Ghila ni , CD ., & Wolf, P.R. (2006). Adjustment compu-
tations: Spatial data analysis (4th ed.). New York: John
Wiley and Sons, Inc.
G ifford Pi nchot National Forest. (2007). Gifford Pinchot
National Forest geographic infonnation sysums, avail-
able data uts. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http: //
www.fs.fed. us/gpn fifo rest -researchl gisl.
Keefer, B.J. , Smith, J.L. , & G regoire, T.G. (1988).
Simulating manual digitizing error with sradsricai
models. Proceedings, GIS/LiS '88. Falls Church, VA:
America n Soc iety of Photogrammerric Engineering
and Remote Sensing, American Congress on
Surveying and Mapping.
Merriam-Webster. (2007). M"rian- W,bsm onlin, search.
Retrieved April 27, 2007, from http://www.m-w.com.
Minnesota Planning. Land Management In fo rm ati on
Center. (2007). LMIC's clearinghouse data catalog.
Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http ://www.lmic.
Sta te. mn . us!chouse/.
Natural Resources Canada. (2007). Mapping. Retrieved
April 19, 2007, from http: //www. nrcan-rncan.gc.
calcom/subsujl mapcar-eng. ph p.
Prisley, S.P., Gregoire, T.G., & Smith , J.L. (1989). The
mean and variance of area estimates in an arc-node
geograph ic information sys[em. Photogramm~tric
Enginuring and Remou S,nsing, 55, 1601- 12.
Schneider, B. (2001) . On the uncertainty of local shape
of lines and surfaces. Cartography and Geographic
Information Sciences, 28, 237-47.
USDA Forest Service. (2007). Pmcott National Form:
GIS-geographic information sysums. Presco[[, AZ:
USDA Forest Service. Retrieved April 20, 2007, from
http://www.fs.fed.us /r3/ prescottl gisl index.sh tml.
US Geological Survey, Federal Geograph ic Data
Committee. (2002). Manual offtdual geographic data
products. Reston, VA: US Geological Survey.
WashingtOn Department of Natural Resources. (2007a).
GIS data. O lympia, WA: Washington Department of
Natural Resources. Retrieved April 20, 2007, from
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/dataandmaps/index.html.
Washington Department of Natu ral Resources. (2007b).
Avai"'ble GIS data . Olympia, WA : Washington
Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved April 20,
2007, from htrp://www3 .wadnr.gov/dnrapp6/dara webl
dmma[rix.h[ml.
Washington Department of Natural Resoutces. (2007c).
Reference desk. Olymipia, WA: Washington Department
of Natural Resources. Retrieved April 20, 2007, from
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/gis/index.html .
81
Chapter 4
Map Design
Objectives
The common features of maps are described in this chap-
ter. and emphasis is placed on developing those that field
professionals can use to present results of GIS analyses or
(0 illustrate themes of interest including forest manage-
ment areas, tree species maps, harvest plans. wildlife habi-
tat, and mher narural resource management actions. At
the conclusion of this chapter. readers should have
acquired a firm understanding of:
I. the main components. or building blocks. of a map;
2. rhe qualities of a map that are imporram in communi-
cating information co map users; and
3. the types of maps that can be developed to visually
and quickly communicate information to an audience.
Within the various fields associated with natural
resource management, we expect chat maps will be avail-
able to illustrate resources and areas that we manage
because of the prevalence of GIS use. Maps are amazing
tOols that, if constructed properly, have the ab ili ty to
quickly and clearly communicate a message [Q an audi-
ence. Maps are an effective method of communicating
spatial relationships among landscape features. Maps are
also engaging-people are drawn to maps. Most GIS soft-
ware programs provide users the capability to produce
sophisticated maps and maps often represent the output
produced by GIS analyses. thus most people mainly tend
to associate GIS with map-making activities. Although
this association may ignore many of the other analytical
ca pabilities of GIS. the ability to geographically portray
the results of an analysis is one of the primary distinguish-
ing characteristics that sets GIS apart from other software
programs.
Maps have been part of human civilization for millen-
nia and have been used for many purposes, including data
sto rage, navigation, and visualization. Maps have been
used to create and sway opinion in many disciplines.
including those related to the managemem of natural
resources. In a manner similar to the use of statistics.
maps can hold tremendous power over the message that is
delivered to an audience and. when created skillfully.
maps can be used to influence people's opinions
(Monmonie r. 1995. 1996). One of the great dangers pre-
sented by maps is that people assume the landscape fea-
tures represented on maps are accurate ponrayals of the
natural resources that they claim to manage. However.
maps are. at best, abstractions of the real world, and will
usually possess some measure of non-conformity, be it
directional or proportional or both, from a set of land-
scape features . A skilled map-maker will be able to choose
a map projection that best preserves feature qualities (e.g.•
area, shape) and that best suits a map's objective. This
skill might also include applying strategies for represent-
ing data characteristics or qualities through different
shapes, colors, or sizes. Understanding that maps must be
created and imerpreted with a discerning eye is one of the
first steps necessary to becoming a successful mapmaker
or user.
Maps usually are two-dimensional representations of
the landscape. although th ree-dimensional maps can be
used to show volume o r perspective. Symbols. colors, and
text are combined to communicate information and, as
with graphs, flow charts, and other diagrams. maps are
graphical representations of information. Mapmakers
82
72 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Databases, and Map Design
Systems. Spatial Databases.

attempt to different manner than (hat

ro transmit ideas in a differenr that size. shape,
The size, shape. and symbology of each component
componene of a
ocher forms of communication.
used by other communica(ion. The goal of (he the map should reA
reAec(
ect (he
the likely responses (0
to (hese
these promprs.
promp".
map-making process is co to produce a visual display (ha( that [Ools can be employed to
A variety of common [ools (0 make a
communicates spa rial information to
spatial pQ[encial map users.
co potential llsers. map both useful for namral
natural resource
resou rce management pur-
The human brain, with irs its limited capacity ro s(Qre infor-
to Stofe aesrhecically pleasing. The landscape features
poses and aesthetically feacures
marion,
mation, may be able (Q to understand ideas more effectively illusuared on a map should include enough landmarks co
illustrated to
when suppo
supporting
rting concepts are presented graphically on a allow the users to reference
rderence themselves to [he
the mapped
map (Phillips,
(Phillips. 1989). The design of a map can affect aifec( (he
the area. and help navigare (hrough
area, thro ugh a landscape. Mapmakers
abi lity to communicate spadal
ability information. thus a well-
spatial information, should keep ewo
two importane aspects of maps in mind: (I)
important aspecrs
designed map will wi ll likely communicate ideas co to an audi- not evetything aboUt a landscape needs to be dis-
everything known about
ence (e.g.,
(e.g .. co-workers and supervisors) more effectively played on a single map,
map. an
andd (2) co
to communicare
communica(e effec-
eifec-
rhan a poorly designed map,
(han map. Poorly designed maps can (ively.
tively, maps should focus on displaying a limi(ed
limired number
lead to misinterpretations and costly cosdy or inappropriate of landscape features. These concepts emphasize
emphasiz.e that car-
ca r-
decisions.
decisions. rographers should
shou ld focus on characteristics
charac reristi cs that directly
rhar direcdy
Cartography is the
rhe science and art
arr of making maps, relate
rel to the map's intended message, and thus
ate ro rhus they
and for the bence
bc(rer part me
twentieth century it was a
parr of the [wemicrh should ensure that other map components do not mask
skill developed (hrough
through ex(ensive
extensive experience in making or cloud (he fea(u res primarily
the message. The landscape features
maps by hand. Since (he la(e 1980s when G
the late IS began co
GIS to be emphasized on a map should be (hose wi(h (he
rhose associared with the
pervasive in namral
natural resource organizations. tbe the vast main intent of the map. For example, on a map devel-
majority of maps have been made by non-professional oped ro classes. other landscape features.
to illustrate stream classes) fearures.
cartographers.
ca rrographers. This shift is sim ply because of the accessi-
simply access i- such as roads, soi ls. should be second-
roads) timber stands, and soils,
biliry
bility and ease of use of GIS software.
sohware. Some people may arily emphasized. omirred from the map ent
emphasized, or omitted entirely.
irely.
argue that several of the prescriptive
prescriprive aspects of making
maps are no longer necessary
necessaty (Wood.
(Wood, 2003). However.
However, Map Components
we would consider our dfoIT
effort to educa.te reade.rs abom
educate readers 3bom the
capabilities
capabili(ies of GIS less ,han
than successful if we failed to (0 When developing a map for a natura]
natural resource manage-
aspects of maps, and suggest ways
describe the important aspec[S ment purpose, several basic components shou ld be con-
mem
to
(0 aesrhecically appealing.
make maps aesthetically componenrs
sidered. These co mponentS include (he
[he symbols being
When developing maps for Q[hers
others to use, mapmakers used to describe landscape features, a north arrow, [he
the
should keep in mind that nor all map users will be oper-
tha( not scale, the legend,
scale. (he legend. and (he
the quali(ies
qualities (fone.
(font, size.
size, ere.)
etc.) of the
ating on the same level of competence. In fact, map users rext (labels and anno(a(ion).
(ex( addi(ion. you may find it
annmation). In addition, i(
can be categorized as experienced.
experienced, inexperienced,
inexperienced. o
orr reluc- to include other components in a map, such as
necessary [Q
(ane
tallt (F ranklin,
ranklin. 2001). The detail
de(ail and clarity
c1ariry of mapped a description of the mapmaker, the rhe filenames
menames and file
me
feacures
featu res will likely affeer
afTecc how well a map coneribu
conuibu tes
res (0
to the GIS databases
loca(ions of (he
locations da(abases used,
used. and map qual
quali(y
iry
natural resource management.
namral management. Within natural resource caveats. Each of these components is briefly discussed
management, maps should be clear enough for users [Q
ro below, and it is imponant
important ro understand each e1emem
elemem
undersrand
understand ewo
twO main (hings:
things: (I) (he
the land area (ha( me
thar the djscuss the common types of maps that can be
before we discuss
map represents, and (2) the message the map intends toto developed using GIS software
sofeware programs.
communicate aboU( the land area.
abom [he area . In order to meet these
requirements,
iremems. a mapmaker
two requ_ map maker needs ro understand:
to understand: Symbology
• (he
the objec(ive(s)
objective(s) of the map (the
«he message),
message). Symbology can be (hough(
thought of as (he
the art of expression,
expression.
• the people who may use ,he
(he the map (the
«he audience),
audience). (Merriam-Websrer. 2007). A large suire
based on symbols (Merriam-Websrer,
• (he da(a (ha(
the data that will be displayed in (he
the map «he infor-
(the in for- of map symbols has been developed (0
to ideneifY
identifY and iUus-
illus-
mation available), trate significant landscape features on maps. Some of
crate
• the
rhe use of graphics software
sohware for displaying map infor- (hese
rhese symbols (Figure 4. I) we
4.1) were
re developed as narional
na( ional
mation, and standards for
srandards fo r illustrating landscape features (e.g., conrour
contOur
• me
the final format of the printed or digital version of the lines. hydrologic symbols) found on cenain
lines, cerrain widely used
map (the
«he product).
produc(). maps. such as (he
maps, the US Geological Survey (opographic
topographic
83

Campground ......... .. ........ . .... ..... lc.nqlounI!
Gravel. sand. clay . Of borrow pit ...... .... Grll~t!I?iI
Mine shaft ... .. . ..... ...... ....... ... ..... I!l
Seawall. ... ....... ................... ... .. S £AW " L~
ShoaL ......... ........... ........ . ... ...... Shoal
Spot elevation........ .. ............. ..... . mts
State or territory.... ........ ........... - - - - - -
Tunnel: road...... .... .... .. .... .... ... ~ _ £ ... _
Figure 4. 1 A subset of USGS topographic map symbols (USD I US
Geological Survey, 2003).
maps (USDI US Geological Survey. 2003) or the National
Topographic System maps of Canada (Natural Resources
Canada. 2006). Symbols have also been developed to rep-
resent organizational standatds for identifying landscape
features. For example. the US National Park Service has
created a standard set of symbols for use on National Park
Service maps (USDI National Park Service. 2003). which
include typical symbols for roads and other landscape fea-
tures as well as the highly recognizable pictographs
(Figure 4.2). The International Orienteering Federation
(2000) has also developed a set of standard map symbols
fo r orienteering events. This provides a common
approach to the interpretation of o rienteerin g maps, and
therefore promotes a fair competition amo ng people
involved in the sporL
Most GIS software programs provide a standard set of
map symbols for map users. H owever. developers of maps
0 Airport
II Amphitheater
e Boat la unch
,.
I!J Boat tour
Bicycle tra il
El Bus stop/Shuttle stop
g Campfire
~ Campground
!!! Canoe access
Figure: 4.2 A subset of the slanda rd National Park Service picto-
graphs for maps (USDI National Park Service, 2003).
Chapter 4 Map Design 73
can easily misuse them, since documentarion is usually
limited within the dialog boxes provided by the GIS soft-
ware. Nevertheless, a variety of symbols are available in
GIS software programs that allow the mapmaker to
describe landscape features. It is also possible within many
GIS software programs [Q create a customized symbol set.
I n so me GIS software programs symbols are merely
bitmap graphic files that can be edited o r created th rough
graph ic software programs. And. if the existing symbol-
ogy within a GIS sofrware program is nO[ adeq uate, some
GIS software programs may allow the use of customized
tools or products developed by third-party software devel-
opers. A variety of free symbols sees can be obtained over
the Internet (e.g .• Sheahan. 2004). and you can purchase
special symbols from companies such as Digital Wisdom.
Inc. (2006).
Direction
Mapmakers typically use cardinal di rections (north.
south, east, west) (Q indicate map ori entation. The use of
a north arrow thus provides map users with a systematic
method to not only help locate places on the groun d. but
also [Q understand where those places are in relation to
ocher landscape features. While most maps are usually
oriented with north at rhe tOP of the page, and south at
[he bo[{om of the page. it is appropriate to remove the
uncertainty assoc iated w ith orientation of a map by
explicitly indicating the direc(ion through the use of a
north arrow. Omitting a north arrow from a map is con-
sidered poor cartographic practice.
A wide variety of north arrows has been developed to
help map users understand direction and location, and
the choice of which to use is usually determined by the
mapmaker. Many of these forms of north arrows are
available within GIS software programs, and a num be r of
o(hers can be developed by hand us ing lines. arrows. and
text (F igure 4.3). Some organizations. such as the US
National Park Service, require the use of a standard north
arrow o n their official maps (USDI National Park Service,
2003). Prospective cartographers should also realize (har
single-sided north arrows are used by some organizations
to represent magnetic north . The Earth's magnetic fields
are in constant flux and cause compass needles [Q point in
alignment. W ith in much ofNorrh America, the magnetic
variation ranges berween 20° East an d 20° West declina-
tion , thus creating a large angular difference berween
what many consider [rue north (which is astronomically
derived) and magnetic north.
84
74 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

Figure 4.3 A variety of north arrow d~igns.
Scale
Maps are models of real landscapes. and a scale is used to
ind icate the ratio of (he map features [Q the actual land-
scape (i.e., map distance compared to actual ground dis-
ranee) [0 the map users. For this reason, scales are essen-
cia! beca use they permit map users to reference map
features to their actual size. A sca le is almost always
required on a map. and can be displayed using graphical,
equivalent (verbal). or proportional scales (Figure 4.4).
Graphical scales generally do not indicate the exact scale
of a map (as do proponionai or equivalent scales) , but
serve to visually associate the length of a map feature to
actual ground distances. Man y people relate to this form
of scale more effectively than they do to the proportional
or equivalem scales. Equivalent scales are those where one
unit of d istance on a map (usually the left-hand side of
Graphical scales:
the scale) is equal to (using the equal sign) one unit of dis-
tance on the actual landscape. Each side of the scale can
use a different unit of meas ure (e.g., 1 inch = 10 chains),
which distinguishes this type of scale from the propor-
tional scale, where each side of the scale is unirless.
Proportional scales are generaIly presented using a rep-
resentative fraction. such as 1:24.000. With this type of
scale, users should interpret 1 unit on the map as repre-
senting 24.000 of the same units on the ground (e.g .•
1 map inch represents 24.000 ground inches, or 1 map
ce ntimeter represents 24,000 ground centimeters).
Proportional and equivalent scales are also interchange-
able. For example. an equivalent scale that reads 1 inch =
1 mile is the same as a proportional scale of 1:63.360
(I inch on a map represents 63.360 inches. or 1 mile, on
the ground).
Whether graphic, equivalent, or proportional scales
are used, the appropriate metries (English versus metric or
SI system. feet versus miles [meters vs. kilometers)) and
appropriate font sizes should be employed to avoid dis-
tracring users from the map's main message. Puc another
way, the scale is supplementary informacion on a map.
and therefore it should not he so large that it auracts
attention away from the map itself. Finally, the units dis-
played in a scale muSt make sense to the user of the map.
For example. a proportional scale of 1:23.987. an equiva-
lent scale of 1 cm = 2.3 km. and a graphical scale which is
divided inro 700-meter sections represents relativdy
uneven divisions. While the units displayed in scales may
he automaticaHy created in this manner in GIS, the map-

--- -
500m o 500m 1000m maker usually has comrol over them and can adjust them
accordingly to provide a mo re logical representation of
scale. In general, map users will be able to relate more
1 mile o 1 mile 2 miles easily to rounded scale figures. such as 1:24.000 or 1: 100.
rather than to more precise representations .

Equivalent scales: Legend

1 inch = 1 mile All of the features displayed in a map should be described
1 inch = 500 feet in the map legend in order fo r users to fully interpret the
1 inch = 10 chains
1 em = 1,000 meters map's message. Therefore. the symbology that is used to
1 em = 5 kilometers display features in a map should be replicated in the leg-
end and associated with some text that defines the sym-
bols (Figure 4.5) . Of course. if you wanted to intention-
Proportional scales:
all y add myStery to a map . the legend may omit the
1: 12.000 description of certain landscape features. Some maps ,
1 : 24.000 such as the US Geological Survey topographic maps. may
1 : 250,000
contain numerous features (and co rresponding symbols).
Figure 4.4 Graphical. equivalent. and proportional scales. The legend that would be required for these maps would
85
 Chapter 4 Map Oesign 75

Legend Brown Tract Roads and Trails

............
Streams ~ Harvest area

Roads EEl Log decl<s I Landings

- - - Stand boundaries ........ Gates
Property boondary o Houses

Figure 4.5 A map legend containing symbology and definitions.

overwhelm the map itself. In these cases, only a few land-

scape features are noted in the map's legend. and users
must refer to the published standa rds (e.g., USO I US
Geological Survey, 2003) for a full explanation of the
remaining map symbols.
Legends can rake many different forms and can use
symbols. points. lines. polygons. colors. pa[(crns. and [ext
co clarify what users may see. Some legends should milize
a font size and font rype (hat is appropriate for the map. Legend
Symbols sizes for features may also be varied to show the Trails
differences in quamiries. The choices are nOt always obvi-

__ ""~, e
.. Roads

~"'
ous, but as in the case of the map's scale, [he legend
should nor distract users from the message of a map. In
addition , the appropriate descripro[s for each symbol
should be used. Abbreviations should be avoided if inter- Figure 4.6 A map of the Brown Tract roads and trails containing a
neatline, locational inset, title, legend, scale, and north arrow.
pretation of symbols might be unclear, or if a broad aud i-
ence is targeted. When data are presenred and indicate
quantities (such as length or area). the measurement units
should be presented. Brown Tract Roads and Streams
Most GIS sofrware programs now offe r [Ools {hat allow
{he automatic creation of map legends. These processes
simply reference the GIS da<abases that are being used and
their corresponding symbology. Typically, [Ools are also
available in GIS software to allow you to modifY aU[Qmat-
ically-created legends [Q suit your particular needs.

Locational inset
The approximate locatio n of {he mapped a rea within {he
conrext of a larger, more recognizable landscape feature
(e.g., a basin, forest, counry, o r State or provincial bound-
ary) can he indicated on a map using a locational inset. ,
The locational inset may be exrremely helpful fo r the
Benton County ,"-nd
-.._.. -.... +
map's audience if they are not familiar with the landscape
being illustrated. The locational inset might show the
location of a watershed within a drainage basin, or a prop-
erty within the boundary of a county. The locational
inset, however, should be a minor component of a map
and it must not compete with the main feature(s) of a
Lr _c-.,.. ..... __ .. JfI07
Figure 4.7 A map of the Brown Tract roads and 5lreams conuining a
map for the attention of an audience. Figures 4.6 and 4.7 ncacline. locational insct, title, legcnd. scale, and north arrow.

86
76 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems,
Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

were developed as reference maps by Students

s[Udenrs in one of Annotation
our GIS
G1S cou rses. and ahhough not perfect in every sense.
courses, sense,
each example provides a locational
loeational inset in [he lower left anno racion , or tex(
Map annotation, (ex( applied directly to me
(0 the map, is

corner. In one case,

casc, the loeational inset contains the our-
Out- important in further describing landscape features beyond
line of the Brown Tract.
Traer. In the other case, the location whar can be described with
what wich a legend
legend.. In some cases, it
was approximated by the student using a symbol (a trian- not be practical (or possible) to indicace
may noc indicate all of the me
gle). and
gle), with the orientation an d size of the symbol implying characteristics
intended characterist th ro ugh the
ics oflandscape features through
less accurate information about rhe
the lacarion.
locarion. beeause of space limitations
use of a legend or symbology because
Th ree other rypes
types of insets can also be used.
used, an or because of the shape and size of the features.
features. Therefore
enlargement
en largement inset, a rel ated area inset , and a special
related map makers may find annotation helpful
mapmakers helpflll in communicat-
inscr. An enlargement inset can be used on a
subject inser. addi tio nal messages to the
ing additional [he end-users.
end-users. Listed below are
map to co show more detail of a speciFicspecific area located several examp les of map annorarion
annotation in natural
natural resource
within the primary map region.region . A related area inset can management.
be used on a map [Q [0 illustrate fearu res [hat
features thac are nOll
non- p

co
contiguous wim the
nriguous with rh e main map figure but are still impor- • Ownership: The owners of individual parcels may be
tant
(3m to(Q display. For example. related area insets are ofren
often displayed on a map wich with words,
words. such as 'Georgia-
included in ma ps thar
maps rhat illustrate
illumate rhe
the 50 Un iced
ited States.
Scaces. Pacific', 'Srace
'Scare of Alabama',
Alabama'. or 'Province of Alberta'.
Alberta'.
Here.
Here, Alaska an
andd Hawaii are posirioned me
positioned in [he insets
insets.. • Road numbers or names: These may be applied appl ied as
tather
rather than in their actual geographic location
locarion (which
{which labels to maps toto further describe the road system.
would then
rhen include ponions
pordons of Canada and vast • Surveying or
o r other locationa
loeationall in
informacion:
formation: Township
expanses of the Pacific Ocean).
Ocean}. A special subject inset can numbers
and range numbe rs (if using the Public Land Survey
be used on a map to show different themadc representa- System oro r the Dominion Land System), or distances
rhe main map area (e.g. precipitation
tions of [he precipitation,, canopy direcdons from a metes and bounds survey may
and directions
cover). This is a popular mapping approach used in many be illustrated on maps with annotation, as could the
adases. type of markings (e.g.,
(e.g.. pink flagging,
Aagging. orange paint)
used to delineate treatment area boundaries.
• Areas of concern
concern:: The names of the homeowners near
Neatline
treatment areas may be placed on a map to allow land
A neadi
neadine that surrounds all of the landscape
ne is a border tbat managers to understand who they must contact
conract in case
hue lies within the oU[side
features on a map but ourside edge of me
rhe of a problem.
(paper).. Adding a neatline
mapping medium (paper) neadine ro
to a map is • Stand auribures:
attributes: While stand attributes
atrr ibures can
ca n be used [Q
{Q

canographic praccice
considered good cartographic practice btl[
bur its presence is shade a thematic map (as we will see soon) several
crirical than that
generally less critical thac of a scale bar or a legend.
legend, attributes
attribu tes of forested stands are commonly displayed
Neatlines
Nearl ines can also be placed around other map e1emenrs
elements with annotation inside individual stands. These atuib-
attrib-
to help distinguish
disringuish them and keep them separate
separare from utes
Utes could include the stand or vegetar
vegetation
ion eype, age.
age, or
(e.g.,, [0
other objects (e.g. separate the
to separare [he locadonal
loeational inser
inset from area (Figure 4.8).
the legend). Usually a nearline
neadine is composed of at
ac leasr
least one
line, co provide a more dra-
line. but multiple lines can be used ro Typography
marie effect. RegardJess
matic be use-
Regardless of the style, nearlines can be
(Oots
ful too that bring organization and disrincrion
ls rhat distinction (0
to co ntent and form
The content for m of text
[ext used to describe map fea-
sofeware programs
mapped landscape features. Some GIS software tures is an important
imponam aspect of [he
the communicative ability
abiliry
mapping
include mappi ng tools that will not on
[0015 thac only
ly create a neadine, map.. and is often used informally to differentiate
of a map
bur that
btl( thar will allow you co speciFy how the area contained
to specifY professional-looking maps from maps made by GIS
GIS
the neacline
within [he nearline will be filled. For example.
example, the back- novices. Since colors and patterns alone might not be ab le
ground area behind [he tide, landscape fearures.
the map tirle. features, and co
to fully explain the message of a map,
map. the texc
text used in
legend, could be shaded. An amomaric
amomacic neadine creadon
nearline crearion annotation,
annotatio n, labels, titles.
tities, and legends plays a role in [he
the
tool in GIS sofcware will allow the creation of a presenra-
presenta- appearance and aestherics
aesthetics of a map. The abili ty of GIS
abil ity GIS
tion-quality map or poster, bur
[ion-quaJiry but nearlines also be cre-
neadines can aJso users to interpret
imerprcr the written information rhey
they find on
wichouc much difficulty.
ated manually without maps is a function of many variables that can be described
87

51
70.86
50
3.85
39
58.39
51 46
5.49 27.94
54
25.07
Figure 4.8 Map annotation: age (top, yurs) and area (bottom,
hectares) of a ponion of the Brown Tract stands (vegetation) GIS
database.
under the broad heading of typography. Some of the
most important rypographical elements are typeface
(font), weight (bold/normal), size (point size), and case
(use of capitals) of text contained on the map itself. The
font chosen will undoubtedly inAuence the ability of users
to interpret maps, rhus a no rmal font (Times Roman,
Aria], etc.). and a normal and consistent font size is usu-
ally appropriate for most maps. Some important thoughts
on map typography include the following:
• Some font types may be easier co read than orhers.
Mixing font rypes on a map may create (he impres-
sion that parts of a map arc nor clearly or logically
connected.
• Use larger font sizes for map fearures mat are relatively
morc importam than others. However, if you we re (0
differentiate landscape features by differem sizes of
labels or annotation, you must remember that only a
small number of classes are discernable by most peo-
ple. In addition, small font sizes may be difficult for
some people to see.
• The tirle of a map should be displayed with a larger
font size (han the rest of the components of the map.
Use font size judiciously to display the legend, scale,
and Other material not contained in the mapped area.
The font size of these items should not overwhelm the
information contained in the mapped area.
Chapter 4 Map Design n
• In one study, Phillips et al. (1977) noted that the
capability of people to search and find infotmation on
a map was enhanced when the text was displayed in a
normal weight (not bold), with letters all in lower case,
except an initial capital. However, capitals should be
used for all letters in text when names are difficult to
pronounce or need to be copied accurately.
• Text set entirely in lower case has been shown to be
harder to locate on a map than text set entirely in
upper case. However when the initial letter of a piece
of text was slightly larger than the othet letters, locat-
ing the text was quicket (Phillips, 1979).
Color and contrast
It may be difficult to believe at first but people tend to
associate colors oflandscape features on maps with events,
emotions, and socio-economic status. Men and women
respond to color with similar emotional reactions (Valdez
& Mehrabian, 1994); however, people's emotional reac-
tion [0 colors may vary across cu ltures . Listed below are
general emotional react ions to various colors by south-
eastern US college students, as suggested by Kaya and
Epps (2004) .
• Green: they felt relaxed, calm, and comforted, and
associated me color with nature
• Blue: they felt relaxed , calm, and comforted, yet asso-
ciated the color with sadness or loneliness
• Yellow: they felt lively and energetic, and associated
the color with summertime
• Red: they associated the color with love o r romance,
yet also associated the colo r with ange r
• Purple: they felt relaxed and calm, and associated the
color with childhood o r power
• White: they associated the color with innocence,
peace, pur ity, or emptiness. and also associated the
color with snowfall or conon
• Black: they associated the color with sadness, depres-
sion, fear, and darkness, yet also with richness, power,
and wealth
• Gray: they associated the color with negative emo -
tions, bad weathet, and foggy days
Studies of peop le's responses to color have indicated
comp lex emotional relationships. For example. in the
study by Kaya and Epps (2004), the color green evoked
the mos t positive response among college students
because it reminded them of nacu re. Yellow was a close
88
78 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
second. Yet, students associated [he color green-yellow
with feelings of sickness and disguSt. In an earlier Study of
the effects of color on people's emotions, Valdez and
Mehrabian (1994) also found green-yellow to be one of
the leaS[ pleasant colors, YCt one of the most aro using.
In designing a map whe re fea tures will be colored, rwo
general rules sho uld be followed:
1. Color certain landscape features with their mOSt
ous associated color (e.g., roads-black; screams-blue) .
2. When co loring polygons in a thema ti c map, use gra-
darions of one or two co lo rs to represem classes rather
than a set of conrrasting principal colors. The lance
may confuse the ord ering of importance of classes in
the map user's mind.
Visual contrast is o ne of the most important facmrs in
creating a map (Robinson et a1 ., 1995). T he extent of
contraSt employed by a mapmaker affects how well one
set of in fo rmation is pro moted above (he other informa-
rion available in the map (Figure 4.9). Feature size, shape,
texture, and color can all be altered to introduce contrast
into a map. Contrast will help focus the attemion of (he
audience, and wi ll playa signi ficant role in the abi li ty
of the au dien ce co determine the cla ri ty of a map.
Mapmakers must also balance figure-ground relarion-
(a) limited contrast
among groupings
Land allocations
Uneven-aged stands
o Even-aged stands
o Rock pits, research areas, meadows, oak
woodlands, shelterwood stands
Figwe 4 .9 An cxaInple of visual contrast. The limited contra.Sf among the groupings in the first map (a) d~s not promote the differences in stand
types as stron gly as the more cxtens ive contra$l of the g roupings in the second map (b).
ships so [hat the important objects of a map are separated
from those that are considered ancillary. In human per-
ception, figures are the objects that are most strongly per-
ceived and remembered by a map user, whereas data
(text) are less distinc[ive and memorable (Dene, 1999).
Techniques such as figure closure, comrast with other
objeccs, and object grouping can be used to escablish dis-
tinctive ground-figure relationships.
obvi-
Ancillary information
In some large namcai reso urce management organiza tions
where multiple people share data developmenc [asks,
placing the names of people who contribu ted to [he
developmene of a map on a map is typically discouraged.
However, in field offices of narurai resource m anagement
o rgan izations. where field personnel are generally respo n-
s ible for developi ng ma ps to ass isc wich on-che-ground
decisions (and hence not specifically [he development of
GIS databases), it may be desirable to know both who cre-
aced a map and when ic was creaced. Since GIS dacabases
may be modified frequently, knowing the date tha[ a map
was creaced mighc be as imponanc as knowing che map's
developer. This sou rce informacion allows map users co
place che conee nt of a map in perspeccive w ich che ve rsion
of the GIS database(s) used to creace the map.
(b) More extensive contrast
among groupings
l and allocations
_ Uneven-aged stands
o Even-aged stands
D Rock pits, research areas, meadows, oak
woodlands, shelterwood stands
89

For example. suppose it is currently September 2008
and you were examining a map developed in June 2007
that represented wildlife habirar across several thousand
acres of a landscape. Assume that the wildlife habitat being
mapped was a funcdon of forest stand conditions, and that
the GIS database describing forest stands had been updated
in Dece mber 2007. If the date were displayed on the map
Qune 2007). you would be able to understand that the
qualiry of wildlife habitat illustrated in the map was esti-
mated using an earlier version (i .e., not the current ver-
sion) of the forest inventory data . Withom such informa-
tion. you could very likely assume (incorrectly) that the
estimates of wildlife habitat are current.
It is relatively uncommon for mapmakers to provide
the names of the files, projects. or compurcr code (e.g..
macro) used in m aking the map on the m ap itself.
However, providing [his info rmacion would allow you co
readily go back to the GIS darabases or the computer
code. modify some aspect related co the composition of
the map. and generate a new version of the map relat ively
quickly. Without such guidance. you may find ir difficult
[0 remember how a map was originally constructed, The
map projection might also be provided if the map per-
spective is affected by the projecrion system used. This
rype of ancillary information is usually placed in a subor-
dinate position on a map. in relation to the other aspects
of a map. and displayed with a relatively small font size.
Caveats and disclaimers
Increasingly. natural resource management organizations
are adding more information to the maps that they pro-
duce both to clarifY the accuracy of mapped landscape
features and to clarifY the intended uses of the maps. This
information is important in helping users understand the
appropriate applications of mapped information and in
helping avoid damages and injuries that might result from
improper map use. For example, maps have long served as
vital navigatio n aids to mariners and pilots. The ability to
safely pilot passenge rs depends on the quality o f the
mapped information used as a navigational guide. Should
a landscape landmark be misplaced or unidentified. the
consequences to people and veh icles that are navigating
with the erroneous data could be disastrous. As you might
imagine. there are other reasons why maps should contain
information related to the quality of data. However. pro-
viding this information or deciding not to provide this
information is, at least indirectly. a function of [he liti-
gious nature of today's society.
Chapter 4 Map Design 79
A map disclaimer is a statement that embodies the
legal position of the mapmaker with respect to map users.
In many cases, the map maker uses a disclaimer to dis-
rance himself or herself from any legal responsibiliry for
damages that could result from use of his or her map.
Caveats. similarly. warn others of certain facts in order to
prevent misinterpretat ion of maps. In general. cavea ts are
less sweeping than disclaimers, and may on ly address cer-
tain portions or aspects of a map. Warranties . on the
other hand, are usually written guarantees of the integrity
of a map. and of the mapmaker's responsibiliry for the
repair or replacement of incorrect maps. In practice. dis-
claimers and caveats are regularly used. and warranties are
rarely (if ever) used in associarion with maps and GIS
databases. Quite often organizations add disclaimers or
caveats to their maps in an attempt to warn users of the
limitations of the map content. In some cases. disclaimers
are noted directly on a map. and in other cases disclaimers
are provided on websites devoted to the distribution of
maps. Pima Couney, Arizona, for exam ple. provides a
very thorough disclaimer abou t its products on a website
(Pima Counry [Arizona] Department of Transportation.
2003). The mai n ideas found in caveats and disclaimers
include:
• rights reserved via copyriglu and permission require-
ments for modificat ion co mapSj
• degree of error found on the mapSj
• suitability for usej
• liability. or responsibility. for errors o r omissions (e.g..
organizations usually assume no responsibility for mis-
use of their maps and subsequent losses); and
• contact information (e.g., addresses, phone numbers,
e-mail addresses).
Caveats and disclai mers vary in form and co ntent from
organization to organization. Listed below are four
examples.
• Indiana Geo logical Survey (2007) : The maps on this
web site were compiled by Indiana University, Indiana
Geological Survey. using data believed to be accurate;
however. a degree of error is inherent in all maps. The
maps are distributed "AS-IS" without warranties of
any kind. eicher expressed or implied. including bur
not limited to warranties of suitability to a particular
purpose or use. No attempt has been made in either
the design o r production of the maps co define the
limits or jurisdiction of any federal , state, or local gov-
90
80 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information
Information Systems, Databases, and Map Design
Systems, Spatial Databases,

ernmenr.
ernment. T he maps are intended for use only at the
The differem
di cypes. If features
fferent line types. inreresr represent areas,
fearures of interest
published scale. on-the-ground surveys aand
scale. Detailed on-rhe-ground nd GIS databases co ntaining
conta ining polygons can be displayed as
hismcical analyses of sites may dHfcr
hismcica.l differ from the maps.' thematic maps, qua qualitative
litative area maps. and others. others.
• USDI Bureau of Land Managemenr Management (2001), databases, such as digital elevation
Volumetric databases. elevarion models,
Glennallen, AK: 'Info 'In fo rm arion
ation displayed on oouurr maps can be displayed as gridded fishnet maps, as shaded relief
was derived from mulriplc multiple sources.
sou rces. OurOUf maps are only maps, or simply as images with different shades or colors
maps.
for graphic dispdisplay lay aand general plan
nd general planning
nin g purposes. assigned to individual pixels.
Inquiries
Inqui ries concerning informationinformacion ddisplayed
is played on our inrerested in illustrating
If you were interested illust.rating features of
ofaa land-
maps, ttheir
heir sources, and intended uses should be scape across tim e, yo
time. youu can develo
developp maps with multiple
mulriple
directed to:
(0: ..
. . .-
.' panels. where each panel would co contain
ntain a view of the
• Orange Counry
County (Florida) Property Properry Appraiser (2002):(2002) : landscape during a differenr
different time
rime period. In some cases,
The Orange Counry County Pro Property
perry Appraiser
Appraise r makes every maps ca cann be animated, as in a short movie. They can also
effort to
effon ro produce and publish the most currem current and ' Ay through ' ability when viewed.
contain a 'fly viewed on a computer
compurer
accurate information
informacion possible. possibl e. No warran warranties.
ties, sc reen. The next few sections of this chapter
screen. chapler describe (he
the
implied, are provided lor
expressed or implied. for the dara
data herein.
herein, most common types rypes of maps developed for natural
irs
its use, or its interpretation. The assessed va values
lues are resource manage
managementmem purposes in more derail.
NOT cerrified
certified va values
lues and therefore aare re subject to
change before being finalized for ad valorem rax tax pur- Reference maps
poses. OCPA's on-line (cadasrral) (cadastral) maps are produced
fo
forr properry
property appraisal
appraisal purposes, and are NOT surveys. su rveys. Reference maps are those (hose that ill
il1ustrate
ust rate a number of dif-
No warranties,
warranties. expressed
exp ressed or implied, are provided for feaOlres, and mat provide users with a
ferent landscape features,
{he
[he data therein,
therein. its use, or o r its interpretarion.'
interpretation.' broad perspective
perspecrive of the landscape. Road maps are one
• Town of Blac ksburg ksbu rg (Virginia) (2007), on the rhe example of refere reference
nce maps, and may contain comain not nor oonly
nly
Blacks burg WebGIS si
Blacksburg te: ''DISCLAIMER:
site: DISClAIMER: The T he infor- rypes, but
road types, bm also the locations of [Owns, rivers,
towns, major rivers.
marion comained
contained on rh is page is NOT co
this [Q be con- poljtical boundaries (provinces, states,
and political states. counries,
counties, etc.)
srrued
strued or used as a "legal description".
description". Map informa- that are set among the road system. sysrem. Maps that display
tion is believed to be accurate accu rate burbut accuracy is nor not stream
st ream systems or watersheds are another example of ref-
guaranteed. Any errors or omissions should be maps. H
erence maps. Here,
ere, you would be able to place a water-
reponed
reported to rhe the Town of Blacksburg Geog raphic
Geographic shed or stream system sysrem within the co concext
ntext of a larger geo-
Informat
Info Systems Office.
rm at ion SyStems Office. In no event will the grap
graphichic area,
area. and thus these maps may also comain conrain the
T own of Blacksburg be liable for
Town fo r any
a ny da
damages,
mages, includ- locations of (Owns[Owns and political
polhical boundaries. Land owner-
ing loss of data, lost losr profits.
profits, business imerrupcion.
inrerruption. loss ship maps are a third example, and (hese these may contain
comain
of business info rmation or orner
information ocher pecuniary loss [hat that streams,
roads, strea [Owns, and other features
ms, towns, featu res necessary to
might
mi ght arise from the use of this map or rhe the informa- place tile
the land you manages within a larger landscape con-
tion it
ir comains.'
contains.' [ext,
text. Reference maps are commonly made when you
develop manage ment-relmenr-relared acrivicy maps.
ated activity maps, such as those
Map Types locatio ns for new features such as trails
for tree planting or locations
oorr roads.
roads.
type of map thar you develop should be a function
The rype The characteristics
characte ristics of reference maps will vary depend-
(1) the type
of: (I) data (i.e., poim.
rype of dara point, line.
line, polygon.
polygon, raster) ing on [he the audience. For example, some refe reference
rence maps
that is contained in GIS
rhar GIS databases, and (2) the mess.ge(s)
message(s) might display unique landscape features that th at are essential
rhar yo u wish to communicate [Q
[har to an audience. For exam
exam- p
for high quality
qualiry recreational
recrea tional experiences. Edwards (200 (2001)I)
pie,
ple, if rhe
the main GIS database used to create a map con- describes
descr ibes th rhee desirable co ntent and features of fishing
content
tains poinr
point feat ures, and you
features. yo u wish to illustrate cfjfferences
differences maps developed for angle rs. It
anglers. Ir is suggested that th at these
rhes.
between the point values. you may want
berween wanr to show rhe the rypes of reference maps include the complete road sys
types tem
system
points as dots or graduated symbols (different(di fferent sizes of surrounding
su rrounding a fishing area, water depths, access points (Q to
poinrs
points based on rhe the paine
po int anribute values).. If [he
att ribute values) the main Water, names of local features,
water. features, loca
locations
tions of off-limit fish-
GIS database used [0 ro create
creare a map conwns
contai ns line feacures,
featu res, ing areas,
areas. locations
loca tions of fishing lodges and places to bu buyy
you may wane
wam ro to illusuare
illustrate rhe
the differences in the lines with fish ing permits, places (Q
fishing to park vehicles, and, interes
in te restingly.
tingly,
91
 Chapter 4 Map Design 81

local pubs. In [he case of fishing maps, Edwards (2001) (b) Five classes
suggests that they be developed in such a way that the
imporr3m information is easily accessible to the eye ,
and that they be represented with easily understandable
carrography.

Thematic maps
Thematic maps use colors or symbols [Q describe the spa-
tial variadon of one or more landscape features. Map fea-
tures displayed with a combinatio n of colo r and texture
have been shown (0 be easier to find on maps than fea-
tures displayed with variations on texture alone (Phillips
& Noyes, 1982). Several types of thematic maps are com-
mon. Perhaps (he most common is the choropleth map
on which a range of appropriate values (Figure 4.10) or
gradations of a color illustrate [he relative magnicucle of
attributes of landscape features . Color schemes generally Trees per hectare
range from an empty shaded fill (for lowest valued attrib- D 0-500
utes) to a full shaded fill (for highest valued attributes), D 50H.000
D 1,OOH .500
with various shades of color for intermediate classes. c::J 1,501-2,000
The legend is crit ical when developing choropleth _ 2,001.
maps because the colors related (0 the va lues muse be
explicitly described. in order for map users (0 interpret [he
values effeccively. Several design aspec[s muse be (c) Seven classes

(a) Three classes

Trees per hectare

D 0-20
D 2H20
D 12H60
Trees per hectare D 16H90
D 0-1 ,000 D 191-220
D 1.001-2.000 _ 221-250
_ 2,001+ _ 251.

Figure 4 .1 0 A range of classes of trees per hectare on the Brown Tract illustrated in a choroplerh map.

92
82 Part 1 Introductioo to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
addressed when creating a legend, The number of legend
classes, or categori es. is imponanr , Too few classes may
not contain enough informacion , while [00 many classes
may presenr [00 much detail or result in an overly 'busy'
map. Sometimes it may be necessary (Q experiment with
several choices co determine which might work beSt (see
Figure 4, 10). Dent (1999) provides some guidelines
related to this topic. Humans have difficulty differentiat-
ing more than 11 gray [Ones, so as a general rule. a mini-
mum or four, and not more (han six, classifications
should be used on a map.
The size or ranges of the intervals for each class also
has a significant impact on a map's message. MoSt GIS
software programs offer processes to help create legends,
and (hey may cake inca account (he distribution of [he
data that are being mapped. An equal interval legend, for
example. would take into account the range of data val ues
and create intervals (classes) that share an equal disrribu-
tion of the range (Figure 4.11) . A quantile diStribution
would put an equal number of observations (e.g., poly-
go ns) into each interval (class). Intervals might also be
creared based o n how many standard deviations an obser-
var ion is from the mean, or be created using natural break
points in the disrribmion of observations. While these
3momarcd processes can save rime when compared to
(a) Equal interval classes
Trees per hectare
0 0-249
o 250-499
0500-749
_ 750-999
_ 1,000+
Figure 4 . 11 An interval cla.uification and a quantile interval classification of trees per hectare on the Brown Tract.
manual methods of creating classification ran ges, I( IS
advisable for map makers to visually examine the distribu-
tion of the data (hey are mapping to bettcr understand its
character, and then to decide what legend type might be
useful. Again , an important co ncept when utilizing GIS •
software is that the software will usually do what you ask.
The responsibility !ails on the mapmaker to determine
the appropriate classification for a legend.
The diStribution of data, such as the range of basal
area within the stands of a property yo u manages, can
take on many different shapes. but (he most common (for
map-making purposes) are norma1. random. and even
distributions (Madej, 2001) . Normal distributions follow
a stat iscically-based representacion of va lues thar you
would expect to see from most populations or population
samples. As a result, a standard deviation legend classifica-
tion, with its emphasis based on statistical variation from
an average. works well. Random disrribmions are present
in data where you cannot discern a regular panern in the
occurrence of data vales. Natural breakpoints can be
established by locating sub-gro upin gs of random data,
thus you wou ld manually create divisions between sub-
groups . Even disrribmions include data where the va lues
do not appea r to change very much . For example. if you
managed 1,000 hectares ofland, yo u might expect to find
(b) Quantile interval of classes
Trees per hectare
0 0-277
0 278-593
o 594-873
874-1 ,236
_ 1,237+
93

an equal number of hectares in each 10 m' ha- I basal area
class. and thus you would expect to find a relatively small
standard deviation in the data values here. A quantile clas-
sification works well for even or uniform distributions
because an equal number of observations are placed in
each category.
Regardless of how thematic classes are created. map-
makers need to ensure that the intervals are consistent
and that they make sense from an interpretation paine of
view. This also includes verifYing that legend classifica-
tions do not overlap and do not in advertendy omit data
ranges (Figute 4.12). If a characteristic of a landscape fea-
ture (e.g.• basal area per hectare) can be placed inro more
than one class, then the classes overlap. Alternatively, if a
characteristic of a landscape feature cannot be placed inco
any class. a data range has been omitted and the feature
Falls into a classification level 'gap'. Either way. the poten-
tial problems with the classification must be addressed.
With the increasing capabilities and affordability of
color printers and plotters. the use of color to graphically
ponray different class ifi cations in thematic maps has
become standard. In general, tonal progressions of a sin -
gle color are useful for illustrating magnitudes of change,
with the lighter (Ones of colo rs indicating a lesser quanc:iry
(or quality) of an attribute value than the darker tone col-
Compare this
W"h~e~m.~~~~~~~-r__~
polygoo in ' 17"O'...J-' (a) Overlapping
4.7(b) classes
Trees per hectare
D 0-500
D 501-1 ,000
D
D
_
1,001-1 ,500
1,501-2.200
2,001 + } 2001-2200
" overIap
Figure 4.12 A range of criteria used for a choropleth map, with (a) overlapping classes. and (b) omitted classes.
Chapter 4 Map Design 83
ors. A similar effect can be generated with gray tones. as
demonstrated with some of the figu res in this chapter.
Single color progressions are particularly helpful for con-
tinuous numeric variables . For nominal data classifica-
tions. such as ownership or land use, or numeric data
with only a few categories. distinctly different colors or
patterns can be used to make certain categories stand out
on a map.
Contour maps (Figure 4.13) are also a type of the-
mad e map. and are sometimes called isoline or isarithmic
maps. Here. lines or collections of similar features are
used to emphasize gradients or distributions, such as ele-
vations or precipitacion levels across a landscape (Star &
Estes. 1990). The contour interval is the distance between
adjacent contour lines. The choice of an interval is impor-
tant when creating concour maps: tight intervals may
resu lt in a cluttered map while wide intervals might mis-
represent landscape variation. To reduce clutter on maps.
not every contour interval is described with a data value.
only those representing significant changes in elevation-
usually denoted themselves by the elevation interval. For
example. while the comour interval between adjacent
comour lines may be 10 meters, the only comour lines
represented with data values may be those that represent
every 50-meter change in elevation.
(b) Omilted classes
Compare1tiese
Trees per hectare wtth the same
D 0-500 polygons in
D 501-1,000 4.7(a)
B ~ :~~~=~',: }
_ 2,001+
1501-1600omilted
94
84 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design

Figure 4.13 A contour map of the Brown Tract (elevation in meters

above sea level) . Tree Seedling Measurements
Randle, Washington
+II N Seedling Diameter (cm)
<B
8-10 _
o 25 50 11- 12 _
MeIers
Until now, the discussion has focused on maps created 13-15 _
using vector GIS databases, but raster-based maps are also Prepared by: Michael Wing
Skid Roads - -
last Updated: November 17. 2007
important for displaying data stored in the raster GIS data
Figure 4.14 A raster map of uee seedling measu~me nt$ .
structure. These maps are very similar to the choropierh
maps noted above: mapmakers must classify the values
held by the rasrer pixels and then disp lay them on a map large number of landscape areas, or in maps with a high
using a legend. Raster-based maps, unless created by ras- density of landscape features within a given area (e.g .• a
te rizing a vector GIS database, usually have more of a multitude of small polygons).
hJzzy appearance than vector-based maps. and therefore
generally represenr more hererogeneiry across a landscape
(Figure 4 .14).

Other types of maps

Dot density maps (F igure 4.15) were once commonly
used in nam ral resource management, although less so
now. Each dor in a dot density map represems a given
value of an attribute. Thus areas with a greater de nsity of
dots are meam to represent areas with greater values of
some particular anribme. Graduated circle maps place
ci rcles on top of landscape fearures and scale their diame-
ter proportionate to one of the feature's attr ibute values
(e.g.> population of towns) to demonstrate differences
among the landscape features. Carrograms (Figure 4 .16)
are another type of maps in wh ich more than one an rib-
me of landscape fearures can be viewed. These types of
maps are also fairly uncommon because of the large
amount of clutter that can be generated in a map with a Figure 4 .15 A dot density map of basal area on the Brown Tract.

95

110 .. ~ 110
Stand Attribute
D Trees per acre
_ Basal area per acre
Figure 4.16 A cartogram map illustrating two measures offorc$[
density for each stand-trees per acre and basal area per acre on the
Brown T net.
The Design Loop
Novice mapmakers, especially students, assume that their
first attempt at a new map will be sufficient [0 effectively
communicate informacion (Q their audience (or to cam-
ple[e an assignmenc). However, maps usually should go
through more (han one ve rsion before they are delivered
to a custome r, whether changes are needed based on the
mapmaker's visua l assessment of (he map. or based on a
customer's suggestions (Figure 4.1 7), Each iteration in
the development of a map cou ld be considered one irera-
[ion in [he design loop. Feedback from supervisors and
co-workers will allow you to fine-cune maps that are made
for reports or management activity plans. Besides the aes-
theric concerns presented in this chapter (map type. num-
ber of classes shown, etc.), mapmakers should strive to
achieve visual balance within their map products. This
concern is one of {he reasons why maps may need co be
edited numerous rimes. Visual balance is affected by {he
size of [ex[ (tide, legend, and ancillary informa tion) and
the location of map components (north arrow, scale, and
location inset) in rel at ion to the visual center of the map.
One key to identifying an unbalanced map is the presence
of a large. empty space in some portion of the map.
Chapter 4 Map Design 85
Develop
Map
Get
Feedback
No EdH
Map
Yes
Map
Completed
Fig-urc 4. 17 A basic design loop for making maps.
The number of iterations of a design loop will be a
function of your abi li ty to address a range of visual con-
cerns (visual contrasts. visual balance. legend. etc.), your
abi lity to address a range of illustrative concerns (show-
ing the correct information), and your time constraints
(the time remaining before a deadline) . I[ might be advis-
able co scan the map-making process by first developing
some hand-writren notes that contain the main ideas
about the intended map message(s) or purpose and the
rype of audience [hac is likely to view [he map. An out-
line format wi[h a primary objeccive and sub-headings
that address other intended map purposes might be
worth considering. Once these concepts have been iden-
tified . it might also be worthwhile [Q create a hand-
drawn skecch of the basic map componenes and how they
fit together. At this poine, the developmene of [he map
wi[hin GIS can begin. A well-developed, visually-
centered map will be a reRection of one's professionalism
as a natural resource manager.
Common Map Problems
Miscakes (rypographieal errors), oversighcs (wrong color
or symbology used), and omiss ions (missing information)
can impair a map's ability to deliver {he imended message
to an audience. Probably the most important aspect of
96
86 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
creating a map is co focus on [he audience [hat will be
viewing the map. If your co-workers (ocher foreseers, biol-
ogists, erc.) will be rhe primary audience, rhen perhaps
the basic map elements (e.g., a north arrow, bar scale. or
locational inset) may not be as importam ro include; [his
audience may expect to see instead more of [he technical
info rm acion, such as annotat ion or Q[her descriptive
informadon, that is related to the landscape feacuces illus-
trated. They may also expect [Q see a morc extensive vari-
acion of feature classes across the landscape. However, if
rhe aud ience is composed of rhe general public-rhose
nor familiar with the landscape resources displayed on a
map- then it would seem imporram {Q include [he basic
map e1emems (e.g.• tide. credits. north arrow, scale bar,
and inset) that help the audience orient themselves to the
map. Less variation (fewer mapped classes of information)
wou ld reduce the confusion associated with the map. An
audience composed of academics o r scientists may want
to see more detail in the data values.
Map problems are usually rhe resulr of leaving a key
element, like a scale or another detail important to the
audience. off of a map. Sometimes, these problems result
from misjudging the audience, and other times it is simply
a matter of oversight on the part of the mapmaker. For
example, since automatic spell-checking processes are
available in mOSt word processing software, many map-
makers somerimes forger thar spell checking is usually a
manual operation within most GIS sofrware. In addition,
some place names (names associated with cities, regions,
Summary
Maps are used to convey info rmation about the spatial
location and cha racteristics of natural and man-made
resources. When they are well developed. maps a re an
effective way of communicating ideas [Q an audience.
This chapter described a variety of map components that
can be used to help develop effecrive maps. These
included legends, scales, annotatio n, symbology, and
typography. The representation of rhese components on a
map may be important to inevitable customers of the
map. For example, there are cerrain componentS of maps
that are required when developing maps for co-workers or
others internal [Q a natural resource management organi-
zation, certain components thar are required when devel-
oping maps for external clients (e.g., when submitting a
provinces, erc.) have unusual spellings and, if spelled
incorrecdy. may nor be detected even if a spell-checker is
used . This requires rhar mapmakers ca refully read all map
text before presenting the final product to their customers.
Excessive detail , or clutter, can also detract from a
map's message and intent. Most GIS software programs
now feature impressive arrays of map-making symbols
and rool s rhar are capable of producing any number of
cartographic symbols and orher aids. While many of rhese
tools can be quite helpful-not to mention interesting to
experiment with-too many objects on a map produce
clutter an d hinder a map's intended message. Excessive
detail, especially in maps that are intended general infor-
mation displays. can also result when mapmakers insert
toO much text (annotation or labels) OntO a map.
It is also common that output devices (e.g., printer or
plorrer) produce maps wirh colors rhar appear slightly dif-
ferent from what is viewed on a compute r screen . These
problems can be very frustrating, especiall y after you have
painsrakingly pur rogerher a colored legend scheme rhat
differentiates between different colors or values. The sub-
sequent adjustments can be frustrating. Sometimes the
easiest solution to a color mismatch problem is to simply
choose colors from a palette file that is com pliant with the
output device. Other sol ution s include using only the
addirive primary (red, blue, green) or subtracrive primary
colors (magenta, cyan, yellow), or creating color schemes
that take plotter translations of monitor colors closely
into account.
harvest plan to a stare or provincial age ncy), and certain
components are required when developing a map for per-
sonal use. In addition, some organizations require that all
maps produced by their employees contain a n organiza-
tional logo. use a standard layout format, and use othe r
features that reflect the organization a nd the map 's
intended purpose. There is no singu lar, correct format
rhar firs all organizarions, and you should balance your
creativity with the advice provided in this chaprer. You
should, however, have an understanding of the map rype
options, and develop the appropriate map for the
intended audience. Keep in mind that eve ry map is
potentially a reflection of your reputation as a narural
resource professional.
97

Applications
4. 1. Age class distribution map for the Brown T ract.
The manager of rhe Brown T racr, Becky Blaylock, would
like you co produce a map char illustrates the age class dis-
cribucion of the forest. To complete this exercise, develop
a rhemar ic map showing I I age classes: 0-10 years old,
11-20, .... ,91-100, and 100+ years old.
4.2. Tree densiry map for the Brown Tract. Afrer
reviewing your previous work, Becky Blaylock would like
a map thac ill ustrates the trees per hectare for vegetation
stands contained within the Brown T ract; she needs the
map for an annual reporr chat she is developing. Develop
a thematic map chat classifies the stands by trees per
hectare. using five logical classes.
4.3. Owl locations on the Darnel Picketr forest. The
wildlife biologisr associared wirh rhe Daniel Picke[[ foresr
needs a map chat illustra tes the historical spotted owl
(StTix occithntalis) nest locations that were known to have
been used in the Forese. Develop a reference map illustrat-
ing rhe two nest locations, and annotate rhe map with the
dare of rhe laS[ known sigh[ing of the owls.
4.4. Stream rypes of the Daniel Picketr forest. The
hydrologiS[ associared wirh rhe Daniel Picke[[ foreS[
needs a map illustrating the different stream rypes, in
o rder CO direct a summer crew co the locat ions he would
like to survey for fish species and habitat conditions.
Develop a reference map that iIlusrra rcs the different
scream rypes associated with the Da ni el Pickett fo rest.
4.5. Potential harvest unit. The land manager of the
Daniel Picken forest is considering a timber sale in un it
number 13 on rhe Daniel Picken forese He would like
yo u (0 produce a management map indicating that unit
13 is a proposed harvesr area, and co display rhe road and
stream systems in rdarion (0 the uniL
4.6. Brown Tract hiking map . Becky Blaylock, man·
ager of rhe Brown Tracr, wou ld like you ro develop a
map illumaring rhe crail sysrem, highlighring borh rhe
authorized and unauthorized trai ls. Recrearionists who
visir rhe fo reS[ will likely use [his map. Develop a refer·
enee map that incl udes the road system and the contour
lines (wi th associated elevations) as supplementary
informa ti on.
Chapter 4 Map Design 87
4.7. C ulvert installation dates. The road engineer
associared wirh the Daniel Picke[[ foresr, Bob Packard, is
in the process of developing a culvert replacement plan.
He would like you co develop a map illusrraring rhe road
system, the culverts, and the culvert installacion dates for
rhe Daniel Pickerr properey.
4 .8. D isclaimers) caveats, and warranties. Imagine
that yo u work for an age ncy chat has developed a statewide
streams GIS database. At one of your regular staff meet-
ings, rhe discussion shifrs co rhis GIS darabase and the need
co add or associate some SOrt of disclaimer, caveat, or war-
ranty with the GIS database. During this conversation you
conclude rhar rhe group is very confused abour rhe use of
the terms 'disclaimer', 'caveat', and 'warranty'. What guid-
ance can you provide co help rhe sraff undersrand rhe dif-
ferences between the terms, and how the terms might be
used in relation to the streams GIS database?
4.9. M ap scales. One of your colleagues, Mike
Marshall, does nor like rhe eype of scale [har you com-
mon ly incorpo rate into your management maps. He
prefers to use anothe r type of scale, and insists that you
use ir as weU . IdenrifY, define, and describe rhe possible
advanrages and disadvanrages of rhree eypes of approaches
for creating map scales.
4. 10. Map development. A sma ll consul ring firm In
Brirish Columb ia has recendy hired you, and one of your
first assignments is to make management maps for various
planned act ivities on the land managed by your firm.
IdenrifY five irems or objecrs rhar should be placed on
almost every map.
4.11. M ap legends. The manager of rhe Brown Tracr
desires a map illustratin g the trees per hecta re for each
stand on the property. There are different approaches for
organizing and displaying sparial dara inro a map legend.
a) Whar is a general guideline fo r choosing rhe num-
ber of categories in a legend thar uses gray cones?
b) Whar is an equal inrerval legend, and how does ir
disp lay numeric data?
c) What is a quantile distribution legend, and how
does if display numeric data?
d) Whar is a srandard devia<ion legend, and how does
it display numeric data?
98
88 Part 1 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Databases, and Map Design
References
Dent. B.D. (1999) . Cartography thematic map design .
New York: McGraw-HilI.
Digital W isdom. Inc. (2006). Cartographic symbols &
map symbols library. Tappahannock. VA: Digital
Wisdom. Inc. Recrieved March 28. 2007. from
hnp:llwww.map-symbol.com /sy m_lib.htm.
Edwards. D . (2001). Maps for anglers. The Cartographic
journal. 38(1).103-6.
Franklin. P. (2001) . Maps for the reluctan t. The
Cartographicjourna~ 38(1). 87-90.
Indiana Geological Survey. (2007) . Copyright. map dis-
claimer. and limitation of warranti~s and liabilities.
Bloomington . IN : Indiana Geological Survey.
Retrieved March 3. 2007. from hnp:// igs.indiana.edul
disclaimer.cfm.
International Orienteering Federation. (2000). Inta-
national specification for orienuering maps. Radio-katu,
Finland: Incernational O rienteering Federation.
Kaya. N .• & Epps. H .H. (2004). Relationship between
color and emotion: A study of college students. Co/l'ge
Student journal, 38. 396-405 .
Madej. J. (2001) . Cartographic dlSign using Arc View GIS.
Albany. NY: OnWord Press.
Mecriam-Webster. (2007). Mariam-Webster online
search. Retrieved March 28. 2007. from hnp://www.
m-w .coml cgi-binl dictionary.
Monmonier. M.S. (1995) . Drawing the line: Tales ofmaps
and cartocontroversy. New York: Henry Holt and
Company.
Monmonier. M .S. (1996). How to Lie with maps (2nd
ed.). Ch icago. IL: University of Chicago Press.
Natural Resources Canada. (2006). Topographic map sym-
bols-introduction. Ottawa, ON : Nacucal Resources
Canada, Earth Sciences Seccoc, Mapping Services
Branch. Recrieved March 23. 2007. from
hnp:llmaps.nrcan.gc.caltOpo 10 I/symbols_e. php.
Orange County (Florida) Propetry Appraiser. (2002) . OCPA
map record inquiry system. Retrieved March 29. 2007.
from http://www.ocpafl.orgidocs/disclaimer_ map. html.
Phillips. R.J . (1979) . Why is lower case bener? Some data
from a search task. Applied Ergonomics. 10.211-14.
Phillips. R.J. (1989). Ase maps different from other kinds
of graphic information? Cartographic journal, 26. 24-5.
Phillips. R.J .• & Noyes. L. (1982). An investigation of
visual c1uner in the topographic base of a geological
map. Cartographic journal. 19. 122-32.
Phillips. R.J .• Noyes. L.. & Audley. R.J. (1977). The leg-
ibility of type on maps. Ergonomics. 20. 671-82.
Pima County (Arizona) Department of Transponacion.
(2003). Department disclaimer and me restrictions.
T llcson , AZ: Pima COlincy Department of T ranspor-
ration, Geographic Information Services Division.
Retrieved March 28. 2007. from http://www.dot.
co .p ima,az,lls!mapdis,hrm ,
Robinson. A.H. Morrison. J.L. . Muehrcke. P.c. .
Kimerling. A.J .• & Guptill. S.c. (1995). Elements of
cartography. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Inc.
Sheahan. B.T. (2004). The unofficiaL Arc/Info and
Arc View symbol page. Victoria. BC: Spatial Solutions.
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mapsymbols.com/.
Star. J .• & Estes. J. {I 990) . Geographic information sys-
tems: An introduction. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice-
Hall. Inc.
Town of Blacksb urg (Virginia). (2007). Blacksbu rg
WebGIS site. Retrieved March 28 . 2007. from http://
arcims2 .webgis. net/blacksburgl defa ul t.asp.
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c/aimer. Glennallen. AK: Bureau of Land Manage-
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Updated March 4. 2003. Retrieved March 27. 2007.
from http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/symbolsmapl .
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Cartographic Pmpectives. 45.4-7.
99
Part 2

Applying GIS to Natural

Resource Management

act 2 of rhis book focuses on the GIS applications common to namra) resou rce man-
P agemen t organ izatio ns. The majority of data supporting daily GIS use in namral
resource manage ment is stored in vectO r GIS databases. although rhe in tegratio n of vector
and raster GIS databases is becoming increasingly com mon. For example. the development
of resource managemem plans may require rhe use of GIS databases representing fo res t
stands (polygons), roads and srreams (lines), wate r sou rces and wildlife observat io ns
(points). and topography (raster). T he chapte rs included in this part of the book present
a number of GIS processes such as querying, buffering. clipping. raste r analysis. and simul-
taneous integratio n of vector an d raster GIS databases in an analysis. The ropics increase
in complexity wi th each passing chapter. and rhe applications associated with each wpic
integrate processes presented in previous chapters. Some advanced wpies are also pre-
sented. such as delineating the land classifications of a landscape and delineating the recre-
ation opponunity spectrum classes of a landscape. In panicular, [he raster-oriented chap-
eers provide examples of adva nced a nalys is techn iques and possibilities.
A va riety of processing pathways can be used within GIS co address a si ngl e manage-
ment concern and it is imponant [Q note th at there may be more than one processing
solution for a part icular challenge. While we provide direction for the mOSt straightfor-
ward processes. students should feel free to be crea tive in their approaches co addressing
each appli cation. Finally, so me of the applications require students CO think more broadly
(beyond GIS) abom how the results of an analysis may affect natural resource management
opportunities within a given landscape.

100
Chapter 5
Selecting Landscape Features
Objectives
A vari ety of methods can be used [Q locate and select
landscape features based on either thei r attribures or their
proximiry to o th er feaw ces. Spatia l and attribute refer-
ence queries ca n be used [Q select features based on the
informacion scored in attribute rabies (layer database) o r
(he spatial locatio n of landscape feacuces. At the conclu-
sion of this chap ter readers sho uld be /am iliar with, and
have a working understanding of:
1. the variety of methods that can be used ro select land-
scape feawces fro m a GIS database;
2. the meaning of the term 'query', when applied spa-
tiall y o r referentially; and
3. the methods you can use to develop a description of
the resources located on a landscape.
In a reeem annual report to their stockholders. one of
the largesr timber co mpanies in the United States said the
foll owi ng abo ut the use of GIS: 'Our foresters use
advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) models
to get a picture of timber species. sizes, and age c1asses-
along with a mul titude of environmental detai ls. from
streams and fis h to wildlife pop ul at io ns and habitat'
(Plum C reek Timber Co., 2001). This statement recog-
nizes the extent to which GIS is viewed as a val uable man-
agement too l and acknowledges the power of GIS to assist
in the management of resources. Other natural resou rce
management organizations also rel y on GIS to sto re loca-
tion information about the natural reso urces that they
manage (as well as those that they might not manage but
that are important in the management of their property).
These o rganizations include public agencies such as the
US Forest Serv ice. the Canadian Forest Service, the US
Park Service, th e US Bureau of Land Management. State
and provincial orga nizatio ns, private industrialla ndown-
ers, and those organiza tions that manage smaller tracts,
such as forestry consu ltants, and university research
forests. Each organization has a different mission, ye t each
relies on sim ilar methods fo r storin g and organ izi ng the ir
geographic databases . The methods used to extract infor-
mation from these databases are also very similar, and
help provide a picture of the namral resources that they
manage. The chapter emphas izes one of the most com-
mon methods of data extraction from a database: the use
of queries.
Besides asking questions like 'what is here?' o r 'what
type of feature is that?'-the rypes of questions wh ich
hold our auenrion in the first part of th is chapter-there
are at least four types of information acquisi tio n processes
you can use when asking questions of a GIS database . The
four processes are outlined briefly below, and when we
ar rive at the section entitled 'Selecting features based on
some database criteria', we will become engaged in one or
more of these processes. The ap plicatio ns provided at the
end of the chapter will further rein fo rce the need for these
acquis ition processes in natural resource management.
1. Obtaining sp"ific focts
Is there spo tted owl habi tat w ithin the property that is
being managed ?
Are there any steep hiking trails within the property
being managed?
101

Is ther< any old-growth forest within the property
being managed?
2. Obtaining extended information
Besides spotted owl hab itat, what other ty pes of
important wildlife habitat are found within the prop-
erty bei ng managed?
Besides steep hiking trails, what other types of trails
are contained within the property being managed?
Besides old-growth forests. what other dassificacions
of forest are conta ined within the property being
managed?
3. Obtaining broader information blUed on complrx queries
Are there any areas that meet all of the habitat require-
ments for all of the species of interest within the prop-
erey being managed?
Are there any trails that, when combined . provide a
relacively easy hiking experience?
Are there any forest stands th at can be managed co
provide both wildlife habitat and timbe r resources?
4. Obtaining information on resources in limited sup;"
Are [here any areas of habitat [hat appea r in small
quantities across the area being managed?
Are there any trails that provide experiences that occur
rarely ac ross the area being managed?
Are there any forest stands that represent unique forest
types within the area being managed?
Selecting Landscape Features
from a GIS Database
As we noted in the introduction to cha pter I, nat ural
resource managers are consistently called upon to describe
the condition of a landscape using GIS softwa re programs
and GIS databases. Generally speaking, natural resource
managers are co ncerned with understanding where la nd-
scape features are located and what characteristic(s) they
might have now, have had in the past, or will have in the
future. There are at least eight processes you can use to
select landscape features from GIS databases:
I. Select one feature {manually}.
2. Select many features {manually}.
3. Select all features (ma nually or a uto matically).
4. Select no features {manually or automat ically} .
Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 91
5. Select features based on some criteria .
6. Select features from a previously selected set of features.
7. Switching (inverting) a se t of selected features so that
all unselected items become selected.
8. Select features within so me proximity of other
features.
Selecting one feature manually
The abi lity to select landscape features using a computer
mouse or digitizing puck is an essential tool for examining
or editing individual landscape features in GIS, and for
editing tabular data contained in an attribute table. As we
have JUS[ implied, within GIS software programs land-
sca pe features can be selected either from the window that
presents the spatial display of landscape features, or from
the window that presents the associated a[[ ribute table.
GIS software programs are either designed to allow users
to select landscape features by default {e.g., Maplnfo} or
to provide a well-positioned, easily accessible function
(i.e., the 'select features' tool in ArcMap or the 'select fea-
tures ' button in ArcYiew 3.3) [hat allows users to manu-
ally select individual landscape features. A careful posi-
tioning of the computer mouse's cursor over a landscape
feature {either in the display of spatial landscape features
or in the tabular database} and a simple click of the mouse
will usually do the job. Selected landscape features will
normally be colored or shaded differently {in both the
spatial display of landscape features and tabular database}
from other landscape features in the GIS database of inter-
est, allowing users (0 visually verify what has been
selected. GIS software programs use standard characteris-
tics for displaying selected features, such as the light blue
color used by ArcMap or the yellow colo r used by
ArcYiew 3.3 for displaying a selected spatial feature or its
attribute record. Some GIS software programs allow users
to define the characteristics (i.e., color) of selected spatial
features or a[[ributes. and most GIS softwa re will allow
users to specify which GIS layers ca n be 'selectable'. As a
resulr, either those layers that are visible in a window are
selectable. or those that have been chosen from a list are
selectable. Th is ability can make feature selections more
efficient and also prevent analysis errors.
Selecting many features manually
There are times when selecting many landscape:: features
manually will also be of value in ass isting the develop-
102
92 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

menr of inform
mem information
arion (map or data) co fac
dara) to facilitate
il irate a natural seape features with JUSt
scape jUst one (or
(o r a few) click(s)
c1ick(s) of a mouse
resoll rce managemeor
resource management analysis. The process fo forr selecdng
selecting ra ther chan
rather than having to ro select
selecl all the
th. landscape features
featu res
multiple landscape feamces
mulriple features is sim ilar (0
similar ( 0 the process for abiliry is useful when summ
manually. This ability summaarizing
rizing data
selecting
selectin g single
sin gle landscape feamres m manually,
an ually, wi with
th the about
abo ur all of the landsca
landscape pe featu res in a dambase
features database oro r when
computer mouse playing {he
compucer the ce nrral
ntral role. The selection of you are co considering
nsidering spatial
spacial analysis processes. Some users
features can generally be accompl
multiple landscape feamres accomplished
ished of GIS ro select (he
G IS prefer to the landscape features to which the
landsca pe fearures rhe
in one of twO
rwo ways: GIS processes would be applied appl ied (all landsca
landscapepe features
fearures in
case), rarher
this case). rather than rely on 0 11 the common
rhe co mmo n default (if no
1. Using the seJect
select tool associated wi with
th a GIS
GIS softwa re landscape features
fearures are selected,
selec<ed, an analysis applies
ap plies to all
program, draw a rectangular
reccangular box in the rhe window thattilar landscape features).
features) . Another opportuniry
opportunity to selecr
select all
all the
displays the spatial features.
fearures. Here, you would
wou ld specifY
specilY features
fearures of a GISGIS database
darabase is if you are calculati
calculatingng values
the location (by clicking and holding down a mouse for fields
fi elds in an attribute tab le. Calculations are usually
cornerr of the box. Then
button) for one corne Then,, drag therhe performed on selected recordsreco rds in a tabular database,
daraba se. so, {Qto
mouse to [0 specify the diago
diagonal
nal corner, and release the calcu latio n on all of the
perform a calculacion records, such as the cal-
me records.
button.
mouse burton. culation of some portion
portio n of a habita
habitatt suitability
suitabili ty score for
fo r
2. Using [he
the seiect
sdect [001
tool associated with
wirh a GIS
GIS software
soltware vegetation po polygons,
lygons, you may need to selecr select all of the
program, select
sdccr features individually
ind ivid ually while depressing a records
reco rds as a preliminary
prelimina_ry step in the process.
key on the comcomputer
puter keyboard (e.g. , the 's 'shift'
hilt' key
when using ArcMap). This process can be used in the rhe Selecting none of the features in a
window
w indow that displays the [he spatial fearuces
fearu ces or in therhe GIS database
attribute
arrribu r. table.
T he ability
abili ty to select none of the landscape features in a
Each GIS software program may involve invo lve a variation
va riation (or GIS database (or to ' un-select'
un-sdec[ o orr 'clear' the
rhe selection)
selectio n) is
two) oonn these
[Wo) rhese techniques.
rec hniques. M More
ore than likely
li kdy an alternat
alternative
ive also a standard
standa td process assocassociaiated
ted with GtS
GIS software pro-
exists th at allows users (Q
exisrs that efficiently select multiple
to more efficiendy grams. Most GIS soltware
software programs have specific func-
landscape
la ndsca pe features
fearu res manually. Fo Forr example, assume
ass ume youyo u tions-either menu items or buttons-that allow users co to
were interested in selecting
selectin g vegetation
vegecarion po polygons thatt con-
lygons tha un-sdecr all landscape features with
un-select jUst one click of a
wirh JUSt
tained (rees that were, on average, over 100 years of age. age. computer mouse (rather than rhan having co to un-select
un-selecr all land-
Within aan n attribute table you could co uld so rt the vegetarian
sore vegetation scape features
featu res manually).
manually) . There are many reasons reaso ns for
polygon recorecordsrds by their age, either eicher using an ascending wanring (Q to perform th is ac
this tion; one
anion; o ne of the most common
co mmo n
(youngest
(yo ungest to ooldest)
ldest) or descending (o ldest to youngest) reasons
reaso ns is to[Q clear previollsly
previously selected
selecred landscape features
featu res
sort.
so rr. This wiwillll re·posi
re-positio
rionn the
[he vegetation
vege tation polygon
polygo n records
reco rds from a GIS
GIS database
darabase before performing a spa spatial
rial process
such that the ones th that
at comain
contain th thee oldest trees are such as bubuffering.
ffering. In a buffering process, when no spa spatial
rial
grouped together.
rogether, th us facilitating
rncilita ting a more efficient man- fearures
features are selected)
selected, generally
genera lly all of the features are used
ual selec[ion
selection of multiple
mu lriple features. Had H ad you not sorted the to develop buffers. If one o orr more
mo re features are selected,
selec ted,
records, youyo u would
wo uld have needed to ro scroll ththrough
rough [he the oonly features are buffered. h
nly the selected feamres It is usually after
alter
table to locate
attribute [able loca te records wi th average tree age val- viewing the results of ofaa spatial process that you realize
real ize you
lies ove r 100; [h
ues over this
is likely would
wou ld have lead {Q to errors of om
omis-is- have forgonen to un-select landscape feacures features before pe per-r-
sio n (missed records) and it would nO[
sion not have been an effi- forming (heth e ooperation.
perati o n.
cient use of yo youurr time.
time.
Selecting features based on some
Selecting all of the features in a database criteria
criteria
GIS database
By now it may be evident that there musr
must be a faster way
The ab
abiliry sdecl all la ndscape features from a GIS
ility to seleer G IS to select a subset of the enrire se
[he entire sett of landscape feafeatures
tures
database is a standard
stan dard process among GIS software pro- mher
rather than having to selec[ rhem manually. Within all GIS
sdeer [hem
grams. In addition, most GIS software programs generally
gene rally software programs,
programs. users have the abi lity CO
ability to ask questions,
questions.
have specific functions
funct io ns to allow users to select all land- that
[har is, {Q
CO develop queries,
q ueries. about
aho m the landscape
la ndscape feacures
features

103
 Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 93

What is an attribute? It is defi ned as a characte ristic or
quality of an o bject, or in our case, a characreriscic o r
quality of some namral resource. Within GIS. you are
usually imeresred in a characteristic or quality of some
feature found on the landscape. such as the vegecarion .
the so il , the water, or the land . More specifically, a
forester might be inte rested in the basal area, timber vol-
ume. or habitat qua/iry of [he srands [hat are delineated
on a property. An amibute of a landscape feature can be
extended, howeve r, co incl ude its spatial position. size,
perimecer (or length). and even the cype of data it rep-
resents (e.g.• point. line. polygon. raster grid cell).

contained in a GIS database. A query is simply a question. the selection of resources of imerest across a landscape,
or set of questions. used co request in fo rm ation abom and help a managemem team focus o n the more suitable
some resource contai ned (or described) within a database. areas.
Imagine a co-worker aski ng. 'Please help me find all of the In developing GIS queries, you must build a set of
fo resred areas that might require a pre-commercial thin- criteria to en able a search of data base, and subsequently to
ning rrearmem.' To locate the potencial pre-commercial enable the selection of app ropriate landscape features . Fo r
th in ning areas , the request should be refined , then re- those mo re attu ned to vis ualizing processes from a com-
directed by asking questions abour the info rmacion con- puter programming perspective, queries are similar to the
tained in one or more GIS databases, in this case, perhaps If
developmem of stattments. As the auribures of each
a forest stand GIS database. You might ask the GIS data- landsca pe are examined. ifsome conditions (criteria) of the
base 'Where are all of the young. overstocked. conifer landscape features are true (or conform to the criteria).
stands?' This wo uld seem to be a good start. yet a GIS soft- the landscape feature will be placed into a 'selected' set.
ware program wou ld need more specific. quancitative The following examples of queries rel ate to the data pre-
instructions, detailin g the an ribuces co use in [he search for sented in Table 5.1. Answers are provided to allow stu-
the ap propriate landscape feacu res, and detailing the dents to work through the queries o n their own , and to
bounds of the val ues of [he amibutes. For example, to find understand how (and why) the results were obtained.
the yo ung stands in a forest stands GIS database. you
might search an 'age' anrib uce field for those forest sta nd
polygons [hat have values between 10 and 20 (IO and 20 TABLE S,l A limber stand database
years old). The more refined query then becomes 'find all
Stand Acra Hectares MBP Ag' TPA' TPW
of the forest stands where age ~ 10 and age S 20.'
You might ask. 'Why would we need to perform 100 40.5 12 25 200 494
que ries?' One reaso n was illuscrated wit h the need [Q 2 70 28.3 20 45 150 371
idencify the po temial pre-co mmercial th inning areas-
3 250 101.2 13 26 200 494
there are times when natu ral resource managers need to
know where certai n resources are located to help facili tate 4 80 32.4 6 18 300 74 1
making managemem decisions regarding the resources. 5 60 24.3 2 12 575 1,421
Queries can range from the rather simplistic (findi ng the
6 120 48.6 10 23 200 494
mOSt appropriate huming area) to the rather complex
7 40 16.2 7 20 400 988
(finding the most appropriate areas to commercially thin
trees over {he next (WO yea rs). Suppose a management 8 60 24.3 14 28 150 37 1
decision needed to be made rega rding locat ing the most 9 75 30.4 3 15 550 1.359
appropriate area to develop a new hiking trail. You might
10 95 38.4 10 600 1,483
first locate and describe all of the cha racter istics of a land-
scape (current hiking crails. timbe r stands of var ious char- • Thousand board ft et ptr acre
ac teristics, etc.) that would influence the placemem of a h Trees per acre
new crail. A query of these GIS databases could facili tate < T rets per hectare

104
94 Part 2 Applying GIS to
to Natural Resource Management

Single criterion queries Rela tional operator: ~ (gn:a

Relational rer than
(grearer rhan or equal to)
Single
Si ngle criterion queries examine
exami ne a single attribute (also value: 950
Threshold value:
called a variable.
variable, or field) of each landscape
la ndscape featu re, use a
fearure. Query: TPH ~ 950
si ngle relational operaror,
single operator. and include a single [hreshold
threshold Answer: 4 stands
sta nds (5,7,9.
(5.7.9. and 10)
value.
g) How many tim ber stands are
timber a re larger than 100
a) How many timber stands are 20 years old? hectares in size?
A[cciburc:
Attribute: age AttriblHe: hectares
Attribute:
Relational operaror:
operator: = (eq uals)
(equals) Relational operator: >> (greater than)
Threshold value:
val ue: 20 Threshold value: 100
Query: age = 20 Query: hectares > 100
Answer: I srand
stand (7) Answer: I stand (3)

b) How many timber s[ands

stands are greater than or equal
eq ual Multiple criteria queries
to 25 years old?
[0 old? criteriaa queries are com
Multiple criteri combinations
binations of single crite-
Attriburc: age
Aucibme: rion queries,
queries. held together
rogether by logical operators (and. or,
Relational
Relationa l oper.ro ~ (grearer
operator:r: <! (greater rhan
than or equal to)
to) 1/ot).
not). They allow you to
ro develop a complex query wi thout
without
Th reshold value:
Threshold val ue: 25 havi ng [0
having to perform several single cr iterion
criterio n queries in
Query: age ~ 25 mulriple criteri
sequence. Below are several multiple criteria that
a queries mat
(I.2.3.and 8)
Answer: 4 stands (I,2,3,and relate to the
rhe dara
data fou nd in Table 5.1.
found 5. !.

c) How many limber

timber stands are less than
rhan or equal [Q
ro a) How many c.imber
timber stands are less than or equal to
20 years old?
old? 20 years
yea rs of age, and contain more than
rhan 950 trees
Attribute:
Attri bute: age per hectare (TPH)?
Relarional operator: S;
Rela[ional S (less than
rhan or equal to)
[0) Attributes: age. TPH
Attribu(es:
Threshold value: 20 Relational operarors:
operators:
Query: age S;S 20 S (less than or equal to)
Age: S;
Answer: 5 stands (4,5,7.9.
Answer: (4.5.7.9. and 10) TPH:
TPH : > (grea ter than)
(greater
Threshold values:
d) How many limber
timber "ands conta in at
stands cama ar least 15 thou- Age: 20
sand board feel
feet (MBF) per ac re of timber volume'
acre volume? TPH : 950
TPH:
Amibure:
Amibute: MBF Logical operator: and
Rela[ional operaro
Relational operamc: ~ (greater than or
r: <! o r equal to) Query: (age S;
Query: S 20) and (TPH > 950)
T hreshold value: 15
Threshold Answer: 4 srands
Answer: stands (5.7,9,
(5.7.9. and 10)
Query: MBF ~ 15
Answer: 1I sta
Sland
nd (2) b) How many ti mber stands are ar at least 25 years old.
old,
co ntain at least 10 thousand board feer
or contain feet (10
e) How many timber stands have more than 700 trees MBF) per ac re of timber
rimber volume?
volume?
per hectare (TP
(TPH)
H)?' Attributes: age,
age. MBF
Amibute: TPH Relational operators:
Relational operawc:
operator: >> (greater than)
than) Age: ~ (greater [han
Age: than or equal to)
Threshold value:
value: 700 MBF: ~ (greater than or equal to)
MBF:
Query: TPH > 700 Threshold values:
val ues:
Answer: 5 stands (4.5.7.9,
(4.5.7.9. and 10) Age: 25
MBF: 10
f) How many dmber
timber srands
stands have at least 950
95 0 trees Logical ooperator:
peraror: or
per hectare?
per Query: (age <!~ 25) or (MBF ~ 10)
Anribure:
Anribule: TPH Answer: 4 stands (I,2.3.
Answer: (I.2.3. and 8)

105

c) How many timber stands are at least 20 years old,
and are no older than 30 years old, and contain
more than 500 trees per hectare?
Amibutes: age, age, TPH
Relational operators:
Age: ;" (greater than or equal to)
Age: S (less than or equal to)
TPH : > (greater than)
T hreshold values:
Age: 20
Age: 30
TPH: 500
Logical operators: and, and
Query: (age;" 20) and (age S 30) and (TI'H
> 500)
Answer: I srand (7)
To illustrate the use of a complex query, we wi ll ask a
few questions regarding the polygons contained in the
Brown Tract stands GIS database. First, assume that the
managers of the Brown Tract are interested in managing
the forest for timber production, and maximizing the
growth potential of (he [fees in the forest. One way ro
achieve this goal may be to use precommercial thinning.
As a result, (hey need to understand whether any poten-
cial commercial thinning opportunities exist. Assume that
the criteria developed by the managers of the Brown
Tract [Q assist in (he analysis was based on four ideas:
l. Thinning should occur about 10 to 15 years prior to
the fin al harvest age assumed by the organization
(45-50 years).
2. Enough crop crees should remain un-cut in the
thinned stands so that they (the residual trees) suffi-
ciently respond (within increased growth rates) to the
increased ava ilabili ty of light, water, and nutrients for
the remaining 10-15 years prior to final harvest.
3 . Commercial thinning will only be applied to even-
aged forested stands.
4 . Commercial thinning operations should remove, at a
mInimUm, 10 MBF per hectare (abou, 4 MBF per
acre).
Because the managers have specified a minimum residual
volume level the dmber volume per unit area prior to
thinning should be substantially greater. The criteria for
the query that the managers of the forest decide to use
includes the age of the stands that could be thinned muSt
Chapter 5 Selecting landscape Features 95
be between 30 and 40 years old, the land allocation
should include only the even-aged Stands, and the timber
volume prior to thinning must be above 9 MBF per acre.
The criteria, placed within the structure of a query then
becomes:
(age;" 30) and (age S 40) and (MBF ;" 9) and
(land allocation = 'even-aged')
The resulting eight stands (42 hecta res) on the Brown
Tract that conform to this query are illusuated in Figure
5.1. These areas can be considered. the poremial commer-
cial thinn ing opportun ities for the fo rest in the near
future.
Selecting features from a previously
selected set of features
Rather than develop a long, complex q uery containing
multiple criteria. you can design a set of less complex
quer ies that are hierarchical in nature and that reduce the
landscape features contained in the set of selected land-
scape features with each additional query. This process
may help you stay organized and prevent the occurren ce
of mistakes that may be difficult to understand when
usi ng a long and complex query. To selec, landscape fea-
cures from a previously selected set of landscape features,
a number of single criterion queries are assembled .
Figure 5.1 Stands on the Brown T net that meet the following
criteria: age 2: 30 and age :5 40 and MBF 2: 9 and land allocation .
'even-aged'.
106
96 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

Example c, presemed ea rlier. involved the following mul-

tiple criteria query,

(age ~ 20) and (age s: 30) and (TPH > 500)

which could be subdivided intO three single criterion
quenes:

age ~ 20
age s: 30
TPH > 500

Each of these can be performed in sequence; the first from

the full set of stands GIS database landscape features,

age ~ 20 (6 stands [1,2,3,6,7 and 8])

the second from the set of 6 landsca pe features that were

selected (sta nds 1,2,3,6,7 and 8),
Figure 5.2 Stands on {he Brown Tract that meet the following
age s: 30 (5 stands [1,3,6,7 and 8]) criterion: age' ~ 30.

and the third from the remaining 5 landscape features

(stands 1,3,6,7 and 8),
TPH > 500 (I stand [7])
resulting in the same landscape feature selected as when
the multiple criteria query was used. The preference for a
particular technique (selecting landscape features from a
previously selected set or selecting landscape features
using a multiple criteria query) wi ll vary from user [0 user,
depending on each user's confidence and experience.
If you were co try this hierarchical process of selecting
landscape features on the Brown Tract thinning example
from above, w here rhe criteria was,
Breaking down a complex query into smaller, single crite-
rion queries may not work when the logical operawr
involved is 'or'. In the following example, the complex
query cannor be broken down into rhree single criterion
queries.
(age = 29) or (age = 30) and (TPH > 500)
The set of stands that might comprise TPH > 500 can be
su bdivided into those that are 29 years old. However, the
resulring set cannot further be subdivided into sra nds (har

(age ~ 30) and (age s: 40) and (MBF ~ 9) and

(land allocation = 'even-aged')

you could subdivide the querying process into four steps.

Ste p I: Select from rhe entire set of stands those

stands where age ~ 30 (result: 212 stands
shown in Figure 5.2).
Step 2: Select from the 212 previously selected
stands, those stands where age s: 40 (result:
23 stands shown in Figure 5.3).
Step 3: Select from the 23 previously selected stands,
those stands where MBF ~ 9 (result: 9 stands
shown in Figure 5.4).
Step 4: Select from the 9 previously selected stands,
those scands where the land allocation is
even-aged (resu le: 8 stands shown in Figure Figure 5.3 Stands from the previously sciecte'd set (age 2: 30) on the
5.1). Brown Tract that meet the fo llowing criterion: age S 40.

107

Figure 5.4 Stands &om the previously ~Iected set (age O!: 30 and age :5
40) on the Brown Tract that meet the following criterion: MBF O!: 9]
are 30 years old (they are 29 years old) . Similarly, in the
following example, the complex query cannot be broken
down into three single criterion queries.
One of the most common mistakes made when asking
questions of databases is that results are often accepted
as 'truth' without considering whether results are rea-
sonable. For example, the Brown Tract timber scands
GIS database contains a number of polygons th at,
when summed, describe a 2,123 hectare area. Within
the Brown Tract a variety of ages of forests, ranging
from recent c1earcuts (age = 0) to older stands. are
present. To describe the current structure of the
Brown Tract, you could develop an age class distribu-
tion that indicates the area within. say. la-year age
classes. After performing queries of the various forest
age classes, the sum of the area queried should nor
result in more or less than 2,123 hectares (the size of
the properry). You should always ask yourself whether
the results obtained seem reasonab le, given the
resources being queried. Whenever possible , if a
method of verifying results is available, it is advisable
to check yo ur work or have a colleague check your
work. If multiple queries are performed that are
designed to completely describe the resources of the
Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 97
(age = 29) or (soil_rype = 'PR') and (TPH > 500)
Again, we can locate the stands where TPH > 500, and
from those we can locate the stands that have an age of29
years. However. there may be many other stands beyond
those in the resulting set that have TPH > 500 and a so il
rype of 'PR' (yee an age that is nOt 29 years).
However, the following multiple criteria query could
be broken down into three single criterion queries:
(age> 28) or (age < 31) and (TPH > 500)
Here, the set of stands that might comprise TPH > 500
can be subdivided into those that are greater than 28 years
old. The resulting Set can furrher be subdivided into
stands that are less than 31 years old.
Inverting a selection
Occasionally, you may find yourself in a situation where
you need to understand {wo aspects of the spatial features
contained in a GIS database: what is the condition (state
or characteristic) of one set of features, and what is the
forest, as in this case, the sum of area represented by
the multiple queries should equal the sum of the
resources in the original GIS database. If the sum of
the area in the age classes is greater than the size of the
Brown Tract, some areas were double-counted, per-
haps using queries such as these,
Age class I: (age ~ 0) and (age" (0)
Age class 2: (age ~ 10) and (age" 20)
where the area of I O-year-old stands is included in
both classes. If the sum of the area in the age classes is
less than the size of the Brown Tract. some areas were
nor counted. perhaps using queries such as these.
Age class I: (age> 0) and (age < 10)
Age class 2: (age> 10) and (age < 20)
where the area of O-year-old stands (c1earcurs) is not
included in age class I , and the area of IO-yea r-old
srands is nor included in either age class.
108
98 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
condition of everyth ing else. Two sets of queries can be
developed to identifY these two sets of features; howeve r,
if rhe second set contains 'everything else', simply invert-
ing rhe selected fearures after rhe first query will produce
rhe second set. For example, if you were in terested in
understanding how much land area was considered
'reserved' on the Brown Tract, and rhen how much land
area remained 'un-reserved', you could first develop rhe
query for rhe reserved areas,
(land allocarion = 'meadow') or (land allocatio n =
'research') or (land allocation = 'oak woodland') or
(land allocation = 'rock pit')
and find that it contains 42 stands covering about 229
hectares. By then inverting the selection, you will find
that what rema ins is a ser of 241 stands covering abom
1,893 hectares. A second query for even-aged. uneven-
aged. and shelrerwood stands was not necessary.
The inven selection technique simply switches the GIS
database selections, so that featu res previously selected are
no longer selected. and vice versa. Some G IS software will
make this capability ava ilable through a menu choice in
the cabular database window while ocher programs may
make this capability available through a menu or button
in the spatial database viewing window. Some GIS soft-
ware programs include borh capabi licies.
Example 1: Find the landscape features in one
GIS database by using single and multiple criteria
queries and by selecting features from a previously
selected set of features
A co mbination of query processes can be used if you
believe that they are necessary to accurately arrive at the
desired set of GIS database features. In this example, we
use a GIS database created from the set of GIS databases
_ Areas that meet the query specifications
C=:J Other areas that do not meet the query specificatioos
Figure 5.5 The result of a query for areas with dayey soils, located on steep or undulating topography, and with no limitations for agriculrural
practices using GIS databases developed for the Pheasant Hill planning area of the Qu 'Appelle River Valley, Saskatchewan ( 1980).
available for the Pheasant Hill planning area of the
QU'Appdle River Valley in central Saskatchewan. Here,
we have created a GIS database that contains so il s, topog-
raphy, and land classification information . There are 168
polygons with in the GIS database. Assume that we, as nat-
ural resource managers, are interested in understanding
the land areas that contain clayey soils, have steep or
undulating topography, and that have been categorized as
having no significant lim ita cion as they pertain to agricul-
tural practices. Initially, we could develop a multiple cri-
teria query to select from the larger set of features only
those that have clayey soil types. There are a number of
soil types in the Pheasant Hill planning area, thus the
query would be designed something like this:
(Soil_type = ' Indian Head Clay') or (Soil_type =
'Indian Head Clay Loam') or (Soil_type = ' Indian
Head Heavy Clay') or (Soil_ type = 'Oxbow Clay
Loam') or (Soil_type = 'Rocanville Clay Loam')
Given that a polygon is assigned on ly one soil type. we
needed to use the relational operator 'or' in the query
rathe r than 'and'. As a result of this multiple criteria
query, we find that only 69 of the original 168 polygons
have a clay component in their assoc iated soil type. In
order to locate those areas within this sub-set of the land-
scape features that are also located on undulating or steep
slopes. we can perform a second multiple criteria query.
(Topography = 'STEEP') or
(Topography = 'UN DULATING')
and here only select features from the previously selected
sub-set oflandscape features (not from the larger, o riginal
set of landscape features) . In this case, we find that 28 of
the polygons have both the soil characteristics and topO-
109
 Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 99

characteriscics of imerest (0
graphic characreriscics to us. Finally.
Finally, we per- fearures. since line or point
fe-drures, poine feat ures do nO(
features not describe areas.
form a single criteria query to determine how many of the me Alternatively.
A1ternarively. the firstfirsr GIS database could comain conrain point.
point,
remain ing 28 polygons also have no sign
remaining limica
ificant limita-
significant w line. or polygon features.
feamres. In this example.
example, assume that the
tions for agri
dons cultural praccices:
agricultural practices: first GIS
G1S database, the one containing features feamres the manager
wishes to know something about. contains points.
' No Significam
(Land Class = 'No Significant Limitations) From a natural resource perspective. managers of the
Brown TractTracr may be interested in understanding [he the
Again, this query is made by selecting from the previously habitat conditions within which certain cerrain wildlife species
selecred
selected set of28
of 28 polygons. reside. In order (Q CO collect
coUee[ habitat information ir it may be
As a result of this final query,
query. we find
lind that
thar 18 of the necessary to locate and install forest inventory plots. and
ooriginal
riginal 168 polygons have soil, topographic,
topographic. and land sample the characteristics of the forests. Pcrmanem Permanent forest
classification characteristics suitable for our original
original na(U-
natu- inventory plms.
plots. those
rhose that have already been installed and
ral resource management
managemem analysis
a nal ysis (Figure
(Figu re 5.5). We could are periodically re-measured.
re-measured, can also be used for this pur-
have arrived at the same answer by performing one long, long. pose. From a review of the natu naturalral history
hi story of the
rhe wildlife
mulciple
multiple criteria query. Alternatively. we could have species of interest.
interest, you may decide that thar only [hose
those
arrived at the same answer by using single criteria queries research
resea plots that
rch plotS thar are contained within
wirhin older forest sstands
rands
to build up the selected so soilil rypes (adding to the selected
selecred (those atac least
leaSt 100 years old) require measurement.
measuremem. Thus
set each time
ser rime addirional
additional polygons that thar have soil rype the problem becomes one of selecting the plots that reside
attributes of interest us)., then selecting from the previ-
imeres[ (Q us) within
w stands. T
ith in older Stands. he GIS database that
The thai contains
co ntains the
rhe
ously selected set
se r those that have the desired topographic
rhose thac ropographic landscape features
fearures of interest
inte rest is the research plot GIS data-
and land classification amibmes.
attributes. base. and the GIS database that represents
th e GIS rep resents the older fo rest
foreSt
areas is the forest stands GIS database.
Selecting features within some In order roto complete
complere the spatial
sparial query.
query , you would first
firSt
proximity of other features select the older
o lder stands in the forest stands GIS database of
the Brown Tract, using a single criterion query:
In addition to selecting
selecring landscape features
fearures based on the
set of attributes available within the tabular portion of a age ~ 100.
GIS database, you can select landscape features based on
their spatial relationsh ip to other landscape features.
fearures. This The focus of the analysis is then sh ifted ifred to the research
allows you to ask.
ask, for example. which landscape features
example, whidh fearures plot GIS database.
darabase. where the question is posed: how many
are within a threshold distance of. adjacenr (0, roo o
orr in close plots are located within the selected
selecred landscape features of
proximity
proximiry of other landscape features.
feamres. For example. you the srands
stands GIS database (rhe (the older Stands)?
stands)? The entire spa-
want {Q
may wam to know which research
resea rch plots are in older for- rial query process, in generic terms, terms. can be described as
est stands.
srands. what forest stands are next (0to research areas, or two-Step process: (I) select the older stands from the
this two-step
which water sources are wirhin cerrain distance of a
within a certain forest stands GIS
G1S database using a single criterion query,
si ngle crieerion
road. The abil ity [Q
abiliry (0 ask questions
quesdons in spatial
spadaJ terms
rerms is but
bur and (2) develop a spa spatial
rial query on the research plm
rhe researdh plot GIS
one indication of the power of GIS. The following three [hree database
daeabase where [hethe selection
seleceion is performed using the spatial
examples
exa mples provide a description of three common fo forms
rms of location of selected landscape features from within the
spatial
spadal queries. fo rest
reSt stands GIS database. This spatial selection abiliry
may be described as 'selection by location' or some other
Example 1: Find the landscape features in one similarly named menu choice or burton, bu([on. depending on
GIS database that are inside landscape features software
the GIS softwa re being used. Landscape featu res in the
fearures
contamed in another GIS database
(polygons) contained datahase research plot GIS database are selected if they intersect
inrersect the
In this natural resource manager may be ineer-
rhis example, a3 narural inter- space covered by the selected landscape features fearures in the
ested in examining [wo (wo GIS databases:
databases; one has landscape stands GIS database.
darabase.
features that he oorr she is ineerested
imerested in knowing something The result of this spatial query process should yield 40
about; the other
orner has landscape features that
thar represent areas research plotS
plots that full within therh e boundaries of older for-
within which he or she is only concerned. Obviously the est stands
seands (Figure
(Figu re 55.6).
.6) . Similarly.
Similarly, if you were imeresred
interested in
second GIS database suggests
sugges" that it consists of polygons knowing how many research plots were located locared in you ng
yo ung
110
100 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Figure 5.6 Permanent plot point locations within older stands on the
Brown Tract.
stands. you would first query the stands database for
young srands (perhaps age!> 30). then perform the spatial
query simila r [0 the process noted above. The result
should yield 1 research plot.
Example 2: Find the landscape features in one
GIS database that are close to the landscape
features contained within another GIS database
In this example. the imerest is again in examining two
GIS databases: one has landscape feacures of interest; (he
other contains landscape features [hat represent those
a reas around which (nor JUSt within which) there is con-
cern. The seco nd GIS dambase suggestS that it consists of
polygon features. but here it could also consist of point o r
line features. since [he area of concern is the area repre-
sented by a zone of proximity arou nd landsca pe features.
The first GIS database could also contain point. line, or
polygon features. Assume that the GIS database of interest
contains point featu res, and that the GIS database that
will represenr the area of interest contains line features.
The managers of the Brown Tract may be inrerested in
developing a fire management plan for the fores t, an d
thus would need to understand the types of water
resources that are in close proximity to roads. Therefore,
the problem becomes one of selecting the water sou rces
rh at are within some distance of a road. The GIS database
thar contains the landscape features of interest is the water
sources GIS database (beca use of the need to know where
the approp riate water sources are located). The GIS data-
base that rep resents landscape features around which one
can define an area of concern is the roads GIS database.
In order to perform (his spatial query. you muse first
determine the distance from the roads that is cri tical for
meering the needs of the fire management plan. Assume
here th at it is 30 merers, suggesting that water sources
within 30 meters of a road may be of benefit to forest fire
fighting efforts. This assumes that fi re-fighting vehicles
can draw water from these sources and transport the water
to the fire area. In the development of the fire manage-
menr plan, you may have also assumed that only certain
rypes of roads can support fire-fighting vehicles. although
th is example will proceed under the assumption that aU
roads on the Brown Tract can suppOrt these vehicles. A
generic description of the spatial query process might
then include the following two steps: (1) select all of the
landscape features in the water sources GIS database, a nd
(2) develop a spatial query on the water sources GIS data-
base where the selection is performed usi ng the spatial
location of landscape features con tained in the roads GIS
database. Landscape features in the water sources GIS
database are selected if they are located within 30 mete rs
of any road contained in the roads GIS database.
The result of this spatial query process yields 5 water
so urces th at lie within 30 meters of a road (Figure 5.7). As
you might imagine, this example, as well as the previous
example. would also be helpful to those concerned with
the proximity of certain resources (water sources, home
sites) to potential management activities (herbicide or fer-
tilization applications) , or even to potential sites for
wildlife or fisheries studies.
o
Figure 5.7 Water source point locations within 30 meters of roads on
the Brown T tact.
111
 Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 101

Example 3: Find landscape features from one query process may yield 44 stands, including the research
GIS database tbat are adjacent to otber landscape a reas . To remove the research areas from this set of
features in tbe same GIS database selected landscape featu res. you can perform a single cri-
In this example, the inrerest is in performing a spatial terion query from the previously selected set of landscape
query that uses landscape features within a single GIS feamres. such as,
database. Adjacency issues in natural resource manage-
Land allocation <> ' Research '
ment usually concern the placemenr of harvests or the
location of habitat) and imply that activities may be pro- where
hibited from being implemented next to (or nearby) other
attribute: land all ocation
receody implemented activities. In the case of habitat
relatio nal operator: <> (not equal to)
development. natural resource managers may desire co
threshold value: research areas
develop habitat next to (or nearby) other good wildlife
habitat areas. Alternativdy. an invesrmem in research may By performing this single criterion query on the previ-
need co be protected by limiting activity in nearby or su r- ously selected set oflandscape featu res. you can select and
rounding areas. Since this example concerns adjacency identify JUSt those stands adjacent to the research areas.
issues, the GIS database used also suggests that it conrains Figure 5.8 illustrates the spatial location of the 37 stands
polygon features. This example will assume that a natural that are adjacent to resea rch areas on the Brown Tract.
resource manager is interested in understanding the
extenr and number of stands that are adjacent to research
areas. Since the Brown Tract is a working forest that con-
tains some research areas, coo rdin ation of both research
and harvesting act ivities is paramount. particularly if the
harvestin g activities affect a resource being smdied in the
research areas (for example, species of wildlife or hydro-
logic conditions under canopy).
A generic description of the spatial query process
might then include the following steps: (1) select the
stands in the stands G IS database that are designated a
'research' land allocation, and (2) develop a spatial query
on the stands GIS database where the selection is per-
fo rmed based on how far away other stands are from the
research areas. In this case. you can assume that the stands
to be queried are 0 meters away from the research areas,
and essentially touch a research polygon. Depending on
the GIS softwa re program used, the resul , of this spatial Figure 5.8 Stands adjacenllo research areas on the Brown Trace .

Structured Query Language, or SQL, is the most pop-
ular com puter language for querying and manipulat-
ing data contained in relational databases. Sometimes
simply called 'sequel ', the language allows you to
develop quer ies similar to those presented here to
access data from large data bases. Although IBM ,
Oracle. and Microsoft have led the recent develop-
ments of SQL. and many other organizations have
tailored the SQL language for various applications.
the American Nationa l Standards Institute (ANSi)
and the International Organization for Standard-
ization (ISO) have developed standard versions and
offer them for sale. Some GIS software programs sup-
POrt the use of the SQL language, and extend it to
the management and manipulation of spatial data
features.

112
102 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Advanced Query Applications
Advanced app lications of GIS-related database queries
have concentrated on limiting the focus of queries only
to rhe features inside a spatial or temporal window
defined by the user. In addition to simply providing a
summary of rhe resources contained within a specific
area, as the user-defined window (location or time
frame) sl ides is expa nded. or is contracted, the query is
updated (Q reflect those features that have left rhe win-
dow and those [hat have entered rhe window. Queries
can be completely re-eva luated as a window slides (or
otherwise changes). or iteratively evaluated by updating
the query by considering only the changes that have
occurred (Edelsbrunner & Overmars. 1987; Ghanem et
al.. 2007). Dynamic queries can be designed that allow
users to adjust questions asked of GIS databases by
incorporating slider objec[S in a window rather than ask-
in g the user to redefine (by typing) the adj ustmentS
needed. For example. a graphical user interface can be
designed to allow users to easily adjust the upper and
lower bounds of a quantitative query along a scale, using
a computer mouse (Domingue et al.. 2003). and to pro-
vide those results quickly.
Syntax Errors
Syntax errors that occur when developing queries can
Summary
There are a variery of methods you can use (0 select land-
scape features from a GIS darabase. from using a mouse
(0 manually pick the landscape features (0 selecting them
with queries. The most common requests of natural
resource managers that involve GIS quer ies include: (1) a
map illustrating the landscape features that conform to
some criteria. (2) a GIS database containing only the
landscape features that conform to some criteria, and (3)
summary statistics of the landscape features that conform
to some criteria. Many of the applications described later
in th is book require YOll to develop a map showing some
landscape feat ures of interest. and to describe some char-
acteristics of those landscape features. Queries will enable
YOli to acco mplish these tasks quickly and efficiently. An
important habit to develop is to ask yourself whether the
discourage some users of GIS. MoS[ of these problems
occur because brackets or parentheses are missing from a
query; this results in an incomplete query. such as in the
two cases shown below from ArcMap que ries.
[Height] >= 50} and (beginning and ending
([Age] >= 25 parentheses missing)
( [Age] >= 25) and {the attribuce 'age' is
( <= 30 ) missing from the second
part of the criteria}
Most software programs require [hat every bracket or
parentheses be balanced, so, if you begin with an opening
bracket or parentheses. you must end with one as well.
These parentheses and brackets can also be used to con-
trol the order of operations in queries that include math-
emarical operations. The dialog boxes that are generall y
used to help develop queries will assist with the place-
ment of parentheses and brackets as long as the fields.
operarors, and values are selected in a logical manner
using the computer mouse. Syntax errors usually arise
when a user erases part of a query. then continues with
its development (i.e .. through keyboard intervention).
Queries with syntax e rrors usually need manual keyboard
intervention to correct the resulting problems. One of
the eas iest methods (0 allev iate syntax errors during
queries may be to simply close the query dialog box and
begin anew.
results of an analysis (here. a query) are reasonable. It has
become very easy in modern GIS software to create spa-
tial and anribute reference queries. and to instantly
receive the results. This ease of use may lead you to
believe that the results should not be questioned. Most
GIS programs are designed to perform comp lex queries
provided that the query syntax is correct. H owever, rhey
sim ply provide you with results based on your instruc-
tions. and do not have the ab ili ty to question whether a
query was correctly designed. It is therefore important to
be critical of the ourpUt from a query. and to examine
whethe r the resu lts are wit hin the bounds of reason. This
will help you to detect errors either in the GIS databases
being analyzed or in the methods being used to perform
an analysis.
113

Applications
5.1. Daniel Pickett Forest Annual Report. For the
AnnuaJ Repof[ ohhe Daniel Pickett forest. you have been
asked by Hugh Davenport (DiStrict Forester) to provide
some in formation related [Q rhe forest's resources. Me
Davenport poses his request as a series of questions:
From the stands GIS database:
a) How much area ofland contai ns forests:S; 20 years
of age?
b) How much area of land contains forests > 20 years
of age and:> 40 years of age?
c) How much area of land co ntains forests> 40 years
of age?
d) How much area otland contains vegetation type A?
e) How much area ofland contains vegetation type B?
f) How much area of land contains vegetation type C?
g) How much area of land contains ave rage timber
vo lumes ~ 49.4 MBF (tho usand board feet) per
hectare (20 MBF per acre)?
h) How much area of land co ntai ns ave rage timber
volumes ~ 74.1 MBF per hectare (30 MBF per acre)?
i) How much area of land contains average timber
volumes ~ 98.8 MBF per hectare (40 MBF per acre)?
From the soils GIS database:
a) How much area ofland might have a high response
[0 fenilization?
b) How much area of land might have a medium
response to fertilization ?
c) How much area ofland might have a low response
to ferti lization?
From rhe streams GIS database (map units are feet):
a) How many miles or kilometers of Class 1 streams are
in the database?
b) How many miles or kilometers of Class 2 streams are
in the database?
c) How many miles or kilometers of Class 3 streams are
in the database?
d) How many miles or kilometers of C lass 4 streams are
in the database?
e) Why might these values be misleading, and what
caveat might you provide to Mr Davenpon?
G raphics for the repo n:
a) Develop a histogram of 10-year stand age classes,
showi ng the amount ofland in each age class.
Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 103
5.2. Information for a new s upervisor of Brown
Tract. A new supervisor (Sharon G ill man) was recendy
selected [Q manage the Brown T mct, and she wanes to get
familiar with the natural resources located mere. She has
asked you to provide some information about the T ract
and j[5 resources:
From the streams GIS database:
a) How many miles or kilometers of fish-bearing, large
streams are in the database?
b) How many miles or kilometers of fish-bearing,
medium streams are in the database?
c) How many miles or kilom<ters of fish-bearing, small
streams are: in the database?
d) How many miles or kilom<tm of non-fish bearing,
large streams are in the database?
e) How many miles or kilom<lm of non-fish bearing,
medium streams are in the database?
J) How many milts or kilom<lm of non-fish bearing,
small streams are in the database?
From the roads GIS database:
a) How many miles or kilometers of road on (or near)
the Brown T mCt are rock roads?
b) How many milts or kilom<lm of road on (o r near)
the Brown Tract are dirt roads?
From the soils GIS database:
a) How much area ofland of 'PR' soil type is there o n
the Brown Tract?
b) How much area of land of 'DN' soil type is there
on the Brown Tract?
c) How much area of land of 'WL' soil type is there
on the Brown Tract?
From the water so urces GIS database:
a) How many beaver pond water sou rces are on the
Brown Tract?
b) How many hyd rant so urces are on (o r near) the
Brown Tract?
c) How many water tank sources are on (o r near) the
Brown Tract?
From the trails GIS database:
a) How many miles or kilometers of authorized trails
are there on the: Brown Tract?
b) How many miles or kilometers of unauthorized
tra ils are there on the Brown Tract?
114
104 Part 2 Applying GIS to Nalural
Natural Resource Management

c) How many miks

mius or kilom,
kilom.tm
,,n of proposed trails
rra ils are grou ps of stands ~ 150 years old and ~ 25 hecrares
groups hectares (61 .8
(6 1.8
there o n rhe
the Brown Tract?
T ract? acres) in size?' What will yo
your
ur response be?

5.3. Brown Tract

T ract Annual Report. In addition
add itio n to the 5.6. Wildlife habitat.
habitat. A note was placed on your com-
requests by
by Sharon Gi ll man to get her acquainted
Gillman acq uain ted with puter's keyboard, from Will
puterS W ill Edwards.
Edwards, the Brown Tract
some of [he
rhe resources located within and around rhe
the wildlife biologiSt,
biologist, which read: 'Could yo
youu perform some
Tract.
Brown T racr, she asks you to supply the following infor- q ueries of the Brown Tract stands database for me? I am
queries
macion for the
mation rhe Annual Repon: working on some wildlife habitat suitability models.
models, and
a) How much area of land
lan d is in
in even-aged forests
forests?? am interested
incerested in the
(he following:
followin g:
b) How much area of land is in uneven-aged forestS?
forests? a) Sharp-sh inned hawk habitat: area oflandof land contain-
c) How much area ofland is assigned to the 'research' ing ~ 25 and S s:; 50 year old Stands,
stands,
category? b) Cooper's hawk habi tat:tat: area ofland containing ~ 30
d) H ow much area of land contains board foot vol-
How and Ss:; 70 year old Stands.
srands,
umes ~ 74.
74 . 1 MBF
MBF per hectare
hecta re (30 MBF per acre)?
acre)' c) Goshawk hab itat: area of land containing ~ 150
habitat:
e) How much area ofland has a density of trees ~ 988 year old stands,
Stands, and
per hectare (400 per acre)? d) Red tree vole habitat: area ofland containi ng ~ 195
containing
year
yea r old stands.
Stands.
5.4. Annual operating plan, Brown Tract. In order to
develop a budget for
fo r management
man agement activities next year)
year, rhe
rh e Also.
Also, could yo
youu make me a map of the sharp-shinned
staff of rhe
the Brown Tract
T raet needs informacion
information regarding
regardin g of hawk habitat?'
the amount
amo unt of land area that can be treated w
with
ith va rious
ri ous
silvicuicurai
s il viculrura.l treatments.
treatme nts . Through conversations
co nve rsations with 5.7..
5.7 Fire management plan. In preparacion
preparation for
fo r the devel-
them. rhe the criteria
criter ia have been
bee n na.rrowed
narrowed down to [he rhe opment
o pment of a fire
fi re management
managemem plan the district manager of
following:
followi ng: T ract is interested in knowing the followi
the Brown Tract ng:
following:
a) How many water sou rces (all types) are within
Pre-commercial rhinning
Pre-commercial thinnin g candidate
cand idate stands:
stands: 30 meters (98.4 feet) of rocked or paved roads?
ofland
a) H ow much area of concains even-aged stands
land comains b) How many pond water sources
sou rces are within 30 meters
merers
s:; 20 yea
that are S years
rs old and have ~ 988 trees per (98.4 feet) of rocked or paved roads?
hectare (400 trees per acre)?
5.8.
5 .8. Research plots. One of the resea
research
rch scientistS
sciencists asso-
Commercial thinning candidate
ca ndidate stands:
sta nds: cia ted w
ciated with
ith (he
the Brown T racr is interested
Tract inte rested in measuring a
a) How
H ow much area of land contai ns even-aged stands
contains few of the research plotS
plots on the forest, to Study
stud y the growth
that are ~ 30 and S
s:; 40 years old?
old? of certain
ce rtain stand types. They wanr
want to unde
understand
rstand the
b) How
H ow much area ofofland contains even-aged stands
land concains following:
rhat are ~ 30 and S
that old, with ~ 494 uees
s:; 40 years old. trees a) How many research plots are located in research plots
per hectare (200 trees
uees per acre)? on srands
stands with ages ranging from 30 to 50 years?
b) If the quety
query were expanded to include Stands
stands with
Final harvest candidate stands: ages ranging
ra nging from 25 to 50 years.
years, how many
a) How much area ofland contains
concain s even-aged stands resea rch plots
plotS would (his
rnis query contain?
that are ~ 45 years, s:; 100 years,
years. S years. and have a board
foot volume ~ 74.1
74. 1 MBF per hectare (30 MBF per 5.9. Potential Fertilization Project. The managers of
acre)? (he
the Brown T
Tract
ract are cons
considering
idering fen
fertilizing
il izing aU
all stands that
[hat
are aged berween 25 and 40 years old. The managers are
5 .5. Proposed recreation area. You received an e-mail
5.5. not
nor only concerned about rhe the proximity
proxim ity of fertilization
a few days ago from Erica
Eri ca Douglas, forester, read :
forester, which read: o peratio ns to {he
operations the stream system, bur also (0
to water sou rces .
sources.
'We are considering developing a campground or o r trail H
Howow many watewaterr sources
sou rces are within 60 mecers
meters (I96.9
(196.9
syste m oonn the
system th e Brown T Tract.
fa Ct. Are there
th ere any sta nds oorr
s mnds feet) of the stands that could potentially be fertilized?
fertilized'

115

References
Domingue. j., Stun, A" Manins, M. , Tan, ] ., Pcrursson,
H .• & Morea. E. (2003). Supporting online shopping
(hrough a combination of ontologies and interface
metaphors. IntenzationalJournal of Human-Computer
Studirs. 59. 699-723.
Edelsbrunner. H .• & Overmars. M.H . (1987) . Zooming
by repeated range detection. Information ProctIsing
Lmers. 24. 413-1 7.
Chapter 5 Selecting Landscape Features 105
Ghanem. T.M .• Hammad. M.A .• Mokbel. M.F .• Aref.
W.G .• & Elmagarmid. A.K. (2007). Incremental eval-
uation of sliding-window queries over dara Streams .
IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering,
19.57-72-
Plum Creek Timber Company. (2001). Plum Creek
annual report 2000. Searde. WA: Plum Creek Timber
Com pany.
116
Chapter 6
Obtaining Information about a
Specific Geographic Region
Objectives
This chapter is designed co provide readers with examples
and app li catio ns from namral resource managemem (hat
will allow you to analyze the resources contained within
specific geographic regions. Specific geographic regions
can be defined in a number of ways, for example, (a) by
using query processes (the subject of chapter 5), (b) by
using buffer processes (the subject of chapter 7), or (c)
through GIS overl ay processes (the su bject of chapter II).
From a land managemen t perspective. there is a wide
range of reasons why we would want to understand what
is contained within these regions, and we will illustrate a
few of these. At the co nclusion of this chapter. readers
should have acquired knowledge of:
1. how a clipping process works. and what products
shou ld be expected when it is used;
2. how an erasing process works . and what products
should be expected when it is used; and
3. how to use both clipping and erasing processes CO
obtain information about specific geographic regions.
and obtain in format ion that is relevant to natural
resou rce management planning.
As natural resource managers, we are often interested
in understanding the characteristics of the land resources
we manage within . or perhaps outside of, specific geo-
graphic areas. For example, if you were to manage ripar-
ian areas, where limited amountS of activity can be pre-
scribed. you might be interested in [he type and quantiry
of resources within these areas, as well as the type and
quant ity of resources outside these areas-subject to a
w ider range of managemenr. Understanding the soil con-
ditions within a property is another example. since many
soils GIS databases are acquired from governmental
organizations. where the coverage of data extends well
beyond the boundary of the land you might manage. The
twO main GIS processes that can be used to obtain infor-
matio n about a spec ific geographic region. and hence the
focus of this chapter, are the clipping and erasing
processes.
To some people. the te rm 'cl ipp ing' conjures up
thoughts of American football athletes using an illegal
blocki ng maneuver on their opponents; to other people it
conjures up thoughts of snipping pieces of vegetation
from a plant. It is also used invariably as both a noun and
a verb, such as (a) a way [Q hold something in a tight grip,
(b) a device to hold cartridges for a riAe, (c) a single
instance or occasion. or (d) the act of cutting (Merriam-
Webster, 2007). In a GIS context, a cli pp ing process
implies something similar to cutting cookies from a sheet
of dough, when baking holiday-related cookies, although
nothing is actually baked here. Imagine a landscape rolled
our fl at, like a map on a table. If you were to cut our a
ponion of the landscape w ith a pair of scissors, you would
have essentially 'clipped' it from the landscape. There are
a number of reasons why you would do such a thin g. and
we will explore some of the more common applications in
this chapter.
117
 Chapter 6 Obtaining Information about a Specffic Geographic Region 107

The term 'erase' also has several meanings. and is GIS database Spatial features Tabular attributes
mainly used a verb in (he English language. in manners
such as (a) (Q rub ou( or scrape away. (b) to remove writ- Input GIS databases
ten marks, (c) co remove recorded data from a magnetic
Database to be Stand attributes:
medium, and (d) to nullifY an effeC( (Merriam-Webste r, clipped: stands basal area, volume
2007). When the term 'erasing' is used in a GIS context, per acre, etc.
it is much more closely aligned with the notion most peo-
ple have about rubbing or scraping rhings away: some fea-

use~dO
cures are be ing removed (e rased) from the landscape.
Imagine two GIS databases, a fo resr stand GIS database
and a stream buffer GIS database. If you wanted to visu- Database
alize all of (he forest stands areas oU[side of the stream do the clipping: Buffer attributes:
buffers, you could use the polygons that describe the 150·foot (45.7 m) buffer distance, etc.
stream buffers
stream buffer area co erase all of those areas from the tim-
ber stand GIS database. As you can see you can use clip-
ping and erasing tools co obtain resource information
about specific geographic regions. Output GIS database

The Process of Clipping Resulting Stand attributes:

Landscape Features
One of the assumptions behind rhe use of a clipping
process is that you are interested in creating a new GIS
database that comains only those features within a specific
geographic region. A clipping process involves the use of
twO GIS databases (Figure 6. I), and results in one new
ourpur GIS database. The process involves the location of
the intersection of lines (in the case of line and polygon
features being clipped) and the loca tio n of features wholly
contained within an area (in the case of all rypes of GIS
features), The location of line imersection points is an
essential part of GIS (Clarke, 1995). Cl ipping processes
can be manually called upon wirhin GIS, and in some
cases are aurornatic and transparent to GIS users, as in the
case of websites that are designed to allow users to specify
an area within which data will be extracted.
When using vector G IS databases, one of the input GIS
databases needs [Q coma in polygon features «(he cookie
cutter); the other (rhe GIS darabase to be clipped) can
camain eith er poin t, line, or polygon features. The
cookie-cuHer GIS database is overla id on the GIS database
to be clipped, and only those features within the bound-
aries of the polygon(s) in the cookie-cutter GIS database
are retained in (he output GIS database. Thus, (he output
GIS database contains the same rype of spatial features as
the GIS database being clipped. In addi tion , rhe size of
features (lines or polygons. but not points) may be spa-
tially ahered in the output database. as they may have
been cur a{ (he edges of the polygons contained in the
database: basal area, volume
stands within the per acre, etc.
150·foot (45.7 m)
stream buffers
Figure 6.1 Clipping the $lands within the 150·foof (45.7 m) sueam
buffers on the Daniel Pickett forest.
cookie-curter GIS database. This implies thar lines could
be shorrened and the shape of polygo ns altered. The out-
put GIS database contains all of the attributes of the GIS
database that was clipped, but generally none of the
attributes of the GIS database that was used to do the clip-
ping. The spatial extent of the output GIS database is lim-
ited to the boundary of rhe polygons conta ined in rhe
cookie-curter GIS database. For example. in Figure 6 .2. a
road and a fire area overlap the boundary of a land own-
ership polygon. The land ownership polygon can be used
as a cookie-cutter to clip the portions of the road and the
£ire area rhat actually res ide within the ownership bound-
ary. In doing this, the road (initially described by line 2),
is clipped at the intersection with lines 11 and 104 of the
properry boundary polygon (creating line 2\), and the fire
area is cl ipped with lines I , and I , . Line 3\ of the fire area
is shortened , original line 3, discarded, and lines 3, and 3,
creared based on the location of lines 13 and 1 ~ of rhe
properry ownership boundary.
Clipping a GIS database with a very large extent (such
as a national soils database) to the boundary of a managed
properry is one common application of this type of
118
108 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

a. GIS databases prior to a clip process. b. GIS databases during a clip process. (0 = node)
+----- Road 1,
Road
Property belore RoadJ
after
<Of-- Property boundary 1, boundary I, 2 clipping 21
j __ '1I
clipping
(cookie cutter) process process
I,
/ ( I ,
J'-' Fire area
• 1,
.......- "I
Properly
1, boundary I, Fire area
(cookie cutter)
C. GIS databases after a clip process. (0 = node) Rre area 3 1... ...... 1 after 3!.'''3
I, before , " .
I
clipping ~ __ ~ 4
i--ll.:l---- Clipped road clipping,'
I I
I process 33

Property boundary process: ./ 3l

....'tY-,...
Clipped fire area

Figure 6.2 Clipping a road and a fire area to tilt: pro~rty boundary of a land ownership.

A clipping process is essenrially the same as makin g MuniCipality boundaries in the Pheasant Hill planning area of the
cookies from a sheet of cookie dough. It is called 'eras- Qu'Appelle River Valley in central Saskatchewan

ing outside' by some GIS software programs, which is

simply another way to describe how ir works: a map of
a landscape is laid flat on a table, a solid object is placed
on tOP of it {perhaps a book}, and everything that is vis-
ible outside of the boundary of the book {except what is Floodplains, wetlands, and areas with trees in the Pheasant Hill
under the book} is erased. The process of 'erasing out- planning area

side' (or clipping) is the inverse of anorher process we

describe sho rdy, called the 'erase' process. We expect
some level of confusion due to the similar terminology,
but are co nfident that with study and hands-on practice
with GIS, readers will be able to grasp the differences. Floodplains, wetlands, and areas with trees for each municipality
In an erasing process, you seek to remove from one (municipalities clipped using floodplains, wetlands, and treed areas)
GIS database everything that is spatially located under
the features conrained in another GIS database (which
contains polygons). Using the example of the map and
the book that lies upo n it, everything on the map that
is under the book would be removed in an erasing
Areas that are not floodplains, wetlands, nor areas with trees for each
process. Thus an erasi ng process is me inverse of a clip- municipality (municipalities erased using floodplains, wetlands, and
ping {or erase outside} process. The example provided treed areas)
using the municipali ty boundaries and floodplain , wet-
land. and treed areas GIS databases illustrates how a sin-
gle GIS database {the municipalities} can be divided into
[wo com pletely separate, non -overlapping databases
Figure 6.3 Application of clippi ng and erasing processes.
usi ng the clipping and erasing processes {Figure 6.3}.

119
 Chapter 6 Obtaining Intormation Spec~ic Geographic Region
Information about a Specmc 109

process. There are a number of other reasons why you tion regarding the status
tjon thar they
starus of the natural resources that
would wanr to clip a set of spatial features
want [0 fearures co(Q the bound- manage. Therefore, a clipping process is used toro limit the
ary of a properry.
property. One of them relates to the accuracy and amount of information shared to ro that
mat concerning specific
consistency of an organization's
o rganization's GIS databases. GIS data- geographic regions, such as individual watersheds.
bases can be digitized in-house or by comracrocs, contractors, created
through other spatial operations, developed with GPS Obtaining information about
technology, obtained from oorganizations
technology. rganizations that sell daca-
seU data- vegetation resources within
bases, downloaded for free off of the Internet, or simply
riparian zones
passed from one person [0 another. Given me
to anomer. the wide vari-
va ri -
ety o rga nizacions can acquire GIS databases. it is
ery of ways organizations As a first
fi rst example of us using
ing a clipping process, let's assume
not unreasonable (0 to imagine [hat me
that the extent of the cover- iD(~res(ed in the
that we are interested [h~ vegetation resources con-
age of the GIS
G IS data wil
wi lll likely not perfectly fit the extentexrenr tained entirely
enti rely within some pre-defined riparian riparia n zones
of an ownership's boundary. Some o rganizations require within a fo rest. In chapter 7.
forest. 7, we will describe the rhe process
that the extent of each GIS database lit fit perfectly with the of taking spatial
spat iaJ features, such as streams,
Streams, and creacreating
ting
boundaries of their land ownership, and they tbey ensure this physical zones (buffers) around aroun d them.
them . For now, let's ler's
by clipping each GIS database to their ownership bound- assume that thar a GISGIS database containing polygons that
ary GIS database. Granted, there are some GIS G IS da tabases, describe 50-meter riparian wnes (stream buffers) for the
such as roads and streams,
screams, mat that you may nO[ not want dipped
clipped Brown Tract already exists (Figure (F igu re 6.4) . The type of
[Q an ownership boundary (interest may ceorer
[0 center on where informarion we may be interested in knowing includes
information
[he
the roads and screams
streams come from and where they go the amount of land and the volume of timber within the
beyond a property boundary), but there are GIS databases, riparian zones, which are generallygeneralJy limi ted-use manage-
limited-use
such as soils and land cover, where the argument may ment areas. A clipping process wou would ld allow us to develop
hold (interest may not cemer center on the soils of other land GIS database contajning
a GIS containing only chosethose umber
timber stand areas
owners). that are within the boundaries of the polygons that
Other rypes
types of polygon features could be used in a describe the riparian zones (Figure 6.4). The original tim-
dipp ing
dippi ng process. For example,
example. you yo u may he be interested
ince rcsted in ber stand polygo
polygons ns that intersect the stream buffer poly-
contained w
the resources contajned ith in a riparian zone,
with zone. or within gons would be redesigned such that their boundaries now
Further, when narural
a watershed. Further. natural resource management coincide with the edges of rhe the riparian zones. Those tim-
organizations share GIS databases, they rhey may decide to ber stand polygon boundaries that fall entirely within with in the
limit what is shared. For example, in Washington State, Stare, riparian zones would be left intact, intact . those timber stand
where watershed analysis
analys is has been an important aspect of polygons that fall fitJI entirely outside of the riparian zones
foresr
forese management, a coorciinared
coordinated dfon effort among organiza- would be e1imina[ed
eliminated..
tions leads to the identification
idemification of the limits of appropri- What you should find in the tabular database (attrib-
ate management activities wirhin within watersheds. In Ln many utes) of the clipped GIS database is the same set (number
Utes)
analyses, a single organization will perform rhe
watershed analyses. the and type)
rype) of attributes thar that can be found in the original
G IS analysis tasks, and thus
GIS rhus acquire
acqu ire all of the GISG IS data- vegetarion GIS However, the values
GIS database. However. rhe
valu es of (he
particular watershed
bases related to a pan.icular wate rshed regardless of an ributcs associated with 'area' (acres and hectares) may
attributes
landowner. Usually private namral
landowner. natural resource organizations
organizadons need to be adjusted to reAect only the area of the th e poly-
are very hesitant to share their G GIS
IS databases with their gons within the clipped GIS database. In [n addition, some
competitors-some GIS GI S databases are considered propri- polygon GIS GIS databases may also comain contain a perimeter meas-
etary and may contain sensitive information. In addicion. addition, uremem that describes the distanc~ around each
[he linear distance
organizations may be hesitant to ro release GIS
GIS databases that polygon border. The perimeter distance may also need to
are dated or chatthat may conta coma in unverified information . be recalculated in order to accu accurately perimeters
rately represent perimerers
However,, since watershed analysis may benefit all
However that were affected by a clipping operation. Some GIS soft-
landowners in the long run, some GIS dacabases databases arcare usu- ware programs perform these adjustmems adjustments automaricaIly
auromatically
ally shared among land management organizations. organizadons. In depending on the type of spatial database; other GIS soft-
cases such as these, organizadons
organizations may decide to ro sha
sharere as ware programs require users to recaJculaterecalculate the areas with
little
lirrle GIS data as possible to meet [he the goals
goa ls of the water- a second (albeir automated) process. Arcributes
(albeit automared) Arrribures mar
that
shed anaJysis.
analysis. and thus avo id revealing any other informa-
rhus avoid describe something other than an 'area' of land (e.g., tree
'a rea' ofland
120
110 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

(a) so· meter stream buffers. age or stand volume). are not adjusted during the dipping
process. With the lise of a dipping process. you should be
able ro understa nd how much area is comained within
the riparian zones, 446 ha in the case of the Brown Tract
(Table 6.1). The resulting dipped GIS database also pro-
vides information necessa ry for subsequem analyses, such
as those that involve understandi ng the average age of the
riparian zone vegetation. or the timber vo lumes contained
within the riparian zones.

Obtaining information about soil

resources within an ownership
Soil resources for North America have been mapped at
va rious scales for each Canadian province and US St3te.
While special soils surveys have been conducted for indi-
(b) Vegetation polygons. vidual landowners. the most widely used soils databases
we re developed by governmental agencies. For example.
in (he United Scates, t he USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (2007) provides an online inrerac-
tive process that allows you to acquire soils (and other)
GIS databases for a specific ponion of the country. One

TABLE 6.1 A subset of the tabular data

contained in the GIS database
that resulted from clipping Brown
Tract stands within SO-meter
stream buffers

Stand
number Acres Hectares Age Volume'

0.63 0.2; ;2 12.7

(c) Vegetation polygons within 50-meter stream buffers. 3.06 1.24 ;2 12.7
2 12.37 ;.01 46 13.3
2 2. 16 0.87 46 13.3
2 0.06 0.02 46 13.3
2 1.80 0.73 46 13.3
2 053 0.21 46 13.3

3 4.47 1.81 ;1 16.6

3 3.24 i.31 ;1 16.6

270 0.14 0.06 2 0.0

283 4.03 1.63 43 I.;

To,.] 1,101.39 44552

Figure 6.4 Clipping the stands within 50-meter stream buffers on the
Brown Tract. • thousand board reet per acre

121
 Chapter 6 Obtaining Information about a Spec~ic Geographic Region
product that can be obtained is the soil survey geogtaphic
database (SSURGO) for most counties in the US. The
majority of SSURGO data were mapped at a 1:20,000
scale. and the minimum mapping area is 1-2 hectares.
This level of detail in the mapping of soils was designed
for use by Farmers. landowners. and other natural resource
organizacions.
The STATSGO soils database is another national-level
soils GIS database for the United States (USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service. 2006). However, the
STATSGO data is a general soil map, and not as spatially
refined as the SSURGO data. STATSGO was mapped at a
1:250,000 scale, and the minimum atea mapped is about
600 hectares. This level of detail in mapping soils was
designed for broad natural resource planning and man-
agement uses.
The National Soil Database of Canada (Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada, 2006) contains databases on soils, land-
scape features, and climatic data for each Canadia n
province. and is the national archive for land resource infor-
mation collected by federal and provincial field surveys. The
GIS databases contained in the National Soil Database range
from the more general, mapped at a 1: 1,000,000 scale or
smaller (like STATSGO), to the more detailed, mapped at a
1:20,000 scale or larger (like SSURGO).
Figure 6.5 Soil polygons in me Brown Tract and surrounding at(~a.
111
Assume.you were to acquire the SSURGO data for the
county within which the Brown Tract is located (Figure
6.5). If the managers of the Brown Tract were interested
in the eype of soils that the Nacucal Resources Con-
servation Service has delineated for the land that they
manage. a dipping process can be used CO obtain that
information. In this case, you would use the boundary of
the Brown Tract as the polygon theme to perform the
clip, and the SSURGO soils database as the theme on
which the clip would be performed. The resulting GIS
database provides an indication of (he major types of the
SSURGO soils that are being managed on the Brown
Tract (Figure 6.6).
Obtaining iruormation about roads
within a forest
In the previous examples provided in this chapter, inter-
est was placed on obtaining information aboU[ polygon
features (timber stands and soils) that were located within
some geographic region . This type of information is
informative for land managers, yet it is a1so possible ro
~ Dixonville-Gellatly, steep slopes
t::::I Price-MacOunn-RItner complex, steep slopes
• Dbconville-Gellatly, moderats slopes
o Joey silty clay 1oam, Iow slopes
D Jory-Gelderman complex, moderate slopes
D Other soil types
Figw~ 6.6 Major soil types within the boundary of th~ Brown Tract.
122
112 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

obtain information abour other types of landscape fea-

TABLE 6.3 Length and type of road within
cures (lines or points) within certain geographic regions. the boundary of the Brown Tract
Most forest road GIS databases, for example, contain a
Roadrype Miles Kilometers
system of roads that extend well beyond the boundary of
the property that is being managed by a nacural resource Paved 2.0 3.3
management organization. Th is allows these organiza- Rock 37.5 60.3
tions and their managers to see how the road system they
Native Surface 1.5 2.5
manage is integrated with the road systems managed by
Total 41.0 66. 1
states, counties, or other nacural resource management
organizations. In addition, it allows organizations [Q
weigh their options: If you were to harvest timber stand find that only about 66 kilometers of road (Table 6.3)
X, which route cou ld be used to deliver the timber to the actually reside within the boundary of the Brown Tract
mill? If you were to fertilize timber stands Y and Z. how (Figure 6.7).
would you get the fertilizer to those stands? If you were to This exercise also produces an example of a potential
perform an owl survey in watershed A, how could you get problem related to this type of information extraction
to (a nd get around) watershed A? process. If you were to look closely at the resulting clipped
There are times, however, when an organization might GIS database. the eastern edge of the forest (Figure 6.8)
need to understand only the characteristics of the road comains a discontinuous piece of a road. Upon inspec-
resources within the boundaries of the land that they tion, you might find thac chis road is a rocked road and
manage. Each year. for examp le, a land manager may that one of four situarions has occurred:
need to develop a budget for road maimenance expend i-
cures, and over a longer period of time. a plan for the con- I. The road was incorrectly digitized into the GIS data-
tinued maintenance of the road system. When developing base (which could be verified by viewing the digital
a long-cerm plan for maintaining rock surface roads (for orrhophotograph associated with the Brown Tract).
example), you may first want to understand the extent of 2. The road was incorrectly laid our in the field. and
rock-surfaced roads within the land being managed.
As an example of a clipping process, the roads GIS
database of the Brown Tract can be dipped to the prop-
erty boundary. If you were to open the roads GIS database
in a GIS software program, you would find that the data-
base contains over 79 kilometers of paved. rock. and
native surface roads (Table 6.2). These roads extend well
beyond the boundary of the Brown Tract in some cases.
and allow the forest managers to view the landscape that
they manage in a larger context.
However, after clipping the roads GIS database to the
ownership GIS database. and making sure that road
lengths were updated in the output database. you would

TABLE 6.2 Length and type of road within

the roads GIS database
developed for the Brown Tract

Road ty~ Mil.. Kilo meters

Paved 5.7 9.3

_ Paved
41.3 66.4
Rock _ Gravel
2.3 3.6 _ _ . Dirt
Native Surface

Total 49.3 79.3 Figure 6.7 Roads within the boundary of the Brown Tract.

123
 Chapter 6 Obtaining Information about a Specnic Geographic Region 113

TABLE 6.4 Length and type of streams

within the streams GIS database
used by the Brown Tract
Stream type Miles Kilometers

Fish-Ixaring 1 large 0.9 1.4

Fish-Ixaring I medium 3. 1 5.0

Adiscontinuous piece
of road Fish-Ixari ng I small 4.9 7.8

/
Non-fish-bC'aring 1 large 0.0 0.0

Non-fish -bearing J medium 0.0 0.0

Non-fish-bearing I small 25.7 41.4

Total 34.6 55.6

Figure 6.8 A potential error in the clipped roads GIS datab~.

actually does reside within the boundary of the Brown
tracr.
3. The boundary of the Brown Tract was incorrectly dig-
itized into the boundary GIS database.
4. The road and boundary are correctly located and the
road may be (he result of an use easemem, a remnanc
from a previous road network. or a potencial ingress by
an adjacent property owner.
In any event, developing a ma inrena nce plan that
includes rhis. and ocher, small p ieces of road may not
make sense from an operational perspective.
the extent of certain landscape features within a specific
geographic region. and a clipping process can be used to
extract those resources from other GIS databases.
Using the Brown Tract as an example. prior to clip-
ping the streams to the boundary of the fo rest. approxi-
mately 56 kilometers (35 miles) of streams are represented
in the streams GIS database {Table 6.4}. The resulting GIS
database. after clipping the streams GIS database to the
forest boundary GIS database and updating the stream
lengths (Figure 6 .9). contains only about 45 kilometers
(28 mi les) of streams that are actually located w ith in the
bounda ry of the forest (Table 6.5). You find with this
analysis that (here are no large, fish.bearing streams

Obtaining information about

streams within a forest
Most sc reams GIS databases managed by natural reso urce
organizations are designed in a fash ion similar to roads
GIS databases: they co ntain a system oflines or links that
extend well beyond the property boundary of the organi-
zat ion so that the man agers can understand how their
activities are integrated within a larger watershed system.
For example, yo u m ay be interested in knowing where
water flows, in the event that the need to monitor forest
operations (after logging, fertilization. or herbic ide oper-
ations) is important. There are times. however, when you
may need to quan ti fy the stream characteristics only
within the boundary of the land that you r organization
manages. For example. in order to develop a budget for
stream surveys, you may need to know how many and
what rype (along with their length) of streams are located
within the boundary of land that you r organization man-
age. This implies that you are interested in understanding Figure 6.9 Streams within the boundary of the Brown Tract .

124
114 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

TABLE 6.5 Length and type of streams The Process of Erasing

within the boundary of the Landscape Features
Brown Tract
Stream typ< Kilometers Thus far. our imerest has been centered on understanding
Mil"
the extent of resources that are located within certain geo-
Fish-bearing I large 0.0 0 .0
graphic regions. Now. our focus will sh ift to obtai ning
Fish-bearin g I medium 2.1 3.4 informatio n abour the resources located oZltsid~ ofcertain
Fish-beari ng I small 2.8 4.5 geographic regions. The erasing process is well suited to
Non-fish-bearingJ large: 0.0 0.0 this tas k. and is essentially the opposite of the clipping
process. When using an erasing process. you a re inter-
Non-fish-lxaring I medium 0.0 0.0
ested in creating a new GIS database that contains land-
Non-Fis h-bearing I small 23. 3 37.5 sca pe features located outside of a speci fic geographic
Tmal 28.2 45.4 region. Just as with a clipping process, an erasing process
involves using two GIS databases as input d atabases
(Figure 6.10). and the process results in one output GIS
within the Brown Tract, although some are present in the
database. When using vector GIS databases. one of the
more extensive streams G IS database. In addition, while
input GIS databases (the eraser) needs to comain polygon
only about one·quartet of the streams (by length) in the
features; the other GIS database (the database in which
more extensive Streams GIS database are fish -bea ring,
landscape fearures will be erased) can contain point. line,
almost hal f of the streams (again by length) removed as a
or polygon features. The eraser GIS database is ove rlaid on
result of the clipping process are fish-bearing. Since the
the GIS database containing the fearures of interest. and
Brown Tract contains the headwaters of several stream
only t hose landscape features located outside of the
systems. it is not unreasonable to assume that (he fish-
bearing portions of these systems are located in the lower
reaches (i.e .• off of the Brown Tract). GIS database Spatial features Tabular Attributes

Input GIS databases

Database to be Stand attributes:

erased : stands basal area, volume
One note of caution about clipping processes: prior per acre, etc.
to performing other rypes of spatial analyses. such
as the buffering processes, you must consider

used~O
whether or nO[ a clipping process is appropriate.
For example, if you wanted to understand the
extem of riparian areas on the Brown Tract, you Dalabase
might nor wan t to clip the st reams to the boundary do the erasing Buffer attributes:
(Ihe eraser): buffer distance, etc.
of rhe Brown Tract as an initial step in the analysis. 150-loot (45.7 m)
By doing this, streams outside of rhe forest bound- stream buffers
ary are igno red. to which you probably would reply
'50 what?'. Well, those streams may have a riparian - - -- ------ ------ ,
area about them that extends inside the boundary Output GIS database
of rhe Brown Tract. Put another way. just because

~
a panicular stream resides outside the boundary of Resulling Stand attributes:
database: basal area, volume
the forest you manage does not necessarily imply it stands outside the per acre, etc.
ca n be igno red: part of its area of inAuence (rhe 150-foot (45.7 m)
riparian area). and an assessmem of activities m ar stream buffers
YOll might be co nsidering within this area. may
need to be included in your management plan. Figure 6.10 Erasing the stands within I 50· foot (45 .7 m) stream
buffers from tht Danid Picktn stands GIS databast.

125
 Chapter 6 Obtaining Information about a Specffic Geograph ic Region 115

bou ndaries of the polygons contained within the erase r put dara base fro m an erasi ng process should be updated
GIS database are rerained. Thus the output GIS database (Q reRect cha nges in area or perimeter of polygons. or

contains the same type of features as the database being
emsed. In addition, the size of featu res (lines o r polygons,
but not points) may be spatially altered where they over-
lap with the edges of the polygons conta ined within the
ems« GIS database.
Figure 6.1 1 illustrates a small example and utilizes a
fire (the eraser) and a timber stand (the polygon to be
erased). After the erasing process has been performed,
yo u can see that [WO of the o riginal lines that defined
th e boundary of a timber stand (l , a nd I ,) were sho rt-
ened [Q the point of intersection with a fi re area, and a
third line was created (J ,) to describe the edge of the fire
area tha t is common wi th the timbe r stand. The resuh-
ing erased timber stand GIS database has all of the attrib-
utes of the original timber stand GIS database, yee the
spacial extent is eq ual [0 the original cimber stand data-
base minus [he overl ap with [he fi re database. As w ith
[he clipping process, feature measurements in the OU(-
3.
length of li nks in line data bases. If yo ur GIS softwa re
does not make these updates automaticall y. you shou ld
ensu re th at yo u use softwa re or ot her app roaches (Q
update the measu rem ents.
There are a number of reasons why you would con-
sider using an erasing process. One reason involves the
need to understand the characteristics of a landscape Out-
side of areas that are co nsidered Ttstn·cttd. Alternatively.
the goal would be to define the unrestricttd areas of a
lan dsca pe with regard to m anage ment act ivities. For
exa mple. ea rlier in this cha pter a clipping process was
used to develop a GIS database that allowed us to summa-
rize the resou rces located within ripari an zones. Manage-
ment within riparian zo nes is gene rally restricted in some
fo rm or fashion. Areas outside the riparian zones could
then he considered unrestricted, assum ing there are no
other co nstrai nts on land ma nageme nt, such as those
related to owl nest loca tions, research areas, and so on .
Understanding the extent of the landscape where man -

0 -
GIS databases prior to an erase process.

/"
, " ,
I
Timber stand
agement is not restricted, may be important when consid-
ering decisions related [Q harvesring operations, the use of
herbicides or fertilizer, or other types of management
practices.

, ~ Fire area Obtaining information about

,,
I
'
,
vegetation resources outside of
......... _ / '
riparian zones
b. GIS databases during an erase process. (0 = node) To build upon the examples previously provided in this
1, 1, chapter, let's obtain information about some landscape
features (vegetation polygons) loca ted outside of th e 50-
Erased
12 Timber stand 13 12 Timber stand 13 meter riparian zones th at were developed for the Brown
(to be erased)
Fire area 31........ ~ 1, Tract. An erasing process allows us to develop a GIS data-
(eraser),/ ' :, base containing o nly those features (in this case vegeta-
1,
,,, , 1,
,, t ion polygo ns) located outs ide the boundaries of the
, '"..._"'3 2 polygons that describe the riparian zo nes. T he origi nal
vegetation polygons are aga in redesigned such that their
boundaries coincide with th e edges of the polygons that
c. GIS databases after an erase process. (0 = node) desc ribe the ripa rian wnes. Those vegetation polygons
that were entirely located outside of t he ripa rian zo nes
Erased timber stand are left intact, and those vegetation polygons (hat were
ent irely contai ned within the boundaries of ripa ri an
,~
, zones are eliminated (F igure 6.12). The tabular database
:...- Fire area
,
,,
related to the resulting erased GIS database should con-
,, ''
tain the same set of attributes that were contained in the
' "...- " original vege tat io n (sta nds) GIS database, with only the
Figure 6.11 Erasing a fire area from a timber 5t:lnd. area (a nd pe rhaps the perimeter) values adjusted to
126
116 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Figure 6.12 Vegetation polygons (stands) outside of 50· mcler buffers
on the Brown T race.
Summary
Clipping processes are spatial operations that allow users of
GIS to obmin information about landsca pe features within
cercai n geographic regions. When using vec[Qr GIS data-
bases, polygon features are used to clip the feacures from a
second GIS database comaining poines, lines. or polygons.
The feacures that are comained in the OUCput GIS database
are those comained within the boundaries of the polygons
of [he clipping GIS database (the cookie cu[(er). Erasing
processes can be viewed as the inve rse of clipping processes.
With an erasing process, you can obtain informadon about
spat ial features located outs ide of certain geographic
regions. In fIct. you could use a single GIS database to clip
landscape features (used as the cookie cu[(er). and subse-
quently to erase landscape features (used as the eraser). If
Applications
6.1. Obtaining information about features within a
watershed. Suppose that [he hydrologist associated with
the Daniel Picke[( forest. Michelle Rice. has been work-
ing for some time on a watershed ana lysis with a few
other natu ral resource managemem organizatio ns. The
watershed being analyzed is the Dogwood Creek
Watershed. The warershed analys is team is now ar the
reAeer the sizes of the redesigned polygons. When per-
forming a check of the data. you should find that the
size of the resulting erased GIS database. about 1.677
hectares (4.143 acres). is-and shou ld be--less than the
size of the original stands GIS database (which was about
2. 123 hectares or 5.245 acres) .
Erasing processes can be used for other purposes as
well. For example. if an area of the Brown Tract were des-
ignaH~d for sale, the managers of the Brown T Tact may be
imerested in knowing what resources would remain after
the pending sale. Alternatively, if you were co develop a
land classification for the Brown Tract which involved
buffering streams and classifying uplands from riparian
zones, you may erase (h e buffer woes from a stands data-
base (for example) as a intermediate stage of classifying
the landscape and identifying upland areas. These types of
analyses may prove useful in (he applications described in
subsequent chapters of this book.
both processes were applied to [he same GIS database (e.g.•
stands, roads, or streams), the twO output GIS databases,
when combined , should cover the same landscape area as
the original GIS databases that were clipped or erased. For
example. a GIS database was created, using a clipping
process, to represem those vegetation polygons on the
Brown Tract that were located within 50-meter riparian
zones. A second GIS database was also created, using an
erasing process. to represem those vegetation polygons
located outside of the 50-meter riparian zones. If co m-
bined. these twO GIS databases (the clipped and erased GIS
databases) should equal [he land area and vegetation
resources thar can be found within the original vegetation
(stands) GIS database--no more. no less.
point where they need to obtain as much GIS data as
possible to describe the currenr condition of rhe water-
shed. Michelle asks you to provide her with the following
informacion:
a) a summary of the area of timber stands located
~ithin the Dogwood Creek watershed. by vege .. -
(Ion type;
127
 Chapter 6 Obtaining Information about a Spec~ic Geographic Region 117

b) a summary of the length of roads located with in Vegetation type

the Dogwood Creek watershed. by road type; and A 8 c

c) a summary of the length of streams located within
0-20
the Dogwood Creek watershed. by stream type. In
addition, summarize these values in terms of 21-40

scream miles per square mile of land. by stream 41-60

type.
Develop a shon memo add ressed (Q Ms Rice that details
the resulrs of you r analyses.
6.2. Summarizing resources within a management
area. Jane Hayes is developing an annual reporr on [he
management of the Daniel Picken forest and has become
very interested in certain as pects of the forest resou rces.
Since she knows that you are becoming proficient with GIS,
she has asked you ro provide some information she feels is
necessary for her report:
a) amount of land in each watershed.
b) length of rock road in each wate rshed.
c) length of d irt road in each watershed. and
d) length of stream classes 1- 3 in each wate rshed.
In addition, she is imerested in knowing something about
the resources that are wit hin 50 merers of the streams.
Using the 50-foot stream buffer provided by the GIS
Departmenr, provide the followi ng:
a) area of land within 50 meters of the streams,
b) area of older forest (age ~ 60) with in the 50-meter
stream buffers,
c) length of paved road within the 50-meter stream
buffers, and
d) length of rock road within the 50-meter stream
buffers.
61 - 80
80.
6 .4. Potential sale of watershed for conservation
reserve. The managers of the Daniel Pickett forest have
been approached by a non-profi t o rganization specializing
in developing and managing conservation reserves. The
non-profit organization is specifically interested in acquir-
ing a specific portion of the Daniel Pickett forest-all of
the land located in the Trout Creek Watershed. It seems
that the non-profit group has been acdve in developing a
larger reserve system in the Trou t C reek area, and the
Daniel Picken forest just happens to contain the headwa-
ters of the watershed . The region manager of the Daniel
Picken forest, Becky Blaylock, is interested in under-
standing the effect this land sale may have on the manage-
ment plan for the area. She asks you to provide her a
before- an d after-sale description of the resources, in the
fo llowing format:
a) Before-sale conditions (area) of the Daniel Pickett
forest.
Vegetation type
Age class A 8 c
0-20
21- 40
41-60
61 - 80
80.

Provide a memo addressed (Q Ms Hayes that details the

results of you r analyses. Keep in mind the appropriate b) Alier-sale conditions (area) of the Daniel Pickett
units (perhaps kilometers fo r length rather than meters). forest.
and the appropriate precision (to the nearesr 0.1 hecta re Vegetation type
or 0.1 kilometer) for this type of report.
Age class A 8 c
6.3. Fertilization possibilities. Within the so ils GIS 0-20
darab~ of the Daniel Pickerr foresr is an attribute, fer- 21-40
rresp, which was meant to ind icate the probabi lity of tree 41-60
response to fertilization as a functio n of the underlying 61 - 80
soil type. Describe the types of vegetation found in the
80.
'high response' areas using (he following format :
128
118 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
In add ition, she has also requested rhe following:
c) a map showing the after-sale arrangement of vege-
rario n classes (rypes) on rhe Daniel Pickett forest,
and
References
Ag riculture and Agri-Food Canada. (2006). The
national soil database (NSDB). Ottawa, ON: The
Nationa l Land and Weather In formation Se rvi ce,
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Retrieved
February II , 2007, from http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/
nsdb/intro.html.
Clarke, K.c. (I 995) . Analytical and computl!T cartography.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Merriam-Webster. (2007). Merriam- Webster online
search. Rerrieved February 4, 2007, from http://www.
m-w.com/cgi-bin/diccionary.
d) a brief summary of yo ur opinion of rhe effects of the
sale o n the management of the forest,
USDA Natural Resou rces Conservar ion Service. (2006) .
US general soil map (STATSGO). Washingwn, DC:
Narional Cartography and Geosparial Cemer, USDA
Natural Resou rces Conservation Service. Retrieved
February II, 2007, from http://www.ncgc.nrcs.usda.
gov Ip rod uctsl da rasetslsta tsgo/.
USDA Narural Resources Conservation Service. (2007).
Geospatial data gateway. Washington, DC: USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved
February 9. 2007. from http: //datagateway.nrcs.usda.
gov/NexrPage.as px? H itTab= I.
129
Chapter 7
Buffering Landscape Features
Objectives
Chapter 7 is an introduction and examination of GIS
buffering processes. A number of examples and applica-
tions are presented in this chapter co provide readers with
experience in several of the common GIS-related tasks in
namral resource management that require the use of a
buffering process. At the conclusion of this chapter. read-
ers should understand. and be able co discuss, the peni-
nent aspects of:
I. whar bujf<ring spatial landscape features implies;
2. how different buffering techniques can be applied to
point, line, or polygon features; and
3. how buffering can be applied (Q assess alrernarive man-
agement policies and to ass ist in making natural
resource managemenr decisions
To someone unfamiliar with [his GIS process. the term
buffering may lead to some confusion. Technically, the
noun 'buffer' refers to (a) a device fo r reducing shock
when co ntacted, (b) a means fo r cushioning fluccuations
in busi ness activities. (c) a protective barrier, (d) a sub-
stance capable of neutralizing both acids and bases. and
(e) a temporary sto rage unit on a computer (Merriam-
Web"er, 2007). In GIS appl ications in natural resource
management. we generally refer to the buffering process
as a method for creating a buffer zone. which is defined
as a land area that delineates separate management activ-
ities or emphases. Wirhin GIS, a buffer rone is a polygon
that encloses an area within a spec ifi c distance from a
point. line. or polygon, and is useful in analyses that
have a proximity crite ria (Association for Geographic
Informarion, 1999).
The GIS process of buffering usually infers that a
boundary is about to be drawn around some selecred fea-
tures. There are numerous reasons why you would want to
draw boundaries around selected landscape features in nat-
ural resource management . For instance, one of the guid-
ing management policies for an organization may suggest
that some management activities may be prohib ited
within a certa in distance of a stream, a road, a trail. or a
home. Therefore. as a namral resource manager. you may
be interested in the approp riate limits of allowable man-
agement activity. As another example, managemenr activ-
iti es within a certain distance of nesting, roosting. or for-
aging sires of a wildlife species of concern may be curtailed
during certain times of the year. Therefore. delineating
these 'home ranges' or 'critical habitats' may be an impor-
tant aspect of namral resource managemem. In these cases,
you might develop sparial buffers within GIS to identifY
resources located wit hin certain distances of important
landscape features (poinrs, lines, or polygons). You mighr
also be incerested in examining the potential impacts of
rhe policies that suggest the use of buffers. in order to
understand how the objectives of namral reso urce manage-
ment be affected. As you may gather, buffering has been
widely used in natural resource managemem to identify
riparian managemenr areas (streamside management zone)
and {Q define areas where management may be restricted
for one reason or another. Yet buffers have also been used
to track and assess the site impacts of logging equ ipment
on soil resources and residual stand conditions (Beninger
er al., 1994; McDonald er .1., 2002) .
130
120 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

Fortunately, GIS software programs provide the ability
co easily identify features that are within some proximity
of other features (Star & Estes, 1990). Developi ng the
boundaries of a region within a specific distance from a
landscape feature, or set of selected landscape features, is
often called a 'proximity analysis', or buffering process.
Therefore the subject of [his chapter involves the identi-
ficarion and delineation of natural resources w ithin cer-
rain distances of other landscape features.
How a Buffer Process Works
Buffer processes work by using marhemacical algorithms
to delineate the space around selected landscape features.
When using vector data, one or mo re features of interest
are selected. the desi red buffer di stance is specified, and a
line is drawn in all directions around the features until a
solid polygo n has been formed . Point, line, and polygon
features can all be buffered but the buffer creation process
depends on {he feamre rype. To visualize how a buffer is
created around a point feature. imagine a point on a piece
of paper; with a pencil and compass set, a circle is drawn
around that point (Figure l .la). GIS software programs
can perform this type of operation on thousands of poims
in a few seco nds. Delineating buffers around lines and
polygons requires a simil ar process bur involves some
addition al process ing. With lines. a buffer is created
around each venex (Figu re 7 .1 b)' then tangents are ere-
ared between each of these buffers, and on ly the outside
edge is kept, fo rming a closed polygon. W ith polygons,
you may have the choice of creating buffers that represent
only the area outside of [he polygo n being buffered, the
area outside of the polygon pi us the entire area of the
polygon, the buffered area both inside and outside of the
edge that define [he polygon, or the area buffered inside
the polygon (Figure l.ic) . The type of proximity analysis

C .. oD
(a) (e) Original polygon
····· . ,., Outside buffer

.. "':.·............ ···r. ",

- - -..I around
Buffer

the point · '

,
. Inside buffer
[ ==: Tangents around vertices
------
Result 1: Buffered area

D represents only the area

ootside of the polygon that
was buffered.

Result 2: Buffered area

(b)
represents the area outside
of the polygon that was
buffered, as welt as the
,, area of the polygoo itself.
"
Result 3: Buffered area
represents the area outSide
Buffer around the line of the polygon that
,, was buffered, and the area
"" (Tangent 1)
,, I
'.. ,, inside of the polygon that
,
\
,
,
might have been buffered.
Vertex 1
"

~
\ Result 4: Buffered area

,, , ,,
\ Vertex 2 represents just the area
inside of the polygon that
,, , might have been buffered.
, (Tangent 2) "
Figure 7 . 1 Developing a buffer around (a) a point lUing, (b) a line with three vertices, and (c) a polygon .

131
 Chapter 7 Buffering Landscape Features 121

that is required will suggest the appropriate 'Ype of buffer-
ing process required when polygo ns are concerned. For
example. if you were interested in the type of vegetation
within 1.000 meters of a set of polygons chac define cru-
cial owl habitat, yo u would create a buffer outside the sec
of polygons. On the other hand, if yo u were interested in
understanding rhe amount ofland chat is associated with
a policy chat prevents management activity within 100
meters of the edge of a managed property (to avoid con-
Aict with homes a nd o ther developed a reas oU[side rhe
propenyL you would create a buffer inside rhe boundary
of the managed proper'Y.
Buffering processes performed on vecto r GIS d ata
may require so me ra ther complex geometrical calcula-
tions. with lines and tangents CO compute, and overlap-
ping areas perhaps merged together. To remove overlap-
ping areas, imersecrion and dissolving processes are used.
Buffering processes performed on raster GIS data involve
couming the number of pixels away from selecred or
specified pixels.
Buffers used in natural resource managemem can rake
on many forms, bur rhe [wo most commonly employed
are a conS[(lnt buffer widrh and a variable buffer width.
Constant width buffers are the most commonly used
form in natural reso urce managemem (Bren, 2003), a nd
assume a symmetrical distance around each buffered land-
scape feature (same distance buffered on each side of a
srream, for example) . Variable width buffers assu me that
fearures are buffe red differently based on some inherem
or assumed characteristic, such as stream size. Other ry pes
of buffers include [hose based on (a) environmentalload-
ing values and (b) othe r outside influences. Stream buffers
based on loading values, for exa mple, might take imo
accoum the amoum of area comriburing to an impact.
For example. strea m reaches that have larger water con-
tributing areas might be buffered using a wider buffer
wi dth than stream reac hes with smaller co mribucing
areas. These are differem than variable width buffers in
thar each section of a stream may be buffered a differem
distance based on the size of the watershed that con-
tributes water (Q that secrion of the stream. Buffers based
on other outside influences may include stream buffers
that take inro accou m the amou m of sunligh t that reaches
the stream irself. In these cases, buffers on the so utherly
sides of streams may be wider (han buffers on the
fearures . Most GIS sofrware programs can accom modate
both buffe ring approaches. To ill ustrate these differences,
suppose yo u have a GIS database that includes 10 streams,
each of a different stream class (T able 7. I) . With this
hyporhetical data, it is ass umed that the lower the stream
class number, the la rger (wider) the stream.
One task in planning natural resource management
activities may be to delin eate ripa ria n buffe rs a round
these streams. If a constant buffer distance of, for exam-
ple. 30 meters is assumed. each stream would be buffered
the sa me distance (30 m). H oweve r, many regulations
pertaining to the proximity of manage ment activities
arou nd ripari an areas require wider buffe rs around larger
Streams, a nd narrower buffers arou nd smaller streams.
Therefore, distances specific to each landsca pe feature
(each srream reach in rh is example) can be used in the
buffer process, to allow the development of variable dis-
tance buffers. For example, for each of the 10 streams you
could have developed an attribute to describe the appro-
priate buffer distance (Table 7.2), and use that attribute
to guide the buffering process. Readers will examine borh
of these buffering assu mptions (constant di stance and
variable width) in the forthcoming examples as well as in
the 'Applications' section at th e end of this chapter.
When buffering mult iple landscape features, a buffer
is created around each feature independent of the other
fea tures. One option available with most GIS sofrware
concerns the handling of the ove rl apping areas. The
choices are [0 retain individual buffer polygons for all fea-
tures to be buffered (caJl ed uncomiguous, or non-
TABLE 7.1 Ten hypothetical streams and
their stream claBs, length,
and width
Su.... Stream Streun
Su.... da>. length (m) width (m)
1000 50
2 750 45
3 2 500 10
4 2 450 10
5 3 375 3
6 3 450 3
7 3 400 2

northerly sides of streams (Bren, 2003). 8 4 300

As we mentioned, com mo n buffer distances can be 9 4 250
co nstam (fixed) distances. o r they can vary for each fea-
10 5 275 o
ture in a GIS database based o n an att ribute of th ose
132
122 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

TABLE 1.2 Ten hypothetical streams and but users shou ld understand how the two methods differ
their stream class, length, width, in their approaches and results.
and buHe r distance
Sueam Strum Stream Buff., Buffering Streams and Creating
S....... d,,, Ie.ngth (m) width (m) distance: (m) Riparian Areas
1000 50 30
Ripar ian a reas can be defined as land areas that are in
2 750 45 30
close proximity ro a stream. lake. swamp. or other water
3 2 500 10 20 body, and those that are often are occupied by plants
4 2 450 10 20 that are dependent on their roOtS reaching the wate r rable
5 3 375 3 10 (Society of American Foresters. 1983). Alternatively,
they a re areas where vegetation and microclimate are
6 3 450 3 10
inAuenced by seasonal or year-round water. high water
7 3 400 2 10 ta bles. and soils exhibir some wetness characrerisrics
8 4 300 10 (Oregon Department of Forestry, 1994a). The first def-
9 4 250 10 inition includes administrative and ecological aspects.
wh ile the second is based mainly on ecological and phys-
10 5 275 0 0
ical aspects. When we work with riparian a reas in natu-
ral resource management. they are more commonly
contiguous polygons), or co eliminate the overlapping defined administratively rathe r than ecologica ll y.
areas, creating contiguous polygons. The advanrage of Generally. riparian management area widths are desig-
retaining ind ividual buffer polygons is th a t once (he nated by federal . stare. provincial. or organization poli-
buffers are created, [he buffer perta ining (Q each individ- cies, and are designed ro provide adequate areas ro retain
ual landscape feature can be accessed, which may allow the physical components. to maintain the functions nec-
you [0 determine which fatuus are within what distanu essary to meet protection objectives and goals for fish.
of other fearures. This allows individual analys is for each water quality, and other wildlife (Oregon Department of
point. line, or polygon fearu re that was buffered. The dis- Forestry, 1994b). While some policies suggest that ripar-
advantage is that there is a high likelihood thar some of ian areas should be protected from logging, grazing. and
the retained individual buffers overlap; rhus the overlap- other types of exploitation. ocher policies allow a set of
ping area can porentially be counted more than once in limited activities within certain distances from ce rtain
any subsequent area summary calculations. The creation rypes of streams. Thus it is important for land managers
of a single buffer from overlapping buffe red areas avo ids to know where riparian areas are on a landscape. and to
this problem. However. the ability CO understand the understand whar resources are affected by riparian area
buffer required for each individual landscape feature is designation s.
[hen obscured. The goals of each analysis should direct In the following examples, streams will be buffered first
users to the choice of one buffering method or the other. with fixed (constant) buffer widths. then with variable

Generally when buffers are delineated with a GIS
process. they are saved in a new GIS database that is
separate from rhe one containing the landscape fea-
tures that were buffered. To further enhance the
power of buffer processes, most GIS software pro-
grams only buffer the features that are selected (manu-
a lly or through a query) . If no landscape features are
selected, generally all of the landscape features are
buffered but an examination of buffer output can
confirm whether your GIS software follows this
assumption. One processing step commonly forgot-
ten is either [Q remember to select the features that
need to be buffered (perhaps just all C lass 1 strea ms),
another is [Q clear all previously selected features (if
some features were selected for a reason unrelated to
the buffer process) .

133

buffer widths (according to a set of stream buffer gu ide-
lines) to del ineate the riparian managemenc areas.
Fixed-width buffers
In this first example of a buffering process, the streams
GIS database of the Brown T ract (Figure 7.2) wi ll be used
to ge nerace fiXed-width buffers, o r buffers that do not
vary based on some 3cuiburc of the landscape features
being buffered. In this case, assume thar an organizational
policy exis(5 chat directs the managers of the Brown Tract
to delineate a fixed )50-foot buffer aro und all of the
streams. During the buffer process, a buffer polygon will
be created arou nd all stream lines in the streams GIS data-
base. As noted earl ier, mOSt GIS sofrware programs pro-
vide the options of either leaving the buffers as individual
polygons around all stream lines or el iminating the over-
lapping areas. H ere, we will illustrate the overlap being
eliminated, so that buffer area estimates will not be over-
stated. At the conclusion of the buffer process, areas 150
feer on either side of (he Brown Tract streams (Figure
7.3) are delineated; no other land areas are represemed by
the buffer polygon(s) contained in the new buffer GIS
database.
Variable-width buffers
Ra[her [han a single, fixed-width buffer, some manage-
mem objectives may require a buffer [hat varies based on
an auribuce of a landscape feamre. For example, in some
S[ates or provinces rules exist which indicate that the size
of riparian areas should be a function of the type of
D
" either side of a stream, rather than by indicaring the
- Stream
D Forest boundary
Figure 7.2 The stream system within and arollnd the Brown Tract.
Chapter 7 Buffering Landscape Features 123
D Stream buffer
D Forest boundary
Figure 7.3 Fixed-width (I 50-foot} riparian management areas,
generated by buffering the streams GIS database of the Brown Tract.
stream with which they correspond. In some cases, these
riparian designarions allow no activity within a cerrain
distance from the stream system; in other cases, li mited
acrivity. The general norian is that, with wide r streams,
Streams with year-round warer flow, o r streams with
known fish populations, wider buffers are required. Once
[he set of buffers is based on the characteristics of the
streams, they are consid ered variable-width buffers
because [hey vary according to the characteristics of eac h
srream. In Oregon, for example, the ri parian guidelines
require a ) DO-foot buffer aro und 'large' fish-bearing or
domestic wate r use streams, and lesse r buffer widths
around smaller screams (Table 7.3) and streams that are
nO( curren tly fish-bearing or used as sou rces of domesric
wate r (Oregon State Legislature, 2005) .
Since the Brown Tract is fictio nal, the buffer widths are
assumed for the various stream classes in rhe streams GIS
database. Stream class 1 is the largest srream, inro which all
of the other streams flow, so a larger buffer (100 feet) is
When you wanr co create riparian management
areas by buffering a set of streams, you usual ly do so
by ind icatin g how wide the buffer should be on
rotal w idth of the buffer (from o ne edge of the
buffer, across the stream, to the other side of rhe
buffer).
134
124 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

TABLE 7.3 State 01 Oregon riparian process, each stream line will then be buffered according
management area policy to the appropriate buffer width, based on each stream's
class. The buffering process will read the buffer distance
Riparian management area width (feet)
from an attribute table, one record (row) at a time. to cre-
Domestic water we Non·domestic water we ate the buffer. Most GIS programs will do this very
or fish.bearing and non-fish-bearing
quickly, such that only a few seconds or less are required.
100 70 Following the creation of all buffers, subsequent process-
Medium" 70 50 ing will eliminate all overlapping buffer areas, even though
[he size of the buffer may change in the overlapping area.
Small< 50 20
A map of the variable buffer widths associated with the
• Average annual flow of 2: 10 cubic feet per second. Brown Tract streams (Figure 7.4) shows that the amount
hAverage annual flow of ~ 2 cubic feet per second and < 10 cubic feet of land area in the riparian areas will vary by stream class,
per second.
and that no other land area (o utside the variable width
~ Average annual flow of < 2 cubic fec t per second, or drainage area
buffer) is represented in the buffers.
s: 200 acres.
Source: Oregon State Legislatu re. 2005
Buffering Owl Nest Locations
assumed around this st ream class, and smaller buffers are Up to this point ou r concentration has been placed on
assumed [Q be required around the other Stream classes one of the more typical GIS buffering operations per-
according to the direction provided in Table 7.3. formed in supporr of natural resource management-
Fortunately. most GIS software programs allow users to buffering streams. However, any type of landsca pe fea-
des ignate a field (also called column, attribute, or variable) ture (owl nest location , road , wetland, etc.) ca n be
in a GIS database to use as the refe rence for the desired buffered. For example, in the western United States it is
buffe r width fo r each landscape feacure. Since each row in important to protect an area a round spotted owl (Strix
the tabular porrion of the streams GIS database represents occidtntalis) nests. The area within these buffers may
a Stream line or reach (Table 7.4), the values located in the eithe r totally prohibit management activities or may limit
' buffer width' field can be used to represent the appropri- management activities by duration and extent. Thus. it
ate buffer width for each stream . During the buffering may be imporrant to understand the amounr of resources
located within owl buffers. As an example, assume that an
owl nest is located in the central portion of the Brown
TABLE 7.4 Sample stream reaches Tract, and assume that federal regu lations requi re land
represented in the Brown Tract
streams GIS database, their
characteristics, and resulting
buller width-
Buffer
Stream Length Fish Stream width
,each (r.<I) bearing~ size (feet)

362 no small 20
2 176 no small 20
3 992 no small 20
4 384 no small 20

174 1953 no small 20

175 2143 70
Y" mcdiwn
o Stream buffer
176 3159 Y" small 50 o Forest boundary

• Stream reaches arc no t necessarily or:clusivcly located within the Figure 7 .4 Variable.width riparian management areas, generated by
buffering the streams GIS daubue of m e Brown Tract.
bou ndaries of rhe Brown T racr.
135

Users should bear in mind that the buffer distances
and map coordinate units of GIS data layers that are
being buffered must be considered. A buffer opera-
tion will typically assume that buffer distances spec-
ified either through fixed-width or through vari-
able-width processes are in the same units as the
map coordina te system of the G IS layer. If the
buffer distances and map coordinate unics are in
differem measuremenc systems (51 versus USeS) or
are in the same system bur at different scales (e .g.
meters versus kilometers) the appropriate conver-
sion should be applied to the buffer distances prior
to beginning the buffer process. Some GIS software
will prompt you for the buffer or G IS layer units,
and will even do any conversions necessary during
the buffer process. In th is case, as long as the correct
conversions were specified by th e user, the buffer
output should be coerceL In other cases, however,
the user must verifY that all buffer-dependent meas-
urem ent units are in agreement.
managers to manage the area within 1,000 feet of these
nests much differently than the areas beyond 1,000 feet of
an owl nest. A buffer process can be performed using the
owl nest locarion as the selected landscape features, and a
1ODD-foot radius as a fixed (constant) distance around the
nest locarions. The result of the buffer process is a new
GIS database that delineates the areas within 1,000 feet of
the nest location (Figure 7.5). If more than one nest were
located on the Brown Tract, and the resulting buffered
areas overlapped, you could elect to eliminate the overlap-
ping area (uncontiguous result) or allow the overlapping
areas to remain (cont iguous result). If your goal was to
determine the amount of area and land resources associ-
ated with each individual nest then the unconriguous
resulr would be best. Conversely, if you r goal was to
determine the toral area and land resources encompassed
by all owl nest buffers then the contiguo us result would
be preferred.
Buffering the Inside of
Landscape Features
In addition to delineating buffers outside oflandseape fea-
tures, you ca n develop buffers inside of landscape features
Chapter 7 Buffering Landscape Features 125
• Owl nest location
o Forest boundary
o Owl nest buffer
Figure: 7.5 Owl nest location and associated 1,000 fOOl buffer on the
Brown Tract.
as well. Of course, when using vector GIS databases this is
only possible with polygon features. To illustrate this
process. let's assume that the managers of the Brown Tract
are concerned about the impact of management activities
on nearby homeowners. In some cases, homes are very
close to the edge of me forest. In orner cases, homeowners'
ya rds and personal belongings (sheds, etc.) are on the edge
of the property. To avoid any potential instance of damage
to adjacent homes or property, or any potential physical
harm CO nearby landowners. the managers have decided
that they will allow only limited activity within 200 feet of
the boundary of the property. To understand how much
of the property will be allocated to a limited activity land
classification, the inside of the boundaty of the forest (a
single polygon) can be buffered (Figure 7 .6) , and the
resulting area (397 acres) can be compared with the total
area of the forest (5,245 acres) to determine the im pact of
the policy (7.6 per cent of the forest shifted to limited use) .
As an alternative co this policy. the managers of me Brown
Tract could delineate this limited activity zone by buffering
the homes a cenain distance. although locating these areas
on the ground would be much more difficult than using a
policy such as 200 feet .from the boundary, since the buffer
around each home is circular.
Buffering Concentric Rings
around Landscape Features
If you needed to generate multiple buffers around the
same landscape fearure(s) , you co uld perform each buffer-
136
126 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
o D
o Buffer
o Forest boundary
Figure 7.6 A 200-foot buffer inside the boundary of the Brown
Tract.
ing operation independently using different fixed-width
buffer distances. However, the resulting buffers would
contain so me areas [hat overlap . Ahernariveiy. if you
wanted to avoid the overlap that wou ld ultimately OCCUf
with this method. most GIS sofcware programs contain a
process that enables users to easily develo p co ncentric,
non-overlapping rin gs. One caveat for this process is that
the buffer interval for each ring needs to be constanL As
an example of the use of concentric rin gs of buffers. [he
Maryland Deparrmenr of Naru ral Resou rces (2005)
recentl y esrablished guidelines for rhe managemenr of
land near bald eagle (Haliaeetus lrococephalus) nesr reees.
The guidelines require managers [0 acknowledge th ree
buffer zones around each nest tree.
• Zone I extends from a nest tree ourward to a radius of
330 feer.
o Zone 2 exrends from rhe edge of Zone 1 (330 feer)
ourward to 660 feer in radius.
o Zone 3 exrends from rhe edge of Zone 2 (660 feer)
ourward to 1,320 feet.
Zone 1 prohibirs land use changes, such as those relared
(Q development or dmber harves ting. Zone 2 proh ibits
development (clearing, grading, building, etc.) but allows
selective timber harvesting. Zone 3 prohibits any activity
during the eagle nesting season. If you were interested in
quickly developing buffers to represent Zones 1 and 2, the
buffer interval for the concentric rings would be 330 feet.
Zone 3 is not 330 feet from the edge of Zone 2 and thus
would need to be developed separately. Figure 7.7
D
Lake
Land
0
"-I CJ 0
X Eagle nest
1)\) D Zone'
[)]] Zone 2
\J
Figure 7.7 Concentric 330·foot buff~rs around two agle nests.
illustrates the development of the concentric ring buffers.
whe re Zone 1 extends 330 feet outward from the nest tree.
and Zone 2 extends another 330 feet from rhe edge of
Zone J. Upon closer inspection, you would find thar the
buffers describing rhe rwo Zones do not overlap; therefore,
(he area underneath is nor double-counted.
While these examples describe the use of concentri c
ri ng buffering around point features. the process can also
be used to develop rings of buffers around line or polygon
features. if management objectives suggest they are neces-
sary. For example. ripa rian buffers for forested areas on
Prince Edward Island need to be 20-30 merers wide, ye t
a 15-meter undisturbed area must be maintained
(Legislative Counsel Office, 2006) . If you were managing
land on Prince Edward Island. and assumed that the max-
imum fo rested ri parian buffer width would be 30 meters
wide, you cou ld develop I5-meter concentric ring buffers
around the line features th at describe [he streams. This
would enab le the mandacory 15-meter area to be repre-
sented on a map. as well as the larger 30-meter buffer
boundary.
Buffering Shorelines
The actual or planned management of areas near shore-
lin es of lakes may be of inte rest to natural resource man-
agers. 10caJ land use planners. and citizen stakeholders.
137

Buffer output can take different shapes around the
linear features that are being buffered depending on
your GIS software. Some GIS software will allow you
to specifY which side (left or right) of a line to create
a buffer, rather than buffering both sides. The trick
in this case is [0 determine which side of your line is
left and which is right, a co nditio n which will often
he determined by (he direccion in which your lines
As a result, information regarding the extent of actual or
planned land uses near lakes may help info rm land plan-
ning processes. JUSt as an example. assume that the area of
interest near the shorelines of lakes in the Pheasam Hill
planning area of the Qu'Appelle River Valley in cemral
Saskatchewan is 300 meters from the edge of each lake. A
buffer process can be performed to create polygons that
represem areas 300 meters outside of the edge of each lake
(avoiding buffering the inside of each lake feature). The
result is a new GIS database (hat contains areas within 300
meters of the shorelines. A clipping process can men be
employed to clip the zoni ng GIS database associated with
the Pheasam Hill planning area of the Qu'Appelle River
Valley, and obtain the land use classes that are designated
within 300 meters of the shorel ine (Figu re 7. B) . A quan-
titative assessment can then be made of the amount of
area of eac h actual or planned land use within a close
proximiry to the lake, as well as visual assessment of the
juxtaposition ofland uses near the shoreline.
r=;:] lake ~;, ;~~j Recreation
_ Agriculture priority 2 ~ Urban
[=:J Indian reserve [=:J National area
[=:J Other areas beyond 300 m of the shoreline
Figure 7 .8 Planned or actuaJ land uses within the Pheasant Hill
planning aua of the Qu'Ap~l1e River VaJley. Saskatchewan (1980).
Chapter 7 Buffering Landscape Features 127
were originally digitized or created. Individual lines
can also have their ends buffered through a circular
shape, which is the usual default, or through a flat
shape. If you chose the flat shape the output result of
buffering a straight line would be a rectangle. Lines
that change direction and are buffered through this
process will produce output polygons wit h flat (non-
curved) ends.
Othe r Reasons for Using
Buffering Processes
The exam ples provided in this chapter have focused on
common natural resource management concerns. The
delineation of riparian mana gement areas and zones
around wildlife nest locations are twO typical examples of
using a buffering process in namral resource management
planning. There are, of course, a number of Q[her reasons
why you would use bu ffe ring operations in natural
resource management. including:
1. Buffering stream systems [0 delineate me zone that her-
bicide operations must keep oU{ of. due co [he proxim-
ity to water systems. For herbicide operation planning,
local buildings (particularly houses), roads, agricultural
fields, and orchards may also requ ire buffering.
2. Buffering research areas (plots or sta nds) CO prevent
the planning and implementation of logging opera-
dons within them . Generally speak ing, research plots
require extra protection because trees rhat are treared
(given a researchable app lication) should nOt also be
considered edge trees (rrees adjacent to a cleared area).
therefore the plots need to be buffered fro m any
nearby harvest activities.
3. Buffering trail systems or roads to delineate areas of
visual sensitivity within which logging operations may
be limited. In many forested areas, degrad atio n of
recreacion opporrunides is a co nce rn, whether the
recreational activities involve humans walking (hiking)
or driving. The ability to quickly delineate and visual-
ize these areas of concern is a valuable asset in land
management planni ng.
4. Buffering property boundaries to recognize mat devel-
opment codes, which may limit st ructu res o r other
138
128 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
landscape alternations from occurring within a thresh-
old dis,.nce from property lines. are observed. This
may also app ly to easements or utility co rridors. which
are often subject [0 municipal. county. or provincial
development regulations.
In addition. buffer processes may assist namra! resource
managers in evaluating the potential impacts of local for-
est regulations. Local forest regulations are generally con-
cerned with protecting envi ronmental quality and aesthet-
ics, and with safeguarding local government investments
in roads and other infrastructure (Martus et al.. 1995).
They are mainly developed as a result of the conflicts that
occur with the continuing shift of the human population
Summary
GIS buffering processes are powerful tools that allow you
ro investigate the nearness of landscape elements ro your
feacures ofinteresr. These features of interest can be repre-
sented by points. lines. or polygons (as demonstrated here)
or by raste r grid cells. Buffering processes are spatial oper-
ations that allow users of GIS software programs to identifY
areas within some proximity of selected landscape feacures .
After landscape features are selected. a zone (a polygon) is
delineated around them to represent the buffered area. By
default. if no landscape features are selected. all features are
buffered. but you should confirm whether your GIS soft-
ware uses this approach. Buffer OUtpUt approaches. such as
contiguous or uncontiguous results. can be customized to
meet analysis objectives. In add ition , some GIS software
Applications
7.1. Current Riparian Policy for the Brown Tract.
The currell[ organizational policy for the Brown Tract
indicates that the following riparian area buffer widths
should be used in conjunction with management activities:
Class I: 100 feet
C lass 2: 75 feet
Class 3: 50 feet
C lass 4: 40 feet
Becky Blaylock. the Manager of the Brown Tract. wants
to know (he 'current situation' with regard to riparian
areas:
from urban to rural settings (Cubbage & Raney. 1987).
The types of co ntrols include requiring the development
of forest plans. buffering specific landscape features. and
placing restrictions on certain silvicultural practices. For
example. timber harvesting ordinances developed at the
local level are intended to limit site degradation and envi-
ronmental qualiry in association wich logging activit ies.
Harvesting operations may be restricted within certain dis-
tances of public roads or ocher public resources. therefore
requiring a buffer around these resources. Natural reso urce
managers may need to identify these buffers in a harvest
plan. and may also be concerned about the cumulative
impact of local regulations on the profitability and feasibil-
ity of their management operations.
enables users to specify whether buffers created around
lines have a round or flat shape at the beginning and end-
ing of the line. The resulting buffer GIS databases allow
users co visually understand the area that lies within a cer-
tain distance from some landscape feacure(s) of interest,
and to quantify the resources contained within the
buffered area. Buffering streams and other resources of
importance (e.g.• owl and red-cockaded woodpecker nest
locations) to create limited management zones is a com-
mon management objective included in natural resource
management plans. Estimating the impact of these types
of restrictions on natural resource management is impor-
tant, and helps landowners investigate the effect of current
and proposed policies.
a) How much area (ac res) is located inside the ripar-
ian areas?
b) How much area (acres) of each vegetation type is
located inside the riparian areas?
c) How much area (acres) of each vegetation type is
loca(ed outside the riparian areas?
d) How much timber volume is located in the ripar-
ian areas?
Ms Blaylock also wants you to develop a map that illus-
trates the stream buffers and includes the roads. streams.
and timber stands.
139
 Chapter 7 Buffering Landscape
Landscape Features 129

77.2.
.2. Proposed Organizational Policy. Becky Blaylock roads.
roads, streams, and timber stands. In addition.
additio n, she wanrs
wa nts
recently attended
3([cnded a meering
meedng of policy makers, where she you [0
to develop a memo that (hat describes rhe
the differenc.es
differences
heard char the riparian rules might
rhar rhe mighr change. She now needs berween the
between rhe policies noted
nored in Applications
Appl icarions 7. 1, 7.2,
7.1. 7.2. and
to understand
[Q undersrand the potential impact
rhe paremial impaer of a proposed 125- the potential policy
rhe poremial pol icy nored
noted here.
no~harves[ buffer around all screams
foot no-harvest the Brown
streams on [he
T racr. She requestS
Tract. requem rhe following: 7.4. National Forest Riparian Policy. A local NationalNarional
a) How much area (acres) is located
locared inside the
rhe ripar- Forest uses me
the following riparian
ripa rian area guidelines
guidel ines in con-
ian areas? junction with harvesting act ivi ties:
activities:
b) How much area (ac res) of each vegerarion
(acres) vegetation 'Ype
type is Large Streams
srreams 250 feet
feer
located inside tbe
the riparian areas? Med
Mediumium Streams
srreams 150
I SO feer
c) How much area (acres) of each vegerarion
vegetation 'Ype
type is Small srreams
SmaU streams 100 feet
feer
located Qucside me
oU[sicle the riparian
riparia n areas?
d) How much timberamber volume is located in the ripar- As wim
wirh rhethe arher
other pol
policies,
icies. Ms Blaylock wantswams to under-
ian areas? stand
srand the
rhe following:
I f these
a) If rhese rules wefe
were ap plied (0
to the Brown T Traer.
ract, how
Again, Ms Blaylock also wants
Again. wams yoyouu [Q
to develop a map rharthat much area (acres) would be locaredlocated inside the ripa r-
rhe ripar-
illustrates these
rhese stream buffers and that
rhat includes the roads. ia n areas?
ian
addition. she wants you to
streams, and timber stands. In addition, co b) If mese ap plied to the
rhese rules were applied Tract, how
rhe Brown Traer.
develop ;:Ia memo th at describes the
that lhe differences berween
d iffe rences becween much area (acres) of each vegerarion
vegetation 'Ype
type wou
would ld be
me
rhe policy noted
nared in Applicarion
Application 7. 1 and the potential pol-
rhe paremial located inside rhe riparian areas?
ins ide (he areas?
icy noted here. c) If these
rhese rules were applied to the T ract. how
rhe Brown Traer.
much area (acres) of each vege tation type would be
vegetation
77.3.
.3. Ballot
Ba Uot Initiative. A proposed bailor ballot iniriarive.
initiative, located outside [he the riparian areas?
developed by a local
locaJ conservation group, suggests thart [he
suggestS tha the d) If ,.hese
d) these rules were applied to rhe the Brown Traer.
Tract, how
ripa ri an buffer widths may soon be required for
following riparian much timber vo lume would be located in (he
umber volume the ripar-
the region within wh ich the Brown Tract is Si
which situated:
(U3red: ian areas?
Large, streams
Large. fish-bearing srreams 150
ISO feet
feer
Medium. fish-bearing stteams
fish-bear ing srreams 100 feet
feer And again,
again. Ms Blaylock also wants
wams you to develop a map
srreams
Small. fish-bearing streams feer
75 feet that illustrates these stream buffers
bu ffers and [hat
that inducles
includes the
La rge, non-fIsh-bearing Streams
Large. srreams 125 feet
feer roads, Streams, and timber stands. In addition, she wants\Yams
Medium, non-fIsh-bearing stteams streams 75 feet you co
to develop a memmemoo char
that describes [he
the differences
Small,
Small. non-fish-bea
non-fish-bearing ring streams
srreams 50 feet
feer between
berween the noted in Applicarions
rhe policies nored Applications 7.1
7.1,. 7.2. 7.3.
7.3,
the porenrial
and rhe potential policy nared
noted here.
As a result,
resulr. Ms Blaylock wants
wams to understand
undersrand rhe following:
a) Ifthese
If rhese rules were applied to the Brown TraCt,
Traer. how 7.5. Current Owl Buffer Policy. Suppose that rhar the
rhe cur-
much area (acres) would be located
locared inside the
rhe riripa
par-
r- rem
rent policy
pol icy regarding owl nest locations is ro
to maintain a
ian areas? ~O-acre no-harvest buffer around owl nest
1IOO-acre nesl site locations.
b) If rhese
these rules were applied to rhe Brown Traer.
TraCt, how Develop a memo an d a map for Ms Blaylock that rhar
much area (acres) of each vegerarion
vegetation type would
'Ype wo uld be describes rhe amoum
amount of land (acres) of me
rhe Brown Tract
Traer
located ins ide the riparian areas? that the single owl buffer pertaining
rhar would be covered by rhe pertain ing
c) If rhese
these rules were applied to the Brown Traer.
T raCI, how to this property.
ro
much area (acres) of each vegetation type wo would
ul d be
located oU[side
outside rhe
the riparian areas?
areas? 7.6. Protection of PlolS.Thousands of research
of Research PlotsThousands
d) If these rules were applied to the Tract, how
rhe Brown Traer. plots have been established across North America ro fac il-
to facil-
much timber located in rhe
rimber volume would be locared the ripar- itate the estimation of the response of forests and wildlife
are-.lS?
ian areas? co a variecy
[0 variety of silvicullUral
silvicultural uearmems.
treatments. Unfortunately.
Unfortunately, har-
vesting operations are usually implemented independ-
As before,
before. Ms Blaylock also wants you to develop a map ently of research programs. and tOO often the research
that illus(rates stream buffers and that includes the
illust rates these Stream plots are harvested because the loggers were unaware of
140
130 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
their locarion, and withom the researchers knowing that
the plots were in jeopardy of being destroyed. The result-
ing loss of the research plot investment (layout, tagging of
trees, etc.) may be considerable, and the loss of the oppor-
tunity for one final measuremem may be equally as
impo rtant. In many organizations, a communication sys-
[em norifying researchers of potencial impacts ro research
plms has been developed. allowing researchers to either
measure (he plots onc last time , o r CO delineate the
research areas as off-limits to harvesting activities.
Assume that rhe permanenr inventory plots on the
Brown T faCt were designed [0 evaluate {he long-term
growth and yield of the forest properry. Assume further
that these plms were designed {Q remain untouched, even
though rhe surrounding forest may be harvested (clearclH
or thinned) . Finally, assume that the plots need to be
maintained with a sufficient buffer of trees around them
so that rhe effects (win dthrow, increased sun light, etc.) of
harvesting trees outside the plot (o n the plot's trees) are
min im ized . These plots are circular l/5-acre plots, an d
References
Association for Geographic Information. (I999). GIS dic-
tionary. Retrieved February 4, 2007, from http: //www.
agi.org.uklbfora /systems/xm lviewerldefau lt.asp'a rg=
DS_AGI_TRAINART_701_firsttide.xsIl90.
Bettinger, P., Armlovich, D., & Kellogg, L.D. (1994).
Evaluating area in logging trails with a geographic infor-
mation system. Transactions ofthe A.s:.1E, 37(4) , 1327-30.
Bren , L.J. (2003). A review of buffer strip design algo-
rithms. In E.G. Mason and c.J. Perley (Eds .),
Procudings of the 2003 ANZ/F Uoint Australia and
N ew Zealand Institute of Forestry) Conference (pp.
32~35) . Retrieved September 5, 2007, from http://
www.forestry.org.nz/articles/ conf2003/Bren. pdf.
Cubbage, F., & Raney, K. (1987). Counry logging and
tree protection o rdin ances in Geo rgi a. Sottthern
Joumal ofApplied Forestry, 11, 7~82.
Legislative Coun sel Office . (2006). Chapter £-9,
En vironmental Protection Act. Charlottetown, PE:
Gove rnmem of Prince Edward Island . Retrieved
February 4, 2007, from http: //www.gov.pe.callaw/
statu tesl pd fl e-09 .pdf.
require an additional 100-foot buffer from the edge of
the plot boundary to be considered 'protected'. Develop
a memo for Becky Blaylock that describes how much
land area would be off-limits from harvesting operations
as a resuh of protecting the research plots. Develop a
map of the permanent inventory plots and their buffers.
Include the roads. streams, and timber stands on the
map.
In addition. for added protection of the investment in
research , a second 100-foot buffer (fo r a total of200 feet)
could be delineated around the research plots. In this sup-
plemental area we can also assume that the trees in the
buffer are designed to remain untouched, even though
the surro undin g forest may be harvested (clearcut or
thinned) . Based on the timber volume contained in the
buffers associated with the first (I OO-foot buffer) and sec-
ond (200-foot buffer) cases, and a price of$400 per MBF,
what is the cost of each case, and therefore what is the
additional cost to require the added protection aro und
each plot'
Martus, CE., Haney, Jr. , H.L., & Siegel, W.C (1995) .
Local forest regulatory ordinances: [rends in the east-
ern United States. Journal ofForestry, 93(6), 27-3 1.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. (2005).
Sustainable forest management plan for Chesapeake
forests lands, Chapter 8, Wildlife habitat protection and
management. Annapolis, MD: Maryland D epartment
of Natural Resources, Forest Service. Retrieved
February 4, 2007, from http: //www.dnr.state.md.us/
forests/download/sCmgt_plan_chapters/chapter8cA.
pdf.
McDonald, T .P., Carter, E.A., & Taylor, S.E. (2002).
Using the global positioning system to map distur-
bance pa((erns of forest harvesting machinery. Cana-
dian Journal of Forest Research, 32, 310-19.
Merriam-Webster. (2007). Merriam- Webster online
search. Retrieved February 4,2007, from http: //www.
rn-w .coml cgi-bi nldictionary.
Oregon Department of Forestry. (1994a). Oregon forest
practius rules and statutes. Salem. OR: Oregon
Department of Forestry.
141
 Chapter 7 Buffering landscape Features 131
131

Oregon Deparrmenr (l994 b.) Forest

Departmem of Forestry. (I994b.) Fomt practi«
practict Sociery of American Foresters. (1983) . Terminology offor-
Foresrers. (I983)
ruks; Divisions 24 and 57. Salem,
water prouction roks; Salem. OR: est scitnct
scienct technology practice Berhesda,
praChct and products. Be(hesda,
O regon Departmem
Oregon Deparrmenr of Foresrry.
Forestry. M D: Sociery of AmeAmerican
rican Foresrers.
Legislatu re. (2005). Chapur
Oregon State Legislarure. Chapter 527-iIlS«1
527-imect and Star. J.,
Srar, J.. & Estes.
Esres, J.
J. (1990)
(1990).. Geographical information sys-
diJ~as~ controL;
disease control; forest
form practius.
practices. Re trieved February S,
Rerrieved 5, tems:
Urns: An introduction. Englewood Cl Cliffs,
iffs. NJ: Prentice
Prenrice
2007, from htrp:llwww.leg.srate.or.us/ors/527.html.
2007. hrtp:llwww.leg.srare.or.us/ors/527 .hrml. Hall.

142
Chapter 8
Combining and Splitting Landscape Features,
and Merging GIS Databases
Objectives
The objecdves of this chapte r are to provide readers with
a n understanding of rhe opportunities related to, and
potential pitfalls associated with, using a GIS CO combine
and split landscape features . In addition. since merging
twO or more G IS databases rogcrher is similar to co mbin-
ing landscape featu res. another objective is (Q describe rhe
pros and cons associated with this GIS process. After com-
pletion of this chapter, readers should have the knowl-
edge and ability to understand:
I . why. when . a nd how YOli might wane to com bine
landscape feacures;
2. the reasons for splitting landscape feacures. and the sit-
uations whe re th is process might be appropriate; and
3. why two or more GIS databases might be merged,
and what yo u would expect co find within a merged
database.
In rhe previous chapte rs an emphasis was placed on
understanding how much of a resource (fo r example. the
length of road or an area of land) was located within a cer-
tain geographi c region. such as with in a set of stream
buffers. Queries were used. along with clipping. erasing.
and buffering processes, to determine the size of the
resources in question. In performing chese analyses, imer-
est was placed only in the end result of the set of GIS
processes performed, a result that most likely included
some very precise and accu rate, yet pe rh aps unexpected,
landscape features . For example. as a result of pe rforming
a clipping process, numerous spu rious polygons might
have been createdj polygons so small that it would seem
un reasonable (0 manage the land they represem in a COSt-
effective manner (let alone find them on the ground).
In this chapter GIS processes a re imroduced to help
accomp lish two goa ls: (1) clea n up GIS databases and (2)
facilitate more efficiem spacial analysis processes. The GIS
processes emphasized relate to combining, spli rting, and
merging landscape features. In introducing these GIS
processes, examples rang ing from facilitating wildlife
habitat analysis to estimating unrestricted (from a forest
managemem perspective) areas in a landscape are used to
help readers understand rhe usefulness of these procedures
within a natural resource managemem context.
Combining Landscape Features
Multiple landscape features within a single GIS database
can be combined to produce a single landscape feature.
The combine process ge nerally begins by assessing what
the landscape features of interest have in common . To
make the management of GIS data more efficiem, similar
landscape features could be combined so chat a smaller
number of features are contained in a spatial database.
These similarities could be associated with spatial posi-
tion (fearu res touch one another), or attribute valu es (they
have the same characteristics-age, type, ere.). In Figure
8.1, for example, twO polygons are to be combined based
on rheir current spatial position-they share an edge.
143
 Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting Landscape Features, and Merging GIS Databases
After the combine process is completed, we find that the
edge that was shared was eliminated. because the line that
defined the shared edge was not needed to define the
boundary of the new polygon. In a spatial database, the
initial two polygons represented in Figure 8.1 would each
be stored separately. In other words, twO polygons and
twO polygon records would be represented. After com-
bining the polygons, only one polygon record would be
contained in the resulting database. Although the reduc-
rion in database complexity is modest in this example, it
may be substantial when hundreds or thousands of spatial
features are involved. In addition, although this example
featured twO adjoining polygons, the landscape feamres
being combined may physically overlap, or may be phys-
ically separated by a gap. In the case of overlapping land-
scape feacuces, the overlap is eliminated when the poly-
gons are combined through the creation of a single
polygon represeming the overlap area in the oucpuc data-
base. In the case of physically separated landscape fea-
tures, the combined landscape feature is composed of two
or more distinct pieces. In some GIS software programs, a
combine process is known as a dissolve process.
During the management of GIS databases, or as a
result of an analytical need, it might be necessary to com-
a. Prior to combining the polygons
Shared edge
r
Polygon 1
Polygon 2
b. AHer combining 100 polygons
I (ot her than developed internally within a natural
r
,---------,I
Polygon 1
Figure 8.1 Combining twO polygons. by diminating a shared edge.
to produce a single polygon.
133
bine landscape features. Landscape features should be of
the same feature 'Ype to be combined. In general, poly-
gons are combined with other polygons, and lines with
other lines. The reasons for combining landscape features
ace numerous, but are generally based on [he fact mar it is
easier [Q manage a sma ller database (one with fewer
records) than a larger one. In addition. spacial analysis
and data storage considerations are typically more effi-
cient with a smaller database. There are at least six reasons
why you might want (Q combine landscape feamces:
l. You may wish to eliminate unintended small land-
scape features that were created through digitizing or
some other GIS process (e.g., clipping, erasing) that
affected the geometry of a line or polygon spatial data-
base. Combining landscape features can then be effec-
tively used to reduce [he number of feamces being
managed and can correct unintended feam ces. For
example, after a GIS process, spurious polygons may be
present. Spurious polygons are fractions of polygons
broken or created as a result of a GIS process. and you
may wanr [0 combine them with other neighboring
polygons to reduce the number of polygons being
managed.
2. Changes in organizational policies may suggest that
some spatial features need to be combined. For exam-
ple. an organizatio n may redefine the minimum map-
ping unit (hat it manages. The minimum mapping
unit defines the smallest sized unit that should be pres-
ent in certain types of GIS databases . A change in an
organizational policy, say to increase the size of the
minimum mapping unit, m ay require eliminating
some small polygons or lines. Making the minimum
mapping unit larger not only reduces the volume of
data to be managed (a benefit), but also reduces the
resolution of landscape features recognized (a COSt).
Making the minimum mapping unit smaller has the
inverse effecc: a higher spacial resolution is recognized,
and more data needs to be managed.
3 . The acquisition of GIS databases from mher sources
resource management o rgan ization) may prompt the
use of a combine process. You may find within an
acquired GIS database, that the mapping unit stan-
dards are inconsistent with the standards used by their
organizat io n. In add ition, existing adminisrra d ve
boundaries, be they socio-political (ownership) or nat-
lIral (watershed areas), may nO[ be desired in a spatial
database. For example, a private company may acqu ire
144
134 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
a GIS database from the US Forest Service. The
acquired database may include polygons smaller than
what the private co mpany typically manages, suggesr-
ing that some landscape features need to be combined
[Q adhere to the minimum mapping unie standard chat
the company uses. A polygon layer (hat contains
watershed boundaries at a sub-regional scale may pro-
vide unneeded detail if a regional watershed boundary
wi ll suffice. Sub-regional watershed boundaries could
be aggregated through a combine process.
4. Comb ining landscape fearures may be necessary
because it simply makes sense from a management
perspeccive. For example. in a stands GIS database
there may reside two polygons side-by-s ide that
describe fo rested areas with trees of similar ages, simi-
lar structural conditions. similar sire classes. and simi-
lar growth rates. The field personnel responsible for
managing these stands might also suggest (hat the two
stands would be tceared with similar treatments, at
about (he same time. and with simila r equipmenc.
Thus from a management perspective. combining the
two polygons into a single polygon within a GIS data-
base might make sense.
5. Since landscape features can change in shape and char-
acteristic over rime, managing these changes may sug-
Combining processes must be used in a thoughtful
manner. Once landscape features are combined. the
topology that describes the resulting landscape feature
is altered in the Output database. Should a user decide
ro delete the input databases (a common thought once
a new database has been created) the orig inal descrip-
tion of the landscape topology is lost. Given this risk,
larger natural resource organizations have generally
placed the decision to edit and manage GIS databases
(w here combining landscape features may be neces-
sary) to the person who has been given 'ownership' of
the GIS database. All decisio ns rega rding the develop-
ment and maintenance of a given GIS database are
then the responsibility of the database owner. Other
individual users of the GIS database. however. can per-
fo rm GIS processes. such as combining features, on
copies of the original GIS database. However, once
performed by someone other than the owner of the
gesr using a combine process. For example. the condi-
tion of a road may change due co imp rovemen(S made
(Q ir over rime. A rocked road may become a paved
road, a native surface road may become a rocked road.
o r a road of any type may become a decommissioned
(obliterated) road. If cond itions of landscape features
change, it may seem reasonable to combine th ose
landsca pe features with other adjacent landscape fea-
tures of the same stature or condition. A similar exam-
ple might involve stream network measurements such
as what occurs du ring a standard watershed ana lysis
project. Field stream crews will visit selected streams
and segregate Stream networks into simil ar hydrologic
or geomorphic categories. or ca tego ries related to the
surrounding land cover. These groupings are stored in
a spat ial database as separate line fearu res with associ-
ated dara records containing descriptive information.
Some co mbi ning of streams in a GIS database might
be necessary to manage the stream network more
efficien tly.
6. It may be appropriate to combine landscape features
to facilita te a spatial ana lysis. For example. co delineate
one category of the recreational opportunity spectrum,
we may need co identify the size (area) of contiguous
timber stands where rhe average age of rrees is 50 years
database, the altered database is no longer considered
the official database of the organization . For example,
John Goheen, a GIS analyst, may be the 'owner' of a
roads GIS database within an o rganization. John may
then give a copy of this database to Paul Chapman, a
field forester. If Paul were to edit the database by com-
bining or splitting roads, the copy of the GIS database
that Paul uses will not be considered the official roads
GIS database of the organization. even if the database
helps Paul make better management decisions. Can
Paul simply provide the edited roads GIS database to
John? Certainl y. However, John will likely need to
ensure that the changes Paul made conform to organi-
zat iona l standa rds related to data maintenance, and
then subsequently verify that the database does not
conta in any errors. If John can do these things. the
data edited by Paul can be incorporated into the orig-
inal (and official) roads GIS database.
145
 Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting landscape Features, and Merging GIS Databases
or greater. Using a query, we can identifY these stands,
but to determine how large the contiguous area might
be would requ ire (a) either combining the queried
Stands, o r (b) sum by hand the area of all adjacent
polygo ns meeting the size req uirement. The lance
technique may lead [Q error, rhus co mb ining the
queried polygons may be more appropri ate. A com-
bine or dissolve process (dependin g on the GIS soft-
ware being used) would help faci litate this analysis.
Some balance must be struck between the appropriate
number and size of landscape features being managed.
and the amo unt of real-world general ization that occu rs
w hen fewer features are used [0 represent a landscape.
The decision to combine landscape fearu res should be
made after a serious contemplation of these issues. The
following th ree examples describe the end-result of com-
bining landscape features.
Contiguous, similar landscape features
Suppose you queried the Brown Tract Stands GIS data-
base fo r even-aged srands berween the ages of 40 and 45,
using the fo llowing query:
(La nd allocation = ' Eve n-Aged') and (Age ~ 40) and
(Age S; 45)
From this query we find that several stands touch each
other, or are contiguous (F igu re 8.2). From a manage-
mem perspective. you may decide to combine some of
c:::J Forest boondary
c:::J Even-aged stands
between the ages
r ___...::Of..:,4o:,;and 45
Figure 8.2 Stands on the Brown Tract that au even-aged. and
between the ages of 40 and 45.
135
these stands together (such as those illustrated in Figure
8.3), co reduce the number of managemem units tracked
in a database. There is o ne imponam issue thar must be
kept in mind before combining landscape features: you
should make a note of the attributes of each landscape
feature before combini ng them. The combine GIS
process, depending on the GIS software program being
used. w ill either (a) comain the a((ribute data related co
o ne of the landscape featutes, (b) comain the attrib ute
data related co the other landscape feature. (c) comain an
average. o r some other stat istical summary . of numeric
data associated with all com bined features. or (d) not con-
tain any anribure data of either landscape feature. Users
should take heed of the options available when ru nning a
combine process so that the intended output res ults.
Additionally, in some GIS software programs the re may
be more than one process that effectively combines land-
scape fearures, and the resulting combined landscape fea-
ture may contain either no attribute data , o r the attrib ute
data of the firSt landscape feature selected fo r combining
Figure 8.3 Two similar-aged stands on the Brown T rac{ that share
a common border. Both are even-aged. and between the ages of 40
and 45 .
146
136 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

TABLE 8.1 Results of combining two stands

Site Trees per Height Board feet
Stand Acres Ag. index hectare (m) per hectare

Both stands before using a 'combine features' process

First wmd ulut~d

75 7.5 3.0 44 100 250 23 15.325

&COlli stand u l«ud

88 9.9 4.0 45 11 7 492 28 39.388

Combined stand after using a 'combine features' process

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Combined stand after using a 'union features' process

75 7.5 3.0 44 100 250 23 15.625

(Table 8. I). In either case. the attribute data of the com- 2 . Split the stand into two separate parts, creating twO
bined landscape feature may need to be edited if the com- separate stands. Separate database records wou ld then
bined landscape feature will represent a weighted average represent each stand. The owner of the G IS database
of the conditions of (he original twO landscape featu res. may decide that there is a sufficient amount of time
and budget to comb through the database, locate
Multiple spatial representations within inconsiste ncies such as this, and correct them.
a single landscape feature or record Spl itting stand 283 into twO separate stands might be
considered a logical response; spli tting landscape fea-
At first glance, you might expect that each landscape fea- (Ures will be discussed in more detail shordy.
ruee, such as a forest stand, would be considered a si ngle
record in a GIS database. However, this is not necessarily
true. Discontinuous landscape featu res can be combined
co produce a single landscape feature describing a portion
of the landscape (Figure 8.4). Thus, another considera-
tion in (he development and management of GIS data-
bases is whether sparialJy disconrinuous landscape featu res
should be represented with one database record or with
multiple records. In the case of nand 283 on the Brown
Tract, for better or for worse, a single database record rep-
resents two areas (regions) . Perhaps prior to the develop-
ment of the rock pi t that now separates these two areas,
the stand was represented by a single contiguous polygon .
T he Brown Tract databases are, as mentioned earlier,
nOt perfect. However, they do allow an examination of
some rather typical problems users of GIS databases must
consider, such as this one. There are three options related
to the GIS database management of stand 283:

1. Leave the stand as it is-represented by twO spatially

discontinuous regions, yet a single database record. This
may be consistent with the standards used by the man-
agers of the Brown Tract. This option would require no
additional effort co manage the GIS database.
Figure 8.4 Two polygons (regions) represen le<l by a single da[abase
record in the Brown Tract stands G IS database (stand 283).
147
 Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting Landscape Features, and Merging GIS Databases
3. Combine the small discontinuous piece of the stand
into another adjacent stand. Combining the small por-
tion of stand 283 to another scand thar is adjacent to
[he small pardon would require chat (he adjacent
stand have similar characteristics (age. volume. den-
sity, ere.) approp riate for the management of (he
potential combined area.
Overlapping polygons
Although it may not be your intent to create landscape
fearures that overlap when developing or maintaining a
GIS database, overlapping features may resulc as [he OU[-
pm of a GIS process. There are numerous reasons why
you may find overlapping features in a GIS databasei edit,
buffer, and merge processes can all lead to the develop-
ment of overlapping landscape feacures, especially with
GIS software that does nOt enforce ropological rules.
When editing polygon feacures within GIS databases, for
instance. you can easily affect (he shape of polygons such
that they either overlap or not touch at all (Figure 8.5).
When editing GIS databases. it is wise co understand the
process available within GIS sofrware programs to 'snap'
the verrices of one landscape feature to those of another.
With the abiIicy [Q snap vertices together. you can edit the
shape or position of polygons and allow a precise match
of the boundary of one to that of another. The challenge
for most GIS users is to remember to acriva.te the snapping
ability. It also requires practice. once activated, to learn
Gap
Overlap
Figure 8.5 Ov~rlap and gap r~maining aft~r ~diting polygon
boundarj~s.
137
how to use snapping tools correctly. Practicing on a test
GIS layet before editing an actual database can help
reduce snapping errors.
A discussion of buffering point, line, and polygon fea-
tures was provided in chapter 7. The polygons that are
created as a result of a buffer process can, perhaps. over-
lap. Usually you have the choice, at the time of buffering,
of maintaining the overlapping areas or directing the GIS
software program to remove them (Figure 8.6) . In the
case where the overlapping areas of the buffer remain ,
these polygons can subsequently be combined, removing
the overlap and reducing the number of polygons and
database records that describe the buffer.
Merging polygon GIS databases, as will be described
later in this chapter, can also result in overlapping poly-
gons . When a merge process is used, the overlapping areas
among polygons and lines ate genetally not affected,
meaning that no new nodes are created at the intersection
of lines, and that overlapping polygon areas are not
removed. Quite simply, when GIS databases are merged,
Overlapping areas of the buffer are removed
Overlapping areas of the txJffer remain
Figure 8.6 Th~ results of twO buff~ring operations, on~ wh~r~ th~
oY~rlapping ar~as of th~ buff~r around ~ach str~am ar~ r~moy~d, and
th~ oth~r wh~r~ th~ ov~rlapping areas r~majn.
148
138 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
How would you know whether a polygon GIS data-
base contains overlapping polygons' One method
might be to examine very closely the boundaries of
each polygon-a tedious process. Another method
may be co compare the sum of the area of polygons in
the suspect GIS database with another polygon GIS
database of the exact same spadal extent. For example.
if you were concerned about overlapping polygons in
the Daniel Pickett forest stands GIS database, you
could compare the sum of the area of the stands to [he
area of the boundary GIS database. The extent of the
two databases should be exacdy the same: the stands
one set of landscape features is simp ly laid on top of
another sec.
Splitting Landscape Features
The decision (0 use a splitting process general ly arises
from some need redefine the topology of spatial data.
{Q
The word 'split' is defined as a process ro divide or sepa~
rate an item into pares or ponions (Merriam-Webster,
2007) . Within GIS, we use a splitting process to divide
polygons and lines (but not points) into smaller pam or
portions. Points do not describe areas; however, buffers
around points can be spli t because they are polygons.
To illuscrate several reasons for using splining
processes. cons ider the su b-dividing of land ownersh ips
that regularly occurs in many rural and urban areas
throughout Nonh America. Many property owners sub-
divide their lands in order to earn revenue or bequeath
property to land stewardship organizations or heirs. Land
ownership records and GIS database are kept by county.
provincial. or metropolitan organizations and mUSt be
updated to accura tely represent new parcels that result
from subdivisions. Spliuing processes are used to separate
parcels from one another and lead to the creation of addi-
tional polygons in a GIS property boundary database. As
another example involving polygons. imagine a state or
province where cleareut size limits are imposed. For
organizations that plan c1earcur activities in these regions.
the forest management units represented in their stands
GIS database should probably be smaller in size than the
maximum clearcut area allowed. Therefore. these poly-
GIS database should contain polygons that are a subdi-
vision of the ownership defined by the ownership
boundary. The stands GIS database has many poly-
go ns, and the boundary GIS database has only one
polygon, yet the sum of the areas should match. You
could also choose to combine all polygons within a
copy of the stands layer. The area of the resulting com-
bined stands database should also match. If the sum of
the areas does not match. eith er one or more overlap-
ping polygons exist in the stands GIS database, or some
gaps exISts between polygons in the stands GIS
database.
gons should probably be broken down (split) into smaller
management unitS to enable land managers ro plan har-
vests mote app ropriately (Figure 8.7). In terms of linear
3. l60-acre (64.8 ha) polygon and a stream that will
be used to split it Into two smaller polygons
<r---------~ - Node of line defining
L the polygon
• ~ Stream line used
/
- / to split ttle polygon
_ _ Polygon to be split
b. Resulting two smaller focest management
untts after splitting ttle 160·acre (64.8 hal polygon
Polygon 1
Polygon 2
Figure 8.7 A 160-acre (64.8 ha) polygon split along a stream.
forming two smaller forest mamlgement units.
149
 Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting landscape Features. and Merging GIS Databases 139

fea[l1res, assume mar you are involved with [he planning
and maimenance of a road system for a namral resource
management organization . Over some period of time, the
scams of a porrion of a woods road may have changed.
perhaps from a rocked surface [0 a paved surface (or alter-
natively, parr of the road was obliterated in a restoration
process). Within the roads GIS database. splitting the line
that represents the road at the location of the stams
change would seem appropriate, since each resulting piece
of the road should be described by different attribute
data. The same argument for a sp!iHing process can be
used for stream data managemenr. In this case, assume a
recent stream survey identified some differences becween
(he GIS data and the acruai stream system. Some stream
reaches, fo r example. may have been found [Q be ab le [Q
support fish populations. yet the GIS data indicates other-
wise. In these cases. the various lines that represent
streams may need to be split to be[(et delineate the capac-
ity to suppOrt (or not support) fish populations.
The way you go abour splitting polygons or lines (yet
nor points) varies according to the GIS software program
being used. In some GIS software programs. splitting is as
easy as drawing a line through a landscape fearure (Figu re
8.7). This holds true for polygons or lines that are solid or
continuous. However. where a landscape fearure is repre-
sented by multiple regions (or objects). and a gap sepa-
rates these regions (such as that illustrated in Figure 8.4).
drawing a line through the gap. without touch in g either
of the pieces of the landscape feature . may not result in
(he fearure being spli t inro twO separate pieces. In these
cases. a more com plex process using combining. clipping.
editing. or pasting ptocesses may be more app licable
(Figure 8.8). Alrernativeiy. some GIS software programs
have processes for convening multipart features to single

Stands
GIS database

Draw a polygon
Save the original
around one of Select the Ofiginal
polygon In a
the nl.lltiple po/ygoo
GIS database
representations

One portion of
Clip the original
polygon

Erase
Stands
GIS database

Remove original portion

polygon from of the original
the stands polygon
GIS database

Copy into the stands

GIS database the
two portions of the
original stand

Figure 8.8 A complex process that can be used to split a polygon, initially represented by twO
regions, into twO separate landscape features.

150
140 Part 2 Applying
Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

pieces. These types

rypes of automated processes make the
rhe [ask
task merge process for this u,is purpose, our concern
ou r co ncern is not placed
of separaring
separadng non-adjacent pieces of spada!
spacial data more on ,he likelyy overlapping
the likel overl a pping polygons in lhe the resul'ing
resulring
efficient. m erged GIS
merged GIS database.
da tabase. bur on making makin g the,he analytical
a nalyt ical
process more efficient. With a merged GIS database ,ha, th at
Merging GIS Databases represents restricted areas, a single erasing process ca cann be
lIsed
used to arrive at the unrestricted areas (full property -
Merging. for rhe the purpose of managing GIS databases. is restricted areas ~= unrestricted areas) . Witham Without developing
developi ng
defined as the rhe process of combining multiple GIS GIS data- the merged GIS da",base. rh,ee erasing processes would
database. three
bases inco
into a single database. The refo re, when you use a
Therefore, have been needed: (I) (1) full
fu ll property - stream
srream buffers =
merge process, a new GIS database darabase is created from a set ,emporary
temporaty da,abase
database I; (2) ,emporary da",base I - endan-
temporary database
of two or more previously developed GIS databases. Point. gered species habirar
habitat = temporary da",base
database 2; (3) ,empe-
tem po-
polygo n databases can be merged together.
line. and polygon roge<her. how- dacabase 2 - research areas = unrestricred
rary database unrestricted areas.
ever, (he
rhe database structure in the rhe resulring GIS database In the second faci litares a
seco nd case, where a merge process facilitates
will be mixed. Generally,
Generally. merged databases contain contai n the mapping process, ou r co concern
ncern is not placed o n the likely
same GISG IS database strucrurestructure as [he rhe inpU(
input databases. For overlapping polygons in rhe resulting merged GIS dara-
the resul'ing data-
example. you might merge several polygon GtS GIS databases base, but rather on the rhe message that we communicate
commu ni ca te
,oge,her. The resulrin
together. resulting g me' ged GIS
merged GIS darabase wou ld then
database would printed map. Us
with the primed Usiing
ng the previa LISliS example,
exa mple, the
include aU of the polygons from each of the origina l GIS
th e original GIS message we want to communicate to the map customers custo mers
databases. and could potentially contain polygons ,ha, that wouJd be 'He
would ' Here
re are the restricted
rest ricted and unrestricted areas.'
overlap. You must therefore be awa re (hat thar a summ
summary ary of mergin g seve ral GIS da,abases
By merging rogether and creating
databases together crea,ing a
rhe characreristics
(he characteristics of the resulting resul'ing merged GIS GIS da",base
database single GIS GIS database
d atabase of a common th eme (,restricted ('res tr icted
may result in an overestimate of areas or distances diS[ances (in (he rhe areas'), you could make m ake the carrographic
canograph ic process mo more re
case of merged
merged line da,abases).
databases) . efficient. For example, rather th an needing
than need ing to specify the rhe
There arc two main reasons why a merge process
are tWO color scheme for the rhree GIS da,abases
rhe three databases [hat
that ,epresent
represent
ight be used: ((l)
migh'
m t ) to crea'e
create a ,empia,e
template [0 to facili",re
faci litate a sub- the restricted areas (stream buffers, enda endangered
ngered species
spatial analys is process, and (2) to faci
sequent spacial litate map-
facilitate hab itat buffers. and research
habi,a, resea rch areas).
areas), ,he
the color scheme
schem e of a
ping processes. In the first fi rst case, suppose that from a for- si ngle GIS dalabase
single database (rhe
(th e merged database rep representing
resenting ,he the
manageme nt perspective yo
est management youu were interested in resrric,ed
res tricted areas) needs oonly nly toro be specified. In addition.
add ition,
defin ing those a reas that thar have no resrrictions placed on deskcop GIS software programs now contain auto-
many desktop
rhem eithe r by regulalOry
them regulatory or organizalional
organizational policies. You mated fu ncri ons co
nctions to assist users in developing thei r maps.
might call these 'unrestricted areas'. ]n
' unrest ricted areas', In these
rhese areas the full Withour
W ithout merging the rhe restricted areasa reas into
inca a single G GIS
IS
range of silvicli lcural practices
silviculmral pract ices appro
appropriate
priate to the forest database, we may find severa) seve ral GIS
G IS databases
da tabases listed in the
types and the soil and slope condirions condicions ca n be considered
considered.. map 's legend-each representing portions of the
map's rhe
To
T o define these rhese unrestricted aareas reas on a map, you m might
ight restricted area. In this
rhis case, management of the rhe map's
map 's leg-
firsr attempt
first anempt {Q (Q define the restricted areas: those that are end may be required before we prinr print it and present il it to
within a cenain distance of the stream system
certain disrance syste m (requ iring
(req uiring oour
ur Cllstomers.
customers.
buffer) . near
a buffer), nea r some endange,ed
endangered species habi,a, (,equiring
habitat (req uiring
a buffer), o r designated as research resea rch areas (requiring
(requir ing a Determining how much land area is
query o r buffer). These are the areas within which man- unrestricted
ageme
age ment nl may be restrictedresrr icred to some so me extent. Since Sin ce [he
the
intent is (0 to de lineate and
delineate a nd summarize
su mmarize the [he characteristics of de monstrate using a merge process, the following
To demonstrate
the remai nin g areas within [he
remaining the landscape being bei ng managed, example
exa mple will expand on the discussion
d iscussion of developing a
the GIS darabases
rhe GIS databases that thar describe the ,he srream
stream buffers. endan- representation of unrestricted areas by applying [he the con-
gered species habitat habira, buffers. and ,he the research
resea rch areas (all(a ll cep' ro ,he
cept to the DDaniel
aniel Pickert
Pickett forest.
fo rest. Knowing whatwha, ,he
the oper-
represe nted by polygon GI
represented GIS databases) could be merged able 'decision space' is on the forest may be important
into a single polygon GIS darabase.
imo database. Th Thisis merged GIS dala- data- when decisions regarding
regard in g harvesting, herbicide opera-ope ra-
base ca then be used in conjunction with an erasing
cann [hen tions, made, As with many of the tasks pre-
(ions, etc., must be made.
process to [0 delineate those areas on the rhe landscape that are sented in this text, there are severa)
several pathways you ca n takerake
ourside of the land area that they
outside rhey cover. WhenWh en we use [he the wirhin GIS
within GIS '0
to comple,e
complete an analysis of ,his
th is type. The focus
151
 Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting Landscape Features, and Merging GIS Databases 141

Streams Buffered
Buffer
GIS streams GIS
100 feel
database database

Roads Buffered
Buffer
GIS roads GIS
100 feet
database database

Owl nest Owl nest

Buffer
localion GIS location GIS
tOD~ feel
database database

Merge

Merged GIS
dalabase

Unrestricted
Stands GIS
Erase areas GIS
database
database

Figur~ 8.9 A process that an ~ used to delineate unreuricted areas in a forested landscape.

here will be on developing several GIS databases that
describe me types of restricted areas, then on merging
them together as a single GIS database. The polygons con-
tained in the restricted area GIS database can then be
erased from (he boundary or stand GIS databases, leaving
unrestricted areas as a resulr. The process can be described
with a flow chart (Figure 8.9) to help visualize the steps
necessary [0 complete the task.
870.9 hectares (2, I 52 acres) are thus unrestricted. The
unrestricted areas, given the crireria noced above, are open
to (he full suite of management activities appropriate for
the forest types and landscape conditions of the Daniel
Pickett forest.
D Unrestricted areas

In the delineation of unresrricccd areas of the Daniel D Restricted areas

Pickett forest, some criteria area needed to describe (he
restricted areas:

• 30.48 m (J 00 feet) around all stroams,

• 30.48 m (J 00 feet) around all paved roads, and
• 304.79 m (J ,000 feet) around tho owl nest locations.

Using the process illustrated in Figure 8.9, you will find

that 140.8 hectares (348 acres) of tho Danid Pickett are Figure 8.10 A description of the restricted and unrestricted areas on
resrricted in some form or fashion (Figure 8.10), and the Daniel Pickett forest.

152
142 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Summary
The need to combine and splir la ndscape fearu res and
the need to merge GIS darabases together are influenced
by th e progression of GIS processes you choose in orde r
ro address a management issue. If there is a need co elim-
inate small landscape features c reated by some o th er GIS
process (e.g., clipping, erasing), co mbining rhese wirh
othe r landscape fearu ces would seem approp riate. If
there is a need (Q combine multiple feacures within a sin-
gle GIS darabase (regardless of rheir size) to fac ilirare fur-
ther analysis. combining them wo uld again seem pru-
dent. If rhere is a need ro physically separare pieces of a
Applications
8.1. Characterizing unrestricted areas. The Region
Manager associated with the Brown Tract, Becky
Blaylock. is very interested in the managemenr oppOrtu-
nities associated with this land, given its proximity ro an
a rea of suburban growth. Since she knows you know
so mething about GIS, she has again come to you for some
information. Specifically, she is interested in understand-
ing the extent of the forest resources that are outside of
areas where fo rest ma nagement is restricted for one or
more reasons (either by regulation or by an organizational
policy). She defines rhe zones where fo rest management is
restricted as:
• Areas wirhin 152.4 m (500 feer) of a urhor ized
trails;
• Areas wirh in 152.4 m (500 feer) of homes;
• Areas wirhin 2.4 km (1 .5 miles) of owl nest loca-
tions;
• Areas within the riparian zones:
- 30.5 m (100 feer) around large fish-bear ing
streams,
2l.3 m (70 feer) around medium fish-bea ring
streams,
15 .2 m (50 feer) around small fish-bearing
streams,
- 21.3 m (70 feer) around large non-fIsh-bearing
streams,
- 15.2 m (50 feer) aro und medium non-fish-
bearing streams, and
6.1 m (20 feer) around small non-fIsh-bearing
streams; and
• Stands with the following land allocations:
Meadow, Oak Woodland, Research, and Rock pir.
polygon or line, rhen a splirring process would be war-
ranted. If there was a need ro combine features con-
rained in separate GIS databases. a merge process would
be appropriate. The decis ion to combine or spli t land-
scape feacuces. o r [0 merge GIS databases must not be
made lighrly. While rhere may be a vari ery oflogical rea-
sons for us ing these GIS processes, there may be anocher
reaso n (such as the contem of the resuhing anribuce
table) that suggests an alternative process should be used.
Documeming the workAow when using these processes
is therefore important.
a) How much area ofland is umestricted?
b) How much area of unrestricted land is included in
rhe following land allocarions'
a. Even-aged
b. Shelrerwood
c. Uneven-aged
c) Develop a map of rhe Brown T racr, illustraring rhe
unrestricted areas. Include on the map the road
and stream systems.
8.2. GIS processing. H ow would you have add ressed
problem 8.1 if you incorporared a process rhar merged
the GIS databases that represented unrestricted areas?
H ow would you have add ressed problem 8 .1 if you incor-
porated a process that co mbined all landscape features
representing unrestricted areas into a single polygon?
Provide a Aow chart for each alternative process.
8.3. Combining landscape features . Your co-worker,
Ka rl Douglas, has suggeSted during one of your
momh ly inventory meetings that all management un its
in the stands GIS database smaller than four hectares
should be co mbined with another adjacenr managemenr
unie. His a rgum ent is that [his will make the process of
managing the forest more efficient. Besides the faCt thar
some small polygons may represent sign ifica nt land-
sca pe fearures (rock p its, wildlife habirar, erc.), and rhus
should be disrincrly represenred in a GIS darabase, whar
argument might you provide against this potential
change in GIS database management policy. particularly
from th e GIS processing and invento ry management
perspectives?
153
 Chapter 8 Combining and Splitting Landscape Features, and Merging GIS Databases 143

References

Merriam-Websrer. (2007). Mtrriam-W,bsur on/in,

search. Retrieved April 28, 2007, from http ://www.
m-w .coml cgi-binl dic[ionary.

154
Chapter 9
Associating Spatial and
Non-spatial Databases
Objectives
This chapter provides an inrrodu ction to techniques that
will allow yo u to associate fea mres in spati ally- referenced
GIS databases with data from other sources (other types of
databases) which may not have a n explicir spacial refer-
e nce. Once this c ha pter has been completed. readers
should have a firm underscanciing of:
l. how (Wo or more databases ca n be remporarily com-
bined withom creating a new database. modifying a
database rabie, or modifying landscape feacuresi
2. what types of GIS processes are available when there is
a need to associate data from different sources;
3 . how non-spacial data can be associated with spatial
databases. and how data from one spa tial database can
be associated with data of a nother spatial database; and
4 . what it means to relate (link) two tables, and how thi s
process is different than joining darabases.
In the last few cha pters a concentra rion was placed
on taking (WO (or mo re ) G IS databases an d . with a
process such as erasi ng o r clipping, creating a third (new)
GIS database that featured differenr. o r modified, land-
sca pe features. The GIS databases were, in essence, com-
bined in a permanent fashio n in the new database. In th is
chaprer the databases will be combi ned in a way that is
temporary bur that still retains each database's o ri ginal
structure (both the spa tial structure and attribute table
structu re) . Si nce new landsca pe features are nOt being
created in th is process. the re is no need to create a new
GIS data base; howeve r, this is also possible and we will
discuss this process later in the chapter. To present addi-
tional methods of combini ng databases, two processes of
associa tion will be introduced: the jo in and the rel ate
(link) processes.
The first section of this cha pter examines joining data
in non-spacial databases with landscape features in spati al
d atabases. and desc ribes several of the common join
processes yo u might encounter. The relationship between
the non-spatial data and rhe landscape fea tures is based on
a common attribute value found in both da rabases. The
second section of the chapter examines joi ning landscape
features from [wo differen t GIS databases. and how the
relationship between the landscape features in each GIS
database is a fun ction of the location and type (poi nt.
line, or polygon) of the features on the landscape. The
third sectio n of the chapter discusses how you can make
the temporary joined assoc iations among databases per-
manenr. The final section of the chapter exam ines relar-
ing {linking} features or data from one database to that of
another. With a relate process. you can view one of th e
related databases. selecr a landscape featu re. then view the
associated related data in the ocher database even rhough
the database will not appea r to be physically associated.
Join processes do not follow this ap proach. but. instead,
result in a single database that contains dara from borh
joined databases.
155
 Chapter 9 Associating Spatial and Non-spatial Databases
Joining Non-spatial Databases
with GIS Databases
When you wane [Q join twO databases together the objec-
tive is to associate both databases such chat a single data-
base resul rs. Therefore, dara from one darabase (in rhis
case a non-spatial database) is transferred to rhe 3ncibucc
rable of rhe other darabase (rhe sparial darabase) . There
are several types of possible associarions when joining
non-spa ri al darabases wirh spa rial GI S darabases. The [wo
most common join associations are one-co-one and one-
to-many joins. A non-spatial database is one chat lacks
associated landscape feacures and their geographic refer-
ence. Perhaps the simplest example is a text file chat you
can create in a word processor or text editor (Table 9. I).
You mighr logically ask why, if a GIS darabase of land-
sca pe feacures exists, would you store ocher data associated
with those features in a separate. non-spacial database?
Perhaps there are instances where it is moce efficient for
analyses (o r foresters. biologises. etc.) to develop data
(such as wildlife hab irar su irabi liry scores) separare from
GIS, knowing m at a process exists [Q quickly associate the
dara developed back ro rhe appropriare landscape fearures.
Perhaps an an alyst may wam a separate tabular da[3base
that they can then import into a statistical software pro-
gram. In addition, there are othe r software packages. such
as hydrologic simularo rs, growrh and yield models, and
landscape analysis models. that can take GIS output.
process the output so that additional information is
added, and feed rhe new resulrs back imo a GIS . There are
other reasons as well, including the comfort some people
TABLE 9,1 A non.spatial database in
AScn text file format illustrating
comma-dellmited data
·S r.md ', 'HS12010', 'HSI 20 1;', 'HSI 2020'
1,0.2%, 0.3 12,0.325
2.0.4;8, 0.49; , 0.516
3,0.333, 0.36;, 0.372
4,0 .87;, 0.88;, 0.889
;,0. 12;, 0.215 ,0.23;
6, 0.468, 0.476, 0.48;
7,0.906,0.908,0.9 11
8,0.648,0.74;,0.7;3
9, 0.378, 0.42;, 0.431
10,0.096,0.102,0.118
145
In performing join processes, three terms are impor-
ram: rhe ,ollrce tabu, the targ't or tk,tination tabu,
and rhe join it<m (or field) . The source rable comains
rhe dara rhar will be moved ro the rarger rable and
associated with some particula r landscape fearu res
srored rhere. The rarger rable comains rhe landscape
fearures with which the source tab le's data will be
associated. After the join process is complete, the
source table's data will be transferred [Q the target
rable so rhar when you view rhe rarger rabie, all amib-
ures from boch darabases should be presem. The join
item is the attribure or field that is common berween
the source and ta rget rabies, and is the irem thar
bri ngs rhe [wo rab ies rogether. If no common amib-
ute ex.isrs berween the so urce and target tables. there
is no basis fo r a join. Some examples of common
attributes are stand numbers, road names, stream
numbers, culvert numbers, and watershed names, yet
any ami bu re specified by a GIS analysr can be used.
have with performing calculations in a spreadsheer rather
than in GIS. As you will see with one-to-many joins. join-
ing is an efficient way of associating (temporarily) non-
spa rial dara wirh landscape feawres.
One-to-one join processes
A one-to-one join process assumes mat mere is exactly the
same number of records in the source cable as there is in
the target table, and that each of the records in the source
table is associated with exactly one record in me target
rable. For example, suppose you have a G IS darabase of
permanent growth and yield measurement plots (Figure
9.1), and you want to join to this database to a file con-
taining the installation dates of each plot. The join item in
this simple example is obvio usly ' Plot' in the source table
and the ' Plot' attribute in the target table. A5 you can see,
the re are exacdy six records in both the source and target
tables. and each installation date record from the source
table is associated with only one unique record in the GIS
database containing the permanem plo[s.
The original assumption behind one-to-one join
processes can be relaxed. and [he one- to-one join process
can also be made with fewer records in the source [able
[han in the target [able. For example, assume thar record
156
146 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

Database Table structure Database Table structure

Soon;e Soon;e
Comma-delimited Plot , Installation dale Comma·delimited Plot, Installation date
text file containing r- 1 1998 text file containing .---- 1, 1998
plot number and t--- 2. 1997 plot number and 2,1997
Installation date 3, 1999 installation date 3,1999
4, 1998 4, 1998
5,2000 5, 2000
6, 1999

Target (Destination) Target (Destination)

GIS Database Plol Vegetation Type GIS Oatabase Plol Vegetation Type
representing L...-. 1 OF representing L..,. 1 OF
permanent permanent
plots 2 WH plots 2 WH
3 OF 3 OF
4 OF 4 OF
5 WH 5 WH
6 OF 6 OF

Joined database Joined database

Resulting Plot Vegetation Type Installation date Resulting Plol Vegetation Type Installation dale
database : 1 OF 1998 database : 1 OF 1998
The original 2 WH 1997 The original 2 WH 1997
permanent plot permanent plOt
3 OF 1999 3 OF 1999
GIS database with GIS database with
the temporary
4 OF 1998 the terTij)Orary
4 OF 1998
field Mlnstallation 5 WH 2000 field -Installation 5 WH 2000
date" 6 OF 1999 date- 6 OF

Figure 9.1 Performing a one-to-one join usi ng a fi le of installation Figure 9.2 Performing a one-to-one join with one r«ord missing
dates as the source table, and the Danid Pickett permanent piau GIS from the source table.
database as the target table.

6 (Plor 6, insrallarion year 1999) was missing from the
source rable. If YOli were to perform a join process using
the source and target rabies. a one-to-one join wou ld still
occur, yet Plot 6 in the GIS database would not be joined
with any data from the sou tee tab le (Figu re 9.2).
To work through a one~to~one join. assume you have
an ASCII text file (HSl.rxt) containing habitat suitability
ind ices (HSls) for salamanders related to every dmber
stand on the Daniel Pickett forest. HSls range from 0.0
(poo r habitat) to 1.0 (optimal habitat) and can be quite
complex ro calculate; therefore. it is nO[ unreasonable ro
assume that they were generared outside of GIS. perhaps
in a sp readsheet or stacisdcal sofrware package. The chal-
lenge. once HSI values have been calculated. is [0 bring
them back into a GIS environment [0 allow the creari on
of a thematic map. To perform a join process of the non-
spatial HSI database (HSl.rxt) and a GIS database (Daniel
Pickett stands) the following general steps can be taken
when using ArcG IS 9.x:
I. Open the Daniel Pickett stands GIS database (t his is
the target table).
2. In the table of contentS, right-click the target table
(stands GIS database). seiect 'joins and relates', then
seiect [he join option.
3. IdentifY the join item from the target table in option 1.
4. Choose the sou rce table (HSl.rxt) for option 2.
5. IdentifY the join item from the source table in option 3.
G. Perform the join process (press OK).
In ArcYiew 3.x these general steps can be taken to per~
form the join:
I. Open the Daniel Pickett stands GIS database.
2. Open the Daniel Pickett stands attribute table (this is
the target table) .
3. Open the HSl.rxt database (th is is the source tab le) .
4. I n the source table. use the mouse to seieer the join
item (stand).

157
 Chapter 9 AssoCiating Spatial and Non-spatial Databases t47

5. In the target table, use the mouse [Q select the join process, the likelihood of errors is minimized, and the
item (stand) . process of associaring different buffer width data with each
6. Click the table join button. stream is fitst and efficient. For example, Figure 9.4 illus-
trates a one-to-many join process where the source table
Once the one-to-one join process is complete, the HSI has four records and the targer table has seven records. The
values from the HSI.txt database should be temporarily join item is 'Stream type' in the source table, and the
srored inside of the stands GIS database attribute table. To 'Type' attribure in the target table. Two of the source table
confirm this, you muSt open and visuaUy examine the records (,Perennial - large' and 'lnterminenr') are associ-
stands GIS database attribute table. A thematic map can ated with more than one record in the ta rget table (hence
be created (Figure 9.3) using the HSI values, to illustrate 'many' records). The sou rce table could have included four
the spatial arrangement of habitat on the Daniel Pickett (or more, or less) items and me target table could have
forest. Areas with in each habitat grouping can also be cal- included 1,000 or more items-it makes no difference to
culated to enable the development of a report concerning the one-to-many join process. However. similar to me one-
the amount of suitable habitat on the forest for a particu- to-one join processes, should a record be omitted from the
lar wi ldlife species. source table, the affecred records in the target table would
be represented by null or missing values in the joined field .
One-to-many joins
Many-to-one (or many-to-many) joins
In COntrast to one-to-one join processes, the assumption
behind one-to-many join processes is that there are more In certain cases, the source table can contain errors a nd
records in the target table than in me source table, and that lead to results that are different than what was originally
each record in the source table may be associated with
Database Table structure
more than one record in the target table. Assume that you
have a streams GIS database that contains 1,000 stream
reaches. Assume also that you desi re to buffer the Streams
Comma·delimited Stream Type, Buffer
to create a map of diffe rent riparian management zone texl file containing · Perennlal-large", loo
policies, and that each stream needs to be buffered a dis- stream type and -Perennial-small". 75
rance that is based on its size. If you were interested in buffer distance "Intermittent", 50
"Ephemeral ",25
developing variable-width buffers <as illustrated in chapter
Target (Destination)
7) for each policy, the appropriate buffer width for each
Stream Type
stream must be associated with each stream reach.
1 Perennial-large
Manually updating the attributes of each of the 1,000 GIS Oatabase 2 Intermittent
streams for each riparian policy would be time consuming representing
3
permanent
and would likely contain errors. W ith a one-to-many join plots 4 Perennial-large
5 Intermittent
6 Ephemeral
7 Intermittent

Habitat SUitability
Index (HSI) value Joined database
Stream Type Buffer

CJ 0.000-0.200 Resulting
database: 2
1 Perennial large
Intermittent
100
50
CJ 0.201 - 0.400 The original 3 Perennial small 75
CJ 0.401-0.600 streams
GIS database with • Perennial large 100

c:::::El!I 0.601 - 0.800 the temporary

5
6
Intermittent
Ephemeral
50
25
_ 0.80H.000 field "Buffer"
7 Intermittent 50

Fi.gure 9.3 Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) valu~s for salamand~rs on Figure 9.4 P~rformjng a one-to-many join wing a fiI~ of buff~r
the Daniel Pick~tt forest. distances as th~ source tabl~, and streams GIS databas~ as th~ targ~t tabl~.

158
148 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

intended. These are cases where twO o r more records in Oatabase Table structure
the source table (and one or more instances of such) are
Soun:.
associated with a single reco rd in rhe ta rget rable. These
can result in a many-tO-o ne join. For examp le. the many- Comma-delimited Stream Type, Buller
text file containing "Perennial-large", l00
to-one join process illustrated in Figure 9.5 shows that rhe stream type and "Pereooial-small ", 75
fourth and fifth records of the source cable have exacuy the buffer distance "Intermittent ",50
"Ephemeral", 25
same the join item value (,Stream type' = 'Ephemeral') . "Perennial- large", 125
When rhe join process is performed only one 'Buffer'
Target (Destination)
value from the cwo source table reco rds can be associated
Stream Type
with the ephemeral stream in the target table (the first Perennial-large
value in ArcGlS 9.x, the last value in ArcView 3.x). The GIS Database 2 Intermittent
representing
example in Figure 9.5 shows that the first value (25) was permanent
3 Perennial-small
present in the joined database, not the last value (35). 4 Perennial-large
plots
5 Intermittent
Which value is presem in the target table (the first instance
6 Ephemeral
or subsequent instances in rhe source table) depends on 7 Intermittent
the GIS software program being used. Many-to- many join
processes behave in a similar fashion (Figure 9.6). Joined database
The following two examples bring together some con- Stream Tyll" Butler
cepts that wefe introduced in (his and earl ier chapters. In Resulting 1 Perennial large 125
each exa mple. a non-spatial database is joined co a GIS database : 2 Intennlttent 50
The original 3 Perennial small 75
streams Perennial large
4 125
GIS database with
5 Intermittent 50
Database Table structure the temporary
field "Buller" 6 Ephemeral 35
7 Intermittent 50
Sou",.
Comma-delimited Stream Type, Buller
text file containing "Perennial-large", l00 Figure 9.6 Performing a many- to-many join using a Ale ofbufTer
stream type and "Perennial-small ", 75 distances as me source table and a streams GIS database as the target
buller distance "Intermittent", 50 table.
"Ephemeral ",25
"Ephemeral ", 35 -
-====::::::::-
Target (Destination) database. Then, a spatial query is performed to determine
Stream Type which of the point fearures is contained within an area
1 Perennial-large represented by a polygon feature. Ultimately, some info r-
GIS Oatabase 2 Intermiltent
representing marion that was originally contained in [he non-spada I
3 Perennial-small
permanent database is summa ri zed based o n its assoc iated spatial
4 Perennial-large
plots
5 Intermittent locat ion.
6 Ephemeral
7 Intermittent
Example 1: Determining the number of hardwood
sawmills in a state
Joined database
Assume (hat you currently work for Dunn and Herndon ,
Stream Tyll" Buffer
Inc. in cent ra] Tennessee, and are considering building a
Resulting 1 Perennial large 100
database : 2 Intermittent 50 new hardwood sawmill somewhere in (he state. Initia lly,
The original 3 Perennial .maD 75 what you might find helpful is an estimate of the number
streams 4 Perennial large 100
GIS database with of hardwood sawmills in the state of Tennessee. Another
5 Intermittent 50
the temporary piece of information tha t would be valuable is an estimate
6 Ephemeral 25
field "Buffer"
7 Intermittent 50 of the number of people that they employ. To develop
rhis info rmation we will use a CIS database of the south-
eastern US states, a GIS database of mill locations, and a
Figure 9.S Performing a ma ny-to-one join using a file of buffer
distances as the source table, and a streams GIS database as the target non-spa rial database of mill attributes. Mill locations and
table. their associated non-spatial attributes were acquired from
159

rhe USDA Foresr Service (2006). The process includes rhe
fo llowing sreps:
1. Jo in the non-spatial mill attribute data to the GIS data-
base of southeastern US mills. The non-sparial data-
base comains a field called 'MILL_lD'. This is rhe join
item from rhe sou rce rable. The mill GIS database con-
tains a field called 'MILL-lD' . This is the join irem
from rhe rarger table. Once the two tables are joined,
the spatial features (poims) in the mills GIS database
will have associated wirh them rhe attributes of mills
from [he non-spatial database.
2. Query rhe southeasrern US srates GIS database for the
scate of Tennessee. This is a query that simply uses a
field (srate) of the southeastern US "ares GIS darabase
to locate the appropriate actcibuce of the scares (State =
Tennessee).
3. Perform a spatial query of rhe mills GIS database to
determine (by location) which mills are completely
contained within the Scate of Tennessee (the current
selected feature in the southeastern US states GIS daca-
base).
Once these steps have been performed, we will have
selected those mills mac are within the Scare of Tennessee.
The question now is whether they mainly accept hard-
wood [fee species, and whether they are cons idered a
sawmill. A final query using the attribures of the mills GIS
database is therefore needed [0 seiect from (he currently
selected features (all mills in Tennessee) those that are
sawmills. and mainly accept hardwood reee species
.
.. . . . , ' .
. ..
' '
MS
Figun 9.7 Hardwood sawmills in Tennessee.
Chapter 9 Associating Spatial and Non-spatial Databases 149
(Figure 9.7) . As a result, you might find that there are
329 hardwood sawm ills in the State of Tennessee that
employ 3,959 people, assuming that the data are current.
Example 2: Determining sawmill employment in a
county
As a second, similar example. assume mat you are a con-
sultant based in Mississippi. working for Saunders
Geomacics, LLC. Assume also that you are doing some
CQncract work for the Nuxubee County Chamber of
Commerce. They want ( 0 know how many sawmills are
in the county, and chey want an estimate of how many
people rhese mills employ. To develop rhis information
we will use a GIS database of me
southeastern US coun-
fies, a GIS database of mill locations, and a non-spacial
database of mill attributes. Once again . milliocacio ns and
thei r associated non-spacial attributes were acqui red from
the USDA Forest Service (2006). The process includes the
following steps:
1. Join rhe non-spatial mill attribure data (0 the G IS data-
base of southeastern US mills. as was described in
example 1 above.
2. Query the southeastern US counties GIS database for
Nuxubee County, Mississippi . This is a query that
simply uses a field (county) of the sourheastern US
counties C IS database [0 locate me appropriate attrib-
ute of rhe co unties (County = Nuxubee). You need to
be careful here if there are muldple counties in the
southeastern scares with me same name {e.g .. 'Floyd' is
(he name of a county in more than one s[a[e).
KY
.: ..
..
. ..
". :
Al
160
150 Part 2 Applying GIS to Nalural
Natural Resource Management

3. Perform a spacial
spatial query of the
[he mills GIS dalabase [Q
GIS database to describes the coord coordina te division intervals.
in ate inrerva'!s, typically
determine
de<ermine (by location)
locarion) which mills are completely expressed in feet, feer. international feet, fec t, or meters. Spatial
Spatia l
contained within Nuxubee County (the current joins
joi ns are based on the comparison of feamre feature (point.
(poin t, line,
selected feature in the
selecred me southeastern
SQUmeasrern US counties
coumies GIS or polygon) locatio locadons ns to other feature
feamre locations.
locarions. The There
re
database). are many GIS processes thar that inherently recognize the
coordinate system of a layer without needing to know
Once these Steps
steps have been performed, we will have [he
the real-world definition of the map un it. Without the
unit.
selected those mills that are within rhe
(he county. The ques- unir definitio
map unit definition, however, sparial
n. however. spatial joins will usually
tion now is whether they are sawmills. An examination of nO
notI be possible.
the mills tab le finds
table finds that there are three sawmills in [he
the As with non-s non-spatial
patial jojoin processes, a sou
in processes. sourcerce database
county (al[hough
(although only two are seemingly visibvisible
le on the and
an target database are required.
d rarget required, yet the join item wi willll
an d that they employ 23
map), and 231I people, assuming
assum ing that be sligh tly different-it
slightly d ifferem-it is the spatial position of each
the database is currenL
currene. landscape feature in each GIS GIS dadatabase.
tabase. The [wo most
twO mosr
common
com types of
mon rypes o f spatial
spat ial join processes are those fhar that are
Joining Two Spatial defined by which features are closest (sometimes called
GIS Databases th
thee neareSt
nearest neighbor) and those [hose thar
that are evaluated by
whether a feature is intersecredinte rsected by another
another feature or is
With a spatial join process. our intent imenr is to learn aboul abour completely inside ano lher feature.
another feature . A th ird type of spatial
third
the qualities of some landscape features that are near other join invo
involves
lves linear features and is evaluated by deter-
featu res of imeresr.
landscape features interest. In joining non-spadaJ
non-spacial data- mining whether one linear feature feawre is located along or
bases [Qro spatial databases,
da[abases, a common field (the ([he join item) inside the extent of another linear feature feature.. The outpur
was used [Q associate the data data in the non-spatial database properties an and d options of the spatial join process will
[Q the landscape features in the
to [he rhe GIS database. The associ- depend upon Ihe the fearure (poim, line, or polygon)
feature type (point,
ation itself was non-spatia
alion I-the location
non-spatial-the locatio n of landscape of th
thee source and targe targett databases and are a re summarized
fearures in the
features [he GIS
GIS database (the target table)
rable) was not used in Table 9.2 .
fa
to assist in making the association spadallocation of
association.. The spatia!locarion The nea
nearestresr neighbo
neighborr spatial join works fo forr almost all
features can, however.
landscape fearures however, be used (Q associate land- feature
feamre type comparisons excepr except for lineli ne on line. Other
scape
sca pe fearures
features from one database with those in anothe anotherr than this exception,
except ion . the nearest neighbo neighborr join process
database. This is a powerful feature feam re that often goes allows the characrerisrics
characteristics of features (points, (poin rs. lines,
lines. or poly-
unused by GIS users. users. Both databases, however.
however, must mUSt co
con-n- gons) in a source table to be associa associatedted with the closest
example, if you were interested
tain spatial data. For example.
cain in terested in feature in a destination table. Thus you can usc use spatial
knowing the rype type of forest
torest stands that sources of water join processes to ro not oonlynly iden
idemifY rhe nearest
tify the ne-dtest point (e.g.
(ponds, sp rin rings, fan within,
gs, etc.) fall withi n, you might join a GIS GIS uee), line (e.g. road) oorr polygon (e.g. warershed)
tree), watershed) fearure
feature
database
data base containing a set of points (representing wa water
ter from all point (e.g., house) features in a GIS GIS database, but
data base containing a set
sources) with a GIS database se t of polygons ca n also determ
you can determine the distance to the neareSt point
ine [he
(dm ber stands) [0
(timber to understand the type of forest that su sur-
r- feature
feature.. Typ ically.
ical ly. the distance [Q to the nearest feature and
rounds each water wa ter source. the anribute
source. Thus rhe attribute data within the anribmes
anribures of me the nearest feature
feacure are included in the
timber stand database can be assoc
the timber associated arr rib-
iated to the arnib- database..
Output database
ute dara
me within the water sources database based on the
data wirhin A point-in-polygon or 'inside or of join process is rather
sparial
spatial locarion
location of the landscape fea rures within each GIS
features straightforward:
straightforwa rd: determinedeterm ine the polygon (from a source so urce
darabase.
database. rable) within
table) wirhin which each point (in a desrinario destinationn table) is
In some
so me softwa re packages. such as ArcGIS ArcelS 9.x, a localed,
located, then join the attributes of each polygon with each
spatial join results in the creation of a new layer that associated painepoint. For For exam ple. you may be interested in
example,
contains the joined info rmation . Check C heck you r GIS GIS soft- understand ing the rhe characteristics
characterist ics of t(imberimber stands con-
sta nds co n-
ware
wa to determine whethe
re CO whetherr new databases are 3re created taining [hethe owl nest locations mat that exist on [he the Daniel
spatia l joins. You should a150
during spatial also be aware that spa- Pickert forest (Figu (Figure re 9.8). In the Daniel Pickerr Pickett owl GIS
tial joins will usually requi require
re that a map projection be database [here there are twO owl nest location points.
associated w ith all invo lved layers.
with layers . A key component
co mponent of Associated with wirh eac eachh popoint
int is information, based on ow owll
every map projection is the definition of a map unit that surveys, regarding the number of adult and juvenile owls
surveys.
161

TABLE 9_2 Spatial join options by target and source feature type
(Italics indicate output products for each option)
Target Poinu
Points I. Nearest points
Artribuu summary
H ow ma,,} a,~ IUllrrSI
2. Nearest point
Attributn &diJlllllU
Lilla 1. Nearest points o r points
intersected
Attribu/~ summal]
Attrihum &- dimmu
2. Nearest poi n t
A ttributn &distallu
Polygons I . Poin ts that rail inside
Attri hutr f u mmfl,]
How mall) are imitk
How many imm«r
2. Nearest point
AllTibutn d- distanu
Owl Point #1
• Owl Poinl#2
• em in me destination table, or the source table comains a
• •
Stand #25
Stand #29
Figure 9.8 Associating owl nest locations with the: timber stands
withi n which they are located.
Chapter 9 Associating Spatial and Non-spatial Databases 151
Polygons
1. Intersecting li nes I. Falls within
Attrihuu summary AttrihuUl
How mall) are IU(lreSl
2. Nearest line 2. Nearest polygon
AttribuUl &diltflllU AttribuU! 6- diJtllfirt
I . In tersecting lines I. In tersects polygons
Attribute ru", mary Aurihult' summary
How N/ally II"
lIea"st
2. W ithin o ther lines 2. NarcS[ polygon or
AltrihuiN intersecting polygon
Attribuus d- diSlI.m"
I. Imersecring lines I. ImersectS polygons
Artribuu sum",ary Attn'buu summary
H()w mall] imfl'S«t
2. Nearest line 2. Compk[dy inside
A ttribum ¢ diua u« A uribum
fou nd there (Figure 9.9), along with the first and last
sighting of the owls.
What is not known by simply viewing the owl GIS
dacabase are the characteristics of the forest surrounding
each owl nest. With just two points. this can be deter-
mined by visual inspection: owl poim 1 is located within
stand 25, a rathe r densely stocked l O-year old stand; owl
point 2 is located within stand 29, a 5D-year old stand of
trees. However, when a large number of points are pres-
num ber of relatively small features (making visual inspec-
tion difficult)' an automated process may be preferred.
such as the general process noted below chat can be used
in ArcGIS 9.x:
1. Open the Daniel Pickett owl GIS database (target
table) and stands GIS database (source table).
2. In the table of contents, right-click the target table
(stands GIS database), and seleCt joins.
3. Make sure the first option in the dialog box that opens
is set to 'Join data from anothe r layer based on spatial
location' (the default setting is 'Join attributes from a
table)_
4. Select the stands GIS database as the layer to join to
this layer (use ArcCatalog to add spatial reference
information if necessary)_ The Join Data d ialog box
162
152 Part 2 Applying GIS 10 Natural Resource Management

Database Table structure

Sourr:e

GIS database
representing
timber stands
. .
25 A I 260 I 70 I 37.7
: : :
29 I A I 200 I 50 I 21.1 "

Target (Destination)

GIS Database Point Ad"1s Fledglings Firstsight Lastslght

representing 1 2 1 19950618 20070821
owl locations
2 1 0 19980623 20070901 !-

Joined database
Resulting database:
the owl pOints database with the
appropriate stand conditions
that StXround eacfl point

Point Adults Fledglings Firstslght laslsight SIan<1 Veo_type Basal_area Age Mbl
1 2 1 19950618 20070821 25 A 260 70 37.7
2 1 0 19980623 20070901 29 A 200 50 21.1

Figure 9.9 Spatially joining the Danid Pickett stanch GIS database with the owl GIS
database.

will update to show you the types of feature classes
that yo u are joining, in this case Polygons CO Points.
5. Use the radio or option burron and choose that you
want each point to have the 3([cibures of the polygons
[hat 'it fulls inside' ramer (han 'is closest [0 it'.
6. Specify an outpUC location and name for the resulcing
joined database.
7. Choose OK to initiate the spatial join.
In ArcView 3.x these general steps can be taken
form the join:
1. Open the D an iel Pickett owl GIS database (targer
table) and stands GIS dat.abase (source table).
2. Open the amibute tables of both GIS databases.
3. Clear all selecced landscape features in both amibute
tables (to ensure no landscape fearures are selected).
4. With the mouse, click on the join item in the so urce
table (e.g .• the 'shape' field in ArcYiew) .
5. With the mouse, click on the join item in the target
table (e.g.• the 'shape' field in ArcYiew) .
6. Click the join table bunon to initiate the spatial join
process.
While this example is relatively straightforward, imag-
ine a case where you have several hundred poines. such as
research plots. and the goal is to quickly and accurately
determine what rype of stand each research plot is located
within. A poine-in-polygon join process would seem to be
a logical and efficient option to accomplish this goal, and
would likely result in fewer errors than a manually driven
process.
The spatial join process can also be used to identify the
{Q per-
number of features within another point. line. or polygon
database that are closest to features within a target data-
base. For example. suppose you had four possible ttail·
heads withi n a watershed where you co uld park YOUT
vehicle in order to visit six rain gauges from which YOli
need {Q collect precipitation measurements. Using the
trailhead locations (poi nts) as rhe target database. you
could spatially join the six rain gauge locations (points)
and determine wh ich of the nailheads was closest to the
largest number of the six gauges. This wou ld help you at
least (Q pick a trai lhead locacion in which to begin your
sampling. Another example might include examining a
number of watersheds (polygons) and wanting to deter-
163
 Chapter 9 Associating Spatial and Non-spatial Oatabases 153

mine wh ich was the most densely forested according to
(he number of uees, assuming that you had coordinates
(points) of all trees throughout your watersheds. Using
the watersheds as your target laye r, you could spatially
join the trees laye r and return the number of trees, com-
plete with an aruibute summary (average tree height for
example) for each wate rshed.
Making Joined Data a
Permanent Part of the
Target (Destination) Table
After a join process has been completed, you might decide
that the joi ned data should permanently reside within the
target table. One strategy to accomplish this goal would
be to add the appropriate number of empty fields to the
target tab le that will ultimately contain the joined data,
and declare that the data type of the empty fields be the
same as the data type of the joined data. T he va lu es of the
empty fields can be calculated to equal the values of the
joined data, thus filling the empty (yet permanent) fields
with the joined (yet temporary) data. Saving the target
table at this point results in a permanent change to the
database, with the data from the source table now a per-
manent pan of the target table. In addirion, removing or
changing the source table will not result in a correspon-
both databases. With this process, the goal is to have the
abi lity to display twO GIS databases, and to be able to
select a landscape feature from one and view the associ-
ated landscape feature{s) in the other. For example,
assume you have a source table represented by a GIS data-
base that contains multiple records related to landscape
featu res in another GIS database (the target table). In
Figure 9. 10, the tables of twO GIS database tables are illus-
trated; one represents a road system GIS database and the
other represents a culvert GIS database. As yo u may
notice, there are multiple culvertS associated with each
road (e.g., culvens 4 and 5 both are associated with road
602) . Joining these twO databases together would result in
a manY-CQ-one joi n process or o ne-to-many join process,
depending on what is chosen as the source and target
tables. With a manY-(Q-one join process (culverts as
source, roads as targetL some of the records in the source
table will not be present in the target table after the join
process has been completed . With a one-to-many join
process, (roads as source, cu lvens as target) you can iden-
tify which road is associated w ith each cu lve rt, however,
you will not be able to seiect a culvert and automatically
view the associated road .
Database Table structure

ding change to data in the new fields in the target table.

Unked Table 11
Another suategy may be to perform a join process, and
tI,en save (or export) the spatial GIS database that repre-
sents the target table to a new database. In some GIS soft-
ware programs the newly copied and saved GIS database
will contain all previously joined data as a permanent pan
GIS database
representing a
road system
with 1007 road
segments
Road

2
3
1

-Type

Rock
Rock

of the GIS database rather than as a temporary association . I 602 I Rock

Finally, exporting the target table (the tabular portion of • •

1006 Rock
the GIS database) after a join process was performed
wi ll generally create a new fil e that includes all data.
I 1007 I Oirt I
Unfortunately. this process does not preserve the landscape
features of the target table, only the underlying attribute Linked Table 12
data. An exported target table (after join processes have
GIS Oatabase Culvert Type Road
been performed) may rn.cilitate some natural resource man- representing 1 Aluminum 544

-
agement processes, such as report gene ration, metadata culvertlocatlons 2 SIee1 544
creation, or other subsequent non-spatial analyses. 3 Cedar 544
4 Polyethylene 602
5 Polyethylene 602
Linking or Relating Tables 6 Polyethylene 714
7 Aluminum 714
On occasion, you may want to simply link or relate twO
GIS databases together, allowing you to view both the
source and target tab les as separate ent ities, and to view Figure 9. 10 Linking a roads GIS database with a cuJvcru GIS
landscape features that are assoc iated with each other in database.
164
154 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Which process-Joining or linking-is more
dynamic? Perhaps linking. With linking. you can
visualize both the source and target tables. select
landscape feamces from either table. and view the
associated links from wither perspective. Further, if
To further illustrate the link or relate process, a general
set of steps can be followed in ArcGIS 9.x to associate two
GIS databases related (Q the Brown T fact: a culverts data-
base (Culverts. txt) and a roads GIS database:
1. Open the Brown Tract roads GIS database and cul-
vens text file.
2. In ,he ,able of contents. right-click the target table
(roads GIS database). and select Joins and Relates. then
select Relates.
3. Selec, the relate field in the ,arget table.
4. Identify the source table.
5. Select the relate field in the sou rce table.
6. After relating the two databases. perform an identify
process. selecting one of (he roads that are noted in the
culvert database. You should be presented with infor-
marion for both the road and the associated culverts
along tha, road.
In ArcView 3.x, the following general set of instructions
may work to create a link between the roads and the cul-
ven databases:
Summary
Join and link processes provide GIS users with a way to
temporary assoc ia te two or more databases. allowing an
expans ion of the mapping and ana lysis opportunities
within GIS without making permanent changes to the
databases. Before utilizing one of these processes you
should consider the types of databases ava ilab le. and the
type of association desired (e.g .. one-(O-one, one-to -
many. and so o n). In addition. the purpose of the
process should be understood. which mighr provide
guidance in the choice of a join or link process. For
example. you may decide on different courses of action
if the purpose is to:
some data are not linked (in either the source or tar-
get ,able) they are still visible and ava ilable for further
ana lysis . When a join process is used, source table
data not joined with target table data are unavailable
for funher spatial analysis.
1. Open the Brown Tract roads G IS database.
2. Open the roads GIS database attribute ,able (this is the
target table).
3. Open the Culverts. txt file (this is the source table) .
4. Select the link item in the source table (road).
5. Select the link item in the target table (road).
6. Choose Link from ,he Table menu.
At this paim a one-way link becween the roads and culverts
databases has been created. The process may need to be
repeated with ,he roles reversed (roads GIS database as the
source. Culverts.cxt as the target) to create a cwo-way link.
By linking the (wo tables together. you ca n select
records in one database (or features in either database),
and the landscape features they are associated. with may be
selected and highlighted in the other database. For exam-
ple. after linking together the culvert database with the
roads GIS database, you can select one or more cu lvens.
and the roads associated with those culverts may be simul-
taneously selected and highlighted in the roads GIS da,a-
base. In ArcGIS you can view the related data by using the
identify tool.
A. Bring together spatial and non-spatial databases to
make thematic maps.
B. Funher the ab ili ty to perform other spatial operations,
such as assoc iating non-spatia l stream buffer data with
a streams GIS database in order to facilitate a buffer
process.
c. Understand the spatial relationship between a sec of
points and other landscape features (through a point-
in-polygon process) .
D . Understand the association among multiple landscape
features in one database and their counterparts in
another database (through a li nk process).
165

Joining and relating processes often produce databases
char are only 'viccually' combined. meaning that no new
databases have been crea ted. but char ex ist ing informa-
rion appears ro be associated either in one [able (with a
jo in) or in twO tables (with a relate) . GIS users sho uld rec-
ognize mat this temporary condition exiS(5 and that fur-
ther acr ian is necessary in order fo r a permanent record of
rhe joined or linked info rmation to be created. The
Applications
9.1. Salamander habitat suitability index. Bob Evans,
the Brown Tract's wildlife biologist/hydrologist, devel-
oped some habitat suitabili ty index (HSi) values for a sala-
mander. He suggests joining rhe data provided in
'SAL_HSl.txt' with the Brown T ract stands GIS database.
He then wants you ro answer several questions abour the
extenr and spadal distribut ion of these areas, which are
summarized below.
a) How much land area is contained in the 0 .8 [Q 1.0
HSI range?
b) How much land area is contained in the 0.6
0.79 HS I range?
c) How much land area is contained in the 0.4
0.59 HSI range?
9.2. Newt habitat suitability index. Bob Evans has
also developed some habitat suitability index (HSi) values
for a newt. He provided data in the file 'NEWf_HS l. rxr'.
After joining the dara with the Brown Tract stands GIS
database, please address his needs, which are noted below.
a) Determine how much land area of high quali ty
newt habitat (HSI ~ 0.65) is contained with in 100
m of the road system.
b) Determine how much land area of high quality
newt habitat (HSI ~ 0.65) is contained wit hi n
1,000 m of the owl nest site.
c) Determine how much land area of high quality
newt habitat (HSI ~ 0.65) is contained in even-aged
stands over 50 years of age.
9.3. Sharp-shinned hawk habitat suitability index. In
addition to his previously discussed developments, Bob
Evans has also developed some habitat suitability index
(HSi) estimates for the sharp-shinned hawk covering the
years 2010, 2020, 2030, and 2040. His rendeney to pro-
vide this data in a texr file continues, and you can fin d it
in 'SSHAWK_HSl.txt'. Afte r joining the data with the
Chapter 9 Associating Spatial and Non-spatial Databases 155
exception to this vinuai [esuh is with a spatial join, in
which results are usually stored in a new database that
conrains all sparially jo ined info rmation. You shou ld
check your software package to dete rmine wherher it fol-
lows these OutpUt resu lts in the same way. Regardless of
which process (tabular-based or spatial join) is used to
associate two databases. users should track thei r proce-
dures and manage the ourpur acco rdingly.
Brown Tract stands GIS database, please add ress his needs
noted below.
a) Determine how much land area of higher quality
habitat (0.6-1.0) is contained within the Brown
Tract.
b) Prod uce a single map of the sharp-shinned hawk
habita r showing HSI values for the years 2010,
2020, 2030, and 2040.
9.4. Water sources and land allocations. John Frewer,
to a forester associated with the Brown Tract, is interested in
knowi ng what types of land allocations the water sou rces
[Q were located w ithin. To accomplish this task, perform a
poine- in-polygon operation (or selection by locar ion
query), using the water sources as the source table and the
stands GIS databases as the target table.
a) How many water sources are located in 'Even-aged'
stands on the Brown T ract?
b) What types of water sources are loca ted in uneven-
aged stands (lis r the water source types)?
c) How many water sources are located in research
areas?
9.5. Sawmills in a woodshed. You have recently been
hired as a procu rement forester for Chupp and Daughters
Sawmill in Floyd County, GA. Yo u need to understand
the competit ion for wood in the area. To perform rhis
task, use the southeastern counties GIS database, the
southeastern mills GIS database, and the mill data DBF
fi le. Jo in the mill data DBF file to the southeastern mills
GIS database and determine how many sawmills are
within 100 miles of Floyd County, GA. The mill loca-
tions and non-spatial mill a[cribures can be acquired from
the book's website o r the USDA Forest Service (2006).
9.6. New mill location. You work for Walker, Avery,
and Housron Lumbe r Company, a company that is
166
156 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
considering building a new hardwood sawmill mill in
Coffee County, AL. They need to understand how
much hardwood volume currently exists in (he area
around the county. To perform this task, use rhe south-
eastern counties GIS database and rhe county volume
DBF file.
References
USDA Forest Service. (2006). US wood-using mill loca-
t;0",-2005. Research Triangle Park, NC: USDA
Forest Service, Sourhern Research Stadon. Retrieved
April 16, 2007, from http: //www.s rs.fs.usda.gov/econ/
data/mills/miIl2005 .htm .
Join the county volume DBF file to the somheastern
counties GIS database and determine how much hard-
wood (soft and hard) volume is conrai ned in the counties
that surround, and include, Coffee County. The county-
level can be obtained from the book's website or the
USDA Forest Service (2007) .
USDA Forest Service. (2007) . FIA data mart: Download
files. St Paul , MN: USDA Fo rest Service, North
Central Research Station. Retrieved April 16, 2007,
from http ://www.nc rs2 .fs.fed.us/FIADatamart/
fiaclaramarc.aspx/fiadaraman.aspx.
167
Chapter 10
Updating GIS Databases
Objectives
This chapter is designed (Q provide readers with a discus-
sion of GIS processes that should be considered when
updacing GIS dacabases. Database updates are necessary
when landscapes and associated character isti cs. such as
ownership, change. There are a variety of methods you
can use to update a GIS database, yet only a few are pre-
semed here. The objective of this chapter. therefore. is to
provide an introduction to the poremiai applicarions in
(his area. More specifi cally, at the conclusion of this chap-
ter, readers should be able to understand:
I. why GIS databases need to be periodically updated and
maintained,
2. what issues might be associated with an update
process, and
3. whar GIS processes could be used to physically update
a database.
To accomplish these objectives, a discussion of the reasons
for updating GIS databases is firsr presented. Two rypes of
update processes are then examined, one where new land-
scape features are added to an existing GIS database, and
another where me landscape features and attributes in an
exisring GIS database are modified. These cwo examples
likely address rhe [WO most common fo rms of GIS dara-
base updares. This chapter relies heavily on the GIS
processes associated with edicing GIS databases. For a
review of these editing processes. please refer to chapter 3 .
GI S databases are rarely considered stacic entities: vege-
tation conditions change due to human manipulation and
namral disturbances. roads are constructed and obi iter-
ated, and some stream characteristics {pools. sediment, fish
abundance} may change as woody debris moves through
the system. Although you may have developed or acquired
GIS databases at o ne po int in time. as management needs
or direction change. or as the resources you manage
change, GIS darabases used to describe landscapes must be
updated. Table 10. 1 illustrates a number of events that
could occur and affect the landscape being managed, sug-
gesting that the GIS databases used to describe rhe land-
scape being managed must be updared to reflect changes.
Most natural resource management organizations (as well
as data development o rganizatio ns) have created a set of
processes and protocols to guide the updating of GIS data-
bases. Finding and illustrating a standard protocol is.
therefore. difficult because each organization generally will
develop the steps they feel are necessary to integrate new
dara within their system of natural resource information.
For examp le. assume a tract ofland was recendy purchased
by a land management organization. Integrating the forest
stand component of this new tract into a forest stand GIS
database can be accomplished in a number of ways, such
as the three processes described in Figure 10. 1. As database
protocols and organization strategies vary from one organ-
ization to anomer. there is no one update approach thar
will work for every organization .
The users of GIS databases are the ultimate customers
of groups (GIS departments. consultants, agencies) that
produce the sparial data. As GIS databases become avail-
able, and users begin to explore the usefulness of rhe data
for assisting in natural resource management processes.
the limitations of [he databases will become evident. The
period of rime from initial GI S database availability to
serious consideration of updates tQ the databases may last
168
158 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

TABLE 10.1 A sampling 01 reasons lor updating GIS databases

Update Update
spatial tabular
Events Examples data data

Stochastic disturbances hurricanes. fires. insect outbreaks 01' 01'

T ransiriOlls of (orcslS growth and yield 01'
Management activi ties harvesting. road consuucrion, 01' 01'
insrallalion I removal of culverts.
creation of trails. thinnings. NC .
T ransacrions land acquisitions. donations. sales 01' 01'
Regulations riparian management areas, owl 01' 01'
habitat areas, woodpecker habitat areas
Organizational policies special areas. personal reservations 01' 01'
Improvemcnu in digital onhophotographs, GPS captu re: 01' 01'
technology of road data, ownership boundaries, crc.
Organizational initiatives periodic I annual cruises. 01' 01'
photo interpretation of harvested areas
not normally recorded via normal processes
New data availabiliry databases developed by other organizations 01' 01'
C hanging map projections conform ing to new o rganizational standards 01'
Collaborative projectS watershed analyses. Ia.ndscape planning 01' 01'
efforts
Periodic maintenance cleaning up databases after spatial operations. 01' 01'
digitizing, or anributing processes

Process A Process B Process C from a few hours to a few months. Users of GIS databases
will ultimately suggest a variety of enhancements to the
Digitize an Digitize an
Collect GPS databases that would facilitate further ana lyses. For exam-
data lor an
area area
area
ple, the Brown T ract vegetation GIS database could be
modified to show more explicitly (he riparian areas, or
1
Erase overlaps
1
Erase over131>S
1
Edit spatial
could include more anributes that describe forest stand
structure. A roads GIS database might also be enhanced to
using corporate using corporale features (e.g., show the type of road surfacing or all of the trails (unau-
database database remove muttipath)
thorized roads) that weave through the property.

1 1
Select and
1
Select and
Updating these GIS databases ro include all of the infor-
marion (hat is necessary to make natural resource man-
Attribute the new
copy newly
delete features agement decisions may be, however, limited by the time
spatial features to be updated
digitized features (il necessary) and budget available ro make the changes, the quality of
(he information available to make the changes. and other
1
Update
t
Paste new features
1
AddGPS
organizational data standards. The needs of namral
resource managers. with regard to GIS databases. must
COij)Orate Inlo corporate features Into
eventually be considered along with (he costs of data
database database corporale database
development.

1 1 The Need for Keeping

Attribute the new Attribute the new
spatialfealures spatial features GIS Databases Updated
Figure 10.1 Three examples of update processes related to land Natural resource managers generally base managemem
acquisition. decisions on the best ava ilable data. The qua lity of data
169

can range from very precise and accurate (collected with
a high q ual ity GPS receiver) to somewhat imprecise and
inaccurate {drawn by hand from memory}. Keeping the
data used for making decisions accurate and updated is
therefore imponant, and thus the interval between
updates becomes important. For example, the update
interval that a resource managemem organization uses to
refresh the spatial extent {history} of their management
activities and the growth of their forest inventory is
imponant, since subsequent management decis ions
might be affected by previously implemented manage-
mem decisions. The imerval chosen can range from six
momhs. to a year, or even (WO years between updates,
depending on the GIS database considered. The interval
chosen depends on the organization's perception of the
usefulness and cost-effectiveness of such an update on a
GIS database. For example, if the goal of an organization
(e.g., a southern US forest management organization)
were to generate revenue for its stockholders, the need
for updating the data related to its primary resource (pine
forest stands) may be more important, and updated more
frequently than data related to secondary resources (hik-
ing trails). Other resources, such as roads, streams, cul-
vens, water resources, and wildlife may be more or less
imporram, depending on the goals of the organization,
thus the frequency with which these GIS databases are
updated may vary according to the organization's per-
ceived need to do so. At the extreme end of the spec-
trum. every GIS database could be updated continuously;
however, the cost of doing so may be qu ite high and the
task would require employees {or consultants} dedicated
to the task.
Two ofche more important questions an organization
must address, beyond determining when a GIS database
should be updated, are how the update process will be
accomplished, and who will do the work. As mentioned
earlier, the methods by which a GIS database could be
updated vary considerably; the fo rm of input cou ld range
from hand-drawn maps to LiDAR-derived measurements,
and the GIS processes could involve scanning, digitizing.
attributing, and other methods {Table 10.2} . As you may
have gathered from chapter 3, when a GIS database is
being updated, rhe database is being edited. In some form
or fashion , the imem is to change something about a GIS
database-either the landscape features or their underly-
ing attributes, or both. Two examples of GIS update
processes are now presemed, one related to a forest stands
GIS database maimained by a forest industry organization
in Florida, and the other related to a streams GIS database
Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 159
TABLE 10.2 Inputs and processes
that can be used to a ssist
a GIS database update
Input
Hand-drawn maps GPS features
T2bu lar datab2Ses Field nOles
A person's memory GIS Features developed by field personnel
Digital orthophotographs and subsequent interpretation
GIS processes
Digitiring Scanning
Joining Updating
Linking Copying J p2Sting
Importing Attributing
Querying and verification
mai ntained and distributed by the Washington State
Department of Natural Resou rces.
Example 1: Updating a forest stand
GIS database managed by a forest
management company
A typ ical forest management company in Florida might
update their forest stand GIS database on an annual basis.
Their field personnel collect information related {Q
changes in irs forest land ownership throughout a calen-
dar year, and the forest stand GIS database is updated near
the end of the calendar year. Why would they update the
forest stand GIS database once a yea r? The forest stand
GIS database is arguably the most important GIS database
for assisting industrial forest management activiries, and
field-level managers require high quality data (maps and
inventory data) to make managemem decisions. In addi-
tion, most corporations require an annual estimate of the
value and volume of resources, for planning and tax
reporting purposes. A less frequent updating interval may
not be appropriate given the short rotacions typical of
southern industrial forestry operations. For example,
waiting two years between updates of a timber stand GIS
database may represent 8- 10 per cent of the lengrh of a
forest harvest rotation. A more frequent imerval, say six
months, may provide field personnel with higher qualiry
information with which to make management decisions,
particularly in cases where a large amount of activity takes
place over a six-month period. Some have argued (hat
continuously updating GIS databases may be appropriate.
but the: time and cost required to update a GIS database
may make a nearly continuous update process impracti-
cal. Further, field personnel could easily become confused
when faced with a cominuously changing set of GIS data-
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160 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

bases. thus updating databases and leaving a window of
time {a year. perhaps} between changes may be perceived
as more des irable.
The changes to the forest stand GIS database that are
recommended by field foreSters and other natural
resource managers may be indicated o n hard-copy maps
and timber cruise forms. or they may be comai ned in d ig-
ital databases created in GIS or with GPS. Field foresters.
timber procurement managers. or other profess ionals
responsible for managing la nd will typically indicate
{draw} on maps the changes {e.g .• harvest and regenera-
tion activi ti es} that have occurred on [he forest land base
as these act ivit ies have been completed. This informacion
is usually sent to a central office {Figure 10.2}. which
takes ownership of the timber Stand GIS database. The
cemral office checks rhe new data for mistakes and omis-
sions according to a set of organizational standards, and
may ask for clarification from the field staff. The informa-
tion is rhen digitized, either in-house or by an external
con n actor. The resuhing digitized GIS database is
checked again for mistakes and omissions, and then ime-
grated into the official {sometimes called 'corporate} GIS
Field office Central office
database. and again checked for mistakes and omissions.
Finally. the forest stand GIS database is distr ibuted back
to the field office. either as a GIS database. or as hard-copy
maps and tables. The field office may then have itS own
verification procedures for checking the updated database
(or maps) fo r m istakes and omissio ns that may have
arisen during the update process. Processes such as these.
with a systematic method for data collection. entry, and
verification, are designed to ensure that high-qual icy data
will be developed and avai lable for use in natural resource
decision-making contexts.
Example 2: Updating a streams
GIS database managed by a
state agency
In rhe State of Washington, all fo rest harvest plans must
be subm itted to t he Department of Natu ral Resources
{DNR} for review and approval. A map must accompany
each plan, and illustrate the juxtaposition of proposed
activities in relation to, among other landscape features,
the stream system. To ensure a consistent definition of
the 'stream system', the DNR provides (at a minimal COSt,
as was illustrated in chapter 3) a streams GIS database for
the entire state. This database is conti nuously updated by

.r------ ---- ------- ----,,

Delineate changes Check data for
the DNR as new info rmat ion is co llected. However,
processes and protocols exist that are related [Q each
potential change to the GIS database. For example,
to be made to mistakes and
a database ,,~ omissions
assume a pri vate landowner surveyed a stream reach and
, noted that the type of stream {and perhaps location of
,, , L the stream} on the landscape is different than the type of

,,, ,,
stream illustrated in rhe DNR streams GIS database. The
Digitize changes ~ landowner has the option to submit ce rtain documenta-
,,, ,, tion [Q the DNR in suppOrt of a request to change the
Make management
,,, ~ ,,, DNR streams GIS database. The DNR d irects each request

,,
decisions using through a review process, and based on the outcome of
the database
, Check data for , the reviews, decides [0 ei ther accept or reject the pro-
,,
mistakes and r- J

, omissions posed changes suggested by the landowner. The amount

,, of time required to make a change in the streams GIS

,,
, L database, from initial submission by the la ndowne r to
, Integrate into official incorporation in the streams GIS database, may
,, corporate ~ -, require several months. The process is considered a con-
,, database

,,
tinuous one since approved changes to [he streams GIS
~ database can be made at any time during a calendar year.
Check data for Check data for , Therefore, landowne rs may need to continuously review
mistakes and mistakes and -J the statuS of the DNR streams GIS database in the areas
omissions omissions
where they own or manage land, and acquire updated
Figurc 10.2 A gcnerali"lcd proces.s for updating a forest stand C IS data as they deem necessary to reflect the latest stream
database. info rmation.
171
 Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 161

Updating an Existing TABLE 10.3 Attributes of stands in a

GIS Database by Adding 32.38 hectare (80 acre)
land purchase adjacent to the
New Landscape Features Daniel Pickett forest

GIS databases can be updated with new landscape features Vegetation Basal
Smnd Hectares Acus type area" Age MBP
(points. lines. or polygons) by either adding the new land-
scape features (Q an existing GIS database, or by editing 17.24 42.6 A 190 55 21.3

the existing landscape features. or boch . Two examples
are provided below to illuStrate updating a GIS database
by adding new landscape features . The firSt example
involves a land purchase and subsequenr addition of twO
forest stands co a stands GIS database. The second exam-
ple involves the addition of new trails to a trails GIS data-
base. In each case, assume that the new landscape features
were either digitized or collected with a GPS SYStem and
are available in a GIS format. Prior to [he iniciarion of the
update process, you should assume that the new data are
comained in GIS databases that are separate from the GIS
databases that need updating. Refer back to chapter 3 for
a review of methods and tools for development of a new
GIS database.
Updating a stands GIS database
Assume that (he owners of me
Daniel Pickett forest have
pu rchased 80 acres (32.38 hectares) of land adjacent to
the southwest corner of the original forest boundary
(Figure 10.3). Following process B illuStrated in Figure
10. 1. the Stand bounda ri es of this area have been digi-
2 15.t4 37.4 8 15 7 0.8
• squar~ f«t per acr~
h thousand board fttt per ac r~
gons were placed together. By simply copying the land-
scape features from the land purchase GIS database into
the stands GIS darabase. it is possible to bring the newly
digitized land purchase polygons into the stands GIS data-
base, however. the attributes of the new stands may not
be present. depending on the GIS software program being
used (Figure 10.4) . The new fo rest stand polygons would
then need to be attributed a second dme, after they have
been pasted intO (he original stands GIS database.
To avoid duplication of effort in update processes,
three options are clear: (l) digitize the new landscape fea-
tures directly into the original stands GIS database. (2)
use a merge process to com bine the newly digitized stands
with the origi nal stands GIS database. or (3) if available in
D Forest stands

tized inco a new GIS database chat is separate from the

o riginal stands GIS database. and these features have been
attributed wim data fields similar to that in the original
stands GIS database {Table 10.3}. The edge between the
newly digitized stands and original stands is seamless,
implying that there is no gap between the polygons of the
two GIS databases. and no overlap if the two sets of poly-

D Original stands Stand VegType Basal Area Age MBF

D Stands in land 1 A 200 50 21.2
purchase area 2 C 175 40 12.9

30 c 190 45 17.3
31 c 110 25 4.1
o o o 0
o o o o
Figur~ 10.4 Daniel Pick~n forest stands and land pu rchas~ a r~a aft~r
copying and pasting landscape fntures from th~ land purch3# GIS
Figure 10.3 Dani~ 1 Pick~[( for~$[ stands and land purchase area. datah3# to th~ stands GIS database.
172
162 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

rhe GIS software program being used, use an 'updare'
funcrion . ArcMap and ArcView 3.x, for example, both
have (he ability to use an update function made available
rhrough the XTools extension (Data Easr, 2007; Oregon
Department of Foresrry, 2003). When using a merge
process or an update funC[ion, the stands GIS database
will be updared with rhe new polygon dara contained in
the land purchase GIS darabase. If rhe land purchase GIS
database includes fields named and formarred exactly as
those in the forest stands GIS database, the 3ttrihme data
wi[hin [he land purchase GIS da[abase will be moved
(along wi[h rhe associa red purchased polygons) to rhe
updared srands GIS darabase (Figure 10.5).
The assumprion was made rhac [he polygons in che
land purchase GIS darabase seamlessly marched [he edges
of polygons in rhe Daniel Picke" foresr scands GIS da[a-
base. How is this possible? Matching rhe spacial juxtapo-
sition of the new landscape features to the landscape fea-
cures in [he GIS da[abase being updaced (the stands GIS
da[abase) can be accomplished using one of at leasc cwo
mechods, depending on what rype of process is available
within the GIS software program being used: (I) copy [he
new po lygons into the original stands GIS database and
use snapping tools [0 properly match rhe new polygons
wi[h the original scands polygons, or (2) use a process as
described in the fi rst cwo sceps of processes A and B of
Figure 10.1. Here, you might firsc digi[ize the new land
purchase polygons beyond che excent needed in the new
land purchase GIS database, creating an area of overlap
with the polygons in [he "ands GIS database (Figure
10.6). Then, erase from [he land purchase GIS da[abase
the area of overlap with the stands GIS database, creating
a second (new) land purchase GIS database. In [his new
land purchase GIS database, [he edges of the new poly-
gons seamlessly match the edges of [he associated poly-
gons in the stands GIS database (Figu re 10.7).
Updating a trails GIS database
The existing trails system for the Brown Tract was digi-
tized several years ago using hard-copy maps provided by
the forest recreation planner (Figure 10.9). While suit-
ab le for recreation planning and the development of
recreation maps to guide visitors around the area, the trail
syscem described in the [rails GIS database co uld very well
be considered out-of-da[e. The [rail system, like ocher fea-
[Ures of a landscape, evolves as the managers of the forest
develop new trails, or as people find different hiking or
mountain biking rouces through the landscape. The latter
Overlap
D Or~inal stands
Stands in land
acquisition area

D Timber stands

Figure 10.6 Overlap of new land purchase polygons with a GIS

database that will be updated.

D Original stands
Stand VegType Basal Area Age MBF o Stands in land
1 A 200 50 21.2 acquisition area
2 C 175 40 12.9

30 c 190 45 17.3
31 c 110 25 4.1
o A 190 55 21.3
o B 15 7 0.8

Figu~ 10.5 Daniel Pickett forest stands and land purchase ana after Figure 10.7 Land purchase GIS dat:lbasc after erasi ng the overlap
updlUing the stands GIS database wing the land purchase GIS database. with the stands GIS database.
173
 Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 163

The term digitizing, as described in chapter I. means to ally based on <he standard protocols within an organiza-
cooven a hand-drawn (or other rype 00 map CO a digical tion, (he risks relared to potential errors in the resulting
image of a map. Normally. digitizing is performed using GIS database (e.g., errors mat may lead to making incor-
a digidzing table and a digitizing puck. A map is laid on rect management decisions in the future), the quality of
the table, taped down to ensure that it doesn'[ move dur- both hardcopy and digital products <hat would be used to
ing [he digitizing process. and at least four control points suppon manual or heads-up digitizin~ and the time and
on the map. for which on-the-ground coordinates are cost of the dara development effon. Thus a balance must
known, are emceed imo the compurcr system using the be struck between <he organizational policies. <he level of
digitizing puck (similar co a computer mouse) . The puck effon required to delineate landscape features, and the
is <hen used ro trace all of <he polygons or lines to be dig- need to adequately and accurately describe those landscape
itized, or (Q nme the poinrs that need ro be digjrited. features. For example. Figure 10.8 illustrates twO artempts
These landscape features are then saved as a GIS database. to digitize a young forest, with more effort (and rhus rime)
The person using the digitizer can control [he number of being applied to one over the other. Which one of these is
vertices that describe lines or polygons. Digitizing points more accurate or useful ro those making management
along 'salient features' (i.e.• placing more vertices at very decisions? Unfortunately the answer is uncenain.
distinct changes in stand boundaries. or road cUlVes) is a
common method of digitizing. Other types of digitizing
include allowing the creation of vertices along equal dis-
ranees moved by the digitizing puck {e.g., a venex created
every millimeter mat the puck moves} or at equal time
intervals during the digitizing process (e.g., a vertex cre-
ated evety second during <he digitizing process).
The term heads-up digitizing probably arose because
a person's head is up. facing a computer screen, when
landscape features are being digitized directly on a com-
puter monicor rather than on a digitizing tablet. When
performing traditional digitizing using a digitizing tab le
and puck. a person generally has <heir head down. since
they need to look down upon their map. With heads-up
digitizing, a reference GIS database (perhaps a digital
or<hop hotograph) is generally used as a guide for the cre-
ation of new points. lines, or polygons. A compucer mouse
is used to draw the new landscape features. Depending on
the ski ll of <he person performing the heads-up digitizing
function and factors associated with the supporting spatial
databases (scale and resolution), the accuracy of this
method may be just as good as when digitizing using a
digitizing table and puck. However, heads-up digitizing is
much easier and faster. In addition. the chance for error
through heads-up digitizing is greatly reduced because reg-
istration coordinares need not be entered and verified. Of
course, this assumes that the reference GIS database (e.g.,
<he digital orthophotograph) contains a limited amount of
error. Given these trade-offs, a decision must be made
with each digitizing project regarding the method of Figure 10.8 Two delineations of a young fores l, one using twice
developing new landscape features. The decision is gener- ;u many vertices when digitizing (above) than the other (below).

174
164 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

---- . Trails
- - - Proposed
trail
- Roads
CJ Forest
boundary

\. ./ 1
.•..••.. I
i..
'. <" .......~ .
....... \
....•.
Figure 10.10 Proposed new trail on the Brown Tract.

--- - Trails
- - Roads
[:=J Forest
boundary
Figure 10.9 Trail system of the Brown T r:lCL
case usually involves the development of unauthorized
tra ils. which the fo rest managers mayor may not decide
to more fully deve lop and mainta in (or they may decide
to develop measures to hinder the use of those trails) . In
addition, as resources become more popular and visita-
tions increase (as is the case with many urban-proximate
recreation destinations), there may be a need CO identify
additional resources and trails with which to decrease the
density of use. In some cases, closing trails eith er season-
ally or permanently is necessary to prevem resource degra-
dation such as soi l compaction and erosion.
The forest recreation planner decided that a new
authorized (rail would be of value (0 the recreation pro-
gram (Figure 10. 10). Mor the new trail was developed,
the spatial coordinates of the trail's location were collected
using GPS, brought into a GIS software program as a new
GIS database comaining line features, attributed, and saved
as the 'proposed trail' GIS database. Since both the origin al
trails GIS database and the proposed trails GIS database are
composed of line features, and not polygons, they can be
brought together without the worry of creating landscape
For example. the new trail may not end with a node that
allows direct connection to a vertex of a trail in the o rigi-
nal trail system (Figu re 10.1 1). This creates a gap in the
linear extent of the trail at the intersection point and will
require some post-merging editing to co rrect.
To update the original trails GIS database, the original
trails GIS database could be merged with the proposed
trails GIS database. When doing so, only the fields (attrib-
utes) with in the proposed trail GIS database that match
exactly w ith the attributes within the original tra ils GIS
database (i n both attribute name and type) will be moved
into the new merged GIS database. The spatial position of
the proposed trails , as mentioned above and desc ribed in
Figure 10.1 I. may then need to be edited. In addition, a
verification of the attribu te data (Figure 10.12) may sug-
gest some alterations as well (e.g.• the trail number of the
proposed new trail is the same as another existing (rail in
the original trails GIS database) . An understanding of the
update process (Figure 10.13) will be of value in the plan-
ning of projects that involve alterations or updates to GIS
databases.
---- . Trails
- - Proposed
trail
...., .""',.,.,"
",

featu res that overlap (and hence, in the case of polygons, .......
"',
leading (Q a double-counting of some areas in area calcu-
latio ns). However, careful anention must be paid to the Figure 10.11 Proposed new trail and iu relation to another trail from
connectivity of the network of lines that desc ribe the trails . the origina1 trails GIS d21abase.

175
 Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 165

Collect GPS
data IOf an
area

~
c;. ---- Traits

c::::::J Fores.
boondary
Edit spatial
leatures (e.g.,
remove multipalh)

~
. . <. ., ,0
----'.'. ;
!
~:r, ..
Attribute spatial
features

:~
~

.: .'
><"'::~:;: "'~(' <./
Merge new
features into
original database

~
Trail Length Conation Source Edit spatial
410.5 AuthOfized Trails position of new
AuthOfized Trails features
2 1183.2

~
42 704.1 Unauthorized Trails Verify I edit
43 1261.5 Unauthorized Trails allribtJte data In
updated database

Figure 10. 12 Updated trail system of the Brown Tract. Figun 10. 13 The process used to update the trails G IS database.

Large GIS database updating projectS require careful con-
sideration of the time and COst requ ired to successfully
complete the project. For example, a roads GIS database
for a 100,000 hectare foresr may have been originally
digitized from hard-copy maps (drawn by hand) and,
therefore, might contain some spatial position errors. If
you were to consider updating many of the roads in the
GIS database by collecting new data with a GPS, the fol-
lowing should probably be considered:
I. The development of a sta nda rd protocol fo r GPS
data collection (e.g., maxi mum PDOP), to ensure
an acceptable and consistent level of accuracy in
the data coUected.
2. The need to drive (or walk) all roads that need
updating.
3. The need to differentially correct and manage the
GPS-collected databases.
4. The identification and elimination of erro r in the
GPS data (such as multi-path erro r).
5. The removal of the old roads from the updated
roads GIS database.
6. The connectivity of new roads [0 old roads that
were not updated.
7. The developmen( of a verification process to ensure
that (he attributes of (he new roads are correct.
Determining the number of person-days required to
accomplish each step will depend on the people, equip-
ment, and technology available. The alternative [0 a
large, single process fo r updating a GIS database is to per-
form it in small phases. However, while the COS( of using
multiple smaller phases may be lower than a single large
project (assuming it requires several years to complete all
of the phases), the total cost of the update process will
likely be lower if the entire project were completed as a
single project due to the economies of scale (fewer stan-
up and clean-up operations) . In addition, fewer errors
might arise since the same people will be working with a
protocol that is clearly stated and understood.

176
166 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

Updating an Existing orthophotograph to examine how well rhe landscape fea-

rures are being rep resented. Us ing the boundary GIS data-
GIS Database by Modifying base of the Brown Tract as an example, you will find that
Existing Landscape Features a particular line may either incorrectly identify the forest
and Attributes boundary, or that a management operation on an adja-
cent landowner's property may have been incorrectly
An alternative to updating GIS databases with new land- located (Figure 10.1 4). If this is. in fact. an incorrect
sca pe features contained in other GIS databases is [0 mod- boundary line specification within the boundary GIS
ify existing landscape features using [he editing functions database, then editing the appropriate vertices that define
described earlie r in this book. While this alternative may the boundary while using the digital orthophotograph as
see m mo rc logical than what was previously described in a guide can easily modify the spatial position of the
this chapter. the ri sk of damaging the GIS database being boundary. If. however. yo u needed to be very precise
updated is grearer. For example. the processes described regarding the location of me forest boundary, info rma-
earlier have a relatively low risk of damaging the original
GIS features (the ones not requirin g updating). These
processes invo lved creating and modifying landscape fea-
rures in a G IS database se parare from the original GIS
database, then moving the new features into the original
GIS database only when it was appropriate ro do so. Here,
editing the original GIS database may pose a higher risk of
damaging landscape features thar did not requi re updat-
ing due [0 human error. And it is possible that these
errors can occur withom realizing a mistake had been
made. In addi rio n. unless the steps taken in editing a GIS
database were carefully documented, when errors are
located it may prove difficult to understand wh ich land-
scape fearures had been verified as correct, and which may
require furthe r editing.
Two processes are next briefly described to illustrate
rhe update of GIS databases by modifying existing land-
scape features. The first process requires editing the loca-
tion of landscape features with the assistance of digital
orthophotographs. The second process illustrates updat-
ing attribute data in a GIS database with the assistance of
a JOIl1 process.

Editing the spatial position of

landscape features using digital
orthophotographs
As described earlier. heads-up digitizing may be used to
assist in the GIS database update process. Digital
orthophotogtaphs may be of benefit in updating the posi-
tion oflandscape features if the orthophotogtaphs are reg-
istered appropriately [Q the correct landscape position,
and if they have been stored in the coordinate and projec-
tion sys tem consisrent w irh the GIS databases to be
updated. Point. line. and polygon GIS databases ca n be
Figure 10.14 Boundary line issue on the Brown T raC l.
displayed in a GIS software program on top of a digiral
177
 Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 167

tion from a land surveyor survey-grade GPS measure-

Stand-level
mems of properey corners would be more appropriate in Stands GIS
forest
database
updating the spatial position of the boundary.
When updating the spacial position of landscape fea-
tu res in a GIS database, you must also be aware of the
potential issues that may arise in other associated GIS
Forest growth
databases. Here, for example, the imem may be to simply and yield model
update the position of the boundary of the Brown T race.
However, by doing so, the spatial extem of the land own-
ership is no longer consisrem with other polygon data-
bases used to represem the Brown T racti the stands and Summarize
stand -level
soils GIS databases being cwo good examples. Thus, afcer data
updating the boundary of the Brown Tract. a correspon-
ding update of the affecced polygons in the stands and
soils GIS databases may also be requi red.

Updating the tabular attributes

using a join process
Replace old
In some circumstances only the attribute data of a GIS summaries with
database may require periodic maimenance. For example. new summaries
if over a given yea r no activities have been implememed on
part of an ownership then perhaps only the a[[ributes that
describe the structural condition of the forest(s) need [0 be
updated. In this process {Figure 1O.IS}, the update might Remove the join
be accomplished by passing the stand-level forest inven-
[Ory data through a growth and yield model, summarizing
the resulting forest structural conditions. saving this data
in a non-spatial database. then joining the non-spatia l
database to the stands GIS database. A unique stand iden-
tifier. such as the stand number. could be used to connect
records in the non-spatial database [0 the forest G IS layer. Figure 10.15 A process to update attribute data in the Daniel Pickett
Using the Daniel Picken forest as an example. a non- stands GIS d:lt.abase.

spatial database that represents the updated growth of

stands {Update. txt} can be joined [0 the stands GIS data- anributes that represem the updated basal area. age. and
base attribute table. using the stand identification number volume {MBF} . The joined non-spatial table can subse-
as the join item. Then. the anributes within the original quently be removed from the original stands GIS data-
stands G IS database can be replaced with the joined base, and the updated stands GIS database can be saved.

Summary

There are a variery of methods yo u can employ [0 update
a GIS database. Several of the approaches were described
with the examples provided in this chapter. GIS databases
are rarely static. and in only in a few situations, such as in
the delineation of national. provincial. sta te. or couney
boundaries. can you be con fidem that changes to a GIS
database will rarely occur. Landscape features can change
quite often: watershed boundaries change as the processes
used to define watershed change, public land survey {PLS}
section lin es may change as corners are reestablished.
stream locarions change as they are better mapped using
GPS or digital orthophotographs, and of course, vegeta-
tion stand boundaries change wi[h management of natu-
ral resources or with nacural disturbances. Attribute data
178
168 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
associated with GIS databases can change just as often,
and may need periodic updati ng. In addition, given con-
tinued improvemenrs in measurement technology, it is a
certainty that the effort and COSt requ ired for collecting
update informacion for natural resou rces will conrinue CO
decrease in the future . The redu ced resou rces required fo r
collecting update information will likely lead to an
increase in update frequencies for many natural resource
organizations. At the very leas t, update COSts will play less
of a role in dererm ining how often to update a spatial or
non-spacial database.
The processes used to perform an update of a GIS
Applications
10.1. Land purchase. In the middle of the Brown Tract
you may have noticed a piece ofland that is managed or
owned by someone else. Let's assume that the owners of
the Brown T ract purchased this piece ofland , in an effort
to consolidate the ownership area. You have been asked to
develop stand boundaries for this area, and incorporate
them into the stands GIS database. Specificall y, you need
to delineate the stands into logical age or structural cate-
gories, although the only attribute you are asked to add to
the GIS database is one for 'land allocations' (even-aged or
uneven-aged). The forest staff will evemu ally develop an
inventory for these stands and produce age, timbe r vol-
ume, and other statistics. To accom pl ish [his updaring
task, you decide to use the digital orthophotograph asso-
ciated w ith the Brown Tract GIS databases as a backdrop,
and to use heads-u p digicizing techniques to delineate the
new stands.
The forest planning staff needs the following infor-
mation :
a) How much area ofland in eve n-aged sra nds will be
added to <he Brown Tract?
b) How much area of land in uneven-aged stands will
be added to the Brown Tract?
c) A map of the new stands that ill umates the land
allocation of each new s tand, and includes the
Brown Tract roads, streams, and digital orthopho-
tograph.
10.2. Pondering the update process. In one example in
this chap ter an update of (he Daniel Picken forest stands
GIS database was described, where a 32.4 hectare (80
ac re) parcel of land was purchased. The edge between (he
database will likely be different from one o rganization [Q
the next, and from one 'Ype of GIS database to the next.
Careful cons ideration of the components of a system (the
people involved. the databases cons idered. the data acqu i-
sition options. the softwa re and hardware techn ology
available, the budgetary constraintS), and the needs of the
ultimate customers (field perso nnel) will help determine
the appropriate update process for each GIS database. In
any update process, copies should be made of the data-
bases that are subject to updates. These copies should be
kept until such time that the updates are veri fied, and that
no furthe r need exists for the updates.
polygons representing the land putchase and the polygons
in rhe original stands GIS database was assumed to be
seamless.
a) What GIS processes co uld be used to ens ure that
the edge would be seamless?
b) Draw a Row chart of a process that could be used
to ensure a seamless edge.
10.3. Adding new roads to the Brown Tract roads GIS
database. Assume locations of a new set of roads have
been captured with GPS equipment. The GPS-captured
features are stored in the GIS database called 'New_roads'.
Update the Brown Tract roads GIS database by incorpo-
rating these new road features . Use your best judgment to
att ribute them in a consistent manner with the attributes
in the roads GIS database.
a) How many kilometers (or miles) of dirt or native
surface roads were in the original roads GIS data-
base?
b) How many kilometers (or miles) of dirt o r native
su rface roads are comained in the updated roads
GIS database?
c) How many kilometers (or miles) of rocked roads
were in the original roads GIS database?
d) How many kilometers (or miles) of rocked roads
are contained in (he updated roads GIS database?
10.4. Update process for a streams GIS database. A
field forester working on the Brown Tract has compared
mapped locations of streams to actual stream locations.
and has discovered some differences. She has proposed
that the mapped meams be updated and has asked for
179

your guidance in how this process might be accom-
plished. Describe three options fo r gathering the data nec-
essary to fuci lirate an update of the streams GIS database.
and the merits of each approach.
10.5. Update intervals and approaches. A recreation
manager. who has learned of you r geospatial data skills.
has asked your advice abou t updating the I O-year-old GIS
(fails system. Two trails have been added [0 the system
during (he past five years . The recreat ion manager is new
to the area and does not know much about GIS and
rel ated techno logies. The trails system is near an urban
cenrer and indications are that use demity is increasing.
Evidence of increasing use density includes a growing
number of conflicts being repocted by horseback riders.
dog owners. and hikers throughout the forest. Additional
evidence includes an unauthorized trail that is now clearly
visible on the landscape. and which shows signs of signif-
ieanr use at one of the primary trailheads.
a) What is an approp riate update interval for trail
information? Defe nd yo ur cho ice .
b) How wou ld you recommend that any new spatial
data be collected?
c) How does any new spat ial and attribute info rma-
tion collected be integrated into the exisdng GIS
trails database?
d) What arrribures of trails would you encourage the
recreation manager to collect during field visits co
the trails? Defend you recommendations.
References
Data Easr. (2007). XTools pro. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
from http://www.xtoolspro.com.
Chapter 10 Updating GIS Databases 169
10.6. Update tools and approaches. You've been asked
to create a s pacial data laye r representing scructures
(b uildings). streams. roads. and watershed boundaries
within a relatively small 259-hectare (640 acres) experi-
mental fores( (hat is home to studies on hydrological
observarion and testing. At present, a polygon identifies
th e adm inistrative boundary of the experimental forest
and only primary roads and perennial screams are
included in exisring spatial databases. The exisring data
was created from hard copy maps at a scale of 1:24.000.
You have at your disposal a 1:24.000 digital topographic
quadrangle. a 30 m digital elevation model. a I m' reso-
lution digiral orrhophotoquad. a consumer grade GPS.
and a tOtal station. To use the rotal station, cwo reference
benchmarks are located within 2.0 km (I.2 miles) of the
forest boundaries.
a) What data source andlor inscrumenr would you
use to capture the new spatial information relared
(0 :
I. structures?
ll . secondary roads?
111. smaller st reams, including ephemeral streams?
watershed bounda ries?
IV.
b) Which of the new spatial information sources
described in pan (a) would you incorporate into
existing GIS databases to update them?
c) For the data you identified to be updated into
exisring GIS database (described in parr (b». how
would you incorporate the new information into
existing GIS databases?
Oregon Deparrmenr of Forestry. (2003). Guide to Xtools
extension. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Foresny.
180
Chapter 11
Overlay Processes
Objectives
One of [he grea< strengths of GIS is the capability to inte-
grate landscape features and attribute info rmation from
more [han one GIS database into a single GIS database.
This capability is usefu l because it allows you to actively
investigate and determ in e relatio nshi ps between land-
scape features. Upo n co mpletion of this chapter. readers
should have a suffic ient amount of cools in their GIS [001-
box to perfo rm many of the common vector GIS overlay
analyses required of field personnel working in natural
resource organizat ions. w hethe r they are employed in
forestty, wildlife, soils, fisheries, or hydrology fields. The
objectives of this chapter to provide readers with an intro-
duction to three primary rypes of overlay analysis: the
intersect, identity, and union processes. In addition, the
ability of these overlay processes [Q accommodate differ-
ent vector feature rypes (point. line, and polygon) is con-
sidered. When this chapre r is completed, readers should
have obtained knowledge and understanding of:
1. the Outcomes from using an overl ay process to accom-
pli sh one or more analytical tasks w ith in GIS;
2. the circumstances that help you decide when each of
the three overlay processes might be used (0 suppOrt
an analysis or research objective; and
3. the differences among the th ree ove rlay processes, and
between them and other similar GIS processes.
The topics discussed in this chapter relate to spatial
overlay processes. Overlay processes are spatial analysis
techniques that involve two or more GIS databases. More
specifically, overlay processes can be used to investigate
and identify spatial relationships becween twO o r mo re
databases. Overlay processes are powerfu l GIS tools and
they represent what many consider ro be the essence of
GIS: the ability to integrate and organize information
from multiple spatial data layers into a single database.
Overlay processes can be thought of as modelling tech-
niques that allow us to consider what might occur from
(he inregration of info rmation from multip le sources.
Perhaps the most widely recognized example of pre-G IS
(ma nual) overlay analysis is that demonstrared in Ian
McHarg's boo k Design with Nature (I 969). As me n-
tioned earlier in chapter I, this book provided examples
of manual map overlays that were used ro idenrify areas
that were su itable for certa in activities. Design with
Nature inspired many people to apply manual overlay
techniques for their own analysis needs and to also con-
sider developing digital tools (GIS) that might be used to
make ove rl ay analysis more precise and efficient.
The topics discussed in rhis chapter relate to spatial
analysis processes that are similar ro merging (c hapter 8),
and to obtai ning information about specific geographic
regions (chapter 7) . There are, however, some very dis-
tinct differences between the merge process and (he over-
lay processes presented in this cha pter. Whe n twO (or
more) polygon GIS databases are merged, for example, the
resulti ng GIS database may consist of overlapping poly-
gons. The processes presented in this chapter-the inter-
sect, identity, and union processes-all result in new out-
put GIS databases where the landscape features do not
overlap. Overlapping areas and attributes are combined.
in some form or fashion, rhus the potential exists for poly-
gons to be splir and combined and their topology re-
assessed in the result ing GIS database. Calculating the area
181
 Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 171

covered by polygons in a merged GIS da",base may there- GIS database Spatial features Tabular attributes
fore be misleading, due to the presence of overlapp ing
polygons. Funher. you may be imerested in the character- Input GIS databases
istics of rhe actual areas that overlap, such as the overlap-
Database to be attributes:
ping soils and forest stands. and how this information can intersected : stands basal area, volume
help you make berrer (or more informed) management per acre, vegetation
type, age
decisions. To accomplish this with a merged GIS database
is difficu lt, as the overlapping polygons are independent
and share no informadon mher than that which the user
can obtain visually on a map or computer mon iroc.
Database used to
perform the attributes:
day, month, year
Intersect Processes intersectioo: fire

When performing an in tersect process. you hope to

acquire information about rhe overlapping areas of [wo
GIS databases. The term 'inrersecc' implies (hat features ------------------
meet or cross at cenain points. and (in the case of poly- Output GIS database

gons) share common areas (Merriam-Webster, 2007). In Resulting

using an imersect process. a third. new GIS database will
be created [hat consists of only those areas where the two
original GIS databases ove rl ap, no more , no less. For
example, Figure 11.1 shows rwo GIS databases , one that
represems vegetat ion (a stands C IS database), and the
other representing a burned area from a fire. If you used
an inte rsect process on the two GIS databases, the result-
ing GIS database wou ld conta in only the geographically
overlapping landscape features. Spatially, the extent of
the output will be defined by the boundaries of the poly-
gons in the original two GIS databases: stands outside
the burned area are excluded and the burned area out-
side of the vegetarion stands is excluded. The extent of
the attribute data that will be conta ined in the resulcing
GIS database can include attribute data from one data-
base or all arrribute data from both of the original GIS
databases.
By comparison, a similar result can be obtained using
a clipp in g process. Here, you might clip the vegetation
GIS database using the fire GIS database. This alternative,
while providing the same geographic representation of the
vegetat ion burned by the fi re. provides no attributes of
the fire in the resulting output GIS data base. Although
the example includes only one fire, suppose you had a fire
GIS database that contained the geographic boundaries of
several fires that may have occurred over a summer. If
each fire polygon was attributed with the day, month, and
year of its inception, this information would not be con-
tained in rhe output GIS database if a clipp ing process
was used . To generate a GI S database that not only
included the stands within the burned areas, but also the
database: attributes:
stands, defined basal area, volume
along original per acre, vegetation
stand boundaries type, age, day, month,
yet only within the year
boundary of the fire
Figure ) ).) Intersecting the stands GIS database with the fire GIS
database on the Daniel Pickett forest.
stand and fire attributes. you shou ld consider using an
Intersect process.
The intersect process works by locating the arcs (links)
that are present in one GIS database that overlap some
area in the complementary database. For example, GIS
database # 1 in Figure I 1.2 contains a single polygon
defined by two arcs. GIS database #2 contains twO poly-
gons and 7 arcs. The polygon contained in GIS database
#1 does overlap the polygons in GIS database #2, as arc I ,
runs from the middle of arc 2, to the middle of arc 2"
crossing over arc 2<\ in the process. Therefore, arc 11 over-
laps an area of represented by the polygons in darabase
#2, while arc 12 does not. Further, portions of arcs 2 4 • 2 6 •
and 2, overlap some area represented by the polygon in
database #1, yet arcs 2 " 2" 2" and 2, do not. The result-
ing output GIS database will conta in two polygons, with
one side bounded. by portions of arc I I (split at the inter-
section with arc 2<\), and the other sides by portions of
arcs 2<\. 2 6 , and 2 7 ,
To further ill ustrate the power of the imersect process,
the next example illustrates how you can use the results
[Q assist in developing information relevanr to natural

182
172 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

area. In addition , the ability to accurately and precisely

~
meas ure and map changes in soil types is limited by the
Input GIS tremendous effort that is required to sample and del ineate

~,,
Database #1
soils. Nonetheless, by overlaying the twO GIS databases
using an intersect process (Figure II.3), a GIS database is
,
created where polygon boundaries are now defined by
Input GIS 2,
Database #2 ,:, 22 those lines that were present in both the stands and soils
2, 2. ,, 2, GIS databases. The outside boundaty of both the soils GIS
,, database and the stands GIS database was exacdy the
,
. 2, . 2, same, therefore no areas covered in either database are
excluded in the resu lting stands/soils GIS database. The

_~I.o'---
resulting sta nds/soils GIS database co ntains more poly-
Input GIS In#l and #2 gons (47 polygons) than what was fo und in th e original
Database #1
~ Inl1 , outside
01112
stands GIS database (31 polygons) and soils GIS database
(7 polygons) . Upon inspection, you may find that may of
these polygons are actually spurious (small and irrelevant)
Input GIS
Database #2 +-- --1- In #2, outside polygons crea ted simply due [Q the happenstance location
of #1 of the bounda ries of polygons from the original twO GIS
databases (Figu re 11.4).
The tabular data co ntained in the resulting intersected
stands/soils G IS database contains all of the anribures of

AP~r,on
Output GIS ola~ olaret, . GIS database Spatial features Tabular attributes
Oatabase
Aportion
Aportion Aportion of arc 2 ~
Input GIS databases
of arc 26 of arc 2,

~
Database to be attributes :
Figure 11.2 An example of the processing of landscape features basal area, volume
Intersected: stands
during an inH:rsect process. per acre. vegetation
type, age

resource management planning. In this exam ple. ass ume

YO ll are interested in developing information for a poten-

~
tial forest fertilization project, and an examination of the
Database used to attributes:
inre rsecrion of [he D aniel Pic ke[[ stands and so ils GIS perform the soil type, response
databases would be helpful, since the decision to fertilize intersection: soils to fertilization
may be based on both fo rest srru crural co nditions and soil
conditions. Separately. each of these [\.'10 GIS databases
comains a theme: th e stands GIS database describes the
forest structural conditions of the Daniel Pickett forest
------ ------ ------
and the so ils G IS database describes the underlying soil Output GIS database

types and their characteris tics. The stand polygon bound- Resulting
database : attributes :
ari es are defined by tra nsitions in forest structural condi-

§i
stands, defined basal area, volume
tions (e.g., a change from young fores t to older forest along original per acre, vegetation
defines a sta nd boundary), roads, and perhaps st reams. stand boundaries type, age, soil
as well as soils type, response to
The soil polygo n boundaries are defin ed by changes in polygon fertilizati on
soil characteristics, although so me would argue that these boundaries

boundaries shou ld be co nsidered 'fuzzy' because soils,

generally speaki ng, do not change as abrupdy as stand Figure 1l.3 Intersecting the stands GIS database with the soils GIS
characteristics might, bm change gradually over a larger database on the Daniel Pickett fo rest.

183

Spurious polygon
-;/jLy--J
Height at this Width: about
20 meters
end: about 1.5
meters
Figun 11.4 A spuriow polygoo that was created during the intersect
process.
each of the original stand polygons, and all of the attrib-
utes of each of the original soil polygons. Thus for each of
the 47 polygons in the stands/soils GIS database, you now
know the stand conditions above ground as well as the
soil conditions below ground level. With this GIS data-
base you can perform queries that rdate to both stand
and soil conditions. For example. based on a discussion
with the foreSters associated with the Daniel Pickett for-
eSt, it may be decided that 20-30 year old Stands on soils
that we re ame nable [Q a high forest growth response [Q a
fenilization treatment would be the most preferable areas
What is a spurious polygon? When something is
labeled as 'spurious'. it is meant [Q indicate that it is
counterfeit. false. fictitious. or not legitimate
(Merriam-WebSter, 2007). Within GIS, spurious poly-
gons are certain ly genuine. and can be somewhat trou-
bling to eliminate. These polygons arise simply
because the com pmer and GIS software are taking two
GIS databases and combining them according to the
instructions provided by the user. They are only doing
what they were told to do: break polygons along inter-
secting lines and create new polygons using the newly
formed intersections. Spurious polygons might nO{ be
considered legitimate. however. given the manage-
mem needs of an organization. Most organizations. in
fact. have what they term 'minimum mapping units'.
and polygons below this size are eliminated by being
Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 173
to ferti lize. To find these areas in the Stands/soils GIS
database, you might develop a query such as the following
(for a review of queries, please refer back to chapter 5):
[Age;" 20) and [Age S 30) and [Fertresp = 'high')
where:
Age = the stand age attribute in the Daniel Picke[[
Stands GIS database, and
Fenresp = the fertilizatio n response a[[ribute in the
Daniel Pickett soils GIS database
With th is rype of query GIS will provide the locations
of areas where the imersecrion of stand age and so il type
meeting the criteria. As you can see in the case of the
Daniel Pickett forest (Figu re 11.5), the potential fertiliza-
tion areas may not correspond directly with the original
stand boundaries. Natural resource managers using an
analysis such as this will subsequently need to decide
whether to fertilize whole Stands (not JUSt the part of a
nand whe re me stand and soil condi tions are appropriate.
since stand boundaries are usuaIly easy to locate) or pans
of Stands. The advantage of fertiliz ing a whole Stand,
when only a portion seems appropriate. is that you do
nO{ need to waSte time trying [Q identify a vague transi-
tion in soil types. On the other hand, fertilizer, and the
included with other larger, adjoining polygons. In
some cases. the spurious polygon could become a part
of an adjoining polygon with which it shares the
longest edge. The shared edge is essentially removed,
and the difference between the spuriolls polygon and
its adjacent neighbor is lost. When using GIS processes
such as me intersect, clipping. and buffering processes.
spu rious polygons will undoubtedly be created. How
you manage them (e .g .• ignoring them, elim inat ing
them. etc.) once they have been created is a matter of
personal preference. or perhaps a reaction to organiza-
tion 5[andards. Most natural resou rce management
decisions will not be affected by the presence of spu ri-
ous polygons, however the presence of spuriolls poly-
go ns may become a database management problem
and may detract from a message presented in a map.
184
174 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

CJ Stand boundaries
[-":.......J Potential fertilization
areas Input GIS ~
Database #1
~
,, ,,
, ,
Input GIS
Database #2 ,,: 21 ,,: 22
2, ,,, 2, ,,, 2,
,
, ,
. 2, t 27
Figure 11.5 Potential fertilization areas on the Daniel Pickett forest
that consiSt of forest stands 20-30 years of age located on soils that
--------- , --------
provide a high response to a fertilil.3tion applic3[ion.
Input GIS
,,, /+-- In #t and #2
__ __ __ .J ___ _ _
Database #1
'--_ _ -./-'1-- - In #1, outside
applicado n of fertilizer. costs mon ey. and o rgan izatio ns 01#2
may want to operate as efficiently as possib le. Therefore,
Input GIS
rhe goal would be [Q apply treatments only where neces- Database #2 +---t- In #2 , outside
sary. Ie is becoming increasi ngly co mmon [Q provide a
fenilizar ion co ntraccor with rhe exact geograp hic coordi-
:-- ...... _,
, .........
01#1

,/; : .~:+--+ In #1 and #2

nates that define rhe fertilizatio n area, either with maps or " I I

acrual GIS databases. If a fenilizarion contrac[Qr uses a

hel icopter system to disrribme the fertilizer, which is a
2, 2,
co mmo n pract ice when fertilizing forested stands, it is
Output GIS
possible that G PS technology may be employed to assist in Database
locating the desired fertilization areas. The GPS data may
facilitate the devel opme nt of a digital map. which can
help guide the pilo t or can be co upled with an internal
guidance system to autOmatically apply fertil izer. Figun~ 11.6 An example of the processing of landscape fea lures
during an idenucy process.

Identity Processes
When performing an identi ty process, you hop e to
incorporate information about the overlapping area of
one GIS darabase into a second GIS database. While the
term 'identiry' refers to a distinguishing character of a per-
sonality (Merriam-Webster. 2007). this process is more
likely similar ro the term 'identi ry element', w here pares of
the o rig inal data are left unchanged when combined with
other data. This is partially true-some portion of the
original GIS data may be left unchanged {and present in
the o utput)-w here a second set of GIS data does not
co incide spatially .
Si milar to the intersect process, o ne GIS da tabase is
physica ll y laid onto another, yet there is usu ally a d isti nct
d ifferen ce in the resul ting Ol1[Pur when compared w ith
th e in te rsect process . The resulting GIS database is
defined by the boundary of o ne of the input GIS data-
bases, not by the boundary of the ove rlap between the
two GIS databases . Figu re 11 .6 illustrates that the resulr-
ing GIS database has a geogtaphic extent representing the
same area as database #2, yet the arcs that defi ned the
polygo n in database # 1 are present where the polygo n
from database #1 overlapped the polygons in database #2.
The resul ti ng GIS darabase now includes 4 polygons. 12
arcs, and 9 nodes , as arcs 2 4 • 2 6 • and 27 were split into twO
pieces (a and b) based on their intersection with arc 11>
and arc 11 was split into two pieces based on its intersec-
tio n w ith arc 2 4,
To extend the idenri ry process exam ple (() the D an iel
Picken fores t, aga in examine the case of the stands GIS
database and the fire GIS database. Suppose the intent was
[Q develop a GIS database that contained the entire stands
data (geographic an d tabular). but with the fire bo und-
aries being integrated into the stands database. Using an
ident ity process you ca n see that some stand pol ygons
have been split along the fire po lygon boundary (Figure
11.7), thu s the fire GIS database has an influence on the
structure of the resultin g polygons. In addi tio n, 3nribure
185
 Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 175

GIS database Spatial features Tabular attributes

o Stand bouooaries
D Firearea
Input GIS databases

Oatabase to attributes:
perform the basal area, volume
identity process per acre, vegetatiOil
Oil : stands type, age

Oatabase used 10
attributes:
perform the

o
day, month, year
identity process:
fire

------ ------ ------

Output GIS database

Resulting

~
database: attributes:
stands, defined basal area, volume Stand V
along original per acre, vegetation StandY
stand boundaries type, age, day, month,
and along the ,ear StandW
booodaries of the fire

Stand VegType Basal Area Age MBF Month Day Year

Figure 11.7 Performing an identity proass on the stands GIS T C 120 5S 19.5 7 2 2002
database using the fire GIS database.
U A 260 70 37.7 7 2 2002
V A 260 70 31.7 0 0 0
fields are present in the resulting GIS database [0 represenr W C 190 45 17.3 0 0 0
X B 20 10 1.8 7 2 2002
those that were presenc in the fire GIS database. However,
y B 20 10 1.8 0 0 0
only the polygons within the fire boundary actually con-
tain data related [0 the fire. The amibute fields from the Figure 11.8 A more detailed examination of the results of the
fire GIS database related [0 polygons outside the fire area identity process of the fire GIS databue overlaid on the stands G IS
database.
are empry and contain '0' values (Figure 11 .8).
A key concept when performing the identiry process is
obviously determining the spatial extent of the [wo GIS Union Processes
databases that is [0 be retained. In the above example, the
fire GIS database was overlaid on the stands GIS database, In a union process, the intent is to overlay one GIS data-
and the incem was [0 rerain the spacial extent of the stands base on top of another GIS database, and re tain all of the
GIS database. If you were to reverse the order and overlay spatial boundaries of the landscape features contained
m e stands GIS database onto the fire GIS database, the within both GIS databases, A 'union' is the act of joining
resulting GIS database would have quite a different look [0 [wo or more features into one (Merriam-Webster, 2007).
it (Figure 11 .9), as the spatial extent of the resulting GIS Figure 11.11 illustrates that when using a union process.
database is defined by the spatial extent of the fire GIS the resulting GIS database has a geographic extent repre-
database. Here, only the stand boundaries within the fire senting the same area as both database # I and database
remain. While the stand-level data anributes associated #2, yet the arcs that defined the polygon in database # I
with the stands in [he fire area are presenr in the resulting are present where the polygon from database #1 over-
GIS database, no stand-level data attributes are available lapped the polygons in database #2. The resulting GIS
for the polygons outside of the area represented by the database now includes 5 polygons. 13 arcs, and 9 nodes,
original stands GIS database (Figure 1l.l0). as arcs 2... 26 • and 27 were split into two pieces (11 and b)
186
176 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

GIS database Spatial features Tabular attributes

Input GIS databases Input GIS ~

Database "
~
,, ,,
Database to
perform the attributes:
, ,

o day, month, year Input GIS

identity process
on: fire Database .2
: 21
,, ,:, 22
2,
,
,, 2,
,, 2,
, ,,
... 26 ... 27

Database used to
perform the
identity p(ocess:
stands
attributes:
basal area, volume
per acre, vegetation
type, age
-------------
Input GIS
Database"
8:. ---
_____ J____ _
~
In# 1 and #2

In ", outside
01112

Input GIS
output GIS database Database '2 +---t- In '2, outside
oil'
Resulting
database: attributes:
" " ;--- ....
fire, defined basal area, volume ./
,,' :
I
\~f--+- In 111 aOO'2
along original per acre, vegetation
fire boundaries type, age, day, month,
and along the year
boundaries of the 2,
stands
Output GIS
Database
Figure 11.9 Perfo rming an ide ntity process on the fire G IS database
using the n ands GIS database.

/'
o Fire area outside of
Figure 11.11 An example of the processing of landscape fe atures
during an union process.
Daniel Pickett forest
D Fire area inside 01
Daniel Pickett forest
based o n the ir intersection with arc 11. and arc II was
split into twO pieces based on its imersection with arc 2 4,
Stand M To ill ustrate a union process with a more realistic nat-
ural reso urce management problem. suppose a union
\Stand N
process were to be performed on the Daniel Picket[ forest
fire and stands GIS darabases. The res ul ting GIS database
has the combined geograp hic extent of rhe (wo GIS data-
bases, and co ntain s similar landscape fea tu res as we re
Stand VegType Basal Area Age MBF Month Oay Vear
120
fo und in rhe origi nal fire and stands GIS darabases (Figure
L C 30 5.6 7 2 2002
M 0 0 0 7 2 2002 I 1.12). This iliumares o ne adva ntage of using a union
N C 190 45 17.3 7 2 2002 process: rhe sparial delinearion of rhe polygons in rhe
U A 260 70 37.7 7 2 2002 resul ring GIS database is a fu nction of both of the origi nal
X B 20 10 1.8 7 2 2002 GIS databases. thus polygon boundaries fro m both origi-
Figure 11 . 10 A more detailed examination of th(' results of the
nal GIS databases are reta ined. However, it also suggests a
identity process of the standt G IS database overlaid on the fi re G IS disadvantage of the process: rhe resulting GIS data base
database.
may comain landscape features outside of [he boundary

187
 Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 1n

GIS database Spatial features Tabular attributes

Input GIS databases

Database to
perform the attributes:
union process day, month, year
on: fire

Database used to attributes:

perform the basal area, volume
union process : per acre, vegetation
stands type, age

o Stand attributes, no fire attributes

o Stand attributes, fire attributes

Resulting
Output GIS database
o No stand attributes, fire attributes

database: Figure 11.13 Illustration of completeness of a tabular database after a

attributes :
fire and stands,
basal area, volume
defined along original per acre, vegetation
fire boundaries type, age, day, month,
and along the year
boundaries of the
stands
Figure: 11.12 Performing a union process using the fire GIS database
and the stands GIS database.
of interest, and thus perhaps may include unnecessary
landscape features. Although some of the fire polygon lies
outside the Daniel Pickett forest, this area will be repre-
sented in ,he OUtput G IS database. The attribute fields
contained in both of the original GIS databases may also
be present in the resulting GIS database, however some
data cells will likely be empty in the attribute table (Figure
11.13). The union process is useful for those situations in
which you want to preserve all of the spatial and non-spa-
tial data that is present in twO input GIS databases.
More complex analyses can be performed using the
intersect, identity, or union processes than simply bring-
ing together the characteristics of twO GIS databases. For
example, suppose you were interested in locating areas
suitable for a certain type of agricultural praccice in the
Pheasant Hill planning area of the Qu'Appelle River
Valley in central Saskatchewan. While the databases we
will use in th is example are dated (\980), they are rich
with information and they allow us to examine (he useful-
ness of the union process for a natural resource manage-
union process of the fire and stands GIS database.
ment analysis. In locating [he su itab le areas, you decide
that the criteria should include locating a certain type of
soil (loamy soils), on a ce rtain slope condition (flat
slopes), where the area is currently wned for agricultural
use, and where there are few limi tadons for using the land
to grow agricultural produces. In this assessment, there
are four distinct anribures about the land: so il type, slope
condidon, zoning code, and land classification . These
four attributes are comain ed within four different GIS
databases associaeed with the Pheasant Hill planning area,
and are delineated using polygons that do noc necessary
coincide (spatially) from one G IS database to the next.
One way {Q accomp li sh this overlay analysis is {Q use an
iterative union process to bri ng all fou r databases together
so chat all of the anribures are available in a single, com-
bined GIS database. Initially, two of the GIS databases
would be unioned, then a third would be unioned to the
union result of the first two. Finally, the fourth database
would be unioned to the union result of the first three
GIS databases. Using a query thac involved the criteria
listed below, the areas suitable for the praccice you had
in mind could be identified (Figure 11.14), since the
union of the four GIS databases would contain the attrib-
utes of al l of the original GIS databases, and since the
polygons would be split along the boundaries of the orig-
inal polygons.

188
178 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

-= - ..-
,pg."
.
.IiOi'_

_ Areas suitable for an agricultural practice

c=J Other areas that do not meet the criteria for an agricultural practice

Figwe 11.1 4 The result of a query on the union of soils. topography, land classification, and
zoning G IS databases developed for the Pheasant Hill planning area of the Qu'Appclle River
Valley. Saskatchewan (1980).

Query criteria Original database As an example. if you use a GIS database containi ng
Soil_type ", Canora Loam soils lines as an input GIS database. and then intersect it wi th
or Soil_type ", Indian Head Clay Loam soils a GIS database containing polygons (Figure 11. 15), the
or SoiLrype ,. Oxbow C lay Loam soils resulting GIS database wi ll be composed of line features _
or Soil_ rype ,. Oxbow Loam soils
or Soil_type" Rocanvillc C lay Loam soils
The line features will be split at all intersections with the
or So il_type II: Whiresand Gravelly Loam soi ls boundaries of the polygons in the pol ygon GIS database,
Topography = FLAT topography

Class" No Significant Limitations land classification (eLi)

or Class", Moderate Limitations land classification (eLI )
,
Zoning = Agriculture Priority I zoning Input GIS
,,,
Database '1
,,
,,
,,
Incorporating Point and
Line GIS Databases into Input GIS
. ,, ,, 2, ,,,
,
,,,
,,
2,

an Overlay Analysis
Database In

2, • • •2,
,,
2,
,,
,
Although the overlay examples thus fa r have focused on
the analysis and manipulation of polygon GIS databases,
2.
• 2,

it is also possible to inco rporate other types of features

(points and lines) into overlay processes. For example.
- - -- - - - -- - --- -
1,
point and line GIS databases can be used in association
Overlay of 2, 2,
with polygon databases when performing the intersect Database #2
1, 2,
and idemity processes. The union process. however, on Database.1
2, 1,
I,
requires that all GIS databases of interest be composed of 2,
polygon features. When using the imersect and identity 2. 2,
overlays. the input GIS database can be composed of
poin ts, li nes, or polygo ns but the overlay GIS database
must be composed of polygons with one exception.
--- ---- -- - - - -- -
With in some GIS software. the intersection of two line Output GIS
databases is possible. with the result being a new point Database
1,
database that has ca ptured all intersection locations.
When point or line databases are involved in an overlay
process with a polygon. the resulting Output GIS database
will be of the same feature type as the first input GIS data- Figure 11.15 An example of the manipulation oflandsc.1pe features
base (point or line). during an intersect overlay of line and polygon databases.

189

and only lines that full within the extent of the polygons
will be retained in the outpUt GIS database. While this
represents a process similar [0 the clip process, the resul t-
ing lines contain the information (attrib utes) of the poly-
gons within which they fell. In the example in Figu re
11.15, a line (I) that represents a road (perhaps) is being
overlaid by the two polygons from previous examples in
this chapter. The line initially comains two nodes, but
when the overlay process occurs, it is broken into four
arcs (II' I" 1" and 1. ) with 5 nodes. The pieces of the
original road that fall outside the area covered by the
polygons (I I and 1, ) are subsequently eliminated. The
resulting GIS database comains a ponico of the original
line (sections 12 and 13), and each port ion of the original
li ne contains the anributes of the associated polygon
within which it was contained.
An idemity process using point or line GIS databases as
the input database results in a GIS database that concains
all of the original point or line features, yet the landscape
features would contain the 3ucibure information of the
polygons within which they fell. Li nes would also be split
at polygon boundaries as in (he previous example. The
primary purpose of the identi ty process wou ld be (Q dis-
tribute anribute data from an overlaid polygon GIS data-
base (Q a poim or line. T he idenrity process with a point
GIS database as the input GIS database is similar, in fact,
to a point-in-polygon query, although the resu lts here are
not temporary.
Applying Overlay Techniques
to Point and Line Databases
We presenr he re some examples of app lying overlay
processes (Q po int and line databases (Q demonsuate
potential overlay applications. Our examples make use of
the Brown Tract databases described earlier in the texc. In
the first example, cons ider the distribution of research
plots as they relate to the Brown Tract forest stand
boundaries (Figu re 11.16). It might be of interest to
dete rmine rhe distribmion of land allocation categories
(described in the forest stand layer) that are associated
with each research plot. A point in polygon intersect over-
lay is one approach an analyst could use to determine this
information . The results of the imersecr overlay in this
case create a new point layer that comains all plot loca-
tions and an expanded list of data fields. Each of the
resea rch plot records wou ld contain both the or iginal data
fields and the same data fields and values of the individ-
Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 179
.
<, 1.'1.
", 1.'. '..-: ".~>
~ Research Plots
[:=:J Forest Stands
Figure 11. 16 Research plots and forest stands on the Brown T ract.
ual stand boundaries in wh ich they were located. A statis-
tical frequency could be generated from the new database
and could demonstrate the distribution of land alloca-
tions conta.ined in the resea rch plot locations (Table
11.1). In this case, the majo ri ry (48 of 57) of research
plots are located in even-aged stands. Given rhe geometry
of the research plots and stand boundar ies, an identity
overlay process berween these flies should produce the
same results as the inrersect process,
As mentioned earlier, overlay operations involving line
da tabases are also possible, As an example consider the
arrangement of streams relative (Q stands in the Brown
Tract (Figure 11.17). The re are portions of the Brown
Tract whe re the stream network extends beyond the for-
est boundaries. In this case, the intersect and identity
overlay commands would lead (Q diffe rent output data-
bases. The intersect overlay between these layers would
result in an output stream system that would be reduced
in extenr from the original; o nly those stream segments
that overlapped the stands would be retained in the out-
put database. In addition, all data fields in both databases
would be populated in the output database. The identiry
TABLE 11.1 Frequency distribution of
land allocation categories in
research plot locations within
the Brown Tract
Land allocation Number of research plots
48
Research 6
Uneven-aged 3
190
180 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

the omput product of overlay analysis in these cases. In

order to assimi late information from point and line data-
bases into a polygon database, other approaches such as
tabular or spatial joins must be considered.

- - Streams
Forest Stands
Figure 11.17 Streams and forest stands on the Brown Tract.
overlay would retain all the Stream segments, bur we
would only find stand data in a resulting database for a
ponioo of [he stream segments. The selection of which
overlay to use-intersect or identity-will depend on the
analysis goals. Let'S assume that the analysis goals suppon
retaining aU st ream segments in a final streams database.
An identity ourpm database between streams and stands
contains 398 stream records since geometric intersections
are created at all coincident locations in the input data-
Additional Overlay
Considerations
Each of the three overlay processes discussed in this chap-
ter are designed for different end products (Figure 11.18).
Although different outputs will usually result depending
on whic h overlay is chosen, there are situations where the
ompm of two overlay processes will be the same, regard-
less of which process is used. For example. if two polygon
databases have the same spatial extent, it will not matter
whethe r an intersect, identify, or union process is used. In
addition, jf one spatial database is contained completely
within the extent of another database and is used as the
primary overlay database, an identity or intersect com-
mand should produce the same resulr.
Input GIS dalabase 1 Input GIS database 2 Output GIS database

~
bases. The distribution of land allocation values fo r these
streams is rep resented in Table 11.2. Note that there are
40 stream segments that do not have a land allocation
value. These missing values represent streams omside the
0 bJIntersect Output
Brown Tract boundaries.

~ ~
Although point and line spatial databases can be used
with overlay processes to derive info rmation from poly-
gon databases, polygon databases are unable to serve as
0 Identity Output

~
TABLE 11.2 Frequency distribution of ..
land allocation categories ill
relation to stream segments
within the Brown Tract 0 LlSJ
Identity Reverse Order Output
Land allocation Number of research plots

~ ~
Even-aged 281
Meadow 2

Oak Woodland 3 0 Union Output

Research 7

Unevcn·agcd 65 Figure 11.18 Summary of results for intersect, identity, identity

reverse order. and union overlays for the stands and fire GIS
<No Value> 40
databases.

191

The order in which GIS databases are selected for an
overlay process may also have significance on the ompur
database, depending on your GIS software. The identity
overlay will take into accoum (he spatial extent of one of
your databases, and reduce other layers (Q the same spatial
extent. For this reason it is imponam (Q recognize how
you r soft\vare selects (he inpur database that is used to
determine the idenriry spatial exrenL The union and
intersect overlays. on the other hand. are less discriminat-
ing as to the order in which spatial exrencs are considered.
The union output wi ll include the emire spatial extent of
all layers while the intersect OUtput w ill only include the
common areas. Some GIS sofrware. however, may only
include by default the attributes of the initial input layer
in the outpm database unless the user signifies otherwise.
Depending on you r GIS software, you may also be able
co involve more than [Wo layers in an overl ay process.
Nthough this ability may be particularly useful for some
applications, the complexity of the Output product will
increase with the number of layers that are involved.
Overlay ompm databases cake into account the topology
Summary
With the conclusion of this chapter you have examined
most of the common vectOr processes available within GIS
software programs. As we have shown in this and previous
chapters, to address natural resource management prob-
lems a number of different courses of action can be used,
each utilizing different techniques or different sequences
of GIS processes. For example, the following three
processes might be employed ro develop a summary of
forest resources within owl buffer areas:
I. Buffer owl nest locations. Clip the owl buffer areas
from a stands GIS database. Summarize appropriate
statlS[1cs.
2 . Buffer owl nes( locations. Intersect a stands G IS data-
base with the owl buffer GIS database. Summarize
appropriate statistics.
3. Buffer owl nest locations. Overlay a stands GIS data-
base on the owl buffer GIS database using an identity
process. Summarize appropriate statisdcs.
The GIS toolbox available to readers of this text, as it
relates [Q vector GIS processes, should now contain a
Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 181
and attr ibutes of all input layers depending on operaror
choices. Bear in mind that overlay processes are complex
operations, particularly when many features are present in
input databases. As such, and depending on computing
resources, some overlay omput databases may take more
time [Q complete than oilie r, less intensive. GIS processes.
Users may have [Q be patient in awaiting overlay ompm
results. Finally. many GIS sofrw-are programs allow users to
select the attribute fields from both the input GIS database
and the polygon overlay GIS database that are ro be carried
into the resulting output GIS database. Often you will find
that selecting a subset of attribute fields for the desired
analysis will reduce the time requirements related to inter-
preting and analyzing the results of overlay processes.
Given the considerations expressed above, you should
always carefu ll y consider the objectives of your a nal ysis to
dete rmine which overlay process [Q use. In some cases,
knowing whether input vec[Qr databases represent point,
line, or polygon spatial features, or some combination
thereof, will help lead ro an appropriate ove rl ay command
choice.
number of useful rools. The challenge lies in deciding
which tool(s) to use to address each natural resource man-
agement issue. The intersect, identity, and union
processes each result in different outcomes, and you need
to match the process to the type of information you
desire. While the union process is restricted to polygon
input and outpm databases. point and line vec[Q r data-
bases ca n be used in intersect and identity process. The
intersect process only provides information for features
that overlap. An identity process breaks the featu res con-
tained in one GIS database along the lines provided in a
second GIS database, yet retains the full extent of features
contained in the first database. In chis case. some of the
fearures in rhe first database will not contain information
from the second where the features in the second are
absent. The union process also breaks the features con-
tained in one GIS database along the lin es provided in a
second G IS database, yet retains the full extent of features
contained in both databases. Where features overlap, rhe
attributes of both databases will be present in the attrib-
Ute rable. Where features did not overlap, only arrributes
from one of the GIS databases will be present.
192
182 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

Applications
11.1. Fertilization Plan. You have been asked to help have taken advantage of the intersect process, and obvi-
develop a fertilization plan for the Brown Traer. In next ously used a buffer process at some point. T o illustrate the
year's plan of action, the managers of the forest may steps raken to accomplish the analysis associated with
consider fert ilizing some forest stands. However, the Application 11.1 , develop a flow chart similar to the one
managers need [Q know how much area of forest could below (Figure 11 . 19) that describes the process you used .
be ferr ilized, and what casc co anticipate. After a short
di scuss ion with the Brown Tract managers, the follow~ 11.3. GIS processing (2). Use a flow chart to describe
iog criteria for ident ifying potential ferrilization was (WO other (different) processes that could also be used to
determined: gene rate the same results as those ge nerated for
• Only stands;:>: 25 years old and $; 35 yea rs old Application I\,\, You may want to actually perform the
should be considered. process and check your results to see wherher the results
• Only stands on soil types leading to a high fertil iza- are identical to those obtained in Application I \.\.
tion response should be considered (soil types 'PR'
and ' ON'). 11.4 Fire losses. How much forest area, by vegetation
• Only stands oU[side of a 50~me[er stream buffer class, burned on the Daniel Picke(( forest during the July
(a round all types of streams) sho uld be considered. 2, 2002 fire? Use the '070202_fire' GIS database to
describe the boundary of the fire.
The forest managers wam co know the following:
a} How much area of land could be ferti lized, given 11.5 Operations around research plots. Assume that
the criteria noted above? the managers of the Daniel Picke(( forest have decided to
b} Assuming the forest will develop a contract for the clearcU( sta nd 28. They noticed, JUSt prior to allow ing
fertilization project, and assuming the contractor
will lise a hel icopter to spread the fenilizer, how Vegetation
much area of land would you recommend, and GIS
database
why? Consider the following in your recommenda-
tion: (I) Are some of the stands of the appropriate
age bisected by (WO or more soil types? (2) Would Buffer
streams
it be possible fo r the helicopter pilot to recognize 50 meters
these changes from the air? (3) Are some of the
areas suggested by the GIS analysis for fertilization
tOO small to be worth rhe effort? (4) Is there a min-
imum size assumption would you make regarding
pocenrial fenilization areas?
c) If the COSt of fertilization was $250 per hectare,
what might be the total COS t of the project?
d) How much fenilizer is needed if you expect [0 use
450 kilograms of fert il izer per hectare (about 400
pounds per acre)? Ouery
e} Please provide the staff with a map of the potential process
areas that yo u are recommending to be fenilized
(from part b above). Include rhe Brown Tracr
roads and streams on the map.

11.2. GIS processing (1) . There are a number of

Figure 11 . 19 Hierarchy of intermediate and final GIS databases
processes that can be used to arrive at the info rmation created in the development of a GIS database describing the older
requested in Application 11.1. For examp le, you may fo rest vegetation within 50 meters of all streams.

193

logge rs to begin operatio ns, that a research plm (number
3) was locared in me srand. If a 100 merer buffe r was left
around the research plot,
a) How much fo rese area in srand 28 will acwally be
clearcur?
b) If rim ber values we re $400 per rhousa nd board fee<
(MBF). whar is the value of rimber thar will remain
around rhe research plor [h int: arrribure 'Mbf' rep-
resents thousand board feet of timber volume per
acre)?
c) What is the djfference in dmber volume and value
between leaving the buffer around the research plor
and not leaving me buffer?
d) Develop a map thar describes the vegetation condi-
rions on the forest after the harvesting operation
has comple<ed. Assume rhar rhe 100-merer buffer
was maintained around the research plot. I1Jus[rare
References
McHarg. l. (I 969). Design with nature. Garden Ciry. NY:
Natura l Hiseory Press.
Chapter 11 Overlay Processes 183
on the map (either with annotation or with a shad-
ing scheme) the basal area of all of me stands.
11.6. Integrating streams and vegetation data.
Develop a strea ms GIS database fo r (he Brown T ract
where each stream contains the data related to the vegera-
rion polygon within which it is located. Using this data,
develop a thematic map that illustrates one of the vegeta-
tion characterisrics of the forest around each stream. In
this exercise, change the appearance of the Streams to
illustrate the condit io n of [he forest.
11. 7. Fish bearing streams.
a) How many stands in the Brown Tract contain fish
bearing streams?
b) How many srands are within 100 merers of fish
bearing streams?
Merriam- Webseer. (2007). Mtrriam- Webster online
uarch. Rerrieved April 29. 2007. from hrrp :/Iwww.
m-w .coml cgi-binl dictionary.
194
Chapter 12
Synthesis of Techniques
Applied to Advanced Topics
Objectives
As you may have found during your vario us interactions
with GIS, there are a number of spatial processes (o r mix-
(Ures and arrangements of methods) that can be used to
find the appropriate solution to a namral resource man-
agement problem. As we near the end of Parr II of this
book, this chapter seeks (Q integrate and synthesize the
GIS processes introduced in previous chapters. and apply
them (Q more complex namral resource management
problems. At the co nclusio n of (his chapter, yo u should
be familiar with:
1. how a set of complex management ru les or assump-
tions can be synthesized into quantitative information
[hat can be used in a GIS analysis;
2. how a number of GIS processes can be integrated to
allow you to develop a spatial representation of a value
(ecological, econom ic, or social) rhar represems some
aspect of a landscape; and
3. how ecological , economic, or social descriptions of a
landscape can be developed [Q provide managers and
other decision-makers with informat ion regarding the
cur rem sratus of a landscape.
Many of the GIS processes presented in previous chap-
ters can be inregrated to allow users of GIS [Q perform
com plex landscape analyses. As we progressed through
chapters 5 [Q 11, we buih upon GIS processes to show
how t hey may be complementary. For example, query
processes allowed you to qu amitatively examllle the
results of analyses that req uired buffering processes (chap-
ter 7). In anorher example, clipping and erasi ng processes
were used in tandem to create a new database of select fea-
tures (chapter 8). C hapter 12 presents some examples of
advanced topics in natural resource management fo r yo u
to consider, and each requires an imegrarion of the GIS
techniques presented in ea rli er cha pters. The roo Is
acq uired by wo rking through the previous chapre rs
should be more than adequa te to address the problems
introduced in th is chapte r; rhree rypes of advanced man-
agement pro ble ms are prese nted and the 'Applications ' at
the end of the chapter provide an opporru niry for readers
to perform similar analyses themselves. Once again, there
are a num ber of paths you can take to ap proach each
management problem presented in the app lications sec-
tion. You should approaeh each problem acco rding to
you r preference of methods and techniques. H owever,
only one se r of answers to each narural resource manage-
ment problem exists, and no maner what process you
select, you should ultimately locate the ap propriate
answers.
We begin with land classification, where separate and
disrincr categories of land are delineated, each suggesting
a d ifferent level of natural resource management acriviry
wi ll be allowed. Land classifications are, in fact. common
starr ing points fo r [he development of land ma nagemenr
plans. You may need to use the querying, buffering, eras-
ing, and ot her GIS processes to parse a land ownership
into distinct non-overlapping classes that co mpl etely
195
 Chapter 12 Synthesis of Techniques Applied to Advanced Topics
cover a landscape. A similar problem is then addressed.
where a landscape is delineated into Recreacion Oppor~
tunity Spectrum (ROS) classes. ROS classes are designed to
describe and emphasize the potencial recreation opportu-
nities across a landscape, ranging from primicive recre-
ation opporcunicies with few visitors to chose where
momrized vehicles and many visirors may be prevalenc.
Again. the querying. buffering. erasing. and other GIS
processes may be used to delineate the non-overlapping
ROS classes. Finally. wildlife habitat suitability index
measures across a landscape are examined. Here, suitabil-
ity is a function of [he condition of the landscape, and
how far each [}'pe of vegetation is from the road system.
A hypothetical habitat suitability index is presented to
provide you with a challenging spatial analysis. A number
of GIS techniques can be used to develop the habitat suit-
ability index values. including complex mathematical cal-
culations within the attribute table of GIS databases.
In conjunction with these advanced narural resource
management problems. we emphasize the use of Row
charts to mai nrain order in (he analysis process. The flow-
charting process may be useful for your own GIS analyses,
as a means of developing a logical approach to addressing
management issues. Since many intermediace (cemporary)
GIS databases are created and used. tracking the process of
an analysis wich a flow chart may prove co be very useful ,
rhus several examples are provided.
Land Classification
Land can be classified by vegetation. soils. range. habitat.
landform (physiography). and other measurable physical
or soc io-economic characceriscics. Any map chac delin-
eaces unique pieces of land can be considered a land clas-
sificarion. Land classifications have many pu rposes in nac-
ural resource managemenc. from serving as a basis for
assessing che scams ofland resources [0 serving as a frame-
work for assessing me local management opportunities
(Frayer et al.. 1978). Land classifications are necessary for
providing both policy direction (knowing what types of
resources are availa ble) and for assiscing wich policy
implemenracion (knowing where che resources are
located) . Land classification systems are generally based
o n landscape characreristics char can be seen and meas-
ured. and they ideally would be based on flexible. logical.
general. and professionally credible concepts. and th us
would be described with a quamifiable set of ru les (Frayer
et al.. 1978).
Land classifications can be made from a managemenc
185
perspeccive where srracificacion of land is based on eco-
nomic and managemenr- relaced variables (roads. screams.
erc.) . The example we provide below caprures (he essence
of this type of land classification. Alternatively. land clas-
sifications can be made purely from an ecological perspec-
tive, using vegecation, soils. wacer, climare. and ocher
physica l variables. The fou r ecological classifications used
in Canada are a good example of these. They are designed
in a h.ierarchy and range from broader ecozones co smaller
ecodiscriccs. Each of rhe c1assificacions have ecosysrems
rhar are predominantly woody vegeracion, and are delin-
eaced wichouc regard co commercial va lue (Canadian
Forest Service. 2007).
Mosr narural resource managemenr organizarions
establish their management plans with in a land c1assifica-
cion framework. Therefore. one of che inicial sceps in che
development of a managemenc plan is co describe che
resources ([he land) that are managed. and the type of
managemenc appropriace [0 each portion of me land base.
After a land classification has been performed. the goals.
scracegies, and implemenration of management can be
planned and implememed accordingly. For example. afrer
classifying the land base. an organ ization may decide co
exclude ce rcain managemenr acrivicies in some areas, limic
the types of activities allowed in other areas. or allow full
consideration of silviculrural o r o peracional activities in
other areas (Table 12. I). For example. the Washington
State Parks and Recreation Commission (2006) uses a
socio-economic, ecological land classificacion syscem mar
inregraces physical land feacures with porential human
TABLE 12.1 An e xample of a
management-related
land classification sys tem
Class I ( R~servcd)
Administratively withdrawn areas (offices and orh~r facili ties
related to resource managemem)
Wilderness ar~as
Areas of special concern
Rock pits
Ponds or lakes
Viewsheds
Other areas where managem~nt activities are precluded
Class 2 ( Limit~d management)
Riparian ar~as
Visual qualiry corridors around trails
Areas designated as buffers around wi ldlife habitat
Other areas where management is limi(~d
Class 3 (G~nera1 managemelll)
Areas not classi fied as Class I or 2
196
186 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

uses of the land. Associated w with

ith each land class is a able for long-term cultivated
cultiva ted crop
c rop management) are a re
description of the philosophy of each dass, class. the appropri- their porential
grouped according to their potential for production of
are
ate physical featu res used to delineate the land class. and vegetation cover.
permanent vegetarian cover, and grouped acco
according
rd ing to
[0

a matrix of allowed and prohibieed

prohibited activities within each the potential risk of soil damage (Klingebiel &
land class area. Montgomery. 1973) .
Montgomery, 1973).
A land classificario n, in addition to guiding the devel-
dassification, The Canada Land Inventory
Inventoty provides broad examples
man agement plan. may a]50
opment of a management also be a require- ofland classificarions
classifications related to ro foresny,
forestry. agriculture.
agriculture, land
ment
me nt for partic
participation
ipation in volu
volunta ry stewards
n[ary hip pro-
srewardship use.
use, recreation, and wildlife.
wildl ife. The development
developmenr of land
example. organizalions
grams. For example, organizations [hat
thar need toro comp
comply ly capa bility classes related [0
capabiliry to forestry uses is based on a
In itiative@(SFI)
with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative'" (American
(SFJ) (Amer ican national classificatio
classificationn syste m where land is fatedrated acco rd-
Forest & Paper Association
& Paper Association,, 2002) are required to to classify
dassify ing to its
irs capability [0 trees for
to grow rrees fo r commercial uses
uses..
thei r land acco rding SFI land classification system.
to the SF!
rdin g [0 The raring system considers
T he rating cons iders land that
th at has nor
not undergone
This requiremem
requirement may be in addidon
addirion ro (and different
to {and improvements (such as fertilization drainage accivicies),
fertil ization or dminage acrivicies),
(han) {he
th e land c1assificacion
classification a narura!
nacura i resource manage- and focuses on seven tree productivity classes:
ment organizadon
menr organization may develop during their th eir normal
norm al
course
co urse of management planning. 1. Land with no limitations
Limitations on [he the growth of com commercial
mercial
The number of classes withiwithinn a land classification may forests, where soils are deep. have good water-hold water-holding ing
vary. For example,
example. the Washington
Wash ington State Parks and capaciry.
capacity, and are high in fertiliry. fertility. Productivity of tree
Recreation Commission (2006) land classification syste systemm growth is greater rhan
grow[h than 77.77 .7 7 m'm3 per hectare per year
us<os
uses six classes.
classes, while the Oregon state sta te forest classifI-
fo rest land classifi- (J 11 ft'
(1 11 fr' /aclyea
/aelyear). r).
cation system (Oregon Department of Forestry. Forestry, 2007) 2. Land with slight limitarionslimitations on the growth of com-
co ntains three: general stewardship,
conrains stewardsh ip, focused stewardship,
stewa rdship, mercial forests.
forests, where soils are again deep :tnd and have
and
a nd special stewardship. Each land dass class shou
should ld be good water-holding capaciry. capacity, yet there is some so me limita-
desc ri bed by key quantitative ru
described les th
rules that
at allow physical tion on growth (dim (dimate.ate, rooting depth. depth, low fertility
fertility.,
identification. TheTherere is an 'order
'o rder of precede nce' abom a for
fo r example). Productiviry
Productivity of tree growth is between
land
la classificalio n:
nd classificatio n: the highest (most restrictive) classes 6.37 and 7.76 m m'J per hechectaretare per year (91-1 (9 1-110 ft' l
10 ft'l
ho uld be identified first, rhen
sshould then the next most restrictive, aclyear).
aelyear).
and so on. Land classified into the highest class cannor cannot 3. Land with moderate limitat limitations ions on the growth of
subsequently be categorized
catego rized as lowe r classes. This system- commercial
comme rcial forests,
foresrs. where soils soiJs are shallow co ro deep and
atic approach
adc ap proach EOto land classification
classificatio n helps avoid catego ri riza-
za- have good water-holding capacity, capaciry, yet they may be
tion errors.
t.ion slighrly ferti~ry. and have periodic water imbal-
slightly low in fertility,
Soils data are, in some
so me cases, (he
the drivers for land clas- ances. Productivity
Productiviry of tree growth is between 44.97 .97 and
sification systems.
systems. In most cases, th these agri culw ral
ese are agricultural 6.36 m' per hectare per year (71-90 fr3/aclyear).
6.3601' ft' /ac/year).
land classification systems. One such system (A merican
(American 44.. La
Landnd with
wirh moderate to seve severe re limitat ions on the
limitations
Farmland Trust, 2006) lISes uses soils characteristics, past irri- growth of commercial fo rests, where soils are shallow
forests.
garion practices,
gation practices. (Opography,
topography , aand nd vegetation cover to to deep and have other highly variable variab le charactetiStics.
characteristics.
describe the quality ofland for farmi farmingng pcacrices.
practices. The U US The main limitations
limitarions are [00 roo much or roo too lilittle
ttle mo
mois-is-
Red amation (195 1) uses soil and topogra
Bureau of Reclamation ropographic
phic (Ure,
ture, restricted roming depch. depth, and low fertility,
feniliry, Produc-
conditions along
alo ng with economic
econom ic opoppo rwni t ies to
portunities CO classifY tivity of tree growth is between 3.57 and 4.96 01'
tiviry m' per
land.
land. TThe mainn goal in this system
he mai sysre m is roto express the antic- hectare per year (5 1-70 ft'/aelyear).
fr' /aclyear).
ipated influence of mappable physical ph ys ical features on the rh e 5. Land w withith severe limitat ions oonn [he
limi tations the growrh
growth of co m-
potential productivity of a farm farmiing
ng eenterprise,
nrerprise, the cost COSt of forests,, where soils
mercial forests soi ls are sha shallow
ll ow and poorly
farm
fa rm production.
production, and the cost of land development.
developmem. The drained. The main limitationslimitatio ns are a re roo much or roo lit-
Natural Resources
USDA Narural Reso urces Co nservation Services uses a
Conservarion tle moisture, restricted rom
mo isture, restricred rootin ing g depth.
depth , low fertility,
land
la nd capability classification for interpreting
inrerprecing soil group- excessive rock coment,content, aand nd high levels of carbonates.
ings. The land capabiliry classes
lan d capability dasses forfo r arab
a rablele soils
soi ls describe Productiviry of tree growth is berween
Productivity between 2.1 7 and 3.56 m m'J
thei r pQ[emial
their potencial for susrained
sustained production of cultivated per hecta
hectare (3 1-50 ft'
re per year (31-50 fr' /aclyea
/aelyea r).
thatt do not require specialized site
crops tha preparat ion. The
si te preparation. 6 . Land with severe limitations on the growth of com-
land capability classes for non-arable soils (those unsuit- merciall fores[s,
mercia forests. where soils are shallow, excessively
197
 Chapter 12 SyntheSiS of Techniques Applied to Advanced Topics
drained, and are low in fertility. The main limitadons
are resuicted rooting depth. low fertility, excessive
rock content, excessive soils moisture. and high levels
of soluble sa lts and exposu re. Productivity of tree
growth is between 0.77 and 2.16 m' per hectare per
year (11-30 f" /adyea r).
7. Land with severe lim itatio ns on the growth of com-
mercial forests, where soils are shallow and may con-
ta in tox ic levels of soluble salts. A large portion of
these areas include poorly drained organic soils. The
main limitations are restricted rooting depth, low fer-
tility, excess ive rock content, excessive so ils moisture.
and high levels of solu ble salts, and exposure.
Productivity of tree growth is less than 0.77 m' per
hectare per year (1 1 ft 3/adyea r).
The land classification is based on potential natu ral tree
growth an d soil characteristics. The proximity of some
areas of land to the ocean may also affect the class ifica-
tion of forest land. These seven main classes can be fU r-
ther subdivided into subclasses that are based on climate,
soil moisture, rooring depth. and orher soils characteris-
tics. An example of the broad-based lan d classification
for a portion of southern Ontario (using data obtained
from Natu ral Reso urces Ca nada, 2000) is provided in
Figure 12. 1.
An impo rtant aspect to consider in any land classifica-
tion process is that the sum of the area in the va rio us
classes should equal the sum of the area in the landscape
being managed. For exam ple, using the State of Oregon
system, the sum of rhe area in the special, focused, and
general stewardship land classes should equal the total
area of the landscape being classified. If not, one or both
Classes 1-2
Class 3
Classes 4-5
Classes 6·8
Figun: l2.. Land d usification cxamplt: for a portion of soum t:rn Ontario.
187
of the following situations exist: (1) there is some overlap
among the landscape features (polygons) in one or more
of the land class GIS dacabases, o r (2) some area of che
landscape is not being represented by any of the steward-
ship classes.
As an example of developing a management-related
land c1assificacion for a managed property, we will illus-
trare the appli cation of the general classes represented in
T able 12.1 to the Brown T ract. First, some quantitative
assumptions about the three land classes need to be made
to allow us to delinea te rhe areas on a map . We will
assume that class 1 (reserved) areas will contain meadows.
research areas, rock pits, and oak woodlands. C lass 2 (lim-
ited management) will be those areas of land that are
within 50 m of streams, 100 m of hiking trails, 100 m of
homes, and 300 m from any owl nest locations. Finally,
class 3 (general managemenr) areas are assumed to con-
tain the land that remains after class 1 and class 2 man-
agement areas have been delineated. To delineate these
three classes, a series of GIS techniques such as query ing,
buffering, clipping, and erasing processes may be requi red
(Figure 12.2) . However, other arra ngements of GIS
processes could have also resulted in the same solution.
The polygons rep resented in the resulting three land
classes (Figure 12.3) should not overlap, which means
that no single un it of land will be co unted twice. Put
another way, each unit of land can o nl y belo ng to a sin-
gle land class. In this example of a management-related
land classification, class I consists of 229 hectares (567
acres), class 2 consists of671 hecrares (1 ,657 acres) , and
class 3 consists of 1,222 hecta res (3,020 acres). When all
three of the land classes are added togecher, chey equal che
size of the Brown Tract.
Port Rowan
t
Nor1h
198
188 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

(a) Class 1 stewardship areas (b) Class 2 stewardship areas

Buffered
Buller Merge
0""
process process
trails process
GIS database

Buffer Clip
process process
(e) Class 3 stewardship areas

Erase Buffer Eras.

process process
process

Erase Buller
process process

Figure 12.2 Hierarchy of intermediate and final GIS databases created in one process that facilitates me development of the Brown
Tract land classification.

Recreation Opportunity Spectrum
A number of classification processes for outdoor recre-
a rion have been developed, including t he Recreacion
Opponunity Spectrum (ROS), ca rry ing capacity, limits of
accep table change. and th e Tourism Opportunity
Spectrum (Bu rler & Waldbrook, 1991 ). The latter system
is based on (he Rec reation Opportunity Spectrum, and
includes aspects of accessibility (i.e., trans portation sys-
tems) , murism infrastructure, social interaction, and other
non-adventure uses. The ROS was developed by the
USDA Fo res t Service and the US DI Bureau of Land
Management as a tool for managing recrea tion and
[Quflsm o n fede ral la nd. and for integrating recreation
and tourism with other lan d uses (Clark & Stankey,
1979). ROS is used to describe and identi fy recreational
serrings. and to illustrate the likelihood of recreational
oppo rtunities along a spectrum that is divided inca several
classes. This system combines the physical landscape char-
acteristics of location and access (Q allow you [Q delineate
areas of land that may be used for differenc recreational
purposes. For exam ple, in the most recent forest plan for
the Hi awa th a National Forest in norrhern Michigan
(US DA Forest Service, 2006) it is suggesred that recre-
ation-rela ted development, activities, management prac-
tices, and access will be consistenc with the delineated

199
 Chapter 12 SyntheSiS of Techniques Applied to Advanced Topics
Land classification
_ Class 1
c:::::::J Class 2
c:::::::J Class 3
Figw~ 12.3 A land dusification of th~ Brown traCt.
ROS class for each area. Thus. the recreation oppo rtun i-
ties will be provided in a manner consistent w ith the ROS
designation for each management area. The ROS classes
represent a wide range of recreational experiences. from
rhose rhar include a high likelihood of self-reliance. soli-
tude. challenge. and risk. ro rhose rhar include a relarively
high degree of resource development and interaction with
orner people. A recreation opportunity class. therefore. is
an a rea of land that may yield certain experiences for
recreationists in a specific landscape setting.
Consider an activiry such as cross-country skiing. a
popular recreational activ iry in western North America.
Cross-country skiing experiences in and a round cities.
such as Bend. Oregon. are likely to result in experiences
that are exercise-oriented yet include a high frequency of
interaction with other people and developed resources.
However. cross-country ski ing experiences in the back-
country. such as the nearby Deschutes National Forest,
while also exercise-oriented. are more likely to include ele-
ments of solitude. risk. personal challenge. and will likely
have a lower frequency of interaction with people.
Therefo re. the same activity. cross-country skiing. can be
associated with different experiences in d ifferent land-
189
scape settings. As a result. there is a need to delineate
those areas spatially, so that management activities related
to recreational activities (and other management objec-
rives) can be planned acco rdin gly.
The original version of rhe ROS classificarion (Clark &
Stankey. 1979) divided land areas into six classes:
I. Wilderness (now called primitive)
2. Semi-primitive non-motorized
3. Semi-primitive motorized
4. Roaded narural
5. Rural
6. Urban
Category 4 has since been expanded to two classes,
roaded natural and rooded modified. alrhough me exacr
classes used seems to vary from one management situation
to the next. In the most recent forest plan for the
Hiawarha Narional Forest (USDA Forest Service. 2006).
the o riginal six classes are used.
The ROS classes suggesr rhar specific kinds of recre-
ation activities and experiences owing to certain physical
(e.g.• size). social (e.g.• encounters with orher people). and
managerial (e.g.• legally designared wilderness area) char-
acteristics can be supported. The rules that define the
ROS classes can include spatial relationships. For example.
to be considered a primitive area, land must be more [han
1.5 miles from any road (Table 12.2). Further. some spa-
TABLE 12-2 A subset of rules with spatial
consideratioDs for delineating
recreational opportunity
spectrum (ROS) classes
ROS class RuI,
Primitiv~ (P) Areas ofland great~r than 1. 5 miles fro m
a road.
Semi-primitive. Areas of land that ar~ greater than 0.25 mi les
non-momriud from a road , hav~ forest stands ~ ;0 years of
(S PNM) ag~. and ar~ ~ 202.3 hectares (500 acres) in
aggrega t~ siu.
S~mi - primi cive, Areas of land that ar~ grear~r than 0.25 miles
motorized (S PM) from a pawd road. hav~ forest stands
<!: 50 yeltS of ag~. and are ~ 202.3 hectares
(500 acres) in aggrega[~ size:.
Roaded natural (RN) Areas of land with stand ages ~ 50 years. and
2: 16.2 hectares (40 acres) in aggregat~ siu.
Road~d, man ag~d (RM ) Ar~as that do nor fit imo any of rh ~ other
classes.
200
190 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

[ial aggrega[ion of polygons may be necessary. The semi-

primitive, non-motorized ROS class suggestS mat there
muse be a[ leas[ 500 comiguous acres (202.3 hec[ares) of
land of certain forested conditions before land can be
classed as such. Here, you may have co add cogecher [he
area of several contiguous polygons to determine how
much area rhey represent in aggregate.
As with rhe land classification example described eac-
Iier, [he sum of [he landscape area in [he ROS GIS da[a-
base(s) (Figure 12.4) should equal [he co[al area of [he
landscape being classified. If no[, one or borh of [he fol-
lowing sicu3rions exist: (1) there is some overlap among
the landscape fearures in onc or more ROS classes, or (2) ROS classes
I:J!!!It!!I Primitive (none)
some area of rhe landscape is not being represented by rz::::iiiI Semi-primitive, non-motorized (none)
_ Semi-primitive, motorized
a ny of rhe ROS classes. A process you might use co create c::J Roaded, natural
the primitive and semi-primitive portions of an ROS map c:::J Roaded, mCYlaged
migh[ resemble [he flow chan illusera[ed in Figure 12.5. Figure 12.4 Recreation OpponunitySpecuum (ROS) classes for the
As you may gather from this set of processing steps, Brown Tract.

Buffer Buller
roads m.ds
1.5 miles 0.25 miles

Erase Erase
process process

Query
process
(age ~ 50)

Erase
process

Aggregate Query
or combine process
process (size :<!: 500)

Figure 12.5 Hieruchy of intermediate and final C IS databases created in the development of the
primitive and semi-primitive portions of a Recreation Oppo rtunity S~ctrum map.

201
 Chapter 12 Synthesis ofTechniques Applied to Advanced Topics
when you consider the development of the full range of
ROS classes, rhe sec of processing steps may become cum-
bersome and confusing. Developing a flow chan to
describe the processing steps you used, and co identify
the intermediate and final GIS darabases, will alleviare
some of this confusion.
Habitat Suitability Model
with a Road Edge Effect
Habitat suitability models provide natural resource man-
agers with a glimpse inca rhe potencial of a landscape co
suppOrt habitat for a specific species of wildlife, or group
of wildlife species (Mo rrison et ai., 1992) . These models
generally describe habitat suitability as the geometric
mean of two or more variables that represent (o r inAu-
ence) the occurrence and ab undance of a particular
wildlife species. A geomerric mean is calculated by raking
rhe nth root of the product of a group of numbers, where
n is eq ual to rhe number of observations. Rempel and
Kaufmann (2003) define habitat as rhe set of foresr struc-
(ural conditions that provide some means (e.g. , nesting.
reproduction. foraging) for a species of wildlife during its
life history. Each forest stand in a vegetarion database is
assigned a single habitat value based on rhe structural
conditions thar exisr in (and perhaps around) the srand
during some period of time. conditions which can
cha nge as man agement activicies are implemented . The
suirabiliry of habirat is generally scaled becween 0 and I,
and wildlife managers are called upon to determine what
levels are appropriate (0 describe optimal habitat. While
there is considerable debate concerning the usefulness
and accuracy of habitat suitabiliry models (see Brooks,
1997), when well-developed and validated, they do allow
natu ral resource managers (Q examine rhe relative quality
of one area versus another with respect to some species of
inceresc.
To illustrate the developmenr and display of a habirar
suita biliry map, a hypothetical habirat suitabiliry index
(HSI) is developed for a fictional species of vole. The
model will allow you CO evaluate habitat suitability as a
function of foresr basal area, age, and the distance of habi-
tat from roads.
HSI = j(basal area, age, disrance from roads)
The HSI incorporates rhese three paramerers into a
single non-linear model that is used ro calculate rhe
191
1.2,-----------------,
1.0
0.8
Basal
area 0.6
sco<,
0.'
0.2
Basal area per acre (sQuare feet)
Figure 12.6 BanI area scores for a range of stand basal areas.
geometric mean of the scores of each variable. The pur-
pose of rhis exercise is to obtain a graphical descriprion of
the landscape features that are important in describing
rhe habirar of the vole, given an undemanding of rhe
vole's habitat requirements.
HSI calcularion = (basal area score X stand age score X
distance from road score) 113
In order [Q calculate each of the individual parameter
sco res, a ser of quantirative rules is needed. These rules
are generally developed rhrough research , lirerature
reviews, or perhaps are based on the advice of biologists
who are experts on rhe life history of voles. Since rhe vole
assumed here is a fictional species, the set of rules have
been developed by the authors of rhis book, and are
hyporhetical. The basal area score, for example, is a func-
rion of rhe square of srand basal area (fr2 per acre) mulri-
plied by a consrant, ro indicate a non-linear posirive
response of vole abundance to more heavily s[Qcked tim-
ber stands (Figure 12.6).
Basal area score = 0.0000 I 15 X (basal area) 2
If Basal area score> 1.0, then Basal area score = 1.0
The stand age score is a lin ear funccion of stand age
(Figure 12.7), where age is multiplied by a co nsranr.
When combined with the basal area score, me [wo por-
tions of rhe HSI favor older srands that are well-stocked
(where both rhe basal area sco re and stand age score are
high), over older srands rhat are not well-stocked, or
younger srands rhat are over-stocked (where one score is
high and the other low) .
202
192 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

1.2

1.0
Habitat scores
0.8 _ 0.80H.000
Stand _ 0.601 - 0.800
a,. 0.6 c::J 0.401-0.600
score
c::J 0.201-0.400
0.4
c::J 0.000-0.200
0.2

0.0 1----,--,----,--,----,--,----,--,----r----1
10 W M ~ W ~ ro W 00 @
Stand age (years)

Figure 12.7 Stand age scores for a range of stand ages. Figwe 12.9 Habitat suitability scores for a vole on the Brown Tract.

Scand age score = 0.01 X (scand age)
If Scand age score> 1.0, chen Scand age score = 1.0
While the basal area and stand age parameters may
more likely describe the abundance of rhe vole, the dis-
tance from road parameter describes rhe potential occur-
rence of the vole species. In other words , the distance to
road factor is used {Q represent the assumption that areas
near roads will represent lower habitat quality than simi-
lar areas of land fa[(her away from roads (Figure 12.8) .
Distance from
road score 0.25 if wichin 15.24 m (50 feec) of
any road, or
0.50 if 15.25 (0 30.48 m (50.1
100 feec) of any road, or
1.2
1.0
0.75 if 30.49 CO 45.72 m (100.1 (0
150 feec) of any road, or
I .00 everywhere else
G raphically displayed, che map of HSI for che vole indi-
cates the relative quality of vole habitat across the land-
scape (Figure 12.9). A score of 1.0 represen" opcimal
habitat , a score of 0.0 represents the poorest quality
habicar.
Somewhere along che 0.0-1.0 range, biologisrs will
need to determine the threshold levels th at separate good
habitat from poor habitat. One process that can be used
to arrive at these scores is presented in Figure 12.10 .
Here, che roads are buffered chree cimes (15.24, 30.48,
(0
and 45 .72 m). Two of rhe buffer GIS databases are chen
subjected to an erase process. resulting in a buffer band
around each road (a 15.25-30.48 mecer band and a
30.49-45.72 mecer band). The 0--15.24 mecer buffer is
then combined with these MO buffer bands (Q create a
GIS database that represents three of the buffer distances
by polygons, wich no overlapping polygons presem. The

Distance
0.8 I fourth buffer distance, as you can imagine. is everything
nor included in chese chree buffer discances. The buffers
from
road
score
0.6
I are then overlaid on the vegetacion GIS database. breaking
vegecacion polygons ac che buffer boundaries. The basal
D••

0.2
I area, stand age. and distance from road scores can then be
calculaced in che cabular ponion of che resulcing GIS daca-
base. The final HSI score can be calculaced as a funcrion
0.0
0 ~
of the basal area, stand age, and distance from road scores.
N
and a thematic map can be developed to illustrate the dis-
Distance from road (feet)
tribution of vole habitat across the landscape. In addition ,
Figure 12.8 Distance from roads scores for a range of distances from che final GIS dacabase can be queried co develop a cable of
the road network.
area by habicar class.
203
 Chapter 12 Synthesis of Techniques Applied to Advanced Topics 193

Iv~m~
GIS
da!abase
I L R_GIS
database
/ I Roa~ I I I
GIS
da!abase
Roads
GIS
database

i ~ ~ ~
Calculate Buffer Buller Buffer
basal area roads roads r_
score 15.24m 30.48 m 45.72 m

~ ~ ~ ~
Calculate
stand age
score
I( BUllere,,';
(o-~~m)
I( II I( III
Buffered
(o-~~ m)
roads
Buffered
(0-45.72 ml

~
Erase
process

~
Erase
process
I I Bullered
roads
(3Q.48-

I I ~
Buffered
r_
(15.24-
30.48 m)
45.7Srn)

Combine
process

~
Overlay
process

~
/
/ Road
buffers
I
I HSI
GIS
database
IL
II
Calculate
road
score
calculate
HSI
score
Develop
mapaf
HSI scores

Figure 12.10 Hierarchy of intermediate and final G IS d:ltabue$ created in the devdopmcnt of an
analysis of potential w ildlife habitat suitability (HSI) areas for a vole on the Brown Tract.

Summary
This chapter illustrates juSt a few of [he more com plex
spatial analyses that may be performed (or requested) by
natural resource managers. The number and arrangemem
of GIS processes could vary in addressing analyses such as
these, and may include buffering. clipping, erasing, and
querying of landscape features. Therefore. the chapter
represents a synthesis of the tools readers have acquired
from previous chapters in this book. It should be appar-
ent by now that it is important to explicitly define the
quantitative rules and the GIS processes th at might be
used to address complex spatial analyses. For example, the
need fo r quantirative rules and a log ical set of GIS
processes [0 separate one set of landscape featu res from
another in an analysis of ROS classes is important because
a single un it of land must be assigned only o ne ROS class,
and all units ofland must be assigned a class. The graph-
ical display of the result of a complex GIS analysis. such as
the ones illustrated in this chapter. is also important
because land managers rypical ly use these products to
help them visualize and make decisions regarding the
management of natural resources.
204
194 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Applications
12. 1 Land classificat ion. Becky Blaylock, manager of
the Brown Tract, wants you to develop a management-
related land classification for the forest. She asks you to
develop GIS databases for each of three classes using the
following rules:
1. Special stewardship areas will consist of the follow-
ing landscape features: Oak woodlands, Meadows,
and Rock pits.
2. Focused stewardship areas will consist of the follow-
ing landscape feamces:
a. streams buffered according co the Oregon State
Forest Practices Act (30.48 meters [100 feet]
around large fish-bearing st reams [Size = 'Large'
and Fishbearing = 'Yes], 21.34 meters [70 feet]
arou nd medium fish-bearing streams, 15.24
meters [50 feet] aro und small fi sh-bea rin g
streams, 2 1.34 meters [70 feet] around large
non fish-bearing streams, 15.24 meters [50 feet]
around medium non fish -bearing streams, and
6.10 meters [20 feet] around small non fish-
bea ring streams);
b. a buffer of 100 meters around all water sources
tha t are not culvert spills or water towers;
c. a buffer of 100 meters around all authorized
(rails; and
d. research areas.
3. General stewardship areas will consist of whatever
land remains.
Do the following:
a) Develop and illustrate a process (How chart) for
accomplishing the task of defining the land classi-
ficat ions of the Brown Tract forest according to the
rules listed above.
b) D ete rmine how much land area is contained in the
special stewardship land classification .
c) Determine how much land area is contained in the
focused stewardship land classification.
d) Determine how much land area is contained in the
general stewardship land classification .
e) Produce a map of the entire Brown Tract, ill ustrat-
ing the three land classifications.
As a general strategy, yo u may want to follow [his process:
• Develop a special stewardship GIS database.
• Develop a focused stewa rdship GIS database by
performin g the appropriate buffer and query
processes, and then intersecting these GIS databases.
(Why would you nOt use a merge process here?)
• Erase the special stewardship GIS database features
from the focused stewardship GIS database features.
• Erase both the special stewardship GIS database fea-
tures and [he focused stewardship GIS database fea-
tures from the stands GIS da tabase, creating the
general stewardship GIS database.
12.2 Recreat ion O p portunity Sp ectru m. The Dimict
Manager associated with the Brown Tracr (Becky
Blaylock) would like you to determine how much area
might be classified in the five recreation opportunity spec-
trum (ROS) classes (see T able 12.2) . Based on this subset
of rhe ROS criteria,
a) How much land area is contained in the primitive
class?
b) How much lan d area is contained in the semi-
primitive, non-mororized class?
c) How mu ch land area is contained in the semi-
primitive, motorized class?
d) How much land area is co ntained in the roaded
natu ral class?
e) How mu ch land area is contained in the roaded
managed class?
f) Develop a thematic map illustrating the five ROS
classes on the Brown Tract.
g) Draw a flow chart [Q describe the p rocesses lIsed [Q
develop the ROS classes, including the GIS opera-
tions and all GIS databases used (original, interme-
diate, a nd final GIS databases).
12.3. Visual quality bu ffers. You have been asked by
the manager of the Daniel Picken forest [Q evaluate the
potential impact of two proposed organizational policies
for the forest resou rces found there. It seems that the
owners of the property are becomin g very concerned with
the public perception of management on the forest, thus
they are interested in the trade-off's assoc iated with alter-
native management pol icies.
Policy #1: Buffers next to neighboring landow ners.
Assume for this example that even-aged forest manage-
ment is practiced across the property. This potential
pol icy suggests that c1earcllt harvesting activities adja-
cent to neighboring landowners of the Daniel Pickett
forest will be restricted.
205
 Chapter 12 Synthesis ofTechniques Applied to Advanced Topics
a} If a 50-meter uncut buffer were to be left adjacent
co all other property owners, how much land
would this require as a volumary contribution [0
rhe pCQ[ecrion of adjacent landowners resources?
b} How much timber volume of vegetation class A
would be found in the buffer (vegetation class A is
the older timber class. perhaps that which can be
harvested in the near- term). and what perce mage
of rhe [Ocal volume in this vegetation class would
be affected?
Policy #2: Buffers next to paved public roads. This
potential policy suggeSts that visual quality buffers
may be maintained along paved roads within rhe
Daniel Pickett forest. These buffers will not be man-
aged. bur rather treated as reserved areas, where har-
vesting is precluded.
a} If a 50-meter buffer were required around all paved
roads, how much land area would this involve, and
how much timber vo lume in vegetarion class A
would it affect?
b} If the State decided to convert the North-South
paved road on the Daniel Pickett foreSt to a high-
way, and required a 1DO-meter wide corridor [Q he
transferred to State ownership, how much land
area would be affected?
c} If bare land values were assumed to be $200 per
hecta re. and timber volumes $400 per thousand
References
American Farmland Trust. (2006). Land classification
sysum. Washington. DC: American Farmland Trust.
Retrieved February 17. 2007. from http://www.
farmland.org/resources/furureisnowllanddassification
system.asp.
American Forest & Paper Association . (2002) . Sustain-
able Fomtry Initiative (SFI)"'. Washington. DC:
Amer ican Forest & Paper Association. Retrieved
December 10.2007. from http: //www.afandpa.org/
ContentfNavigation Menu/ Environment and Recycling!
SFIISFl.htm.
Brooks. R.P. (l997). Improving habitat suitabil ity index
models. Wildlifi Society Bulletin. 25. 163-7.
Butler. R.W .• & Waldbrook. L.A. (l991). A new plan-
ning tool: The tou rism opportunity spectrum. JournaL
of Tourism Studies. 2(1). 2-14.
195
board feet (MBF). how much would you ask the
Scare [Q compensate [he owners of the Daniel
Pickert forest for the loss of this land?
d} If a 30-meter visual quality (i .e.• uncurl buffer was
then proposed around the I OO-meter highway cor-
ridor, what is the [mal effect [Q the forest resource
base, in terms of land area now affected in each
vegetation type?
12.4. Habitat suitability index fo r a vole. The biologist
associated w ith the Daniel Picken forest, Will Edwards.
has recently become aware of a vole habi tat su itability
model, and is interested in understanding the extenr of
vole habitat on the forest. Will asks you to apply the
model described in the 'Habitat Suitability Model with a
Road Edge Effect' section of this chapter to the Daniel
Pickett forest, and m:
a) Calculate the amount of land area on the Daniel
Pickett forest in the following habitat suitabil ity
classes: 0.000-0 .200 (low quality). 0.201 -0.400
(low/moderate quality). 0.401-0.600 (mode rate
qual ity). 0.601-0.800 (moderate/high quality).
0.801-\.000 (high quality).
b} Develop a map illustrating the habitat quality for
the vole by suitability class.
c) Draw a flow chart of rhe process yo u used to
develop the habitat suitability classes.
Canadian Forest Service. (2007). Ecological land classifica-
tions. Onawa. ON: Canadian Forest Service, Natural
Resources Canada. Retrieved February 17. 2007. from
hup:11ecosys.d1.scf. rnea n.gc.cal dassifl i n rro_strat_e.
asp.
Clark. R.N .• & Stankey. G.H . (I 979}. The recreation
opportunity spectrum: A framework for planning, man-
agement, and research. GeneraL Technical Report PNW-
98. Portland . OR: Pacifi c Northwest Forest and
Range Experiment Sta tion, USDA Forest Service.
Frayer. W.E .• Davis. L.S .. & Risser. P.G. (I 978}. Uses of
land classification. Journal ofForestry. 76. 647-9.
Klingebiel. A.A .. & Montgomety. P.H . (I 973}. Land
capability classification. USDA agricultural handbook
210. Washington. DC: US Government Printing
Office. Retrieved February 17. 2007. from http://
206
196 Part 2 Applying
Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Management

soils. usda.govltochnicaUhandbookicontents/part622p2.
soils.usda.gov/tech nical/handbookicontents/partG22p2. Rempel, R.S.,.. & Kaufmann
Rempel. R.S Kaufmann., C.K.
G.K. (2003)
(2003).. Spatial model-
modd-
html#ex2. ing of harvest co nsrransuainrs
inrs on wood suppsupply
ly ve rsus
Morrison
Morrison., M.L. ., Marcot.
Marcot, B.GB.G..•, & Mannan,
Mannan. R.W. wildli fe habi
wildlife habicat
tat objectives.
objecrives. £Ilvironmeruo
Environmental/ Manage-
((19 92). Wildlife-habitat relationships: Conupts and
1992). ment, 32.
ment. 32, 646-59.
applications. Madison.
Madison, WI : University
Universiry of Wisco nsin US Bureau of Reclamatio n. (195 1). Land classification.
Press. Bureau of reclamation man ull~ vol. V, irrigated land
manual
Natu
Naturalral Resources Canada. (2000). Overviewofclassifica-
Overview o[classifica- use, Denver, CO: US Bureau of Reclamation.
use. part 2. Denver. Reclamati on.
deurmining land capability for
tion methodology for determining USDA Forest Service. (2006). Hiawatha national form. forest,
forestry
foustry.. Onawa, GeoG racis Cli
Ottawa, ON: GeoGrads C li enc
ent Services.
Services, 2006 forest
fomt plan. Milwaukee,
Milwaukee. WI: USDA Forest
Nacural
Narurai Resources
Reso urces Canada. Rerrieved
Retri eved Augus[
Au gust 10, Service, Eastern Region. Retrieved February 18.2007.
Service. 18,2007,
2007, from http:
2007. //geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/C LI /frames.
hrtp:lIgeogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/CLl from http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hiawarhalrevision/2006/
from http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hiawatha/revision/2006/
html.
htm!' ForPlan .pdf.
Depareme", of Forestry.
Oregon Department Fo rest ry. (2007). Oregon admin- Scate Parks and Recrearion
Washington State Rec reatio n Com
Commission.
mission.
iJtrah'vt! ruiLs,
istrative o/forestry, Division 35. man-
nlus, department offorestry. (2006).. WAC 352-16-020 land classification. Olympia.
(2006) Olympia,
ngeuullt
agement of o[ statt Salem , OR: Oregon
state forest lands. Salem, WA: Washington Srate Recrea(ion Com-
State Parks and Recreation
Depart ment of Fore5[ry.
Depanme", Forestry. Retrieved March 12. 2007.
12, 2007, Reuieved February
mission. Retrieved Feb rua.ry 17. 2007. from http://www.
17,2007, htrp:/iwww.
h((p:llarcweb.sos.sta
from http://a te.or.us/rules/OARS_6001
rcweb.sos.sta te.or.us/ rules/OARS_GOO/ parks.wa.gov/plans/lowerhoodcanaI/Srare%20Parks%
parks.wa.gov/ plansllowerhoodcanaI/State%20Pa rks%
OAR_G29/629_035.html.
OAR_629/629_035.html. 20Land%20C lassificat ions.pdf.
20 Land%20Classifications. pdf.

207
Chapter 13
Raster GIS Database Analysis
Objectives
The skills and techniques you'll learn in this chapter
should provide insight inco the examination and applica-
don of raster GIS databases for natural resou rces research,
and how raster GIS databases might be included in sup-
paning natural resource management decision-making.
At the conclusion of this chapter, you should have an
understanding of:
1. how landscape comour GIS databases are created from
a OEM;
2. how landscape shaded relief GIS databases are created
from a OEM;
3. how slope GIS databases are created from a OEM;
4. how to calculate slope gradients for a linear landscape
feature, such as a road, trail, or stream;
5. how (0 conduct a viewshed analysis for a parrion of a
landscape; and
6. how to create a watershed boundary based on digital
elevation data.
As mentioned in chapters 1 and 2, the re are {Voto gen-
eral types of data structures used in GIS coday: vector and
raster. Unci l now, we have focused on vec[Qr GIS data-
bases and the GIS operations related to the typical kind of
applications performed in natural resource organizat ion
field offices. This chapter now delves into rhe use of raster
GIS databases for namral resource applications. and a few
of the GIS operations that can be performed using them.
An emphasis is placed on how raster GIS databases mi ght
be used in field offices to support natural resource man-
agement decisions . Although we will rurn our attemion in
the next chapter to other raster database applications. the
primary raster GIS database that is considered in th is
chapter is a digital elevation model (OEM) . Many difTer-
em types of landscape information can be cultivated from
a single OEM database.
Digital Elevation Models (OEMs)
As their name implies. OEMs comain information related
to the elevation of a landscape above sea level or relative to
some other datum point. T hey are different than the typ-
ical USGS Quadrangle maps discussed in chapter 4, in that
they are in digital form. As with other raster GIS databases,
each unit on the landscape is typically represented by a
landscape-related value (or set to a null or 'no data' value),
and each unit is exactly the same s ize and shape as the
other units (F igure 13. 1). The most prevalent OEM data-
bases available in the US are the USGS 30 meter OEMs
(US Department of Interior, US Geological Survey,
2007). Within Canada, Natural Resources Canada (2007)
provides access to digital topographic data. Raster data-
bases are onen described in terms of their spatial resolu-
tion, as in the phrase '30 m OEM'. This infers that each
grid cell in the OEM database is 30 m by 30 m in size in
terms of on-the-ground area that it represenrs . Many
regions in the US also have 10m OEMs available for areas
within federal and state agency administrative boundaries.
In some cases OEMs for states. provinces. or other large
regions can be purchased from commercial entities.
DEMs can be used for a variety of analytical purposes,
bur the most general of these purposes is simp ly ro view
the rel ief of a landscape. OEMs can use shades of color or
gray rones co illustrate differences in e1evadon through a
208
198 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

One notable category rep resented in the lege nd in

Figure 13.2 is the 'No Data' category. This category is nec-
essary because raster GIS data must be stored as a set of grid
cells that combine ro form a rectangular or square shape-
the width and heigh t of the image is defined by the num-
ber of grid cells. Therefore, when landscape fearures of
interest do not match a rectangular shape (e.g., the shape
of the Brown Tract), the grid cells that are nOt associated
with [he landscape features of interest are given a nuil, or
No Data, value. For example, all of the grid cells that rep-
resent areas outside the boundary of the Brown T ract con-
tain no data. For mapping purposes, the symbo lization
used to display cells with a null value can be assigned a
transparent shade. Almost all raster GIS software programs
allow the recognition of a null value, yet are designed to
ignore this va lue in analytical computations. When per-
forming a multiple GIS database overlay ana lysis, some
raster GIS software programs are also designed ro ignore
Figure 13. 1 Ruler grid cells from a digital elevation mode (OEM).
any cells that overlap null cells in any other GIS database
being analyzed. For example, if twO spatially coincident
raster databases were overlaid on each orher and any por-
separation and c1assificarion of elevation values . Figure tion of either dacabase comained cells with no darn, any
13.2 illuscrates a gray tone color-shading scheme app lied database resuhing from an overlay or compara tive analys is
toa 10 m OEM of the Brown Tract, and uses a twelve- that involved borh databases would also comain no data
category equal-inrerval classification scheme CO highl ight cells at rhe same locations. This result would occur even if
(he cha nges in elevation. The equal-imerval classificat ion actual values were present in a portion of one of the raster
takes the disrriburion of elevadon data values found databases. Whi le th is functiona lity may or may not be
within the 10m OEM and divides it equally into twelve appropriate for particular G IS analyses, users should be
sub-sets of elevat ion ranges. Most GIS software will allow cognizant of how null values assigned to grid cells will
users to define [he number of elevation range categories be handled within their selected GIS software program{s).
shown visually. and offer choices for color and gray tone
schemes [0 illusrrate distinctions between elevation Elevation Contours
C3rcgones.
OEMs ca n be used to create devation contours, or lines
Brown Tract that indicate a constant or nearly constam elevation across
OEM Values (feet)
a landscape . Contour lines are created adjacent ro each
D 136-150
0 151 - 200 other such that elevation represented in even in crements,
D 201-25O such as every 30, 50, or 100 m. An elevation contour GIS
D 251 - 300 database is usually represemed through a vector dara
~ 30 1- J50
srruCture based on a user-defined elevation interva l.
IH;11 351 -"OO
111 401_ 450 Contour lines allow YOll to examine the relarive relief of a
_ 451 -500 landscape and to make inferences about landscape ropog-
_ 501- 550
raphy ro support managemem decisions. For example.
_ 5 5 1-600
_ 8 0 1-850
co ntour intervals can be used ro delineate likely hydro-
_651-700 logic drainage patterns and watershed boundaries. When
_ No Data
designing road systems, engineers rypically need to keep
the slope of each road below some maximum gradient.
Figure 13.2 Elevation ca t~ori ~ for the Brown Tract using a 10 m since slopes too steep will either prevem the movement of
OEM. certain rypes of veh icles (if the vehicle is travelling uphill),
209

A contour. [Q most people. represents the ou dine of
some figure or body. Contour intervals. as used on
maps. represent the oudine of all areas thar have the
same elevation. It would be as if you were to slice (hor-
izontally) the landscape every 100 feet (or whatever
interval was chosen) in verrical elevation. Contour
plowing is a common practice in agriculture. where
or will be too dangerous to travel (if the vehicle is travel-
ling downhill) . With many raster GIS software programs,
users have the ability [Q choose a contour interval and the
starting elevation value at which contours will be created.
To creare contour lines a process such as rhar
described in Figure 13.3 can be used. In cases where e1e-
Select
contour
interval
Setect
base
elevation
value to
start contours
Verify
elevation
units
Figure 13.3 A general process for the development of a contour line
GIS database from a OEM.
Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 199
plow lines are laid parallel to the contour of the land-
scape [Q reduce the erosion potential of rhe agricultural
practice. This also reduces strain on farm machinery;
this practice encourages moving laterally rather than
perpendicularly through elevation gradients. Each sec-
tion of a plow line is. theoretically. at about the same
elevation as every other section of the line.
vatlon umts (i.e. meters. feet) do not match horizontal
mapping units. a unit conversion factor may be needed in
order to bring the units into agreement. Within ArcGIS a
OEM must be opened as a layer, the Spatial Analyst
Extension must be activated. and the Spatial Analyst
menu must be opened. From the Spatial Analyst menu.
choose Surface Analysis. then choose the Contour option.
This should open the Contour dialog box, which will
prompt you for the Input Surface. conrour dimensions,
and an output database name. Using the Brown Tracr
10m DEM, a COntour interval of 50 feet with a base con-
tour elevation of 100 feet was chosen (Figure 13.4). Using
(he 100-foot base elevation should result in comour lines
that o ri ginate from 100 feet and incremem in 50-foot
steps. The contour line GIS database that is created is a
vector GIS database, and each line contains an att ribute
describing the elevation . Users can then modify this vec-
tor GIS database to display different color shades or line
thickness for differenr contour lines of interest.
Brown Tract
ContoIS Interval
- 50''''
OEM Value. (feet)
0 100 - 150
o 1S1-200
W 2{)1 -25O
2S1-lOO
_ 301 - 350
_ 351--400
_4()1 -~
_ . S l -5OO
_ 501-S50
_ 551-600
_ 601- MO
_ 6S1 -700
Figure 13.4 A contour line GIS database for the Brown Tract
displayed on top of the Brown Tract 10 m OEM.
210
200 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

Whenever boch ho rizontal coo rdinate positions and

ve rtical elevations are processed simultaneously. as is {he
case in the creation of contour lines discussed above . it
shou ld be ascenained. [hat both cypes of measurements
use rhe same units. TypicaUy coordinates and elevations Selecl
will he recorded using meters, international feet, US sur- azimuth that
vey feet, or some combination of these units. It is not represents the
sun's location
uncommon within rhe US, however, to discover OEMs
chat have coordi nate values in meters bur (hat srore eleva-
tion val ues in survey feec. A GIS analyst might mistake rhe Select
resulring co ntour lin e va lu es (a represent meters, rhus altitude of
over-rep rese nting (he elevat ions alo ng co ntou rs. The the sun
in the sky
Spac ial Analyst Contour option dialog box conta ins an
input box w here users can specify whe ther elevation units
differ from coordinate units within a OEM.

(raslerl
Shaded Relief Maps
Figure: 13.5 A gene:ral process for the: devdopme:nt of a shade:d re:lie:f
Another product that can be derived from a OEM is a GIS database: &om a OEM .
shaded relief map. Shaded relief maps are intended ro
simulate the su n-lit and shaded areas of a landsca pe when tal map unit (Z factor), an ompur cell size. and an output
assuming thar the sun is positioned at some location in database nam e. Usi ng the Brown T ract 10m OEM, an
rhe sky. La ndscape fearures that face roward the sun will azimu rh of 210·, and an altitude of 45·, a shaded rel ief
appear more brightly lit than objects facing away. For map is created (Figu re 13.6) that shows (rel atively speak-
raster GIS software program s that provide the abiliry co ing) how much sunl ight reaches each parr of the landsca pe
create a shaded reli ef map . the resulr of performing a in th e late afternoon (the su n azimurh of 21 0° indicates
shaded reli ef map process is a raster GIS database, and [hat the sun is located directly co the southwes t of the
each grid cell typically contains an attribute value describ-
ing a gray cone rangi ng from light (facing cowards rhe
sun) ro dark (f..ci ng away from the sun). The shaded relief
map is useful for illustraring rhe ropography and provides
a th ree-dimensional perspect ive of the landscape.
Shaded relief maps can be created with the genera l
process described in Figure 13.5. The azimuth selected
specifies the d irection from which rhe sun is sh in ing. An
azimuth of 90°, for examp le, indicates that the su n is posi-
tioned in rhe eaSt, and an azimuth of 1800 ind icates that
rhe sun is positi oned in the so uth. The altitude defines the
angle of the sun above the landscape. An alti tude of O·
typicall y indicates that the s un is located directly over-
head, whereas an altitude of 90· wou ld indicare thar the
sun is at the hori zo n. With in ArcGIS a OEM must be
opened as a laye r, the Spatial Analyst Extension must be
act ivated, and the Spatial Analyst menu must be o pened.
From [he Spatial Analyst menu, choose Surface Anal ys is.
the n choose rhe Hillshade option. This should o pen rhe
Hillshade dialog box, which will prompt you for th e
FigllR 13.6 Shade:d relief map of the: Brown Tract using a 10m
Input Surface. Azimuth, and Altitude amOunts. Options OEM, an illumination azimuth of 210°, and an illumination altitude
are also provided for vertical unit conversion to horizon- of 45°.

211

The oriemacion and presentation of 'direction ' has
not been discussed co great extent in this book, how-
ever, it is important for readers to know the differ-
ence between an azimuth and a bearing. Why?
Because compasses used in fieldwork either represent
di recdon as azimuths or bearings . In some cases,
both types of measurements will be represented.
Azim uths are degrees of a circle, with No rth being 0°
(or 360°), East being 90°, South being 180°, and
West being 270°. A compass line indicating an
azimuth of 353°, therefore, indicates a d irect ion of
almost due North. A bearing is represented as any
angle of 90 0 or less from eithet the North or South
landscape, and the 45° altitude indicates a sun position
halfway between 'direcdy overhead' and 'setting'). With
this shaded relief analys is, you can obtain a sense of the
varied ropography of the Brown T ract. Other landscape
features. such as study areas, roads, and streams, might
[hen be displayed on tOp of the shaded rel ief GIS database
to allow an exam ination of how chese resources might be
infl uenced by landsca pe tOpography.
Slope Class Maps
A third product that can be derived from an analysis of
DEMs are GIS databases that represent the slope class, or
gradient, of each portion of a landscape. Slope class values
are measurements chat indicate me steepness of a land-
scape, and provide insight into the rate at which other
resources, such as water, vehicles. or people. are likely to
travel over [hose portions of [he landscape. Since each
grid cell in a DEM contains both ho riwntal (e.g., latitude
and longitude) and vertical (elevat ion) measurements, the
slope of each grid cell can be computed based on the posi-
tion and he ight of the ne ighboring grid cells. MoSt raster
GIS software programs have the abi li ty to compute slope
classes. and are able to express slope class as an angle
(degrees) or as a percentage of the difference in elevat ion
of each grid cell as compared to the neighboring grid cells.
lr is important to understand that there are a number
of different methods used in choosing the values for slope
class calculations. In a raster GIS database. each raster grid
cell will have eight neighbors that share a portion (a side or
a point) of its boundary: fou r neighboring cells will share
Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 201
(and directed towards the East or West). Thus an
azimuth of 353° represents a bearing of N7°W. since
the angle would arise from the North half of a com-
pass, and is directed towards the West r.
Similarly,
an azimuth of 89° represents a bearing ofN89°E (the
angle arises from the North half of the compass and
is directed towards the East 89°). and an azimuth of
190° rep resents a bearing of S I OOW (t he angle arises
from the South half of the compass and is d irected
towards the West 10°). Property deeds, commonly
used within North America co legally state ownership
of a land area, often use bearings to describe the land
boundary locations.
a corner point and four neighbo ring cells will share a side.
Theoretically, eight possible grid cell values can be used to
calculate the slope class. Many raster GIS software pro-
grams lise a formula that takes into account me values of
these neighbo ri ng grid cells in calculating the average slope
elass of a single grid cell (Burrough & McDonnell, 1998,
pp. 190-3). In Figure 13.7, the weighted average slope
gradient between the cell of interest (the center cell with a
293 m elevation) and the eight neighbors can be calculated
to determine the slope class change by computing the ele-
vation change among the cells. You can imagine. however.
that perhaps only the cells that share a side might be used
to calculate the slope class for the cell of inte rest, or a
broader window can be used. (e.g .. one more ring of cells
around the cell of interest, or 24 neighboring cells) .
To create a layer representing slopes within ArcGIS a
DEM must be available, the Spatial AnalySt Extension muSt
be activated, and the Spatial Analyst menu mUSt be opened.
From the Spatial Analyst menu, choose Surface Analysis,
then choose the Slope option. T his should open the Slope
d ialog box, which will prompt you for the Input Surface
1 2 3 Legend
302 m 300m 298 m
12~m l
Neighboring cell
4 5 (3) and elevation (298 m)
293 m
290 m 295m
Cell lor which slope
6 7 8
287 m 288m 290 m
1293 m1 class will be computed
Figure 13.7 Slope class computation within a raster GIS
environment.
212
202 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

and whether degrees or percent slope is desired. Additional

options include vertical unit conversion {Q horiwnral map
unit (Z faccoc), Output cell size, and OUtput database name.
G iven [hat slope is a d irect function of distance and eleva-
tion comparisons, it is imperative with the slope process
rhat users know whether (he measurement units of coordi-
nates and elevations are [he same. If the measurement units
ate nO[ the same (e.g. meters for coordinates and feet for ele-
vations), the Z factor input can be used co reconcile differ-
ences. T he slope class GIS database created from the Brown
Tract 10 m DEM (Figu re 13.8) shows that slopes are
repom::d in degrees, and are divided into nine categories.
The darker-shaded slope class categories represent areas
where slopes are steep, and the lighter-shaded slope class
categories represent areas where slopes are gentle.
Many natural resource management organizations pre-
fe r CO work with slope classes expressed as a percentage,
and thus it may be important for CO know how to perform
th is conversio n:
slope class (percent) = tan (a) X 100
where
tan = tangent tr igonometric function
0: = slope in degrees
Tree height =
tan (30') - 50 feet
or 28.9 feet
50 feet
Angle (degrees) = 30'
Angle (percent) = (28.9 feet /50 feet) = 57.7%
tan (30°) • 100 = 57.7, providing a Quick conversion from
degrees to percent slope
Figure 13.9 A simple example of the' con'lo'ersion process from degrttS
to percent slope.
T o prove th is rather simp le conversion fro m degrees co
percent slope, assume that a person was standing on flat
ground (Figure 13.9) and needed to determine the pe rcent
slope from their location to the cop of a tree. By knowing
the angle (30') from their position to the top of the tree,
and the distance from their location to the tree, the person
can calculate the height of the tree (28 .9 feet). The slope
from the person to the top of the tree, as expressed in per-
centage terms, is then the rise (the height of the tree, or
28.9 feet) divided by the run (the distance the person is
from the tree, or 50 feet), or 57.7 per cent. And, by sim-
ply inserting the angle into the equation noted above,

slope class (percent) = tan(30') X 100

yo u can arrive at the same conclusion, D epending on (he

GIS sofrware program being used, you may need to con-
ven between degrees and rad ians, since the angle reponed
after a slope class calculation may be reported as a radian.
An examination of the software documentation will reveal
whether this consideration is necessary,

Interaction with Vector

GIS Databases
There are a number of methods by which you can per-

0
0
0-2.3
2.4-3.8
3.9-5.2
--- ---
Brown Tract slope (degrees)
5.3-6.5
6.6-7.8
7.9-9.1
9.2-10.8
10.9- 13.1
13.2- 21.8

Figure 13.8 Brown Tract slope class G IS database' created from

fo rm a GIS analysis using both vector and raster GIS data-
bases simultaneously. This ability has traditionally been
uncommon in many desktop CIS software programs, bur
as technology progresses you will see the expansion of
these capab ili ties. and field personnel (those with access
primarily to desktop GIS software programs) will be able
aIOmDEM.
to perform more complex analyses. Two types
213
of analyses
 Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 203

that combine vector and raster GIS databases will now be

explored: an examination of the slope class characteristics
of land management units, and an examination of the
slope class characteristics of streams.
Suppose you were ass igned rhe rask of developing a Selecl
management plan for an area the size of the Brown Tract, attribute that
and one where there was significant amount of rel ief asso- uniquely
identifies
ciated with the landscape. The set of management activi- stands
ties appropriate to each management unit defined on the
landscape may vary based on rhe slope class wirhin each
un ir. For example, if you were to consider planning a for- Summarize
slope
est thinning operation on the Brown T ract, it would be conditions
useful to know the locations of areas where thinning oper-
arions should use a ground-based logging sysrem (e.g.,
fell-bunchers skidders, harvesrers, forwarders, ere.) and Slope
class
the locations of areas where the thi nning operations
report
should use a cable-based logging sysrem. Since ground-
based logging sysrems are appropriare fo r rhe gender FigUJ"~ 13.10 A g~n~ra1 prouss fo r tb~ developm~nt of a sJop~
slopes, slope class measuremenrs will help identifY those class condition information for each stand ( manag~m~nt unit) on
a landscape.
management units that have the steepe r slopes more
appropriare for cable logging sysrems. The slope class con-
dition of a management unit ca n be measured in the field using a process similar to that described in Figu re 13 .10.
with clinometers or other surveying instruments or hyp- A rabular reporr is generared by the process described in
someters, or the slope class cond ition can be computed Figure 13.10, and provides a summary of the slope class
using a OEM in conjunction with the vecto r GIS database condition for each of the management units. An annotated
that describes the management units. In the case of the vers ion of the output, showing information for the first
Brown Tract, rather than having field crews spend several ten stands of the Brown Tract, is provided in Table 13. 1.
days collecting slope meas urements, the average slope The first variable in the table represents the a((ribure that
class of each management uni t can be calculated with GIS was selecred ro uniquely identifY each srand (rhe srand

TABLE 13.1 Output of percent slope values for management units

S.... d Count A=- M;" Max Range Mean Std Sum

3 19 343603 0.11 15.44 15.33 5.3 1 3.81 1692.78

2 2186 2354595 0.34 23.55 23.21 9.41 3.76 20564.20

3 770 829386 0.44 22.46 22.02 10.22 4.15 7866.61

4 2884 3 106428 0.28 23.01 22.73 9.54 3.66 27521.07

5 533 574107 1.71 19.80 18.09 8.34 3.14 4446.68

6 1195 1287164 0.44 23.72 23.28 8.51 4.24 10168.51

7 338 364068 0.20 15.15 14.95 6.20 3.52 2096.76

8 2494 2686349 0.15 26. 11 25.95 13.65 4.27 34040.15

9 337 362991 3.20 25.4 1 22 .21 15.03 3.9 1 5066.74

10 2395 2579714 1.55 24.2 5 22.70 11.52 3.90 27591.07

CoUnt:o number units (10 m grid cells) in Range ,. (maximum value - minimum val u~)
the database Mean z averag~ slope
Area .. squar~ feet Srd '" standard deviation o f values in [he database
Min. minimum valu~ in [h ~ da[abas~ Sum = sum of the slope for aU units
Max .. maximum valu~ in me darabas~
214
204 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
number}. With this value, you could join the tabular data
co the stands GIS database. using a one-to-one join process
(see chapter 9 for a review of join processes), and facilitate
a graphical display of the slope class for each managemenr
unit. The variables 'Co unr' and 'Area' list the number of
grid cells from the slope class GIS database that F...l1 within
each management unit, and the area mat the grid cells rep-
resent. The 'M in', 'Max', and 'Range' provide the mini-
mum slope class value within each management unit, the
maximum slope class value, and the difference becween
these [wo values for each management unit. The 'Mean' is
the average percent slope (what was hoped to be obtained
for the thinning opportunity analysis) and the 'Std' vari-
able is me standard deviation of the slope class values of rhe
grid cells located within each managemem unic. The stan-
dard deviation provides information on rhe disrcibucion
and variat ion of slopes classes within each management
unit, Large standard deviations indicate a wide variado n of
slope class values whereas small standard deviations indi-
cate a narrow varia don.
In the managemenr of namral resources, the condition
of a stream system may also be imporram [0 know from
Conversion
to raster
database
Overlay
analysis
Figun: 13.11 A general proces.s for the development of slope inform:uion for each individual
stream on a landscape.
both a hydro logic and fisheries perspective. For example,
you might need [0 understand the abilicy of Streams to
support fish populations, o r to understand the potential
water runoff im plicar ions from extreme rainfall evems.
Stream slope class (gradient) is one common measure of
the condition of a stream system. Stream slope class can be
calculated by field personnel using clinometers or other
surveying instruments or hypsometers, yet this requires a
visit to each stream to provide measures for the e ntire
landscape , a very costly and time co nsum ing proposition.
The slope class conditions of streams across a landscape
can, alternatively, be estim ated rather quickly if a OEM
and a streams GIS database is available for the landscape.
The straightforward approach to calculating slope val-
ues for streams would be to fo llow the previous example of
supporting a thinning operation. and use the slope class
GIS database for the entire Brown Tract. However. si nce
the slope class GIS database was created for the entire land-
scape and only a small portion of the landscape is of inter-
est (the streams), a different approach might be approp ri-
ate (F igure 13 .1 1). One solution would be to create a
raster GIS database of the streams . A raster database of
Select
attribute that
uniquely
identifies
streams
Summarize
slope
conditions
Slope
class
report
215

Intervisibility is a term used to describe the number of
viewpoints with a view of each unit of land. For exam-
ple, a number of homes may be within the viewshed of
a property being managed by a natural resource organ-
ization. These homes could be considered viewpoims.
By performing the viewshed analysis described above.
however, you do not necessarily understand the imer-
visibility of the landscape. or the number of homes that
acmally have a view of each unit of land. In fact, SOffie
streams that matches the spatial extent and resolution of
other raster GIS databases previously developed for this
landscape wou ld fucilitate future overlay analyses. The grid
cells th at contain ac cuai values (other than 'no data')
should only be those that overlap a stream in the vector
screams GIS database. An overlay ana lys is is then per-
formed in conjunction with a OEM CO enable the creation
of a raster GIS database thar describes the elevation of each
grid cell represent ing a stream. Now that only those raste r
grid cells that touch a stream have been identified. and the
elevation of each is avai lable. you can calculate the average
slope class values for each of the streams .
Si milar to the previous analysis, the res ult of this
analysis is also a tabular database. By using the attribme
that uniquely identifies each stream. yo u could join this
tabular data with the streams GIS database to facilitate the
display of the slope classes for each stream . A similar pro-
cessing approach could be used to identifY slope or eleva-
tion characteristics for any vector GIS database that con-
tains lines (e.g .. roads, trails, facility corridors, etc.) .
Viewshed Analysis
The maintenance or enhancement of aesthetic values is
becoming increasingly important in natural resource man-
agement. Research has shown that the experiences of recre-
Figure 13.12 Line of sight from a viewing site to the surrounding landscape.
Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 205
areas of the viewshed may be visible to a single home.
From a management perspective, this information may
be impartanr. and allow natural resource managers to
focus thei r public relarions efforts to rhe directly
affected homeowners. If you we re to develop a GIS
database that describes the intervisibility of a landscape.
the phrase 'cumu la tive viewshed map' (rather than
'viewshed map') mighr be used. to illustrate the num-
ber of homes viewable from each land unit.
adonal visitors are influenced by the visual appearance of
the landscape. and thus can be negatively affected by man-
age mem activities that leave visible impactS (Ribe. 1989) . A
key to reducing (or heading off) potential public relarions
problems in natural resource management is to ascertain
what pardons of a landscape are visible to recrearional vis-
itors, and to adjus t the management plans associated with
those areas accordingly (Wing & Johnson. 2001).
Vicwshed analysis can facilitate an understanding of
the portions of a landscape that are visible from specific
landscape features of interest. For example. observation or
viewing si tes (overlooks) may be represented in a GIS
database by poinrs. and the location and elevation of the
points would be used to determine which other parts of
the landscape would be visible. If rhe viewing sites were
described by lines, the vert ices (points where the line
direction changes) of each line would be used for the
viewshed analysis. Fo r example. lines that represent a road
or trail through a landscape. could be used to determine
which other parts of the landscape can be seen from those
featu res.
The landscape in a viewshed analysis is represemed by a
OEM or a TIN (see chapter 2 for a description of a TIN).
The objective of a viewshed analysis is to calculare rhe line
of sight berween the viewing sites (e.g., observation points,
homes) and other landscape features (F igure 13. 12) .
216
206 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Features [hat are identified as being in [he line of sight of
the viewing sites are considered visible, whereas all other
landscape feamces are not considered visible.
A number of considerations must be taken into
account when conducting a viewshed analys is . Ahhough
a OEM assoc iated with a landscape may have been
acquired (perhaps from rhe US Geological Survey), an
assessmem of its fitness (Q represent the landscape in a
viewshed analysis should be performed. I n heavily
forested landscapes. the OEM may nor represent the effect
of tree heights on your view, as [ree canopies extend above
the elevation surface (t he ground. as represented in the
OEM) . The current management of rhe landscape will
also affect a viewshed analysis because different aged
stands have different heights, and therefore [he (Op of rhe
current canopy (which is what is usually seen in a scenic
view) may be misrepresenced. One solution to this prob-
lem is co acquire a vegetation GIS database that contains
tree height information , and [Q incorporate these meas-
urements inco the DEM elevations. Another consideration
is to make sure that the DEM surface cove rs the entire
landscape area between a viewing site and the landscape
bein g analyzed. In some applicat ions. a managec might be
interested in determin ing the visibility of a resoucce from
surrounding viewing sites (homes oc roadways) but only
has access to a OEM that describes the area managed (such
as the OEM for the Brown Tract, as shown in Figure
13.2). To perform a viewshed analys is, i[ will be necessary
to acquire a OEM that covers not only the landscape of
interest ([he land being managed), but also contains [he
areas whece the viewing sites are located.
One consideration in viewshed analyses often ovec-
looked is [hat G IS users can generally modify rhe height of
the viewing site. For example. the height of the viewing
site is genera lly considered to be the acrual ground-level
elevation at the location of the viewing site. If the viewing
si tes were meant to represent people who were standing
and viewing [he landscape, then an observation height of
five or six feet higher than the ground elevation at the
viewing s ite might be more realistic than assuming a
ground level view of 0 feeL This relatively modest change
in viewing elevation can have significant impacts on view-
shed resules w hen large land areas are involved. As view-
ing elevation rises, the amount ofland returned by a view-
shed ana lys is will typicall y also increase. Orher
considerat ions in performing a viewshed analysis might
include sen ing limits as to how far viewing sites are
allowed to 'see' ac ross the landscape. and limits on view-
ing angles.
To illumate [he development of a viewshed analysis, a
GIS database rep resenti ng home locat ions surrounding
the Brown Tract will be used as the viewing sites. A cur-
sory in vestigation of [he homes GIS database reveals [hat
[here are multiple homes along rhe eastern half of [he
Brown Tracr (Figure 13.13). A viewshed analysis will
allow yo u to determine what portions of the Brown Tract
are visible by residents of [he n... rby homes. One of [he
first steps in the viewshed analys is is to define the observer
height. You might assume that the average person has a
view height (above ground level) of 5.5 fee<, and [hat
owners of [he homes around [he Brown Tract could likely
view rhe foreS[ from [heir second Aoor windows (add 10
feet), resulring in an adjusted observer heighr of 15.5 fee<.
To perform the viewshed analys is. you might pursue a
process similar to that described in Figure 13.14. Since
[he original OEM for rhe Brown T racr was clipped (0 the
ownership boundary of the tract, you could acqu ire USGS
OEMs and creare a new OEM GIS database rhat includes
rhe Brown Tract and the areas that cover the homes. As
mentioned earlier, addressing vegetarian height in the
viewshed analysis might be app ropriate. since much of
[he Brown Tract is foresred . The stands GIS database con-
tains a vari ab le named 'H eight' that provides the average
height of each of the management units. By co nvert ing
this vector GIS database to a raste r GIS database format.
height information can be added to the Brown Tract
•
•
........, .
•••• •• •
••••• •
•
•
•
•
•• •
D Brown tract tocation
• • •••
• Homes
Figure 13.13 Locations ofhome.s near the Brown Tr:lci.
217
 Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 207

Stands
OEM
GIS database
(raster)

Create
observer Conversion
height to raster
attribute database

Overlay
GIS database
analysis
(raster)

Viewshed
analysiS

(raster)

Figure 13.14 A general process for the development of a vicwshed analysis for the Brown Tract
based on a set of vicwshed sites (nearby homes).

OEM values co get an adjusted elevacion that includes the

average tree heights for each management unit contained
in the stands GIS database (Figure 13.15). The Spatial
,
Analyst extension within ArcGIS contains a convert menu
that offers a 'feamres to raster' utility for this purpose.
The dialog box for this option will prompt for the data-
base to be converted and a variable co be represented in
the raster (height in this case). Once converted the stand
height raster can be added to the DEM ro create a newele-
vation surface that contains updated elevation data for the
Brown Tract and surrounding areas (Figure 13.16).
After performing the preliminary database develop-
StnI..,{tI)
ment steps, the acmal viewshed analysis can be performed 0-"
by computing the areas of the landscape that are visible .....
"...,

"...
from each home. With in ArcGIS, this can be accom- 81-100
101-120
plished by using the Viewshed command. under the lZ1-140
141-180
Surface Analysis roo Is within the Spatial Analyst exten- ISHel

sion . A dialog box will open and offer prompts for the "'''''
inpuc surface (OEM or other modified elevation surface) Figure 13.15 Average tree heights for managemcO( units contained
and observer points (locations from which the input sur- in the Brown Trace stands GIS database.

218
208 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
Figure 13.16 OEM G IS databuc fo r the Brown Tract and.
surrounding areas that includes me :average tree hcighu of the
management uniu contained in the stands G IS database.
face will be analyzed). Depending on the size of the DEM,
this processing dme may be lengthy, however, afrer pro-
cessing is complete. a raster GIS database is created (hat
illustrates the areas with in and around the Brown Tracr
that are visible from the nearby homes (Figure 13.17).
The areas within [he Brown Tract that are vis ible from
Figwc 13.17 Arc:as (dark shade) within and surrounding the Brown
Tract that are visible from the ncarby homes.
the nearby homes are located mainly along [he trac[ bor-
ders, howeve r a significam amount of land within [he
tract boundary is also visible from one or more homes
(a lthough you cannot, from chis analys is determine how
many homes have a view of each piece ofland).
Watershed Delineation
GIS has come to be a standard tool for hydrologic research
and wate r resource modelling. GIS applications for water
resources are commo n and vary from simply mapping
water resources (Q sophis ticated ana lyses t hat co nsider
water qua lity infl uences and [umce water ava ilabi lity
(Wilson et aI., 2000; Marcin e< al., 2005). A primary use
of GIS for water resource managemenr is that of water-
shed delineation. A watershed can be defined as a land-
sca pe area [hat shares a common drainage. This definition
assumes that if water were able [Q flow freely over a land-
scape area, jt wou ld follow a downhill trajectory and exit
(he landscape a rea at a common painr. W atershed bound-
aries are commonly used by federal . St3te, and provincial
organizations ro separate a landscape inro smaller man-
agemenr areas. In addition, watershed councils-groups
that help (Q determine management acdv ities within a
specific watershed-are becoming mo re common in
North America. Some refer {Q watersheds as 'catchmems'
but the intent is rhe same: {Q describe an area according to
the fl ow of water ove r its su rface. The delineation of a
watershed boundary is a func[ion of topography and
changes in landscape relief. You must decide on the scale
of the wate rshed to be created and have access to topO-
graphic information in order to begin delineation.
Previous to digi[al GIS and the availabili<y of DEMs,
watersheds were created primarily by using available con-
tour maps and using the visual clues provided by comour
shapes to draw or digitize a watershed. boundary. Clues
from contour shapes included saddles. peaks as indicated
by closed COntours, and [he direc[ion of funnel-like con-
tour shapes that represent water fl ow paths o r ridges
(F igure 13.18). If existing meam ne<works were present
on the comour map or on additio nal maps, these features
also provided clues as to watershed boundary locations.
The delinea[ion process was usually begun from [he per-
ceived lowest elevation point of the watershed and then
continued uphill, with ,he goal of identifYing the ridge
lines that su rrounded a watershed and separated it from
othe r wate rsheds. Contour line funnels indicated either
water flow paths or ridges. with water flowing from the
bottom of [he funnel (u- or v-shaped end) to the open
219
 Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 209

~
.. ~ ............ ~ .. ... E ) .
::::------:::::
a b c
Figure 13.18 Watershed boundary location and Stream flow patterns derived from contour
inu:rvai shapes: (a) watcrsh~ bound2.ry parallels contour saddles and (b) splits peaks as indicated
by a dosed contour homes, and (e) waler Rows from the bonom of conlour funnels through
the tOp.

end. Closed conrour shapes were ro be spl ir rhrough rhe
middle as [hey indicared a peak. and boundaries should
split CQmour saddles in a parallel orientarion. This
required those involved in the delineating watersheds co
continually ask themselves 'which way would water flow
if a bucket of water were dumped at a parcicular location?'
The delinearion process could be drawn direcdy on rhe
coorou r map o r accompl ished rhrough heads-up digiriz-
ing on a monico[ with backgro und databases of streams
and contours being displayed . Nonetheless, manual
watershed delineation is a tedious process with significant
opportunities for human e rror. If a common drainage
point. line. or area can be digitaUy represented in a GIS
and a OEM exists of the area. many GIS can automatically
generate a watershed area boundary given some basic data
manipulations.
In addition to a feature that represems the drainage
locarion(s) and OEM. a darabase represeming flow direc-
tions is usually required for watershed delineation. A flow
direction database is represemed through a raster database
structure and assigns an expected direction of water flow
to each raster cell. Fortunately, a flow direction layer can
usually be creared from a OEM rhrough an a1gorirhm rhar
evaluares rhe e1evarions of each rasrer cell and all neighbor-
ing cells. The possible direcrions include rhe parh co each
poreorial neighboring raseer cell (eighr direcrions) as derer-
mined by rhe lowese devarion among rhe neighbor cells.
In addition, a 'no direction ' choice is possible and is
steps for the watershed creation process is represented in
Figure 13.20. A separare darabase muse firsr be creared
that represents on ly this stream network portion, or at
least the lowest elevation point within the porrion. This
lowest elevation point in this database will serve as the
watershed source, sometimes referred to as a pour point.
Rather than risking a misidentification of the lowest
point, it's probably more expedient and reliable to clip, or
otherwise separate, the ent ire portion of the stream net-
work into a new GIS database. Within ArcGIS, you can
use the Select Features tool to select all of the stream fea-
tures and then ex port (he selected feawres into a new
da<abase (righr click on rhe layer and choose Dara. [hen
Expon Dara) . Some GIS software will require rhar line
and polygon features intended to serve as a watershed
source must be converted inm a raster database, Within
ArcGIS, once the selected streams database is ready. the
Spatial Analyst Convert menu contains a 'featu res to
raster' command that w ill make this conversion.
' ... .' :

\~.j
referred to as a 'sink'. A sink occurs when a raster cdt has
an elevation value mat is less than all surrounding cells.
Any ponion of a landscape can be analyzed for irs 1.,;"- ""
;
watershed boundary given that a OEM is ava ilable of the
..,.'
emire pmential watershed extent. If the OEM does not
cover the entire potemial wa[(~:rshed area, an incomplete
watershed boundary may resulr without any warning ··~····'J·····,··.>m \·
from rhe supporting GIS software as (Q its incomplete-
ness. As an example of GIS-based warershed delinearion. a .'
J
portion of the stream network within (he Brown Tract
that falls within the smaller incerior private ownership Figure 13. 19 The portion (in dark bold) of the stream network
within the Brown Trace for which a watershed area is to be created .
area is considered (F igure 13. I 9). A logical sequence of
220
210 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
separate Create
Stream
Flow direction
sections database
of interest
(raster)
Cooversion
to raster
database
Watershed
(raster) analysis
Figure 13.20 A general process for the ddineation of a watershed
area for a portion of the stream network in the Brown Tract.
The next step is to create a flow direction raster based
on the Brown Tract OEM. This process can be accom-
plished wirhin ArcGIS by using rhe rasrer calcularor and
flowclirec rion com mand. Assuming that (he extended
OEM for [he Brown Tract is used. (he raster calculator
syntax would be ' f]owdirecrion ([brow ndemex])'. The
result of this command should be a temporary raster file
with cells ass igned to one of nine possible values: one for
each direction to the eight neighboring cells and a sink or
'no lower elevation' value . A si nk can be caused by a nat-
ural fearure. such as a lake or mher water body with no
surface o utl et, o r ca n be the result of a OEM erro r.
Summary
The examp les in this chapter have demon strated several
GIS operations [hat are possible when using raster GIS
databases, and have concentrated on [he wealth of oppor-
tunities associated with using a OEM. From the basic ele-
vatio n information contained within a DEM, you can gen -
Regardless, it may be necessary to detect and eliminate
sinks within the OEM before flow direcrions can be calcu-
lared. Wirhin ArcGIS, rhe fill command can be used to
manipulate porential sinks bur must be run through the
Sparial Analysr Hydrology rools in rho ArcToolbox or
rhrough rhe command line inrerface. The fill command
will create a new raster with elevation values for sink loca-
tions raised to the minimum elevation found in sur-
rounding cells. The modified ('filled') rasrer ca n rhen be
used to calculate flow directions. Once the flow direction
raste r is complete, th e watershed area can be derived.
Within ArcGIS the raster calculator can be used with rhe
Watershed com mand to create watershed boundaries.
The syntax is 'watershed ([flowraster, streamsecrion])'
whe re flowraster is the name of the f1owdirection raster
and srreamsection is the name of the raster version of the
portion of the Brown Tract Stream network for which a
warershed will be creared. The warorshed croa red should
not be ve ry large in co mparison to the Brown Tract
boundary (Figure 13.21 ).
.~.
Figure 13.21 Th~ watersh~d (i n gray) fo r a portion of the Brown
T net stre2m network.
erate contou r lines. a shaded relief image. and a slope clas-
sification map. Rasrer GIS databases can be integrated in
spatia l analyses to calculate slope classes for management
units as well as gradiems of streams. and to create a data-
base of me viewshed relared to nearby landscape feamres,
221

such as the homes located around the Brown Tract. In
addir ion. DEMs can be used to analyze landscape topogra-
phy and can create addition al raster databases to support
watershed delineation . These examples are but a small
Applications
13.1 Shaded relief map. You have been asked by the
manager of rhe Brown Tract ro create a shaded relief
map that simulates rhe sun 's lighr on rhe landscape in
early morning.
a) What values would YOli use to approximate the
sun's azimuth and altitude?
b) Develop a map that illustrates the shaded relief.
13.2 Slope map of the Brown Tract. During one of
your monthly planning meetings. it was suggested that a
slope map would be of value to the foresters who plan
timbe r sales on the Brown Tract. This map would be of
equal value [0 (he recreadon manager, who is interested in
potendal trail systems throughom the forest.
a) Create a slope GIS database of the Brown Tract
that has 80 ft con [Our lines that originate from a
300 fr base elevation .
b) Develop a map illuStrating the slope classes.
13.3 Viewshed analysis planning. Your supervisor has
approached you and asked that you assist in a viewshed
analysis for part of your resource management area . She is
interested in knowing what port ions of your resource
management area are visible from a nearby road. She
needs the info rmation quickly and has asked you to scope
our the project with regard to how this mighr be accom-
plished in GIS (e.g .• what GIS databases are necessary.
what processes are necessary, etc.). Provide a brief descrip-
rion that lists required GIS databases, techniques, and
potential pitF.Uls of conducting the visibility analysis.
13.4 Road gradient analysis planning. Your supervisor
is interested in knowing the average slope gradients of a
set of roads within you r organization's management area.
She has asked you for a one-page description of how this
might be accomplished in GIS. Prepare a reporr for her
that describes the necessary GIS databases, potential tech-
niques, and conside rat ions that would be involved in
using GIS for this purpose.
13.5 Road gradients on the Brown Tract. The forest
Chapter 13 Raster GIS Database Analysis 211
sample of the types of applications that are possible with a
single raster GIS database in terms of examining landscape
(Opography. We turn our anemion in rhe following chap-
ter to exploring orner poremiai raster data applications.
engineer associated with the Brown Tract has asked you
to calculare road slope gradients (percent slope) for the
roads in the Brown Tract using two GIS processing
methods. For the first method. the slopes should be cal-
culared using [he entire DEM available for the landscape.
For the second method. the slopes should be calculated
using only those raster grid cells that overlap the road
network. The engineer wants to understand the differ-
ence, if any, (hat would be observed in the average
slopes gradients when using these two methods. Prepare
a short report to convey this information (0 the forest
engIneer.
13.6 Brown Tract viewshed analysis. The manager of
the Brown Tract would like you to develop a viewshed
analysis using only those homes located on the north side
of the Brown T racr. Use the assumptions and processes
described in the example provided earlier in this chapter.
How do the viewshed results differ from [hose of the
example presented earlier in this chapter?
13.7 Brown Tract watershed analysis. The hydrologiSt
for the Brown Tract, Samantha Wasser, has asked for
your help in identifying a watershed for a portion of the
Brown Tract stream network. The lowest elevation
stream segment in the portion is identified through a
numeric value of 123 in the stream variable within the
streams database. Develop a watershed for this stream
network portion and report the resulting watershed area
in both acres and hectares.
13.8 Brown Tract beaver watershed analysis. T he
Brown Tract manager has asked you to delineate the
watershed area that Aows into a large beaver pond. The
beaver pond location is described in the water sources
database as a point location. Create a warershed for this
point and repOf[ the resulting watershed area in both
acres and hectares.
13.9 Brown Tract stand watershed analysis. The
Brown Tract manager has asked you to delineare rhe
222
212 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
watershed area that flows into a stand inside rhe Forese.
The stand is identified as number 36 with the stand field
in rhe Brown T f aCt stands database. Create a wate rshed
for this stand and repon rhe resulting watershed area in
bmh acres and hectares .
13.10 Basic characteristics of the Brown Tract. Becky
Blaylock. the manager of rhe Brown T ract, is interested in
some basic knowledge of the landscape. Specifically. she
wants to know rhe following:
a) What is rhe m inim um, maximum , average. and
standard deviation of slope (degrees) fo r the Brown
Tract?
b) What is rhe m inimum , maximum, ave rage, and
standard deviation of slope (percent) for rhe Brown
T racr?
References
Burrough. P.A.• & McDonnell. R.A. (1998). Principles of
geographical information systems. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Martin. P.H .• LeBoeuf. E.J .• Dobbins. J.P .• Daniel. E.B .•
& Abkowirz. M.D. (2005). Interfacing GIS with water
resource models: A state-of-the-art review. Journal of
the American Water Rtsourus Association, 41 ,
1471-87.
Natural Resources Canada. (2007). Mapping. Retrieved
May 26. 2007. from hrrp:llwww.nrcan-rncan.gc.cal
com/subsuj/mapcar-eng.php.
Ribe. R.G. (1989). The aesthetics of forestry: What has
13.11 Combining raster GIS databases. Wha t is the
result when two raster GIS databases are combined. yet
'no dam' values are present in some portions of rhe land-
sca pe in one of the [wo raster GIS databases?
13.12 Highest and lowest elevation stands. Which stand
in the Brown Tract is located at (he lowest average elevatio n?
Which stand is located at the highest average elevatio n?
13.13 Elevation information for a single stand. What
are the ave rage, minimum , and maxim um elevations of
the stand described in question 13.9 (stand 36)?
13. 14 Water source elevations. What is the average ele-
vation for each of the points described in the water
sou rces database?
emp ir ical preferen ce resea rch ta ught us? Environ-
mental Managemen t. 13.55-74 .
US Depart ment of Interior. US Geological Survey.
(2007) . USGS Geographic data download. Retrieved
May 26. 2007. from hrrp:lledc2. usgs.gov/geodatal
index.php.
Wilson. J.P .• Mitasova. H .• & W right. D.J. (2000).
Water resource applications of geographical informa-
tion systems. URlSAjouma!, 12(2).61 -79.
Wing. M.G .• & Joh nson. R. (200 1). Quanti /Ying forest
visibility with spatial data. Environmental Manage-
ment. 27. 4 11-20.
223
Chapter 14
Raster GIS Database Analysis II
Objectives
Chapter 14 builds on the previous chapter and further
explores raste r data for spatial analysis. Like chapter 13,
this chapter also involves [Opograp hic applications of
raster data bue broadens the (reatment of raster data appli-
cations. In addition, more technical detail is provided for
raster data processing techniques and analysis. Ar the con-
clusion of this chapter, readers should understand and be
able (0 converse aOOm:
1. the potential applications of caster data for natural
resource problem analysis.
2. how distance functions can be applied to raSter data.
3. the types of statistical summ ary search functions for
raster data,
4. the capabilities and applications of density operations,
5. raster data reclassification and map algebra processes,
and
6. data structure conversion considerations.
Raster Data Analysis
We further develop raster data analysis in [his chapter by
describing some general considerations for raster analysis
working parameters. examples of raster analysis functions.
and applications of processi ng commands for manipulat-
ing raster data. We then describe some application exam-
ples that make use of select raster funct ions. The raster
ana lysis functions we discuss include distance, statistical
sum mary search, and density functions. In some cases,
rhe functions can accommodate both vecror and rasrer
databases as input. General processing commands cov-
ered in this chapter involve raster reclassification. rasrer
map algebra. and data structure conversions. We also pro-
vide more detailed information abour the procedures
within the world's most popular GIS softwa re-ArcGIS-
thar can be used for raster analysis. An assumption for
rhese procedures is that the Spatia l An alyst software
extension for ArcGIS is available. This extension is specif-
ically designed for raster data analysis and provides a set of
menu choices and commands that make some of primary
raster capabilities more readily available. If readers are
using different raster software (i.e. , Imagine, GRASS.
Idrisi , etc.) for their app lications, the procedures
described in this chapter should provide a template for
applying the functions and analyses that we present.
Raster Analysis
Software Parameters
Some raster software will allow you to set working envi-
ronment parameters that the softwa re will observe du ring
use. These conditions establish resolurion, analysis, our-
pur. and other conventions that affect Output raster
databases that are created during processing. One of the
distinguishing characteristics of raster databases in com-
parison to vector data is that they are cypically larger in
size in terms of digital storage space. Raster working envi-
ronment parameters can help constrain raster databases to
specific study areas and resolutions so thar Output files do
not become overly large in size. Some raster software will
only create temporary raster databases unless otherwise
specified by a user. These remporary raster databases will
be removed from the hard drive once the GIS software is
closed, which can cause some distress for unsuspecting
224
214 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
users the nex( time [he software is resrarred. Depending
on the raster software, work ing environment parameters
may need co be reestablished ar rhe beginning of every
analysis session.
An important rasrer parameter (Q consider is an anaJy~
sis mask. An analysis mask, as esrablished by rhe dimen-
sions of anQ[her GIS layer. will restrict processing to on ly
those areas coincident within the layer. The extent oprions
allow you co further resrricr the areas that will be consid-
ered when new raste r output is created . Depe nding on
you r software, possible choices include existing layers. spa-
rial combinarions of exiscing laye rs. or a bounding ser of
coordinates. In addition to raster databases. vector data-
bases can usually also be used (Q create an analysis mask.
Another critical choice for processing out pm raster
databases is cell resolution. Typically, working pa ramete r
choices will allow users CO set a designated raster cell res-
olution for Output databases. This can typically be set [Q
match orher analysis layers. combinations of other layers.
user-specified cell resoiurions, or a user-specified set of
columns and rows. Sening a cell size and analys is extem
[Q match an existing layer will ensure that our pur raster
cells are registered to the existing layer. and that output
raster cells from both layers will be coincident and nor
offset from one anot her. These potential parameters
described here, and orhers rhar may be available depend-
ing on software, can help make raster analys is more effi-
ciem. These choices can help establish a common resolu-
tion, analysis area, and output location for raster
processing results. The appropriate options should be set
prior [Q any raster analysis session.
Distance Functions
Distance functions calculate the measured distance [Q fea-
tures of interes(. There are va rious ways of computing dis-
tances, ranging from a straight line measurement to more
involved approaches (i .e., shorrest paths) that use con-
straims of moving across a landscape due [Q cha nges in
relief or other impediments. Distance functions can be
used to help determine the next closest feature, areas th at
might be ecologically sensitive because of their proximity
to namral features. or the most expedient route to take
from one feature to another. Typ ical dista nce functions
include the straight line, allocation distance, cost
weigh red disrance, and shorresr parh (Theobald, 2003).
The stra ight line distance function will create a raster
output wim direct (also called Euclidean) distances ro rhe
closest feature. The function can be appl ied to either vec-
ror or raster databases. As an example, consider the water
sources poim locations within and around the Brown
T racr (Figure 14.1) . Ir mighr be beneficial for emergency
response units combating wildfire to know how far away
the closest water sou rces are located, parriculariy if heli-
copters will be used ( 0 carry water from sources to a fo r-
est fire and stra ight line distances were of imerest. A dis-
tance function cou ld demonstrate relative distances [Q the
nearest water source (F igure 14.2).
An allocat ion distance functio n assigns areas [Q the
closest feature. In this case, raSter cells will be assigned a
pixel value that recognizes the nearest wne of influence,
similar to the vector representation of a Thiessen polygon.
A Thiessen polygon is created for each feature in a spatial
database a nd represents the area that eac h feature is nea r-
es(. In the case of the nine potential water sou rces, nine
allocation zones are identified with each water source hav-
ing irs own zo ne of influence (F igure 14.3) .
A cost weighted distance function allows for ass igning
different weighting to raster cells that take into account
what is required for a pathway to cross through the cell
(Chrisman, 1997). This fill1crion mighr be used ro assess
the amount of time needed for water to flow through one
end of a srream nerwork to anorher, the relative costs of
materials [Q co nstruct or resurface a trail, or resources nec-
essary to develop access ro areas in mountainous te rrain.
The COSt weighted function requires that in add ition to
I
D
... Water sources
Figure 14. 1 Water source5 in and around the Brown Tract.
225
 Chapter 14 Raster GIS Database Analysis II 215

... Water sources

Cost weighted slope values
U 1 low slope aco..mu/ation
!2iJ 2
... Waler sources

.'
3
W,t.r source distance (ft) _ 4 medium Slope accumulation
0 0- 1.000
LIZJ 2.000-3.000
.. 4.000-4.000
_ 5.000-5.000
• 7h~" _ "",mula""
_ 6.000-7.000
_ 8.000-8.000
_ 9.000-10.000

Figure 14.2 Straight line distance categories to the nearest water Figw e 14.4 Cost weighted slope values to water sources in the
source in the Brown T raet. Brown Tract.

the raster database representing desired destinations, the
cells contain values representing ilie weights. The weigh ts
represent the cost inherent in accessing the cell, be it sym-
bolic of steepness. required constructi o n materials, or
some other value th at has significance. The COStS are the n
added togecher. starting at the destination(s) and moving
outward. to form an output raster that sym bolizes the
entire COStS o r resources from each cell to the desired des-
[ination(s) . A cost weighted distance surface wi th the
water sources as destinations and the Brown Tract slope
values as weights is shown in Figure 14.4 .
,---------- ----- ------- ----- ------A------ ------------- - -- ----,
//
r-''''-o!''/
The shortest path function is intended to do what the
name implies: identify the path of least distance or resist-
ance to a desired destination. The shortest path function
requires supporting databases representing cost weighted
distances and least cost directions. The least cost direction
raste r is ge nerated for each raster cell and is used to desig-
nate which of the eight neighboring cells is upon the least
COSt path.
Statistical Summary
Search Functions
Srariscical summaries can be generated from individual
I raster databases. multiple raster databases. and combina-
i tio ns of raste r and vecto r databases using raste r- based
! search funccions . These fu nctions search within a data-
base and recurn summary values based on search criteria
provided by the user_The search crireria may be based on
areas within a second coincident database, a search area
within a given pattern and size, or values comained within
multiple raster fi les_ Three general types of raster statisti-
cal summary search functions include cell. neighborhood.
and zonal statistics opti ons (DeMers. 2002) _ Cell and
neighborhood search functions are sometimes called local
and focal searches, respectively. Each search function
requires user input to direct the search extent and the con-

L=
_ _ _=_ _ _ __=____=___ =_ _ _ =_____=__
... ±:
~ ____...L.L
___=______=
_:b
[em of statistical summary information that is returned .
Cell, or cellular, statistics allow multiple raster data-
bases to be evaluated in the creation of a new raster data-
base. Each coincidem raster cell in all input databases is
... Water sources considered and a statistical summary of cell values is
selected fo r output into the new database. Stads[ical sum-
~ ......J Allocation areas
maries can include average. summary, minimum. maxi-
Figure 14.3 AJlocation areas for water sources in the Brown Tract. mum. standard deviadon. most common val ue. or other
226
216 to Natural Resource Management
Part 2 Applying GIS to

possibilities. Values Values within input darabases databases are arc also zones
wnes can be designated
designa<ed by an attribute value in either either
restricted to to numerical formats formats.. The cel cellular statistics
lular srariscics numeri
numeric c or ca tegorical
catego rical format,
format , such as counry county names,
capabili~ represents aa type
capability cype of raster overlay operation but bur catego ries, or road numbers. Output
land cover categories, Qurpuc includes
va lues in
all values in all input
inp"' databases are treated
"eated equally acco accord-
rd- aa statistical summary in tabular format for each idenrified identified
ing CO [he
to the statistical su mmary
summary selected. Potential ap plica-
applica p
zone
zone and contains the che number of of coincident raster cells
tions of cellular slatisrics
tions statistics involving multiple raster data- and associated
associa ted aarea.
rea. In addition,
addition. numerical summaries
summa ries
bases include adding ground and and structure
srructure elevations
e1evarions co (0 include theme minimum, maximum, range, average. stan-
create
creare aa surface elevacion
elevation layer,
layer. developing a composite dard deviation,
deviation ) sum, variety,
va rie ty. majority.
majority, minoriry,
minority , and
ind<x by summarizing poremial
fire risk index potential fuel and an d land- median val ues found within each zone. Zonal
values Zona] statistics
qualities , and developing an average temperature
scape qualities. offer
off'er the advantage of allowing raster
ilie advanrage ...ster databases to ro be sum-
given a set of databases that contain con[ain annual temperature marized in relation (Q to zones described with w ithiinn a vector
veccor or
measurements.
measurements. raster database in a single analysis. The vector
raSter veccor database
Neighborhood statistics functions are for single s ingle raster line. or polygon format. Examples in the
can be point, line.
oorr vector
vecmr files and allow for statistical summaries based on previous chapter
chapcer included calculating slopes s lo pes for forest
aarea
rea sea rches within a sin
searches gle database.
single database. The sea rch will
search stands and streams. Other
srands Oilier potential applications include
co nsiderr the emire
conside entire extent
ex;,rem of (he
the database bur will consider dete rmining maximum elevations of precipitation gauges.
determining
each feature {point. (point, line,
line. or polygon}
polygon) or raster
rasrer cell and average aspect of a srream.
scream, and the me average elevation In in
apply the[he search area parameters
parame«rs for each. Regardless of the home range of a wildlife speeies.species.
raster or vec(Qr
vecco r input.
input, a new Outputou tput raner
raster is created that
conrains rhe
contains the results of area a rea evaluations
evaluadons in a summary Density Functions
value within each output outp ut raster
raste r cell.
cell.
Neighborhood search functions funcdons ca cann have several dif- The intensity or frequency with which something occu occurs
rs
ferent shapes including rectangles,
ferenr rectangles. circles,
circles. and wedges. In across a lan dscape or portion of a landscape can be
landscape
addi[ion,
addition , an annulus shape is possible which has the [he func- demonstrated through a density function . Implicit in the
rional appeara nce of a donut.
tional donut, with an inside area (donut requiremenrs of density calcu
requirements lation is the tabulation of
calculation
ho le) (hat
hole) that is ignored
ig no red in searches and an outside area a rea so me
some resource in magnitude or location
locat ion relative to so me
(donut) that is evalua<ed.
(donu,) evaluated. The user designates the size of area quantity (Chang. Within many raster-based
(Chang, 2002). Wiiliin
,he
the neighborhood search area shapes. Within each area, a rea, a GIS programs. density can be calculated for point and line
statisrical summary is possible of any si ngle numeric field
single vector
vecror layers wirh ourput results being wrinen
with output written to a ras rer
in the input
inpur database. 5tadsdcal
Statistical numeric summariessumma ries database. The creation of smoothed density densiry surfaces is
include me rhe average.
average, summa
sum mary. ry. minimum
minimum,. maximu m aximum, m. a lso possible for poinr
also point anda nd line fearures
featu res (Silverman,
(S ilverman,
deviation, mOSl
standard deviation. mOSt common value. value, and other fre- 1986).
1986).
quencyevalua<ions.
quency evaluations. Possible uses of neighborhood search sea rch Density estimates are useful for describing rhe the road
functions include
in clude identifying the number of available syste
system m within a forest. assessing
assess ing the relative quality
qu ali ty or
sou rces occurring within a 100 km radius or any
water sources suitabi lity ofhabirat
suitability of habitat areas given iliethe number of wildlife
wildl ife or
feature, the number of nest locations locacions at least 50 m away other features
fC'dtures present in an area, and for demonstrating
but less than 2,000 m distant, disrant. and ilie the maximum tree conglomerations or 'hot ' hot spars'
spots' of an acriviry
activity or resource
heigh,
height of al alll trees contained wiiliin
within a 20 m by 20 m plot. plot. condition when many features are present in a darabase. database.
statistics, applied in examples
Zonal stadsdcs, exam ples in the rhe previous Hot SpOts are a re ap
apparent
parent locations or areas where stronger stro nger
chaprer.
chapl er, are si milar (Q to neighborhood search functions in concentrations
concentratio co nditio
ns of some condir obse rved. When
io n are observed.
(hal locadon or area is being evaluated.
that a location cOntrast co
evaluated . In contrast (Q of locations are present
thousands oflocarions presenr in a database, irit may be
neighbo rhood fun
nei ghborhood ctions, zonal
funccions, zo nal sra tistics functions offer
statistics challenging to ro map and determine locations rhat that have
,he
the advantage of allowing twO rwo databases to (Q be evalua<ed
evaluated heavier co concentratio
ncentrations ns than others (W ing & Tynon.
o thers (Wing Tynon ,
ssimultaneously.
imul taneously. A new outpUl o utput raster
raste r darabase
database is is created particularly true when point features are of
2006). This is panicularly
that provides a numerical summary of values in one data-
(hat a nd many occur in the same location
interest and loca tion.. A single
si ngle
coincident with areas in a second database.
base that are coincidenr point in [his
point this sicuacion
situation can obscure other poims points when
The areas in the second database are consi considered
dered co (Q be pioned on top of one another on a map or computer
ploned compurer
analys is or summary zones for which values in coincident
analysis coincidenr monitor. In
monimr. I n rhese
these siruations,
situations, density function
functionss can
ca n be
locat
locatioionsns in the other da<abasedatabase will be analyzedanalyzed.. The applied
app to create shades that
lied (0 that demonstrate concentration
227

What is a hot spot? In terms of GIS analysis. hot SPOtS
are locadons where some feamre of interest is occur-
ring with greater frequency. A hot SpOt can be indi-
cared through increased density of point, line , or
polygon features in a vector database. Groupings of
raster cells can also mark hot spots. Beyond the den-
sity of spatial features, an 3nribuce field that contains
one or more features with increased or heightened
an ribure values in comparison (Q mher feature values
intensities and ca n more quickly draw ones attemion [0
likely hot Spots.
Densicy functions within GIS cypically allow a user to
select an attribute within a layer (0 serve as the population
quamiry for density calculation. If no attribute is selected,
it is then the number of points or length of line within a
search distance that is quantified. Two types of densities
are usually available: simple and smoothed. For each cype,
a search radius and area unit must be specified. and Outpur
results are wrinen to a raster database. The search radius
determines how far from each raster cell in the output
database in which CO search for features. The area unit
will be the size of the landscape unit area in which fre-
quencies are assessed: per square meter, square kilometer,
or other area unit. The simple density method will result
in a raster Output in which each cell shows the number of
features per unit area. If the user chooses a populat ion
field, the field quanticy is used as the number of times in
which CO count each feature in the density summation.
The smoothed densicy also uses the same approaches but
stretches or 'smoomes' the results such that density will be
highest at each feature location but reduced gradually to
D at the outside radius of the designated search distance.
The output of the smoothed densicy is cypically more aes-
thetically pleasing than the simple densicy output, bur it
is less precise in its demonstrat ion of density. Some refer
tothe smoothed dens icy approach as the kernel dens icy
method.
An example of a simple density raster is shown in
Figure 14.5. In this example, the roads in the Brown
Tract have been selected as the source to create for the
density raster. A 2,000 fe radius was selected as the search
distance and areas with greater road density are displayed
using darker shades.
Chapter 14 Raster GIS Database Analysis II 217
can also create a hotspot. In other words, a subset of
att ribu te values might differ markedly from other
a([ribure values. The locations of the features would
then be used to identify the hot spot's location. Hot
spots are frequently mentioned in spatially-based
crime research and a number of analyt ical techniques
have been developed to identify hot SpOt locations.
These techniques can also be app lied to natural
resource applications.
Raster Reclassification
Raster cell values can represent almost any numerical or
ca tegorical value, ranging from reAected electromagnetic
energy co descriptions ofland cover categories. It may be
necessary to recode raster values so that they rep resent a
modified range or more representative range of values,
given an analysis objective. It may also be necessary that
raster values need co be aggregated to form a smaller set of
values. The reasons for needing to reclassify raster values
vacy and include:
I. Values within a raster may have been updated through
additional data collection .
2. Numerical values are needed instead of current values
that are described using categorical or nominal values .
3. A more detailed description of categorical raster values
may be desired.
Simple road density
surface
low dens.,
-
_
moderate density
high density
Figure 14.5 Simple density surface for roads in the Brown Trac[
wing a 2,000 ft search radius.
228
218 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

4. Rascer
Raster values may need to to sup-
[ 0 be rescaled in order [0 sup· Whether
Whe ther one o orr more raster databases are used, ras raster
rer
O f[ a single raster
pore
P raster analysis. map algebra results
resulrs in a new rasterasterr database that coma ins
contains
5. Raster vavalues
lues may need coto be rescaled in order
o rder [Q
ro sup-
SUp- the resul"
results of the mathematical evaluations specified by
porr
port a mulciple
multiple raster analysis. the user. Some forms fo rms of map algebra can be accom plished
accomplished
through techniques discussed earlier, earlier. such as cellular sta-
Reclassification
Reclassification is differem
differenc from altering the symbol- that
tistics th a llow for statistical
at aHow sracis ri cal summaries to to be calcu lated
ogy or legend of a raseer
raster database fo forr display purposes in from mu multiple
ltiple raster databases. Operations th at require
that it
ic goes beyond simply altering the rhe appearance of a mathematical manipulations of single or multiple raster raste r
raseer dacabase.
raster database. Regardless of the reasons for reclass ifYing
reclassifYing databases,, however.
databases however, requi re more d direct approaches..
irect approaches
rhe reclassificat.ion
a raster database, the recl ass ification process leads to a With
Within in the Spat
Spatiial
al Analyst function of ArcGIS.ArcGIS, the raster
new raster data base with pixel values reflecting ceRecting the rhe calcu latO r is provided in support
calculator algeb ra,
suppo rt of raster map algebra.
val ues. The new raster database and its reclassi-
recoded values. and also provides access to additiona additionall raster
raste r related
fied values can then be used for mapping and analysis funcdons.
functions.
purposes.
Within the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst,
Analyst. a reclassifY com- Database Structure Conversions
mand is available. Selecting the reclassify
reclassifY command will
open a dialog box that[hat prompts the selectionn of a raster
rhe selecdo It may be necessary fO to convert a spatial database from
fro m a
database.
database, reclassification field
field., and input
inp ut cells for
fo r reclassi- vector to raster or from a raster to
to vector
vec(Or data structure
structu re for
fication values. By default,
default. this interface will use the exist-
ex ist- a variety of reasons. Potencial
Potential reasons include:
incl ude:
ing symbolization used m to display the raster. For example.
should
sho uld current raster values be displayed using five ranges I . sup
1. porting a GIS
supporting GIS process or analysis
ana lysis that only
on ly acco m-
accom-
or categories.
or categories, these same five c1assificacions
classifications would be dis- vector data.
modates veccor
played on the reclassifY cel celll options.
o ptio ns. To select different 2.. supporting a GIS
2 analysis
G IS process or analys is that only accom-
classifications from which to begin the recoding.
recoding, the 'clas- modates raster data.
modares data,
button can be chosen.
sifY' butmn 3. sharing data with a colleague who can o nl y access one
only
data structu
structurere type.
Raster Map Algebra 44.. meeting the data requ irements of a client or funding
requirements
oorganization,
rgan ization. and
T he abilicy
The m access and evaluate values within multiple
ability to 55.. database storage
srorage size considerations.
rasterr databases and Qurpm
raste output resu
results [Q a new raster data-
lts to
base presents powerful analysis oppormnities.
o ppo nunities. Raster
Ras ter map As your work with GIS conti nues.
nues, it is likely that you
algebra involves a mathematical eval evaluation
uation that is applied spatiaJ data from one srrucmre
will have to convert spatial structure to
to one or mo more rasterr databases [Q
re raste to create a new database anothe r. Regardless of which Structure you are converting
3re co nvening
(DeMers.
(DeMers, 2002). Mathematical
Mathema, ical evaluations for fo r single decisions
to, there are decis
to. ions that mUSt
must be made fo r eithe
e itherr (Cans-
tra ns-
raster databases may include add adding
ing or multiplying raster format ion . The good news
formation. newS is that a seco nd database is
cells by a constant val ue, or app lying trigonometric.
value, trigo no metric, loga- cypically created through
typically throu gh the conversion
conversio n process. This
rithmic. mathematicaJ
rithmic, and other mathe transformations co
marica1 transformarions to raster usually ensures that if the rransformadon
transformation is unsuccessful
unsuccessfut.
values. A common example of single raster map algebra subsequent
su bseq uent attemp ts can be made unc untilil a satisfactory
might be takin
rakingg an elevation-based raster and multiplying product is created.
created .
thee elevation values by a co
th conve rsionn facto
nversio factorr ro
to move from The creadon
creation of point.
point , line, or polygon
po lygo n features is of
one measurement unit co to anome
anothe r, such as converting ele- interest
imeresr in conven
convertinging vector
Vec[or databases [Q to raste
raster.
r. Usually
vation values from meters to feet. Mathema Mathematical evalua-
tical evalu a- attribute
an arrri bure field is selected as the information (0 to be car-
rions
tions for multiple rascer
raster databases
data bases might involve addin addingg ried into the new raster database. Depending on the soli:-
soft-
or multiplying raster values, compa
valu es, com rin g muhiple
parin mulriple raster use, [he
ware you use. outpUt ras
the OutpUt raster
ter format might be integer
imeger or
remrning the largest value for
databases and returning fo r all coinci- floating poine. Integer and floating
Roaring point. point
Aoat in g poi the two
nt are {he twO pri-
dental cells, or using raster database values within a for-
demal mary rypes rasterr dara
types of raste data formats supporred
supported within typ typical
ical
mula that cap capmres
tures landscape processes such as thar that for
fo r software.
GIS softwa re. A key distinction between these twO types rypes is
waterr velocity
ware velocicy and discharge
disch arge rates. that integer raster da
inreger raster databases
tabases will usually accommodate

229
 Chapter 14 Raster GIS Database Analysis II
Database 219

mulriple fields or variables, and can acco

accommodate
mmodate non non-- occurrin
occu rringg value in cel
cells
ls that
mat will
wi ll be combined in the me out-
our-
data. Floating point raster databases
numeric dara. darabases are rypically
typically pur product,
put producr, might be chosen
chosen..
clara char
used for numeric data that incl udes precision.
includes precis ion . as evi- tn moving to a vecror
In vecto r structure from a raster database.
database,
denced by decimal values. Floating point raster
raSter databases raster value will need co
a raster to be selected for {he
(h e transforma-
are usually restricted [0 3nriburc
[Q one arui bure value. rather thanlhan tion producr
product if [he supportS multiple fields. A key
rhe raster suppOrtS
mulriple, being associated
mulriple. associared with
wim each raster
rasrer cell. In some vector fearure
choice will be the vecror featu re rype
type for the outpur
output dara-
data-
cases, it may be possible [Q co nve rt a floarin
{Q ccnven g point
fl oating poin[ raster
rasrer base. Users will usually have (Q ro choose from point, line, or
darabase to an integer foemar
database fo rmat database. or vice versa.
versa, but
bur polygon fearure
feature types.
rypes. The choice of one feature type rype over
you must consider
co nsider what types an and d formats data are
formars of dara another wi ll be a function of the in pur rasrer
input raster database and
fo r the
intended for product.
rhe final producr. analysis objectives.
In addition to the arrribure
addi tion [Q attribute field [0
ro carry into
inca the new
rasrer
raste r database. a raSter cell
cel l reso imion mus
resolution mustt also be • Rasterizatio
RasreriZ3tionn is the process of crearing
creating a rasre r da[3base
database
selected. This
selecred. T his is a critical choice and it ir will have a large from a vector
vector database.
darabase.
influence on the specificiry
specificity of me representation of vecroc
the represemarion vector Vectorization is the process of creating a vector data-
• Vecwrizacion
features the raste
feacures in rhe rasterr database and the scale at which sub- base from a raster
raste r database .
sequent analysis
sequenr analys is can occur (Mirchell,
(Mitchell , 2005). Equally
that this choice will also impact
important is (har impacr rhe the amount
amounc The sspat ial resolution of the raster
pacial raste r darabase
database in eilber
either
digiral storage space requ
of digital required
ired by me resulting
the resul raster
ting raster process may influence the ri,e quality of the resulting GIS
darabase.
database. A smaller cell resolution
resolur ion will
w ill represent vecmr
vec[Q r a1 ., 1996).
database (Bettinger et aI.,
features more precisely. but bur w ill req
will uire more
require sro rage
morc storage
space. If a study aJea
area is large in size, and analysis goals are Getting Started with the
or iented more rowards
oriented towards a landscape or regional scale. scale, men
then ArcGIS Spatial Analyst
a larger cell resoiurion
resolution may be an appropriate
app ropriate chochoice co
ice [Q
consider. IfIf a study area is small in size. or o r if more detail Spati al Analyst extension sofrwa
The Spatia.! software
re for use wit
withh
is desired in the representation of landscape features,
oflandscape fea tures, then additio n to
ArcGIS must be purchased in addition ro the
rhe base son-
soft-
a smaller cell resolution should
shou ld be chosen . Increasing a ware, and will not work independently of the
wi ll nor son-
rhe base soft-
cell resolution half,
resolurion by ha lf, however, resul ts in a four-fold
results ware. The Spatial
Sparial Analyst exrension
extension must be enabled
in crease in the number of raster cells. Keep in mind that
increase within an open ArcGIS session in order for rhe exrension
extension
many raster analysis processes will either
eit her require
requ ire or software to work. As wit
withh all
al l ArcGIS
ArcG lS extensio ns. the
extensions,
depend on raster
rasrer databases having the same cell resoludon
resolution Spatial Analysr
AnalySt is enabled by selecting [he
the Tools menu,
in oorder outpur results.
rde r to produce reliable ompur resam~
resulrs. Raster resam- selecting the Extensions option.
selecdng option, and selecting the check
pIing
piing involves changi
changingng the resolut ion of an exisring
rhe resoluc existing box next toro th
thee extension . The Spa rial Analyst roolbar
Spacial roolbar
raster layer and is a commonly used process among raster-
raster p
must then be enabled through eirher
either the oolbar choice
rhe T oolb.r
However, decisions abou
based GIS users. However. aboutt how cell values
va lues under the View menu, or by right"
right clicking on an open
are to be [realed
treated in the resampled product must be made.
made. location on
o n one of the menus, then selecting the Spatial
Spatial
When the me resampling of a raster database
darabase increases the
rhe the Spatial Analyst toolbar is available,
Analyst. Once ,he availab le, ses-
spatial resol
resolututiion.
on, such as moving from
fro m a 30 m [Q 10m
(Q a 10 m sion parameters
pa rame ters ca n be establi
can shed by accessing rhe
estab lished the
spatial resolution,
resolution. the resu lting cell can be
rhe value for each resulring options cho ice at
choice a[ the
(he bottom
borrom of the th e Spatial Ana
Analyst menu..
lyst menu
fro m the 'parent'
taken from cell directly.
'parenr' cell direcrly. When the resampling The general options allow you to set your wo rking rkin g direc-
of a raSter
raster database decreases spatial resolution.
resolurion, such as tory. where
cory. w here newly created raSterraSter databases will be saved.
moving from a 30 m to a I km resolut ion. the value
reso lution. val ue for me parameters
and also the paramerers of an analysis mask. The analysis
each cdl
cell will requi re some s(3tistical
wi ll require summarion
statisdcal summa tion of in pur
input mask can be set [0 to the spada!
spat ial dimens
dimensionsions of another GIS
GI S
raster
ras ce lls that contain numeric values. The
re r cells sta tistical
T he stat istical laye r and processing will only occur occur in coincident areas.
summation migbt might be methe average oror highest value of input The extent options,
options. avai lable in the second tab of (he
available the
cells. For
For raster databases with catego
ca tegorical
rical values.
valu es. such as oprions
oprio ns dialog box, allow you to furrher furthe r customize theme
land cover or tree species, lhe the choices will be more lim ited
limited designation of areas co nsidered fo
considered forr raster
raster aourput. Choices
m pul. C hoices
in how values are resampled.
resam pled. The value in the nearesr nearest or include existing
exiSting laye rs. spatial combinauons
layers, combinations of existing
mosr completely coincident cell,
most cell , oorr the most common ly layers,
laye rs. or a bounding set o
off coordinates. vector and
Both vector

230
220 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
raster databases can be used. The cell size options are pro-
vided in the third tab of the options dialog box. and can
be used CO establ ish the resolution of Output raSte r data-
bases. Settings include other analysis layers. minimum or
maximum area covered by all input databases. and user-
specified resolutions. The number of columns and rows
in [he raSter can also be chosen . Setting a cell size to
match an existing layer will lead to spatial agreement
berween the layer and any output raster databases. This is
a key choice that can help ensure consistent spatial regis-
tration of raster databases, an attribute that helps support
reliable analysis output.
The default ra ster format with in the Spatial Analyst
extension is an ESRl grid. The grid data structure bears
similarities to that of ESRI coverages in terms of trans-
pon, storage, referencing, and naming conventions.
These convemions are nor very forgiving but are manage-
able given a few ground rules. ESRI grids should be
named using no more than 13 characters and should not
stan with a number , should not contain spaces, and
shou ld not use unusual characters such as an ampersand
(&) or dollar symbol. These same rules should be consid-
ered for the naming conventions of folders under wh ich
grids are smred. An underscore can be used in place of a
space. JUSt as with an ESRJ coverage, an ESRl grid is actu-
ally composed of two folders and all information in both
folders must be stored under the same directOry. Fo r th is
reason. an Ardnfo interchange file with an .eOo file exten-
sion is often used to transport ESRJ grids and coverages,
much as a common zip file format performs when it is
used to compress and transport multiple files.
The majority of the raster analysis and processing
functions described are available under the primary
Spatial Analyst menu or within sub-menus. The previous
chapter explored the majority of functions available in the
surface analysis sub-group. We turn our attention to (WO
examples that involve raster data processing and analysis
functions.
Determining the Most Efficient
Route to a Destination
Let's assume that the Brown Tract staff would like [Q take
rocky fill material placed in one of the rock pits (described
in rhe Brown T racr srands GIS database as Stand 282) and
transpoC[ it to anot her location near the southeast
entrance of the Brown T racr boundary (Figure 14.6). The
material will be used to create a new trailhead ro accom-
Brown Tract
• Rock pit
• Southeast
entrance
- Roads
Figure 14.6 Rock pit, south~ast ~ ntr.tnc~. and road 5yst~m in th~
Brown Tract.
modate the growing use within the forest. Mulriple trips
with a dump truck will be required and the staff would
like m minimize the impact on the forest road system
during the fill hau ling process. A potential logical
sequence for the GIS operations to su pport the shortest
path creation is represented in Figure 14.7.
The roads database is in a vector data struCtu re and
describes the road surface rype according to one of three
possible values: paved. rocked. or dirt (unpaved). These
values will be used to ass ign a cost to each of the Brown
Tract roads. The idem ificarion of the most efficient route
will assign costs of I. 5. and 10 to the three road rypes.
respectively. The slopes of the Brown Tract roads will also
be considered in the analysis. Due to the relatively coarse
reso lution of the Brown Tract OEM (10 m). road slopes
will be divided into three broad categories with COSt val-
ues of 1 for mild slopes (< 5 per cent). 5 for moderate
slopes (5-1 0 per cent). and 10 for greater slopes (> 10 per
cent) . Although the choice ofa range between 1 a nd 10 is
somewhat arbitrary. choosing values from a larger range
will help differentiate possible routes more distinctly than
will values from a smaller range . The cwo layers are then
added to each other through raster map algebra to form a
si ngle database with coSt values for each cell. COst weight-
ing and direction are then calculated for the Brown Tract
road ne(Work in order to reach the rock pit. After the sup-
porting databases have been developed a shortesr path
function can be used to identify a preferred transportation
route for the fi ll material (Figure 14.8) . Although th e
road system represented in the Brown Trace database is
not substantially large in extent, many forest and other
natural systems have exrensive transportation ne[Works.
231
 Chapter 14 Raster GIS Database Analysis II 221

Slope Rock pit

GIS database GIS database
(vector)

Conversion Reclassify
to raster slope
database categories

Develop
Reclassify Combine cost path &
road type values cost direction
(raster)

Best
path
algorithm

(vector)

Figure 14.7 A general process lO identify the shortest path between two locations on the
Brown Tract.

In these simations, the number of potenrial fOUCes can Shorrest path algorithms can assist planners and managers
surpass (he ability of transportation planners to sysremar· in making sound decisions.
ically evaluate and select from a full range of options.
Creating a Density Surface for
the Number of Trees Per Acre
Density functions can be used to demonstrate [he relative
abundance or strength of the locations of features an d
anributes, The stands database for the Brown Tract con-
tains an attribute named 'trees_acre', This attribute has a
relative weighting of the trees that you would ex pect to
Brown Tract
• Rock pit
find in each stand within the Brown Tract on a per ac re
basis. It may be of interest to determine the areas in the
• Sootheast
entrance forest where this field is strongest, indicating where higher
- Shortest path numbers o f trees are more likely to be fou nd. Deter-
- Roads mining this info rmation could be done through plotting
the polygons and using shaded symbols to demonsttate
Figure 14.8 Shortest path between rock pit and southC:l$t entrance of intensity values of individual polygons. This approach,
the Brown Tract, given cost weights for road surfaa and road slope. however, would neglect the influence of neighboring

232
222 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management

What is a centroid? A centroid is a coordinate pair that is
intended co represent memid-point of a feature or group
of fe-drures. A centroid could be creatai co represent {he
center of a group of points by taking the average of all the
longirude and latitude coordinates. In terms of a line fea-
ture, a centroid position is easily determined. by dividing
the tQ[al length of the line in half and using a coordinate
pair [Q represent the half-way point. A polygon centroid
can be more difficult to determine if the polygon shape is
irregular or non-homogenous (is not round, square, rec-
tangular, triangular, etc.), patricularly if some or all of the
boundaty that make up a polygon contains curves, as is
orren the case when describing narural features. The cen-
troid of such a polygon is determined through mathe-
matical integration (calculus) with the goal of determin-
ing where the center of gravity of the polygon is located.
The center of gravity can be thought of as the point at
which the polygon would balance if set flat upon a pole.

polygons in irs representation . A more helpful approach strate the detected densities. Figure 14. 10 shows the Out-
might be to create a densi ty surface which would search put that results for a smoothed density surface using the
surrounding areas and determine inrensicies that take into same stand centroids and a 1,000 ft search radius for trees
account (he nllmber of trees for each stand while consid- per acre.
ering the number of trees in neighboring stands.
A density surface must be created from a point or line
feature type. In order [Q apply the density function to the
stands layer in the Brown Tract, we'll need ro conven the
stands polygon feamce rype. A point representation is Simple density surface
probably preferred over a line feature type for the con-

--
Trees per Icre
vened stands. A common method for representing poly- o lOw density

gons as poims is {Q calculate the cemroid, or middle of a

CJ
polygon's extent, which is determined geometrically if the _ moderate density

shape is basic, such as ,hat described by round, square, or

rectangular fearures. For irregular polygon shapes, cen- _ hIgh density

troid determinat ion must be accomplished with more rig-

orous mathematical techniques. Most GIS software sys-
tems will offer routines for cemroid determination and Figure 14.9 Simple density surface for num~r of trees per acrc based
on a 1,000 ft search rndius.
can quickly create a cemroid represemation of a polygon
or line feature with one oUCput point created for each
input feature. In addition, all of the attribute values will
be carried into the poim anribuce table. Within [he
ArcGIS software, ,he ArcToolbox has a 'Featu re to Point'
conversion command that will accomplish this cransfor-
mation. The XTools extension software, a popular low- Smoothed density surface
Trees per Icre
COSt ArcGIS extension program, has commands that also
o
••
Iowdenslty

-
support centroid creation. CJ
After the stand polygons have been converted to II!llI
_ moderate density
poims, the density surface can be created. Figure 14 .9 i ..
shows the resuh of a simple density surface based on the _ high denslty
number of trees per acre. The darker shaded areas high-
light the areas where greater numbers of crees would be
expected. The search rad ius was set to 1,000 ft and den- Figure 14.10 Smoothed dcns ity sUrhce for num~ r of trees per acre
sity circles were created for each stand cencroid to demon- based on a 1,000 ft search radius.
233

Summary
We demonstrated in (his chapter how raster databases can
be manipulated and analyzed (0 solve questions related [0
natural resource app licado ns. A host of functions are
available ro supporc analysis including distance, sracisrica1
search summary. and density functions . The functions
differ in their application and in the types of database
structures that can be used for analysis. Omput may be
tabu lar, veC(Of, or rast er depending on the function .
Several common procedures within most raster-based
software include raster reclass ifi cation, raster map algebra.
and conversion routines between vector and raster dar3-
Applications
14.1 Straight line discance function for points. A!; parr
of your position as a natural resource manager. you manage
the research areas on the Brown Tract. Concerned abom
their dimibu<ion across ,he landscape, you decide rhac a
simple rasrer analys is mighr shed lighr on rheir spacia l
arrangement. Create a straight line dismnce raster database
for research plot pointS co nrained in the Brown Tract.
14.2 Straight line distance function for lines. The
density of stream syste ms can be used to define their cha r-
acter. Given the st ream s GIS database for rhe Brown
Tract , creare a srraight line distance rasrer database for
streams contained in the Brown Trace.
14.3 Straight line dinance function for polygons. A!;
another analysis related {Q the distribution of research
areas, create a straight line distance raster database fo r the
"and polygons in ,he Brown Traer where ,he LANDAL-
LOC field is designared as 'Research '.
14.4 Allocation distance. As we mentioned earlier, in
devel oping an allocation distance, ras te r cells are ass igned
a pixel value that recognize the nearest zone of in Auence,
si mil ar to the vector representation of a Th iessen polygon.
Create an allocation raSter database for resea rc h plot
po ints contained in the Brown Tracr.
14.5 Ceu statistics. To furrher you r undersranding of
the spatial distribution of research plots on the Brown
Tract, you decide (Q embark on a series of raste r analyses
to determine their venical distribution .
a) What is the average elevation of the resea rch plots?
b) Which research plo< (use rhe numbers in rhe field
Chapter 14 Raster GIS Database Analysis II 223
bases. The procedures facilitate spatial analys is and su p-
POrt ,he ability [Q prepare spa,ial daubases so ,har ,hey
are su ited for specific analytical purposes. In add itio n, we
presented [Wo potential applications in which some of the
functions and procedures discussed earlier in the chapter
were applied. The raster analysis p rocesses and examp les
we presented by no means represent the extent of the
porential of raster analysis. Rather, these processes an d
functions describe so me of the more usefu l and co mmo n
commands and processes for namra1 resource analys is
with raster data.
' PLOT' to describe) has rhe highesr e1evarion and
what is the elevation?
c) Which research plor (use ,he numbers in ,he field
' PLOT' ro describe) has rhe lowest e1evarion and
what is the elevation?
14.6 Neighborhood statistics. Using ,he elevation laye r
for the Brown Tract as an analys is extent and a template
for Output cell reso lution , what is the longitude and lati-
rude of ,he cenrer of rhe ,hree by rhree grid cell neighbor-
hood wir h rhe highest e1evarion'
14.7 Zonal sta,inics. Assume ,har a fire has s<arced in
srand 140 of ,he Brown Trace. Ifhand crews canno[Con-
trol the fire, water must be acquired from nearby sou rces
to help extinguish the flames. What is the average dis-
tance to the nearest water so urce for stand 140?
14.8 Zonal statistics. What is the average distance {Q
the nearest water source for so ils polygon 166? Use the
SOILS_ field to determ in e where this stand is located
wirhin th e so ils database in the Brown Tracr?
14.9 Density surface for basal area. C rea,e borh a sim-
ple and smoorhed density surface for [he Brown Trace
stands. Base rhe den sity upon (he basal area field con-
tained with (he stands attribute table.
14. 10 Density surface for research plots. Creace borh a
simpl e and smoothed dens ity surface fo r rhe Brown Tract
research plors. Base rhe density upon [he field named 'sl'
which co ntains a numeric value for the site index of eac h
ploe.
234
224 Part 2 Applying GIS to Natural Resource Management
References
Bettinger, P., G.A. Brndshaw, & Weaver, G.W. (I 996).
Effects of geograph ic information system veC[Q f- rasrer-
vector data conversion on landscape indices. Canadian
journal ofFomt Restarch, 26,1416--25.
Chang, K. (2002) . Introduction to geographic informa-
tion systems. New York: McGrnw-Hill.
Chrisma n, N . (1997). Exploring geographic information
systems. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
DeMers, M.N. (2002). GIS modeling in raster. New
York: John Wi ley & Sons, Inc.
Mitchell, A. (2005). The ERSI guide to GIS analysis.
Volume 2: Spatial 1nf!asurements and stah'sties. Red-
lands, CA: ERSI Press.
Silverman, B.W. (I986). Density estimation for statistics
and data analysis. New York: Chapman and Hall.
Theobald, D.M. (2003). GIS conupts and ArcGlS methods.
Fort Collins, CO: Conservation Planning Technologies.
Wing, M.G., & Tynon , J.F. (2006). C rime mappi ng
and spatial analys is in National Forests. Journal of
Forestry, 104(6),293- 8.
235
Part 3

Contemporary Issues in GIS

t!ographic Information Systems: Applications in Natural Rt!sourus Managemt!llt focused

G on the background and development of GIS in rart I and delved into GIS applica-
tions in Pan 2. In Parr 3. we try [Q provide a glimpse of where GIS use may be heading in
the nea r future. Trying to look ahead and predict what may happen is a difficult task
because both GIS-related technology and the society that su rrounds it are changing rap-
idly. Nonetheless. in chapter 15 we disc uss some trends that 3re associated with GIS in
namra1 resource management. These trends are related CO technological developments. rhe
handling and sha ring of spatial data, and the legal issues that may impact organizations
that use GIS. C hapter 16 makes note of how the increased ava ilability of GIS has trans-
formed rhe delivery and struc(Ure of GIS operations in many organi zations. Also impor-
tant in chapter 16 is rhe discussion of possible barriers ro successful GIS impiemenrarion
and how implementation effectiveness can be assessed.
We also consider some of the current challenges within the GIS communicy in Parr 3 .
T he final chapter, chapter 17, examines the on-going and sometimes contentious discus-
sion of how the GIS profession should be defined and recognized. There are a number of
other established professions that are also involved with measuring and mapping features
and there has been friction at times in agreeing on me capacity in which certain professions
should apply GIS. Such discussions are evidence that GIS and GIS professionals have an
important and necessary ro le in today's society. While many other professions have well-
defined activities, competency standards. and governi ng bodies that describe and guide irs
members. the GIS comm unity has only recently developed some initial pathways for cer-
tifying GIS competency. Criticism has been leveled toward these initial effo rts on the
grounds mat sufficiently rigorous processes to establish competency have not been devel-
oped. The discussion ofeIS competency arose initially from concerns voiced. from me land
surveyi ng and engineering communities about the potential for GIS users to perform tra-
ditional surveying and measuremenr activities while not actually having professional license
as a surveyor or engineer. The final chapter probes the issue of whether GIS users shou ld
be licensed. a hot ropic of conversacion particularly when you try to define what a 'profes-
sional' GIS user is and what sorts of activicies (hat person is qualified ro perform.

236
Chapter 15
Trends in GIS Technology
Objectives
GIS technology is constantly evo lving, ada pting. and
changing according to the needs and capabilities of GIS
users, panicularly (hose within the field of namral
resou rce management. While namral reso urce man age rs
may only represent a portion of the tOtal population of
GIS users, natural resource management also benefits
from the influence other fields (t ransportatio n, utility
management, public plan ning, etc.) have on [he evolu-
cion of GIS technology. This chapter provides a discussion
of so me of the current trends associated with GIS technol-
ogy and use. When we initially developed th is chapter in
2004 (Bettinger & Wi ng, 2004), we co ncluded that fore-
casring the direction and success of trends was challeng-
ing, but allowed you [0 consider what potential ap plica-
tions might ex ist within the area of natural resource
management. As you will see, some of the trends in GIS
tech nology have remained ove r the past duee yea rs, while
others have recently appeared.
After co nsidering the topics presented in this chapter,
readers should have a reasonab ly firm understanding of a
number of issues related to the trends in GIS technology
and lise. As a result, readers should be able to describe and
debate the assoc iated strengths and weaknesses of:
I. the common trends related ro GIS technology, and
how these might be app lied in natural resource
management,
2. the oppo rrunities for strengthe nin g GIS technology
and app lications within natura l resource management
o rganizatio ns. and
3. the current an d potential technological developme nts
that might promote or hinder the adva ncement of GIS
as an effective problem-solving roo l.
Integrated Raster/Vector
Software
For many years, GIS and other spatial software systems
have been defined by their ability to wo rk with either
raster or vecror data. In fact, many GIS software programs
either rest ri cted lIsers ro working with one data structure
o r the other, or aiiowed users to conduct analyses with
one data strucru re and limited the use of the other data
Stru cture to rudimentary purposes (e.g., viewing only) .
Recently, however, almost all traditiona lly raster-based
GIS software programs have begun to include algorithms
and techniques to allow the capability of managing vector
GIS databases, and similarly, al most all traditi onally vecto r-
based GIS softwa re programs have begun to include algo-
rithms and techniques to allow the capability of managing
raSter GIS databases (Fa ust, 1998).
The primaty hindrances to providing the capability to
use both d ata srrucrures for spacial ana lyses were {he
marked differences between the twO data structures and
in part icular, how they were stored. To further compli-
cate marters, software manufactUrers created t heir own
proprietary formats for raster a nd vector data structures
that were best suited to their product. In addit ion, each
data structure could also be described by more than one
format. The di ffe rent stru ctu res (a nd formats of srruc~
cures) overwhelmed the computing capabi li ties and soft-
ware design efforts of earlier GIS softwa re com pan ies. As
237

computer technology and software programming lan-
guages evolve. a (Orally imegrated system, one that would
be able to incorporate both vecrof and raster GIS data
structures simultaneously in the spatial analysis of natural
resource issues, is a trend in softwa re development that
will continue [0 drive the direction offurure GIS software
programs. For example. such a system would allow the
use of vecmr GIS databases (0 assist in image classification,
whereas previously only raster-based GIS databases would
allow a system to perform GIS operarions such as buffer-
ing. overlays. and proximity operations. with hoth raster
and vector processes in a seamless and efficient manner.
In a totally integrated GIS, processes such as vecrof-to-
raster or raster-[Q-vector conversion (as described in chap-
ter 3) and analyses that use both raster and vector data
simultaneously (as described in chapter 13) would there-
fore be transparent to users of GIS (Faust, 1998).
Software such as ENVI (ITT Corporation, 2007) and
Erdas Imagine (Leiea Ceosystems, LLC, 2007) not on ly
provide a vast suite of raster-based analytical tools (e.g. ,
image classificacion, terrain analysis), bm also allow you
to integrate vec[Qr data with raster data and perform the
buffering, digicizing, and edicing funcrions that were dis-
cussed earlier in this book. Erdas Imagine also allows yo u
to clean and build the tOpology of vector GIS databases,
which is useful when editing vectOr GIS data. Coogle
Earth (Coogle, Inc., 2007) is a similar system but it may
be more appropriately co nsidered as a geospatial explo-
ration program at this point in rime. The Google Earth
system has the ability to integrate vector and raster data
to a limited extent, but its real value lies in all owing users
to easily visualize landscapes through an Internet
browser.
Figure 15.1 A GIS database of urban treC$, and an associated hyperlinked picture of a trcc
(Courtesy of Andrew Saunders).
Chapter 15 Trends in GIS Technology 227
Linkage of GIS Databases
with Auxiliary Digital Data
While we think of GIS as a system for displaying and
manipulating geo-referenced maps and images. we have
[he ability in some GIS software programs to associate
spatial data with other non-spatial data. Of course, data in
an atuibme [able, or data from a non-spatial joined table
can full into this category as well, but what we refer to
here is the association of an im age that is nO( georefer-
enced with some spatially-referenced data. For example.
in the field of urban forestry, you might capture the spa-
tial position of (rees within a ciry as a set of vector points.
These points may be attributed with tree characteristics
(species, height, etc.) and other local landscape variables.
The points that represent the trees can also. in some CIS
software programs, be atuibuted with a link [Q a picture
and, when you select a point representing (he tree, the
picture of the tree is presented (Figure 15.1).
The linkage of GIS databases to this type of auxiliary
data is generally made using a hyperlink. A hyperlink is a
navigation element that allows. when selected, [he view-
ing of the referenced information associated with the link.
Hyperlinks are used widely on the Internet for navigation
purposes, but they are nO( limited to Internet usage. obvi-
ously. They were designed as a way for you to link to spe-
cific portions of related documents without having to
open each new document at its beginning and search for
the desired page. Hyperlinking is a useful way to associate
pictures. documents, videos, or any other relevanr data to
a mapped feature. thus allowing for a more comprehen-
sive use of information systems. The urban tree example
is bur one of many logical and valuable uses ofhyperlink-
238
228 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS

ing non-spatial data to GIS databases. Having the abi li ty
to view (with actual photos) oblique perspectives of land-
scapes from various vistas or overlooks represents another
valuable use of hype r/inking data for natu ral resource
management purposes.
High Resolution GIS Databases
New areas of resea rch and develo pment, call ed 'precision
fo restry' or 'p recision agriculture', have recently been
introduced in natura l resource management. These areas
of research and development seek co use digital technolo-
gies for improving, and making more efficient. namral
resource management activities. 'Precisio n tech niques'
might include using GPS as a navigational aid for farm or
forestry equipment. capturing remotely-sensed imagery co
describe the status of soil properties (e.g .• the need for fer-
tilizer or pesticides), or using digital aerial photography to
record crop planri ngs and outcomes. Precision agriculture
techniques have been actively used and recognized as a
discipline for at least a decade. In contrast. the first fo rmal
recognition of precision forestry occurred in June 2001 at
the University of W as hin gw n's Precis ion Forescry
Symposium. High among the list of goals of precision
forestty is the identification of methods fo r the collection.
analys is. and use of hi ghly accurate and precise data from
the Earth's surface w facilitate bener management of nat-
ural resou rces. Examples of precision fo restry techniques
might include using electronic distance measuring (EDM)
(Ools ro capture the precise spatial position of forest land-
scape features, capturin g precise and timely sa tellire
imagery (0 ass ist in monitoring threats (0 forest health
(e.g .• fire or disease). or developing precise. fine-scale
DEMs to identify steep forested areas susce pti ble ro poten-
tiallandslide activ ity.
The main o bstacle ro implementing precision forestry
or agriculture techniques in natu ral reso urce management
remains that of obtain in g accu rate. prec ise. an d timely
spatial data of landscapes . Some applicatio ns of precision
technology may be implemented more easily in differing
land uses, however. For example. in COntrast ro many
agricu ltu ral applicatio ns, forests are characterized by a
dense ca nopy cove r and so meti mes by mountainous ter-
rain, which can limit the types of technologies that can be
used {Q coll eCt precise spatial data. A thi ck canopy cover,
for instance, often hinders CPS receptio n. and hillsides
can prevent satel lite signals from reaching a CPS receiver.
There are ways to avoid some of these problems, such as
by co llect ing CPS data durin g rhe winrer months when
the tree canopy is least dense. or by scheduling GI'S mis-
sions during periods when an increased number of CPS
satelli tes will be available.
Spadal data collect ion technology conti nues to evolve.
and natura l resource managers are likely to see new tech-
niques that im prove upon present CPS, satellite im agery,
and LiDAR data collection methods in the upco ming
yea rs. One of the mos t promising secrors o f improved
data collection technology is related to high spatial reso-
lu tion GIS data. GIS databases developed from the raster-
ization of color ae rial photography and developed from
satelli tes such as IKONOSTM (GeoEye. 2007) are becom-
ing available at 1 m to 4 m spatial resolutions (Figu re
15.2). While geo- registered color aerial photography of
large land areas can now be collected, processed . and
made avai lable to clients the following day. acquiri ng
satell ite imagery at 1 m resolution requires a longe r time
period (generally 10 days o r more) and depends o n the
area and time frame of inte rest. Another promising area of
improvement in data is high spec cral resolution raste r
databases. Normally. aerial photographs that are con-
verted into digital o rrh op ho tographs cove r a 0.4 to
0.9 micromete r range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Some satellites systems captu re energy in longer wave-
lengths. but usually within 10 distinct bands (ranges of
energy) or less . Higher spectral resolut ion data implies
FigllR 15.2 IKONOS satellite image at 4 m resolution of Copper
Mountain located in the Colorado Rocky Mountains (Imagc.s courtesy
of GeoEye).
239
 Chapter 15 Trends in GIS Technology 229

that many mOte bands of enetgy have been captured, caprured, and ognizing that more timely analysis and map products can
can be used co to monitor
mo nito r and evaluate the Earth's Earm's surface. be obtained if the wo work rk is more closely situated co to the end
AV1RIS (National
AVIRIS (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, user (Bettinger, 1999; Wing & Berringer, Bettinger, 2003).
2003) . [n In addi-
add i-
2007) is an example of one o ne such high spectral resolution rion , rhe
tion, the increased power of com compurer
puter [echnologies
technologies
system, although it has been available for almost al most 15 years.
years. (speed and memory) and the [he advancements made in the
With this system, 224 bands of data can be captured for operaring
operating systems of perso personalnal compurers
compute rs have borh bo th
a single landscape at one o ne point in time.
time, aUowing
aIlowing scientists allowed a wider user base to use GIS technology (Faust, (Faus[,
and managers [0 to use the appropriate spectral reflecrances
re£lecrances com puter systems are relatively inexpensive
1998). Since computer
for analyzing various nacurai namrai resource
reso urce management issues. (a GIS workstation
worksrarion can now be purchased for unde underr
Sdll
Still among [he the primary co concerns
ncerns of most naturalnam ral $2,500) , and GIS
$2.500), GIS software has been developed with end
resource
resou rce management organizacionso rganizations is (hethe COSt related [0 (Q users (e.g., field personnel) in mind, the trend is [Oward toward a
acquisi tion of high-resolution spatial
the acquisition spatial data. While GIS sysrem
system where, in larger organizacioorganizations,ns, data
dara develop-
initially relrelat ively high,
atively high , as new technologies and data mem
ment and maintenance
maimenance casks tasks are performed at a cemeal cemral
sources become available avai lable the cost and ava ilability of high-
availability office, and data clara analysis and map productionproductio n [asks
tasks are
resolu tion G IS databases might be as low as $0.03
resolution $ 0.03 per performed at remote rem ore field offices. In smallersma ller organiza-
acre. Anomer
Anorher issue of concern is the dara s[Qrage re'luire-
data scocage require- rions,
tions, the d distriburion
istribution of processes may be less clear. dear.
menrs.
ments. H High-resolution
igh- resoluti o n images can require massive mass ive because the [he distinction becween a central office and field
distincrion between
amounts of computer hard drive dtive space.
space. Although large offices may be blurred (or (o r non-existent).
hard drives (I (10000 GB and above) have become the norm, In some organizations.
o rganizatio ns, approved person personnel
nel who work
storage space can be filled quickly as images are ga<he gathered
red in the field perform th thee data maintenance tasks tasks.. Changes
C hanges
and stored digitally. GIS
to G IS databases can be made at the field office, sent elec-
Managed and integrated properly, high-resolution GIS tronically co [he the central
cemral office for verification and integra-
databases w will
ill help facilitate
facil itate the creation
crea tion and maintenance tion, and eventually passed back to field offices. In sys-
of databases (hat mat have tremendous potencial pmential for organiza-
o rganiza- tems such as these, only o nly one person can be mak making
ing
tions that manage large land areas. These GIS GIS databases changes at each point in time. time. As a result, daradata being
can be associated with metho methods ds marchar keep lanland cover
d cover edited is 'checked out' (like a library book) until umil [he edit-
the ed it-
currene, and allow yo
informacion current, youu [Q conduct
co co nduct remporai
tempo ral ing has been completed. The transfer of updated informa-
analysis of ofland
land cover co conditions.
nditio ns. Two of the challenges tion toro [he
the field offices would wo uld ideally be instantaneous,
[0 high- resolution
to usi ng high-reso lution GISGIS databases will be in deciding not. A delay of 15-30 minutes is required for
but it is not.
how often ro to acquire
acqui re new dara,data. and how (0 imegrare new
CO integrate centraljzed
centralized systems co to complete [heir the ir rasks.
tasks.
GIS databases with exisring
GIS existing GIS databases. These chal- The benefits of a distributed GIS GIS system are aimed at
lenges are markedly different differenr from those [hose experienced in enhancing local or o r field office productivity
productivi ty and decision-
the receor
recent pasr,
past, where mosr narural resource managemem
most natural management making. Two T wo of me the main benefits include a more timely
struggled due 10
organizations Struggled to a lack of data. Now, the response co to analysis and map productionproductio n needs of field
amounr of data
amount dara avaiJable
available to [0 an organizarion
o rganization can ca n become offices, and a decreased work load on a centralized GIS
overwhelming. The high resolution of these GIS databases (al lowing more time and effort to be devoted to GIS
office (allowing
w ill also help
will belp provide a morc: more accurale
accura te representation
represen ta don of database quality and maintenance). Within a distributed
natural resoresources,
urces, which has typ typically
ically been one of the GIS system.
GIS sys tem, dearer
clea rer channels of communication should shou ld
d rawbacks of using raSter
drawbacks raster GIS databases (Faust,
(Fa uS!, 1998).
1998) . exist, since generally speaking, (he the customers (rhose (those
requesting maps or analysis) and suppliers (those perform-
Distribution of GIS Capabilities ing the analysis oorr making maps) are in the same office (or (o r
to Field Offices perhaps are the same person). This fuce-to-fuce face-eo-face communi-
cation is often
o ften more effective
effecdve in meering
meecing rhethe goals of a map
There are a number of reasons why me the use of GIS has,
has. or analysis request than chan comm
communication
unication processes mat that rely
conrinues ro,
and cominues (0. spread from a cemraliz.ed
centralized organizational on e-mail or phone calls. ca lls. [n
In addition
addition,, field personnel
to field offices: more and more people are becoming
office to involved in GIS analysis and map productio productionn are likely (0 to
comfortable using GIS. colleges and universiries
universities arc:
are edu- feel as if rhey
they have a greate
gre-arerr investmenc
investment in [he(he GIS program.
program,
cadng
cating srudc:ms
students in the use and application
appli cation of GIS inin natu
nacu - responsibiliry for
and perhaps will develop a greater sense of responsibility
raj resources,
ral namral resource organ
reso urces, and natural o rganiizarions
za rions are rec- maintaining accurate
accurare GIS databases (Bettinger,
(Berringer, 1999)
1999)..
240
230 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS
Given the ongoing technological {software and hard-
ware} advancements related co GI S. and the proliferation
of GIS training, it is high ly likely that the distributed GIS
model of capabilities wiH continue to grow, and become
more prevalent than the centralized model. At some point,
the distributed model may replace the centralized model
completely in many organizations. The challenge in man-
aging this paradigm shift will be to ensure that organiza-
tional prococols and monitoring are in place to protect dis-
tributed users from using spatial data improperly.
Web-based Geographic
Information Systems
The widespread use of Google Earth has suggested to
many that GIS can be both affordable and easy to use
across the Internee. Some organizations have recognized
the need to provide GIS data management services over
the Internet as a way [0 more rapidly update databases and
provide information to users in the field. Ideally, a natural
resource organization would maintain a system where data
being updated by an employee in a field office can be
'checked our' over the Internet and managed (updated or
modified) . While the data is being modified remotely,
other users would have the abilicy to view the data, but not
simultaneously modify the data. Once the data has been
checked back in, orner users in the organization can then
use the modified data. Overall, [his type of process has the
potential for substantially reducing the time required to
traditionally update GIS databases (see chapter 10).
However, there may be some data qualicy issues related to
remotely-performed modifications of databases that are
not consistent with organizational standards.
As an example of a system such as this, the Virginia
Department of Forestry has recently implemented the
Integrated Forest Resource Information System (IFRJS).
Many organizations have developed their own Intranet.
These are private, networked computer environments
in which only members within me organization have
access. Imranets look and act like the Internet, and can
range in complexity from the vety simple (a set of fold-
ers or subdirectories containing data or other organiza-
The benefits of the system include reduced paper-related
processes {e.g., transfer of maps and data to a centralized
office} , and an empowerment of people to adopt and use
new technology at the field level. Users in field offices can
update GIS databases using heads-up digitizing, and sub-
mit data and repons on progress in managing the state's
forests. Future endeavors include extending the real-dme
capability to hand-held data recorders equipped with GPS
technology to all ow an immediate data capture and
update to occur, which can increase the efficiency of map-
ping and reporting wildfires, water quality problems, and
insect and disease outbreaks. Although the intent of the
system is to make administrative functions of state land
managers more efficient, as with the previous discussion,
there may arise some data quality issues related to
remotely-performed modifications of databases that are
not consistent with organizational standards. Only time
will tell whether these advances will result in COSt- and
time-savings and in increased productivity with no sub-
stantial reduction in data quality.
Data Retrieval via the Internet
As we discussed in chapter 3, the Internet is becoming a
common source for acquiring GIS databases, GIS meta-
data, and other information regarding the acquisition of
GIS databases. In fact, the current popularity and preva-
lence of GIS can at least be parely attributed to the
Internet. As public agencies began to produce and make
GIS databases available, customers who wanted the data
were often required to pay for the storage medium (tape,
co, etc.) and for the time required to place the GIS data-
base{s) on the medium . Since the media had to be mailed
to the customer, this process also required a period of sev-
eral days (to weeks) before the user could actually use the
GIS databases. Presently, most public agencies offer their
tion information) to the sophisticated {those that offer
graphical interfaces for access to data, software, or links
to other organizational services}. Each of these services is
provided through an internal (co the organization) web-
site. Inrraners are a method that can facilitate a disrrib-
ured GIS system within an organization.
241
 Chapter 15 Trends in GIS Technology 231

non-sensitive
non-sensidve GIS databases over the Imernet,
Internet, allowing
allowin g mon GIS
man GIS databases
darabases that
rhar can also be used to
ro visually check
GIS users the opportunity [0 quickly
to qu ickly acquire
acqu ire the data at measurements, as well
wel l as to faci
faciJir3re
li tate a uaverse
traverse of {he
rhe
no COSt. In cases where GIS
GIS databases are very large and landscape.
therefore nO(
nO{ practicaJ Imernet
practical for Imern et transfer (for
(for example, dara collectors
Hand-held data collecrors are moderately
moderarely expensive
as wi rh OOQs
with DOQs or orher
other high- resol urion raster
high-resolution rasrer imagery).
imagery) . ($1.000 to $5.000).. depending on the
ro $5,000) rhe quality of the
rhe
agencies
public age ncies may still require that co
consumers
nsumers pay for instrument and the functions they allow. POAs are less
data cransfer
transfer costs.
COSts. However,
However. data compression sofrware
software expensive (around $500).
$500) , and can be used as data
dara collec-
conrinues [0
technology condnues im prove, which reduces the
to improve. me need tors.
to rs, but they are generally less rugged and more prone to
for non-Inrernet
non-Internet transfers. Privare
Private organ
organizations
izatio ns that mar- damage from environmental facto factors (e .g.,, rain) and
rs (e.g.
ket
ker and sell
sel l GIS databases customers ro
darabases also allow cusromers to down- human error (e.g.,
(e.g.• dropping
droppin g the
rhe device). Some GISGIS con-
load the databases from the lnrernet.
Internet. In these cases,
cases) cus- sultants
sulranrs have developed sof1ware
software that
rhar will run on POAs.
PDAs.
[Omers usually need ro
tomers to be regisrered
registered w ith rhe priprivate
vate ArcPad (Environmemal
(Environmental Systems Research InstitU[c,
Inst itute, Inc.,
Inc. ,
organization because access roto the data is restricted. 2006) is perhaps the
rhe mosr widely known produce.
product. A
IiSl of accessories can also be purchased to make
growing list
Portable Devices to Capture, POAs more durable and useful in inclemen,
inclement weather and
Display, and Update GIS Data under
under other conditions.
conditions.

[n
I n rhe
the pasr
past decade the
rhe use of hand-held data
dara collectors
collecrors Standards for the Exchange of
digital
and personal di giral assistants
assisranrs (POAs) quite
(PDAs) has become quire GIS Databases
common for collecting
co llecti ng forest inventory
in ventory dara
data and other
attributes
anribures of
oflandsca
landscapepe fearures.
features. G
GPS
PS receivers,
rece ivers, in faCt, use The deve10pmenr
development and use of srandards
standards for exchanging
hand-held data
dara collectors ro allow you [0
collecro rs [0 ro capture
caprure the
rhe spa- GIS databases may seem like a trivial exerc
exercise
ise for govern-
attributes of
tial anributes landscape features.
oflandscape features.lntegradon
Inregration of the rwo
two mental
mcnral em ployees and university researchers, since meo-
employees theo-
philosophies, allowing you ro
philosophies. to collecr
collect spatial loeational
sparial locarional retically data ((ansferred
rerica1ly dara transferred among US fede
federal government
ral governmenr
infortflalion
info rmation aboullandscape
about landscape features and to coliect
collect anrib-
a([fib- oorganizations
rganizatio ns (for
(fo r example) must adhere to federal data
ute data, results in posirive
positive benefits to a natural
namral resource standards
sra (J1[[p:llwww.fgdc.gov/standards) . These sran-
ndards (hrrp:llwww.fgdc.gov/srandards) stan-
management organ iza tion. Traditionally,
organiz.ation. T radicionaHy. data collected
coUected data formars
dards specifY dara formats that
rhar are intended
inrended co facilitate
to facilirare
natural resource inventories wou ld be recorded in a
for narural the sharing of spatial data among organizations.
organizations. Many
field notebook or on a map, map. and would requ
require manual
ire man ual university
universiry researchers also urilize
utilize this
th is protocol (or
(o r some-
data enrry
dara entry inro
into a sp readsheet
spreadsh eer or GIS
GIS database
darabase (through
(rhrough thing very similar)
sim ilar) in some cases because they imeract interact
attributing
an ributing spatial
spatia l landscape fea(Ures).
features). This manual with federal granting agencies durin duringg the course of
process is time consuming and presents several
severaJ opportuni-
opporcuni- research. However, most private namral natural resource manage-
ties for human error coto be introduced
incroduced into a GIS
GIS database. menr
ment organizations are not no t bound by these daca data stan-
The integration of digital technologies allows information
info rm ation dards. Thus acquacquisition
isition and modification of GIS data-
to be recorded in a computer database while a person is in bases by private natural natura l resource managementmanagemenr
the da,a collecrors
rhe field. Hand-held dara PDAs are able co
collectors and POAs to orga nizations
organ undocumented; transformations
izations proceeds undocumenced:
conneCt to wired or wireless computer systems, allowing and re-projections regularly occur CO to allow an integration
,he dara co
rhe data to be rransferred
transferred to GI . This greatly
ro GIS. expedites
grearly exped ires of the
rhe acquired GIS databases
darabases into
inro rhe organization's
organizarion's sys-
the rransfer
rhe transfer of field-collected data to
field-collecred dara GIS database
ro a GIS darabase where tem, since the rype form at of data exchanged can vary
type and format
the da,a can be analyzed and mapped. Th
rhe dara is process also
This considerably (Figure 15.3) . Moving co to a standard data
srandard dara
me
removes some of the error opportunities
op portunities char
that might occur excha nge formac
exchange fo rmat usually suggescs
suggests that
thac oone
ne of cwo
twO organi-
organ i-
through ,he
rhe manual coding and inpu
inputting
tting of data. Da,a
clara. Dara zational policies will be used: (1)
zational ( I) organizarions
organiza tions coconven
nvert all
coHeetors
collectors also offer th e abil iry
offer users the ro examine maps and
ity to of [he
the GIS darabases
databases curren dy in use to
currently [Q a srandard
standard format.
format,
images of
oflandscape
landscape features
fearures as they
rhey are being measu
measured.
red. thus
rhus avoiding rhe the need to conven
convert GIS GIS databases when
Field personnel
person nel can use this heads-up display
d isplay to
ro visually data exchange processes occur, or or (2) organizations
organizarions con-
determine whether their measurements are in agreement vert GIS databases ro to a standard exchange format only on ly
with the landscape
landsca pe features beibeing measu red. Digital
ng measured. data exchange processes occur.
when dara occur. There is a cost asso-
onhophotoquads o r digital raster graphics
orthophotoquads or graph ics are two com- ciated with both policies, and it i, is a function of how often

242
232 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS

,, ,
I \
I I

Siale
organizations

I I
'4
"
\
\
. \
\ \
-- ....
,
....

"
I I
\ \
\ \ I
' \
\ \ I
" \ \
I "I \ \
I I \ \
Universities

Forestry
,, companies consultants ,
I \
I I
I I

-- - , , ,,
I
\
, ,

....... Federal data standards implied when transferring data

- - .... Other data standards generally used when transferring data

Fi~ 15.3 Datab~ transfu and implied standards among organiutions.

an organizacion perceives th at it might exchange data
with orner organizacions. If an o rganization positions irs
internal data standard closely to that of the data exchange
standard, the cost w ill be minimized when acqu iring GIS
databases from. or sharing GIS databases with. federal
agencies. If an organization does not plan (Q acquire GIS
databases from, or share them with, federal agencies.
the cost of deviating from the federal standard may be
minimal.
Even if a natural reso urce management organization
avo ids imp lementing a data exchange standard a few
co mmon data excha nge formats are used by other organ-
izations. For example. it is not uncommon for public
agencies to make GIS databases available in both ArcInfo
export file format (eOO) and ArcView shapefile format.
Among com purer-assisted design (CAD) software pro-
grams, the DXF (drawing exchange format) format is
commonly used to exchange files. Most GIS software
manufacturers recognize that users will need to accommo-
date data formats designed by other software vendors . For
this reason, it is not unusual for a GIS software program
[Q make ava ilable conversion and integration processes
that make it possible [Q view other GIS database formats.
particularly those (hat are used by the most common GIS
software programs.
Legal Issues Related to GIS
Legal issues confront (he GIS commu nity on several fronts
including issues related to privacy. liability. accessibility,
and licensing. Some of these issues are relatively new,
while others have been associated with GIS since its incep-
tion . In either case, the issues will continue to evolve as
GIS sofrware becomes more widely used. Licensing and
certification of GIS professionals is an issue of cur rene
concern to many GIS users and other professionals, and
will be discussed in more detail in chapter 17. Therefore
issues related to privacy. liability. and accessibility are pre-
sented here.
GIS data is being co llected at an ever-increasing pace,
and used in novel ways as people begin to understand the
power of connecting information to spatial position. For
example. some o rganizations now rely on the ability co
relate data abom purchasing decisions with demographic
and location information (Cla rke. 2001). This informa-
tion is used by businesses to direct mass mailings, CO sug-
243
 Chapter 15 Trends in GIS Technology 233

rhe location of new facilities,

gest the facilities. and to place phone caUs calls Tort liability issues arise when a party (person or organi-
co
to porenrial
porenriai customers in [he the evening [a (Q inquire whether zation) becomes injured (sustains a physical injury, loses
zacion)
they may be interested a purchasing a product or service. business, etc.) as the result of another party's actions or
business.
Although federa l and State state legislation exiSts
exists to protect the rhe products. An example might be an accident at sea as a
privacy of information collected from individuals by pub- result of using an inaccurate GIS database for nav navigation.
igation.
lic organizations.
organizations, very little legislation currently exists [0 to Private organizations that provide GIS products and
prevem
prevent non-public organizations from sell selling
ing or sha
sharing
ring services are responsible for adheri ng [0, ro, and demonstrat-
(he informacion
the info rmation that is gathered during regular consumer ing, a level of competency associated with their disc discipline.
iplin e.
transactions. GIS has mus thus enabled organizacions
organizations to [0 cub-
culti- When others are injured as the result of incompetence.incompetence,
vate business using spatial analyses. In this way. GIS has the organization providing the service or product may be
become a bl1siness
business rooltool., and like itif or nor, an effective
eff'eccive damages. In determining incompetence or neg-
liable for damages.ln
one. As private organizations co nrinu ntinu e (0to forge new ligence, a private organization may be responsible for pro-
ground in the collection.
collection, sale. and exchange of spatial spacial ducing inaccurate or insufficient data, hue bue this alone does
data that describes rhe the economic and social behavior of not prove incompetence. Rather, the courtS courts have sought
individuals. society
individuals, sociery will be challenged in establishing the rhe to establish incompetence by comparing services or
laws and regulations that relate ro to privacy srandards.
smnclards. products to those that would be produced from an
In (he US, tbe
the US. the federal government and a nd state agencies organization ,hat that is acting 'reasonably' (On stud, 1999).
(Onsrud.
have spent millions of dollars of public funds collecting Governmem
Government agencies have typically been immune to lit-
and processing spatial
spacial data. The Freedom of Information
Informacion igarion or responsibility for providing inaccurate spatial
igation
Act (FOIA) was aurhorized
authorized in 1966 to grant taxpayers the data due (0 to sovereign immunity. An exception exceprion is made
right (Q information relared
to access informacion related to the functioning of amo ng agencies that produce goods or services that are
among
the government (Korte. 1997). Certain types rypes of informa- considered discretionary. Discretionary services or prod-
tion, such as mar
tion. that related to security and law enforcement UCtS have resulted in government agencies being held
investigations,
investigacions. among others, are exempt from the FOIA. (Korre. 1997).
liable for damages (Korte.
Other types of information,
informacion , however, must be provided Bo(h private and publi
Both publicc organizations
organizarions that are
to the person making the request, usually at some mini-
[0 involved
invo lved in providing GIS G IS products and services can act to
mal cost (Qto cover the cost of processing the data and pro- limit rheir liability risk. One method for
limi t their limiting
fo r lim iring risk is to
viding the media upon which the rhe data is exchanged. Most include information or disclaimers [hat that accompany a
states in the
rhe US have developed laws based on the FOIA product in order
o rder to describe irsits intended use, data accu-
that also require state
S[3.te governmental agencies (Q to make gov- racy.
racy, data reliabili ty, and
reliability, a nd a warning
wa rning that the therere may be
ernment information
informadon avai lable. Unfortunately, new erro rs in the
errors rhe data (as described
desc ri bed in chapter 4) . Organ-
threats to public safety and national security have izations can further
hlfdler protect themselves by ensuring that thae
emerged in recent years, years. and have necessitated a closer all relevant parties
parries have signed a clearly defined contraer contract
scrutiny of the types of government information informacion made for products and services, and [hat that rhe
the organization per-
to the public. More than likely, access [Q
available (Q to cerrain
certain forms the specifics of the contract competently.
compeeently. If project
GIS databases describing such landscape features as water requirementS necessitate actions (for example.
requiremenrs example, the devel-
supplies and power facilities will be curtailed in the opment
opmen [ of other products or services) other than what is
future. and access to orher other GIS databases will be delayed con[3.ined cOntract, the organization
contained in the original contract, organ ization pro-
due to new security protocols. productS oorr services should comact
viding the products contact the other
Legal liability issues are associated with circumstances panies in volved immediately
parties immed iately to reach agreement on the rhe
where a service or product provided by a producer is not additional products
specifics of the additionaJ produces and services (costS,
sadsfactory
satisfactory roto the customer receiving the service or prod- frame. etc.) before beginning to develop rhose
time frame, those prod-
uCt.
uct. Onsrud (1999)
(I999) identifies twO tWO types
rypes of liability
liabiliry that ucts and services (Beardslee. 2002).
are pertinent to GIS: contractualcO IHraCtUaJ and [Ort tort liability.
liability. Licensing of GIS data products is another legal issue. issue,
Contractual liability
Contractuall iab iliry issues ararise contract berween
ise when a comracr be[Ween and is tied directly to digital rights management (Cary. (Cary,
[WO parries
twO parties has been breached. For a private oorganizationrganization 2006).
2006) . Many organizations require payment for use of
that provides GIS
(hat .IS products or services, this might involve data and software
dara sof[Ware that they produced and, and. without pay-
a software product
produCt not behaving as advertised or a GIS ment, organizations using [he
mem, the data risk violating [he the terms
database that
mat does not adhere [0 to a data accuracy standard. of agreements that may have been implicit when the
244
234 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS

info rmation was shared. While the appropriate model for

information ro
to work on promoting
promoring geospatial
geosparial software accessib
accessibility.
il ity.
licensing GIS daradata is currencly
currently being debated, the problem T he aGe will likely continue to develop in
The innovations
novarions rha[
thar
lies with the ease of copying digital data and sharing it Increase
inc publi
rease pub to locatio n-based
li c access co n- based info rm at ion
inform
wi th o[hers
with o thers in me the absence of an agreemenr imi lar (0
agreement (s imilar to serv ices.
services.
sharing music files).
files) . New types of data sharing
sharin g arrange-
ments wiUwi ll likely be formulated that are based oonn limited GIS Education
dara
data shari
sharingng licenses. Cary (2006) suggests a system where
Licenses. Caty
users of GIS are gramedgranted access to certain GIS
GIS data based Auention is likely to increase around the methods and
Attention
on (he
the locations of acma llandscape feacures
acruallandscape fearures or proximity approaches instructors use [Q teach
[each geospatial
geosparial ski lls [0
to sru-
stu-
to other fearu
CO res.. This rype
featu res type of proximal dara
data sharing
sha rin g at the university level, but also in high
dents, not only ar
could balance the need for openness (as desired by the wirhi n the
school and within rhe professional workforce.
wotkforce. GIS capa-
with the
user) wirh rhe need for confidentiality (as desired by the
rhe biliries are now essential for natural reso urce organiza-
bilities o rganiza-
producer). ti ons, as well as for
tions, fo r other di sc iplines throughour
disc throughout soc iety
(Wing & Sessions, 2007). The primary training tra ining ground
GIS Interoperability and for GIS
GIS skills is cu
currently
rrently with
withinin the university sYStem
system but
Open Internet Access geosparial
geospatial skills are also being taughttaugh[ to students
srudenrs during
e1ementaty school years.
e1emenrary years. In addir ion, train
addition. training
in g opportuni-
Interoperability in terms
rerms of GIS refers to ability of differ- ties for in-caree
in-careerr professionals appear [Q to be growing.
growing.
ent
en t geosparial inSlrumenrs, databases.
geospa dal insrrumenrs, data bases, and techn iques ro
techniques to disciplines, such as fores[ty,
Many disciplines. fo restry. engineering, and
work together on applications. Interoperability
Inreroperabil iry invo
involves
lves surveyi
survey ingng have accreditation
acc reditat ion bodies that rhat rev
review
iew and
creati ng standard terminology.
crearing termin ology. data formats,
formats. and sofrware
softwa re appraise the curriculums of universities and co lleges tha thatt
interfaces
inrerfaces that are borhboth recognized and used by byorganiza-
organ iza- offer
offer related
rel ated degrees.
degrees . The accreditation bodies eirher eithe r
tions involved in geospariaJ
geospatial applicatio
applicarions.ns. The
T he need fo forr approve the curriculum
curri culum or o r repon why if it cannor
cannot be
interoperability
inrerope rabili ry should
shou ld not be surp rising for any disci-
surprising accredi ted and wha
accredited whatt steps are needed (Q to gain accred
acc red ita-
pline that becomes popular popu lar amo ng a wide number of rion. The accreditation process helps ensu re that instruc-
tion. insrruc-
potencial users, such as has been wi
potenrial tnessed by
witnessed rhe rapid
by the [ion suppo rring the
ti on supporting rhe necessary
necessaty knowledge and skills
ski lls to
growth of GIS
growrh G IS applications
app lications over the past two decades.decades. The eente
nrerr in to
tO professional
profess ional d isciplines is being delivered
disciplines
rapid growth of GIS gave rise to co a number of GIS software appropriarely. T he accreruta[ion
app ropriately. The accreditation process helps educarional
educational
interfaces and data formats that we
inrerfaces were proprierary and
re proprietary programs become recognized and can be a significant
therefore not designed so tha thatt others could easily and incentive for drawing sruden{s.
incemive srudents. No such accredjtation
accred itation
freely access and exchange data with the proprietary proprietaty for- process exists specifically fo r geospatial
spec ifically for geospa[ial [echnology
technology
mars. This inab
mats. inabiility
lity led coto frustration amo among ng GIS
GIS users instruction per se, alth
although
ough some engineering
engin eering and sur-
and gave rise co to the
rh e need fo forr GIS interoperability. The veying programs focus heavi
heavily o n measurements
ly on measuremems and have
Open Geospatial Consorrium
Co nsortium was founded in 1994 accrediitation
accred rarion [hrough
through the American Board of Engineering
(Open Geosparial
Geospatial Consorrium,
Consortium, Inc., 2007) and has 341 34 1 Technology (ABET)
(ABET).. Currendy,
Currently, a wide variety of methods
o rganizations as of2007. The aGe
member organizarions aG e represents
represems a and approaches are used to
ro [each
teach geos
geospatial
patial skills. Th
This
is
privare and public organizations. The
coalition of both private results in
in considerable variation in achieved learning Out-

goals of the aGe are to promore promote public accessibility to et aI.,

comes (Longley er al., 2005).
2005) . A
A recent publication titled
geoprocessing
geoprocess (Ools and oother
ing tools th er location-based
location -based services. Th, Geographic
The Ceographic Information Science and Technology Body
Infomlation Sci",,,
Sign ificant accomplishments of the aGe include the
Significant rhe of Knowledge (DiBiase
(Di Biase er
et aJ.
aI. , 2006) has arremp[ed
attempted to
[0

standardizatio rerms for GIS features (poin

standa rdizatio n of terms rs, poly-
(po inrs, critical concep"
define critical concepts and skills
ski lls that reiare
relate co
to geographic
lines, polygons), the creation of the rhe Geography MarkupMa rkup information science and technology. Written through
Language (GML) thar that provides an open source language extensive collaboration among
amo ng GISc ience researchers
GlScience resea rchers and
for describing spatial data, and the developmem of stan-
spat ial data. educato rs, this work represen
educators, ts an initial attempt
represents attem pt to pro-
dards foforr how geographic data can be requested and vide a unified description of cop
topics
ies important estab·
imponant for estab-
accessed from Internet
Interner servers (Longley et er aI., 2005).
2005) . T he lishing geospatial
geospatial skill compereney.
competency. A second edition is
aGe has had a profound influence inA ue nce on making geosparial
geospatial plann ed char
planned wi ll provide add
that will itional
additio detail and instructio
nal detail inst ructio n
rools
tools and services available co to IInternet
mernet users and continues
co nti nues that su pports
pporrs key concepts and skills.

245

Summary
GIS technology is evolving almost as quickly as general
co mputer systems (hardware and software) evolve. People
are thinking about natural resource managemem issues in
ways unimagined juSt a few yea rs ago, and spatial data is
facilitating these effons. Natu ral resource management
o rganizations are actively engaged in testin g and imple-
menting new [Ools for collecting and analyzing spatia l
data. Organizations are also making GIS technology avail-
able to a large portion ohheir workforce. and meInternet
Applications
14.1 Local regulations regarding GIS distribution.
Select an agency in yo ur area (state. province. city ,
coumy, townsh ip, etc .) tha t uses and m ighr distribute GIS
databases.
a) What types of GIS databases are publicly available?
b) Are the GIS databases available for down load over
the Imerner?
c) What data exchange form ats are availa ble?
d) Is <here a COSt related to acquiring the G IS databases?
e) Are there specific laws that relate to GIS database
distribution , and how do they affect your abi li ty (Q
acqu ire GIS data from rhis age ncy?
14.2 Product liability (1) . Yo u work fo r a private
organizat ion that makes GIS databases available to cus-
tome rs. How might you help prQ[ec( your organization
from liab il ity that could arise from CUS(Qmers that pur-
chase yo ur serv ices and products?
14.3 Product liability (2). You work for a public
agency that makes spatia l data available to customers.
How might you help protect your organization from lia-
bility thar could arise from customers that use you r serv-
ices and products?
References
Beardslee, D.E. (2002). Do it! Or, call them before they
call you. Proftssional Surveyor, 22(2), 20.
Bettinger, P. (I999). Distributing GIS capabil ities to
forestty field offices: Benefits and challenges. Journal
ofForestry, 97(6), 22--6.
Chapter 15 Trends in GIS Technology 235
has c reated an efficient avenue [Q make GIS databases
available in a timely manner. These developmems have
had a posicive effect on the acceptance and use of C IS. and
encourage furthe r G IS technology development. As G IS
technology and use evolves. however, other issues (p ri-
vacy . access ibil ity. li ab ility. etc.) arise that mu st be
addressed. These issues may require a close exam ination
of policies and practices related to the use of GIS in naru-
ral resou rce managemenr.
14.4 Precision forestry and agriculture. You work for
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in central
Colorado, and your supervisor, Mark Miller, has recently
learned of precision forestry and agriculture. He has asked
yo u how precision techniques might benefit the manage-
menr of BLM land in Colorado. Write a brief memo that
out lines the GIS databases, hardware , and sofrware related
to precision techniques. and how rhey might benefit the
management of BLM land in Colorado.
14.5 Distributed GIS. A timber company in the south-
eastern United States has JUSt hired you as a field forester.
You are eager to use the GIS skills you have learned in col-
lege to help yo urself (and others) make informed forest
managemenr decisions. The timber company has a cen-
rraIized GIS deparrmem and five remote field offices and
they are in the midst of developing a system whereby per-
sonnel (foresters, biologists, hydrologists, etc.) in field
offices (where you are located) can use desktop G IS soft-
ware to make their own maps and pe rform their own
analyses. What can you do to ensure that the dist ribution
of respons ibilities (map development and analysis) to
your field office will be successful?
Bettinger, P., & Wing, M.G. (2004). Geographic infor-
mation sysums: Appfications in forestry and natural
resources management. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Cary, T. (2006). Geospa[ial digita l ri ghts manage ment.
Geospatial Solutions, /6(3), 18-2 1.
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Premice-Hall, Inc. Geosystems. LLC. (2007). Erdos
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B.,, & Wenrz, E. (Eds.). (2006). The geo-
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Longley , P.A. Goodchild. M.F
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Geographers . and science (2nd ed.).ed .). Chichester.
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Environmenral Systems
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Faust, N. (1998).
(1998) . Raster based GIS. In T.W. Foresman Institute of Technology. Retrieved
Inscitute Rerrieved May 9, 2007, from
(Ed.),, The history of geographic information systems:
(Ed.) http: //aviris.j pI. nasa.gov.
//aviris.jpl.
Perspectives ftom
from the pioneers (pp. 59-72). Upper Onsrud, H.J. (I 999) . Liability in the use of GIS and geo-
(1999).
Saddle River, NJ: Prenrice-Hall,
Prentice-Hall, Inc. graphical
graphical datasets. In P.A. Longley, M. F. Goodchild,
GeoEye. (2007). GeoEye imagery prodncts:
products: IKONOS. Maguire. and D.W.
D.J. Maguire, (Eds.). Geographical
D.W. Rhind (Eds.), G<ographicai
Dulles, VA: GeoEye. Retrieved May 9, 2007 2007,, from Information Systems, Voillme
Volume II (2nd ed.) (pp. 643-
http: //www.geoeye. com /p roducts/
http://www.geoeye.com/prod uctsl imagery/ikonos/
magery/ikonosl 52). New York: John Wiley Wi ley & Sons.
Sons, Inc.
deFaulr.htm.
default.htm. Open Geospatial
Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGe) (OGe).. (2007).
Google, Inc. (2007) . Google Earth. Mountain
Inc. (2007). Mountai n View, CA:CA: Wayland, MA: Open Geospatial Consorcium, Consortium, Inc.
Google, Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2007, from http:// http: // Retrieved May 21. 21, 2007.
2007, from http: // www.
//www.
earth.google.com.
earrh.google.com. opengeospatial.org.
opengeospadal.org.
ITT Corporation. (2007). ENVI-The
ENVI- The remote sensing Wing, M.G., & Bettinger, P. (2003). GIS: An updated
exploitation platform. Boulder, CO: ITT Corporation. primer on a powerful management (001. Journal of
managemenr [001.
Retrieved May 9, 2007.2007, from http://www.ittvis.
http: //www .ittvis. Forestry. 101(4),4-8
Forestry, 101(4).4-8..
com/envi/.
com/envil. Wing. M.G., & Sessions.
Wing, Sessions, J. (2007).
(2007) . GeospaciaJ
Geospatial technol-
journal of Forestry,
ogy education. Journal Fomtry, 105(4),
105(4). 173-8 .

247
Chapter 16
Institutional Challenges and
Opportunities Related to GIS
Objectives
This chapter offers some thoughts on rhe imegration and
use of GIS within narural resource management organiza-
dons. There are a number of issues related to rhe success-
ful development of a GIS program with in an o rganization,
and programs in many organ izadons are continuously
evolving as people. techno logy, and organizational struc-
[Ures change. At me conclusion of th is chapter, readers
should have an undemanding of a number of issues that
relate co rhe challenges facing the implemenracion and use
of GIS in nacural resource managemenr, including:
t. an understanding of rhe potencial challenges mat are
ahead for successfu l and efficient GIS applications
within an d among namra l resource management
organIZatiOns;
2. an understanding of the challenges that exist for
organizations thinking of distributing GIS capabilities
to field offices. a move becoming more prevalent as
recent natural resource graduates likely will have GIS
experience in cou rsework. and exposure or uaining in
the field; and
3. an understanding of how to assess the benefit of using
GIS. a measurement process that will likely be neces-
sary to develop more efficiem business ope racio ns.
higher qualiry products. and more timely managemenr
decisions.
The development and use of GIS in natural resource
management has evolved considerably in the past 20 years
as field foresters. biologists. hydrologists. and other natu-
ral resource professionals have become empowered with
this technology. and are able to perform many of their
ow n spatial analyses and map production tasks (Wing &
Bettinger. 2003). In addition. it is increasingly likely that
natura l resource professionals wi ll have cou rsework
involving GIS and related geospatial technologies during
undergraduate or graduate studies (Wing & Sessions.
2007) . While GIS technology continues to evolve. natural
resource management organizations are faced with several
lingering issues related to the GIS use. and several nC\v
challenges have arisen with the availability of GIS technol-
ogy to field offices. Natoli et aJ. (2001) describe a set of
challenges for GIS implementation a nd use within
(mainly) municipal organizations. and Bettinger (J 999)
describes some of the challenges associated with imple-
menting a disuibuted GIS system in forestry organiza-
{ions. This chapter ex{ends the discussion presented by
these twO sets of wo rk. a nd adds to it some additional
points that are relevant to forestry and natural resource
management.
Sharing GIS Databases
with Other Natural Resource
Organizations
As mentioned in chapter 15. one aspect of the use of GIS
in natural resource management is the notion mat some
GIS databases can be shared among other natural resource
248
238 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS
Part

organizations. The potencial

organizations. potential to collaborate with other developed using standards and protocols developed by the
organizations,
organizations. and rhus
thus the need (0
(Q share GIS
GI S data.
data, rep re-
repre- WADNR, to ma intain the quality
qualiry of data in the WADNR-
sents an inrerescing
interesting dynamic that is evolving in natural
narural distributed GIS databases, and to
[Q minimize the costs asso-

resource management. Public organizations. such as rhe the ciated with updating
updati ng and managing the state-level GIS
USDA Forest Service and the USDI Bureau of Land databases.
Management. provide a wide variety of GIS databases ro to There are also a number of cases where priva private
te natural
rhe
the public at no COSt; as we discussed in chapter 33.. many
ma ny resou rce organ
resource organizations
iza tio ns actua lly have shared data with one
actually
rhese databases can be accessed over rhe lorefncr.
of these Inrerner. another
another.. For example.
example, a number of watershed analyses
namral
State-level natu ral resource management orga.nizarions
organizations were conducted in Washington State in the late 1990s. In
generally provide a more narrow range of GI GI S databases performing a watershed analysis, analys is. one of the major
to the public, if they provide any at all. State-level GIS landowners in the watershed genera generallllyy coo rdinates
rdi nates the
dacabase clearinghouses.
database clearinghouses, on the ocher
other hand.
hand . generally comp
compiillation
ation of the GIS G IS databases associated with w ith the
provide a wide vari
variety GI S databases (DEMs,
ery of GIS (O EMs, digital wate
watershed. lan downers interested in helping
rshed. All other landowners
orthophotographs, land cover, etc.) to the public at no
orthophorogrdphs, contribute GIS data-
develop the watershed analysis can comribure
(orr low) cose.
(o cosc, Private natural
namral resource management
manage ment ' lead' organization. Mo
bases to this 'lead' More
re than likely, the
organizations general ly [rear
o rganizations generally their GIS
trear their GIS databases as propri- amo unt of GIS data shared amongst different
amount d ifferent private
etary-that they are not freely ava ilable [Q
erary-that is, rhey to rhe
the general oorganizations
rganizations will be limited to a level that
th at is suffic ient to
sufficienr
public (anyone outside of the organization) . W hile the
While rhe analysis. For example,
complete [he example. the spatial extent
exrent of
original source of the data
dara for many of the private
privare organ- tthe
he GIS databases shared will likely be limited to the
ization databases may have been a public organiza-
izatio n GIS darabases boundaty of the watershed being analyzed, and the attrib-
boundary
the private investmenc
tion, once me investment has been made in main- ute data associa ted wit
withh landscape featu res may be
taining and updating (h thee data, concern arises
ari ses about
abom how reduced to a small subset of rhe
the roral
rotal set of attributes prior
the cost
me cOSt can be recouped
recouped., and whether competirors
competitors may data. In addition, it is likely that the projec-
to sharing the data.
gain insight into the management
man agement practices being used tion
[ion and coordinate systems for each shared GIS database
(e.g
(e.g.,.. management COSts. productive capaciry),
managemem COStS, capacity), thus gain-
gain - will need to be changed to conform
co nform to the system
sYStem used by
ing a competitive edge in the marketplace. Although the lead organization.
organizarion.
some may argue that organiz.arions,
organizations, public and private.
private, An example of multiple public organizations
o rganizations joining
dara so that more informed decisions can be
should share data tOgether to creare
together ro spatial database is the
create a significant spadal
made for a landscape, the goals and objectives of each Puget Sound LiDAR consortium (PSLC,
(PS LC, 2007). The PSLC
oorganization
rgan ization wi ll guide ,he develo p ment of policies
the development polic ies formed
fo rmed in 1999 and now includes metropolitan,
metropol itan, aca-
to data
related ro da ra sharing. couney, state, and federal o rganizat
demic, county, ions. The
rganizations.
As a resu lt, many private natural resource oorganiza-
result, rganiza- group's original goal was to use LiDAR to develop public
tions do nor
nO( sha
share with [hose
re GIS databases wim those outside of domain high-resolution topographic data initially for sig-
organizarion , unless they can place a value on doing
rheir organizadon, nificant parts Washin gtOn. More recenrly
pans of WashingtOn. recendy,, public
so. There are a number of cases, for example,
example. of private organizarions withi
organizations withinn O
Oregon PSLC.
regon have also joined the PSLC,
organizarions sharing GIS databases through coope
organizations cooperarive
rative and large portions of land in Oregon are also included in
ofland
planning andan d management efforts.
effons. For example.
example, in Funding
data acquisition plans. Fund ing has come from the oper-
Washington State, the Depart ment of
Depanment Natural Resources
ofNarural ating budgets of group members and also from grants that
(WADNR)
(WADN R) has taken an ownership role in the develop- membe
members rs have received co
ro suppOrt landscape hazard mit-
severn I stare-level
ment of several state-level databases: roads, Streams,
streams, and efForrs. This unique collaborative
igation efforts. effort w ill resulr
collabo rative effon result
the public land survey to name a few. The WADNR has forr most
in LiDAR data being available fo population
moSt of the po pulatio n
whereby
developed protocols whe reby both public and private nat- centers in Washington and Oregon , and surrounding
lIral resource organizations can share their GIS data with
ural lands. The joint efforts
efforrs of these organizations have
rh
thee WADNR in an effort
effo rt to
[Q improve rhe state-level GIS
im prove [he undoubtedly resuhed
resulted in significant cosr
COSt savings for LiDAR
Whilee rhe
databases. Whil the process is open for contributions
cont ri butions of data, particularly in light
ligh' of the fragmented ownership
information and knowledge from those more directly
mo re di recdy tied patterns represented by all groups. Aerial data acquisition
management
to the man agemenr of particular areas of land ., irit comains
cOlHains is more efficient
efFicienr when cont
continuous
inuou s swaths of land can be
ofland
Fairly rigid guidelines for contributors.
fairly co nrributors. The GIS
GI databases im aged rather than disjoinred sections,
imaged sections. which reqUire
shared
sha red with the WADNR, for example. must have been add itional
addit ional fli ght lines.
fl ight
249
 Chapter 16 Institutional Challenges and Opportunities Related to GIS 239

Sharing GIS Databases within a
Natural Resource Organization
The issues of GIS database ownership, ma intenance, di s-
tribution, and data quality within an o rga nization a re
problematic, and partly a result of how a GIS database
developme nt and disuihurion sys tem may have been
designed. For exa mple, a road engineer may be the most
appropriate person (0 own and maimain a culverr GIS
database, and a wildlife biologist may be most appropriate
person to own and maintain a GIS database related to
locations of threatened or endangered species. However,
the readiness of each person to perform these tasks within
GIS, and the time they have ava ilable to do so may be
limited. Therefore ass igning the ownership, maintenance,
and mher tasks to either a GIS technician, GIS manage r,
or a GIS contracto r or consuhant may be more logical.
More than likely, GIS databases will be shared at some
stage to facilitate GIS database management, as a verifica-
cion step in the maintenance stages of GIS database man-
agement, or [Q facilitate namral resource managemem
(after the GIS databases have been updated). If you were
co assume that a namral resource managemem organiza-
don was structured in a tradidonal manner, with a cemral
office and a set of field offices, the GIS da tabase sharing
process should be viewed as more than a o ne-way transac-
tion between a cemralized GIS departmem and everyone
else (Figure 16. 1), because the roles related to ownership,
maintenance, d istribution, and d ata quality may be
shared. Defining the ap propriate roles for each pe rson in
an organ ization can result in a difficult negotiation
process, part icularl y whe n the roles are considered for
change.
Establishing a process fo r sha ring GIS databases at all
levels within an orga nization is becoming more impor-
tant as both field personnel and upper-level managers are
becoming interested in using GIS technology. Data shar-
ing can be as simple as routing a com purer d isk from per-
so n-to- person or office-to-office, or as sophisticated as
placing all GIS databases o n an organization's Internet (or
Intranet) site or FTPserver. In the laner cases, the ab ili cy
to access the Interne t sites and FTPservers may be limited
to authorized person nel.
Technology and processes for sha ring GIS data are
advan cing, however, leading to the potential for two-way
transac tions of data within a nam raJ resou rce organiza-
tion and nearly real-rime updates of the informa tion. For
example, some organizations allow field ma nagers [Q
update GIS data directly in the corporate databases, a ro le
tradirionally held by a centralized office. These updates
are sent electronically m the centralized office, and after
data ve rification and consistency filrers have been ap plied,
redi rected to other field offices. In an efficient system, the
othe r field offices can acquire these updaces in a matter of
minutes. The importance of using up-m-dare informa-
cion is perhaps most imponant when dealing with rime-

Role: Rotes :
Use, OwnerShip
Field office 1 Field office 1 Maintenance
Quality
User
Updates needed Updated Upd ated Distributed
for database as,
datab database database

Roles : Roles:
Ownership Coordination
Centralized Centralized
Maintenance Distribution
GIS office GIS office
Distribution
Ouality

Upd, I,d Updates needed Olstribuled Updal,d

databas, lorda tabas<! database d,tabas,
Role: Roles :
User Ownership
Field office 2 Fjeld office 2 Maintenance
Quality
User

a) Forest vegetation (stands) GIS database b) Road culvert GIS database

Figun: 16. 1 Example pathWll}'S of actions when sharing data within an orga.niu tion. for (a) a
typ ical forest v~getation (stands) GIS database and (b) a road culvert G IS database.

250
240 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS
The following story indicates nor only rhe motivation
of field office personnel !O use GIS [<chnology, but also
a residua l negative effeer of the abi lity !O share GIS
databases with in an organization.
One natural resource managernem organization the
authors were famil iar with had a central office where
30- 40 'corporate' GIS databases were ma inta ined:
roads, streams, timbe r scancis, and others. T he organ i-
zation had a distributed system. where GIS users in
field offices could access a server and download (copy)
rhe GIS darabases !O their field office computers. Field
foreSters, biologiSts, and hydrologisrs subsequently did
juSt rhat-r hey copied rhe GIS databases !O rheir per-
sonal computers and used [hem fo r a va riety of pur-
poses related ro rhe management of rhe land. water,
wildlife. and recreation resources. Some of these GIS
da rabases were even updated with pen inenr informa-
sensitive decisions. such as those related [0 wildfire con-
trol and suppression. With GIS capabilities now available
in hand-held computers, manage rs in the field can make
more timely and informed decisions when necessary.
Distribution of GIS Capabilities
to Field Offices
With rhe development of desktop GIS software the ability
of every employee in an organization to use GIS is now
possible. Bettinger (I 999) has noted that the dep loyment
of software and GIS databases to field offices is a signifi-
cant challenge, and, as nmed in chapter 1S. that is a trend
that will likely continue. Some of the challenges to naru-
ral resource management organizations interested in
imp lemenring a distributed GIS system, as noted by
Bettinger (I 999) incl ude:
Wh ere people are concerned
• Provide the approp riate training to reduce computer-
related anxiety.
• Provide a statemem of purpose behind imp lementi ng
a distributed system.
• Implement methods to reduce the resistance to
change.
• Provide mmivation ro use the system .
tion that shou ld have been incorporated imo the cor-
porate GIS databases. As the d iscussion grew related to
sharing the modified corpo rate GIS databases wir h the
co rporate office, it was determ ined that th ere were
over 1,000 variations of the corporate GIS databases
stored across the organization's computer systems.
Each GIS database required Storage space on hard drive
and it was likely that hu ndreds of megabytes of space
we re dedicated for th is effort. I n some cases, field per-
sonnel believed that their modified version of the cor-
porate GIS database was of higher qual ity than other
user's versions (eve n better than the corporate version
of the GIS darabase) . As expected, a nu mber of d iscus-
sions regarding the quality of these mod ified GIS dara-
bases arose, and the process of changing the GIS dara-
base maintenance policy for the co rporate databases
was begun.
Where GIS databases are concerned
• Clarify GIS database ownership and mall1tenance
Issues .
• Ou tl ine data acquisition protocols.
Develop data distribution systems.
• Develop quality control measures.
Where the technology is concerned
• Facilitate the acquisition of appropriate hardware and
software.
• Control the purchase, update. and maintenance of
software.
Where the leadership of the organization is concerned
• Demonstrate st rong suppOrt for the program.
• Make a long-term budgetary commitment to the
program.
• Adjust reward systems for added responsibilities of
field managers.
• Document the direction and strategic goals for the
system.
Most young profess ionals in natural resource manage-
mem o rganizations will likely be called upon to provide
assistance in the development of maps and GIS databases
to facilitate the day-to-day management of a landscape.
251
 Inst~utional Challenges and Opportunrties
Chapter 16 Instrtutiooal Opportun~les Related to GIS 241

Thls
This is a relatively new job expectation (hat that may not ordi- bases could be storedseo red in a searchable database or it might
narily be placed on [he more seasoned foresters and natu- ca[alogued in a less formalized manner. Regardless of
be catalogued
ral resource professionals. At the onset of a program such how ffiis informadon is g:nhered
this information gathered. and stored,stored. personnel in
as [his,
this. you should acknowledge [hac that it
i[ adds responsibil- an organization who use GIS G IS should be able co to easily iden-
ity [0 the field
to [he Reid manager for the development of his or her
fo r [he tifY and loca[e
[ify locate exiseing
existing GIS da tabases [hac
databases that might facilita[e
lacilitate
own management-related
man agement-related maps. Tasks tradicionally
traditionally per- the tasks
[he that [heir
rasks [hac their jobs require.
formed. by specialists
formed specialises in a cemralized
centralized office will be trans- Meradara, or information
Metadata, informadon documenting
documeming [he the specifica-
ferred [0 to field
Reid offices.
offices. This [ransfer
transfer of responsibili ty could
respons ibility [ions
tions and quality oflandscape feacures features in a GIS database.
database,
lead [0to anxiety on [he the parr
part of field managers,
managers. however [he the have become an important aspect of GIS databases in the
main advantage of the program is in reducing {he the amount pase decade (Dobson & Durfee.
past Durfee, 1999). In order co de[er-
to derer-
of time
rime required [0 to produce [he the produces
products (maps and mine the fitness of a GIS database for a particular use, use. the
analyses) needed (Q CO make managemem
management decisions. Once metadata
me[ada[a related co me GIS database should be consid-
to the
field personnel are sufficiently trained and become confi-
sufficiendy rrained particular. when a GIS database is acquired from
ered. In panicular,
dent in their abilities. time savings across {he the organizacion
organization anomer organization,
another organization. me the me[ada[a
metadata should be relied upon
should be realized. co verify [hac
to verifY that [he condition of [he
the condirion the GIS database is what
Perhaps one of [he (he most impona.nr
important conuibutions
contributions was expected when acquired. acqui red. In many instances,instances. however,
young professionals can make is [Q peninem ques-
ro ask pertinent Iirde mecadata
little metadata exises
ex ists to describe the qualities of GIS GIS data-
dons
tions about the organiz.arion
organization within which they [hey work: bases. The twO [wo hypothetical foresrs forests used extensively in
What role do I play in each process [hac thar involves GIS this book are prime examples. examp les. In faCt,lact. more often than
databases?
databases? How are 3.f e [he GIS databases created or acquired?
the GIS not you may find [hac that G GISIS databases developed or main-
Who claims ownership over
ovec the maintenance and disui-
disrri p
tained by non-federal organizations lack.
[ained lack, or have insuffi-
bu[ion of each GIS
bution GIS database? What [echnology
technology (hardware) cient, mecad:Ha.
cient. metadata . Thus, natural resource professionals musr
Thus. nacural must
is available to display [he
avai lable [0 the results
resul" of an analysis? What be careful when basing decisions on GIS databases where
technology (software) is available [0
[echnology to perform an analysis? the level of qualiry is uncertain.
uncenain.
How and when does the rhe organization value GIS
GIS analysis For organ izarions that are involved in producing
organizations produci ng and
in supporcing management decisions? By asking these distributing GIS databases [0 to orner
other namral
natural resource man-
questions, yoyouu indicate your willingness [0 to understand agement organizations, guidelines or protocols should be
implemenred within
how GIS has been implemented with in an organ izarion,
organization. in place that address all aspects aspecrs related to the distribution
disrriburion
that you understand [hac
and imply [hac that GIS is a valuable [001
(001 of the GIS databases. WithoUt guidelines.
Without guidel organizarions
ines. organizations
narural resource
in natural reso urce management. are likely ro to be working with an inefficient inef-hciem distribution
syseem , and may be prone co
system, to liability
liab ility problems.
Technical and Institutional Guidelines should include a pricing Structure struccure for all avail-
Challenges ab le GIS databases;
databasesi (his chis structure will need [0 reAecr [he
to reflect the
oorganization's
rganization's views on cost COSt recovery. In me the case of pub-
One of the most expensive and time-consuming aspects lie
lic o rganizations, {here
organizations. there may be no need or desire to co
to using GIS is the effon
related [0 that is required to creatc
effore (hat create recover more than than me the delivery costscosts.. Some public organ-
a GIS database.
darabase. Dupl
Duplicating
icating previous data co llection
collection izations, however. do utilize contractors
izarions. conuacmrs m to collecr
collect and
efrorts crearion of a GIS database should always be
rhe creation
effores in [he databases. and may need co
develop GIS darabases, to recoup some of
avoided. thus a lack of awareness of existing GIS databases
avoided, the coses
COSts of doing so. For most private natural resource
is a serious challenge
chaJlenge [0 confrom.. To prevem
to confront prevent duplica ting
duplicating managemem orga
management niza tions.
organizat rhe pric
ions, the pricing ing srrucrure
struccure willw ill
GIS datab.se
database development efrons.
efforts, GIS
GIS users within an likely need co reflect [he
to [eflecr the actual COstS of collecting [he
accual coses the dara.
data.
organization should be made aware of [he the types of GIS O rganizations [hat
Organizations that distribUte
distribute GIS databases will also need
databases that (hethe organization can easily
eas il y access. This co
to develop a comp comprehensive
rehensive liability policy [0 to pro[ecr
protect
might include GISGIS database produces
products [hac
that we re developed themselves from li[iga[ion.
t11emselves litigation. A liability policy will likely
imernaJly within an oorganizadon.
internally rganization, GIS databases devel- need co to be [ailored
tailored [0 to each particular GIS database because
oped by GIS contractors or land surveyors,
surveyors. or GIS data- [he conrent,
the content. accuracy. and uses of databases will vary. A
bases that are availab le through agreements or relation-
available method of providing GIS GIS darabases (Q to cuStomers will also
wiTh other nacural
ships with natural resource managemem
management need [0 [Q be identified. As discussed in chap[er chapter 15 IS,, organ
organi-i-
organizarions. Information regarding available
organizations. avai lable GIS data- zacions [hac
zations that provide GIS data [0 to [he
the publ
public ic should make
252
242 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS
GIS databases avai lable in an expedient manner and use
cu rrent Internet technologies such as creating new weh-
sites chat allow users (0 browse darabase offerings and
download both data and metadata. In addition. file trans-
fer protocol (FrP) can be used to make data available. but
this data-sharing system is less user-friendly.
For organizations that are nor involved in producing
and developing GIS databases for other namrai resource
management organizations. the high COSt assoc iated with
crearing GIS databases can result in a reluctance [0 share
databases with other organizations. For example. certain
GIS databases may contai n sensitive information. an d
might reveal the location of landscape features (such as
endange red species nesting locations or a rcheological
sites) that might be disturbed or destroyed should the
locations become public information. Two examples of
these GIS databases include the location of endangered
species nest sites, and the locacion of genetically-modified
[fee field trials. The GIS databases may also comain infor-
mation about the status oflandscape resources that would
be of value to another organization with which it com-
petes, providing the other organization an advantage in
the market place. This is clearly importam tOday as the
number of land sales has skyrocketed. and potential (a nd
perhaps hostile) investors desire complete information
regarding a land asset.
A reluctance on the part of federal public organiza-
tions in the US to share or publicize data holdings is that
all federal agencies are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). FOIA was signed into law in
1966 and later ame nded in 2002. FOIA makes it possible
for individuals (Q request access to federal agency records,
To facilitate a recem landscape analysis research proj-
ect, a private natural resource managemem organiza-
tion agreed to provide a highly detailed GIS database
that desc ribed the management units within their
ownership boundaries. The GIS database had been
assembled at great COSt and effort, and revealed consid-
erable information abom the natural resources that the
private organization managed. The private organiza-
tion required that a confidentiality ag reem ent be
signed prior to making the GIS database available (Q
the resea rch project. As noted in the confidemialicy
exce pt in cases where records are protected from disclo-
sure. These requestS can also be made for spatial databases
[hat were produced by federal agencies. In so me cases,
spatial databases may comain information that the agency
considers to be sensicive or potenrially damaging (Q the
resources it manages. One example of sensitive informa-
tion might be spatial records of vandalism that occur in
public recreation areas. Evidence of high vandalism
occurrence might deter visitors from staying in affected
a reas, and potemialiy reduce revenue that is gathered
from day-use permits. In addition, there may be hesita-
tion to draw additional arremion to 'hot-spotS' of crimi-
nal activiry in case the arrenrion may encourage others to
visit these locations our of curiosiry or to cause additional
vandalism. Other hesitations may involve the presence of
unusual features, such as special habitat areas, or archeo-
logical sites, and the potencial damage that too many vis-
imrs may bring to these areas. For various reasons, federal
agenc ies may not openly advertise the types of spatial
databases that they have produced. A primary hesitation
to do so is likely because of the uncertainty of what will
happe n with the information within the databases should
rhey become widely circulated.
Understanding that there are factors that may hinder
an organization's willingness to share a GIS database is
important prior m requesti ng the database. For data of a
sensitive nature, it may be possible to enter into a confi-
dentiality agreement to gain access (Q the GIS database.
Ultimately, it may be necessa ry (Q pay a large sum of
money ($5.000 to 10.000) for a GIS database. and for
some organizations, it may be difficult m locate the neces-
sary budget resources appropriate for this type of purchase.
agreement, access to the GIS database was limited to
the primary scientists of the research project, the sha r-
ing of the GIS database with others was prohibited.
and protocols for distribming information drawn from
the GIS database were outlined. Without the confiden-
tiality agreement, which facilitated the sharing of the
GIS database, knowledge of [he status of resources
located within the private natural resource manage-
ment organization 's ownership would likely have been
less accurate, reduci ng the confidence placed on the
landscape analysis results.
253
 Chapter 16 Instrtutional Challenges and Opportunities Related to GIS
Benefits of Implementing a
GIS Program
The decision to implement a GIS program (the entire
suite of hardware, software, and personnel related CO the
use of GIS within an organization) can be intimidating for
natural resou rce management organizations. There are
many factors to consider, including investments in soft-
ware, hardware, personnel, a nd CIS databases. Since nat-
ural resource management organizations cypically rely on
maps or mapped data to assist in making decisions, GIS
ca n allow an efficiem storage of maps, and can fac ilitate
the generation of multiple versions of maps in a timely
manner. In addition, GIS allows landscape features to be
measured, analyzed, and integrated with other GIS data-
bases in an expedient manner. New technology has pro-
vided [he pQ[entiai to convey information [Q field man-
agers very quickly. These capabilities, if managed
properly, can allow natural resource management organi-
zat ions to make bener management decisions, more accu-
rately gauge the effore and cost of potencial namral
resource managemem projec(S, and increase the efficiency
of tasks performed by their employees.
Successful GIS Implementation
Saving money, reducing the amo unt of time spenr in the
office analyzing options. and thus saving resources for
Q[her [aSks and management activities are common goals
of namral resource managers. Distributing GIS capabili-
ties to field offices has been suggested as one way to
address some of these issues. Successfully implememing
and managing a GIS program can be difficult, as the costs
of implementation and ma nagement vary from one
organization to the next. Perhaps the strongest ingredient
for success in implementing a GIS program is in esrablish-
ing an organizational commitmenr within the upper lev-
els of managemenr of an organization . This commitmenr
needs to view the GIS program as more than JUSt a short-
term experimenr that can be discarded after early, d isap-
poinring results, since initial GIS products and experi-
ences are likely to identify implementation problems.
Unfortunately, upper-level managers tend to be less
Summary
What would the management of natural resources be
like without a few challenges? With the imroduction of
243
fumiliar with GIS technology than the actual GIS users.
For this reason, GIS users should communicate their sup-
porr of GIS in terms that are comp rehensible to the
upper-level managers and help th em understand that
when technical difficulties do arise, program implemenra-
cion plans must be adjusted. Upper-level managers, in
turn, should promote the G IS program as a way of mak-
ing more efficient the tasks required of natural resource
management.
Organizations must also be realistic about the time,
effort, and budgetary resources that individual GIS proj-
ects or analyses wi ll require. Proper planning requ ires that
project objectives be clearly defined. Objectives provide a
project mission a nd ca n help keep personnel focused,
should setbacks occu r. Project objectives a re also impor-
tant for establishing standards that allow you to gauge the
success of a GIS project or analys is. Achievement bench-
marks are also critical in justifying the continued and
expanded use of GIS within an organization. Allowing
users of GIS to become involved in the planning and
implementation of GIS projects is also importanr, since
they may be among the best qualified to assess whether
GIS can accomplish the approp riate project tasks, which
may lead to an improved level of efficiency in the man-
agemenr of natural resources.
Finally, GIS user training is an importanr co nsidera-
tion for the success of a GIS program within a natural
resource managemenr organization. Most recenr college
graduates from natural resource programs will likely have
a rudimenrary knowledge of how GIS can ass ist in natural
resou rce management, but will likely lack the level of
experience you gain from using GIS periodically for
actual, on-the-ground, management purposes. To acceler-
ate the development of personnel, organizations can pro-
vide GIS training inrernaIly, or can allow personnel to
auend cominuing education courses or pursue other
training opportunities. Geospatiai training courses and
opportunities appear to be increasing within natural
resource disciplines (Wing & Sessions, 2007). This
investment in conti nuing education increases the knowl -
edge level of personnel an d demonstrates an organiza-
tion 's commitment to its personnel, which hopefully
leads to increases in work efficiency and productiviry.
new computer-related measurement technology and
accompanying GIS databases, natural resource manage-
254
244 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS
menr o rganizat ions are facing numerous c hallen ges
related to GIS data manageme nt. Given that GIS-related
technology continues (Q evo lve to meet (he increasing
needs of society. an optimistic person might expect that
the challenges described in this chapter can be over-
Applications
16.1 Sharing GIS databases with people outside your
organization. What issues sho uld a natural resou rce
manage me nt o rga nization address when cons idering
making G IS databases ava ilable to other organizations.
including perhaps competitors?
16.2 Managing GIS technology. A seaso ned profes-
sional (Mary Swarthmore) who manages ano ther depart-
ment (Acco unting) in yo ur natural resource o rga nization
is considering a career cha nge. This change will result in
Mary managing your organization's GIS department.
Mary has never managed a GIS department before, nor
been involved in the creation. acq uisition. o r use of GIS
databases. She has approached you fo r some advice
regarding the to ugh issues G IS managers face when con-
cerned abom successful implementadon of a GIS pro-
gram. What might yo u advise Mary?
16.3 Sharing GIS databases within an organization.
You've heard that a colleague in anothe r private natural
References
Bettinger, P. (I999). Distributing GIS capabi lities to
fo restry field offices: Benefits and challenges. journal
ofFomtry, 97(6), 22-6.
Dobson, J.E., & Durfee, R.C. (I 998). A quarter century
of GIS at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In T.W.
Foresman (Ed.), The history ofgeographic information
systems: Perspectives from the pioneers (pp. 231-63).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Natoli, J.G ., Pelgrin, W.H., Oswald, B. , & Montie, K.
(200 1). Geographic Information Systems: The wave
of the fmure for information analysis. Public Works,
May, 22-9.
come, eve n as new and va ried issues arise. As we have
noted, many of [he challenges facing the use of GIS
within natural resource manage ment organizations are
related to GIS databases, technology, people, and organi-
zational issues .
resource management organization has developed a GIS
database that may conta in in fo rmation that could assist
you in some part of your job. Under w hat conditi ons
should you expect you r co lleague to provide you access to
the GIS database?
16.4 Distributed GIS program. You work for a large
integrated forest products co mpany th at has a ce ntral
office and five district offices. The company has been
attempting to shift GIS capabil ities to the field offices by
pu rchas in g the appropriate hardware and software
reso urces. and insist in g that field perso nnel (foresters.
biologists. managers. and others) use it to make maps
associated with their management activities. Afte r twO
years, only one of the five offices has successfully imple-
mented the program.
a) Why do yo u th ink the o ther four offices have been
less than successfu l?
b) Why might the o ne office have been successfu l?
Puger Sound LiDAR Consortium (PSLC). (2007). Puget
Sound Lidar Consortium: Public-domain high-resolution
topography for Western Washingron. Retrieved April 23,
2007, from http://pugetsoundlidar.ess.washington.
edu/ index.htm.
Wing, M.G., & Bettinger, P. (2003). GIS: An updated
prime r on a powerful management roo l. jou rnal of
Forestry, 101(4),4-8.
Wing, M.G., & Sessions, J. (2007). Geospatial technol-
ogy education. journal ofForestry 105(4), 173-8.
255
Chapter 17
Certification and Licensing
of GIS Users
Objectives
The progressio n o f GIS use in natural reso urce manage-
mem has been evolving from development and imple-
mentation of systems. to (he distribution of analytical
capabilities to field offices, to porting spatial technology
into the resource setting. The evo lu tio n of GIS can be
viewed from (he perspective of a single organization or
from [he perspective of nationa l o r worldwide GIS com-
munities. From a global perspective. GIS is facing one of
its greatest challenges: mat of implementing certification
and licensing processes to define and recognize 'profes-
sio nal' GIS users. In recem yea rs, co nce rn s have been
voiced from the land surveying and engineering commu-
niry regarding the definition of surveying activities and
whether GIS practitioners impede upon traditional sur-
veying accivities when colleccin g o r map ping spatial data
(Gibson, 1999). These concerns have foStered debate
among surveyors. engineers. and GIS users regarding the
types of measuremem and analytical activi cies that migh t
be required to compete ntly perfo rm spec ific accivit ies in
co njunction with the analysis. Thus, in an effon to gain
credibi lity and recognicion among other professions. the
GIS commu ni ty has pondered the iss ue of cenificatio n
and licensing.
After reading th is chapter and exploring the questions
posed in the applications sect ion. students sho uld have
an awareness o f:
1. why certification and licensing of GIS users is being
debated,
2. what organ izations might be relevant in certification
and lice nsing discussions. an d
3. how cenification and licensing issues might affect the
typical GIS user in a natural resource organizacion .
During the last 10 years, one of the primary goals of
the GIS comm unity has been to educate other profession-
als and the general public about the power and usefulness
of GIS beyond its map production capabilities. Many peo-
ple in natural resource o rganizatio ns (as wel l as academia)
view GIS only as a map-making tool and may have li mited
understanding of its analytical power. The American
Society for Pho togrammetry and Remote Sensi ng
(ASPRS) and the University Consortium for Geographic
Information Science (UCGIS) are perhaps the most active
groups in educating those who use GIS, as well as the pub-
lic, about the ca pabi lities of GIS. At the ASPRS 2007
Nacional Convemion in Tampa, o ne AS PRS member was
heard to remark ' If you claim that GIS technology is vital
to society yo u should also promote the need for certifica-
tion and licensing among GIS users.' The UCG IS cond ucts
nadonal meetings rwice a year to identify research and
other act ivi ties that wi ll idencify and promote rhe use of
GIS as a problem-solving tool for society. At a narionai
meeting in June 2000, a member of the UCGIS asked the
other delegates. 'Now that everyone seems co know about
GIS , what are we going to do about it ?' These seemingly
innocent observations speak positively about society's
growing awareness of GIS while also indicati ng a potent ial
pitfall within natural resou rce managemenr: GIS has been
embraced by natural reso urce organizations in a way th at
256
246 Part
Part 3 Contemporal'(
Contemporary Issues in GIS

faci li[a[es open use by any professional who might be

facilitates The more esrablished
established and rigo
rigorous
rous of the
me oprions
options is that
inreresred
interested in the
rhe <echnology.
technology. Only recently has [he the GIS
GIS made by [he
the American Sociery Phorogrammerry &
Society for Photogrammetty
commu
community nity begun [Qco discuss in depth whether profes- Remote Sensing (2006). The ASPRS has created
Remore crea<ed a
sional standards musr put in place (0
must puc to ensure professional
professionaJ Scientistt certification for GIS
Mapping Scientis GIS users and has also
competency for data development. anal analysis.
ysis. and other certification
created cen ifi catio n programs for remote sensing and
tasks. Given
(asks. Gi ven that ocher
o ther professions
profess ions initiated these discus- photogrammetry.
photogram merry. The M Mapping Scientist cerrification
apping Scientisr certification
sions,
sio ns,me leaders and champions of the lise of GIS in nat-
o f rhe requi res app licants to develop a sratement
requires statement of accomplish-
uraJ resource management
ural managemenr have found themselves at rimes
times ments, wh ich are peer-reviewed.
mems, which peer- reviewed, and to
(Q pass a written

in a defensive position when addressing issues rdated

related (0
CO exam . Currenrly,
Currently, only abou
aboutt 50 people are cerrified
certified as
the
rhe call for licensing and certification
cerrificarion of GIS users. Mapping Sciemisrs
Scientists rhrough
through rhe
the ASPRS. The APSRS has
Throughout the
Throughour rhe US, some professional land surveyors also creared
crea red technologist-certifications for GIS, remote
and engineers have perceived th
that use rs we re vio lating
at GIS users sensing, and phowgrammerry.
photogrammetty. These GIS
GIS technologist
rechnologisr
scate GPS [0
state surveying laws when usi ng CPS to collecr
coliect spacial
spatial certifications require less work experience than the
data, and when reponing
data. reporting positional accuracies
accu racies of col- Mapping Scienrisr
Scientist and other full certifications (th
(three
ree years
lecred measurements. Some of these GPS data
dara collection
collecrion co six).
as opposed [0 six) . There are currently
currendy s ix certified
acdviries have actually
activities acrually led to
ro legal dispures,
disputes, parricularly
particularly G
GIS/LIS
IS/LIS Technologists.
when the[he collection
collec rion and mapping of sparial
spatial data
dara refer- The Urban and RegionalRegional Informar
Info rmation
ion Systems
Sysrems
coees land ownership locations.
ences locado ns. In California, state legis- Association
Associarion (U
(URlSA)
RISA) iniriared
initiated a GIS professional certifica-
lation was developed to clarify the activities
accivities involving spa- rion
tion program in 20042004.. The GIS Certification Institute
Innirure
tial
rial data
dara collection
collecrion (Korte, 1999). These acriviries
activities full
fuJI inro
into (GISel,
(G ISel, 2007) manages the rhe cerrification
certification program, which
[wo caregories: (I)
(wo categories: thar constitute
(1) those that consrim<e 'land surveying', resulrs in qual
results qualified
ified app licanrs becoming recognized as a
ap plicants
and hence require professional licensing, and (2) all other certified geographic informarion
information sysrems
systems specialisr
spec ial ist (GISP).
activities,
activ iti es. wh ich do not
which nor require professional
professional licensing. Three categories of experience must be ~ demonstrated in
stares have registration boards mat
Most states (hat license and reg- order
o rder to qualify. The primary experience necessary in
surveyors
ulate land surveyo engineers.
rs and engi neers. These boards often ga ining GISP cert ification is a documented work history
gaining
have rhe
the abili
ability interpret exis
ty to interprer existing statutes and laws that
ting starutes involving GIS
GIS and orher
other spa
spatial
rial tools.
rools. T
The
he second experi-
rcpresemarion of spacial
govern the collection and representation spatial data
data,. ence category is an education background that
(hat can be sat-
and may also initia
initiate.
te, support.
suppocc, or approve legislation
legi slat ion isfied by arrending
attending conferences and workshops, as well as
regarding
regard ing spatial data cocollection
llection activities. In addition
addition., completing formal education
ed ucatio n programs or
o r earning cenifi-
certifi-
state-level professional land surveying sociecies
societies are active cates. The third category is desc ribed as 'contributions'
'conuiburio ns'
in promoting or modifYing
modifying laws regarding spatial data dara GIS publications.
and includes GIS pub lica tions , conference planning or
collection, and they may occasionally engage political lob-
collecrion, presentations.
presentations, and volunteer
vo luntee r activities related to GIS.
byists to assist in influencing the legislative
legislative: process. As
Ai; of October 2007, there
rhere were 1,709 certified GISPs,
In contrast to rhethe laland
nd surveying and engineering giving the GISel
GISCI program visibility
visibiliry beyond [he
the certifica-
fields. the GIS community is not directly
fields, direcdy re reppresented
resented or tion
rion programs of the
rhe ASPRS. Airhough
Although the
rhe creation of the
controlled
contro lled by a natio nally- or state-recognized licensing
narionally- GISP certification is noteworthy. the experienced-based
board in most
mosr cases.
cases. There are GIS-related
GIS-relared professional portfolio approach to
ro qualifYing as a GISP lends itSelf
irself to
ro
societies at the srate
state oorr province level but these societies criricism (Lo ngley et
criticism (Longley aI.,, 2005). It
er aI. ro be seen
I[ remains to
typically have nOt been in existence for very long, long. and are whether a certification approach rhar that does not include a
gene rally nor very acrive
generally active in influencing legislation rdared
related writte n examinarion
written examination w will
ill receive respect and recogn itio n
recognitio
to spa rial data co
spatial llection. The main objective of stare-level
collection. state-level from other professions
profess ions and disciplines.
disc iplines. IIn addition, there
n addition.
and nat iona.l-Ievel GIS socieries
narional-Ievel societies has been to communicate is no clear merhod.
method for addressing unprofessional activities
unprofess io nal activicies
information related to the collection.
collection, maimenance.
maintenance, and related to GIS, should [hey
reJa<ed they occur. Given the emphasis on
analysis
ana lysis of GIS databases (Q inrerested users.
to interested self-reporti
se lf-reportingng of experience,
ex perience, another issue of discussion is
whether any applicants have been denied GISP status. status.
Current Certification Programs Many co lleges and universities now offer certification
degrees marrhat are related ro
to G
GIS.
IS, as well as other spatial data
In terms of nationally-recognized GIS certification
cerr.ification pro- collecrion
co analysiss rechnologies.
llectio n and analysi technologies. however no Stan- stan-
the US.
grams in rhe US, there are primar il y twO
primarily (wo current options. ex ist for what should be offered in those curricu-
dards exist
257

Besides the current course that you are taking (that
hopefully uses this book), what other GIS courses
does yo ur uni versity, college, or community coll ege
offer? Although there are many educational instim-
tions that offer coursework or curricu lum related to
GIS, these programs can look quite different from one
instimtion to [he next. At most educacional instim-
[io ns, for exam ple, GIS courses are located within the
geogra phy department. H owever, special ized GIS
cou rses may be found within departments such as
lums. The National Center for Geograph ic In formation
& Analysis (2000) has produced, and suggested for use, a
core curriculum to serve as a foundation fo r studies in
GIS. Typically, GIS users can earn a GIS certificate after
tWO yea rs of part-time study. While this option does
include organized coursework (and perhaps exams to eval-
uate competency), programs that offer cert ifi cat ion
degrees lack a recognized set of certification gu idel ines
and are ge nerally not accredited by a professional GIS or
remote sensing society. As mentioned in chapter 15, the
GIS&T Body of Knowledge (DiBiase et aI., 2006) was
recently published in o rder to define critical concepts and
skills that relate to geographic information science and
technology (G IST) . This document was created through
the joim efforts of many GIScience researchers and educa-
tors, and is an initial attempt to define the skills that you
can use to describe geospatial com petency. A second edi-
tion is intended that will provide detail fo r instructional
activities that suppOrt important geospatial concepts and
skills.
The NCEES Model Law
The Nationa l Council of Examiners for Engineering and
Surveying (N e EES) has developed a set of guidelines
described in a Model Law document to help states with
licensing issues related co land surveying and engineering
(National Council of Examiners for Engineering and
Surveyi ng, 2006). The Model Law contai ns reference to
GIS activities assoc iated with spacial data collection and
use. The Model Law contains 29 sections that are
designed to help state boards and other legislative bodies
create or amend laws for land surveying and engineering.
Chapter 17 Certification and licensing of GIS Users 247
fishe ri es, wildlife, oceanography, forestry , soi ls,
rangeland resources, and others. More than likely,
GIS courses offered in departments other than geogra-
phy will provide a different perspective on wha t is
important (Q smdents pursu in g namral resource
degrees. If a university or college does not offer
courses related co GIS, students can still learn about
the capabilities of GIS through Internet courses, self-
study of GIS texts, and volunteer wotk wit h local
agenc ies or gove rnment offices.
The fi rst section of the Model Law clarifies the neces-
sity for guidelines by stating that the practices ofland sur-
veying and engineering are a matter of pubic interest. The
decisions made (or recommended) by people employed in
these professions can potentially affect the life, health, and
property of the general public. Sectio n 2 defines the tasks
that are associated with surveying and engineering and no
longer refers directly to GIS , as it did in an earl ier version
of the Model Law. Section 2 does state that mapping
involves the configuration of the Earth's feamres. the sub-
division ofland, the location of survey control points, ref-
erence points, or property boundaries, and thus people
performing 'mapping' are performing the 'Practice of
Surveying'. The Model Law suggests that these people
should be reg istered as professional surveyors before
engaging in those act ivit ies.
The most d irect pathway co becoming a professional
surveyor is to fi rst graduate from an accredited fou r-year
college program in engi neering or surveying. Then yo u
must successfully pass an e ight-hour written exam cover-
ing survey in g fundamentals. Once the fundamentals
exam has been successfully passed, four years of surveying
experience under the supervision of a licensed surveyor
must be accumulated before admittance is allowed to an
eight-hour written comprehensive exam covering survey-
in g principles and practice:. Once this comprehensive
exam has been successfully passed, and all other state-level
requirements are satisfied, you are qualified to become a
professiona l land surveyor. Those who grad uate from
four-yea r surveying cu rriculums that are not accredited
must spend an addirional rwo to four years working in
the land survey profession before they can be admitted
to the fundamentals exam. T his process of attai ning
258
248 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS

licensing is daunting, and requires a long-term commit- commi t- tioned

tion ed to provide informa
information r~garding the inherent
tion regarding inherem
menr
ment on [he rhe part
pare of potential surveyors
poten tial su rveyors or others who uncertainty
uncertainry in land meas
measurements.
urements.
wish
w me
to comply with the Model Law. For many cu
ish to current
rrent Land surveyors are also charged with locating estab~
Jocaring or estab-
natural resource professionals who use GIS. active act ive engage- lishing roads and other utilities such as power lines and
ment in a career combined with family and communiry comm un iry fire hydrants.
hydranrs. Surveyors have argued that [hat it is inappropri-
commitments offer few realisdc realistic opportuniries
opportunities [0 to pursue unlicensed
ate for un licensed surveyo
surveyors rs to operate CPS GPS equipment for
an engineering degree or to work under rhe the guidance of a purpose
this pu rpose since locational errors can potentially potenriaIly affect
land surveyor. public safety.
safery. In add addition,
ition, since professional su rveyo rs
surveyors
ier versions of the Model Law definition of survey-
Earlier
Earl must absorb rhe th e on-going costs associated wi with ma i ntain~
th maintain-
ing thar comained direct mention of CIS
that contained GIS were criticized as ing licensing and liability
liabiliry insurance, they are a re likely
likel y to
being [00 srringenc
(00 strin ge nt and expansive in its description
descriptio n ofafG GIS
IS mo re fo rr thei
charge more theirr services than unlicensed GPS CPS opera-
applications
ap plica tions wi thin surveying acrivities.
within activities. Several promi- tors. Thus, surveyors have stated that th at it is unfair
unfai r for unlunli-
i-
nent organizations related [0 (0 surveyin
survey ing g and
an d G1S
G IS co- censed
ce nsed GPS operaro
o perators rs to compere
compete with professional land
authored a reponrepan that suggested modifications [0 the surveyo
su rveyorsrs in offerin
offering g these typestyp es of datad ata collection
Model Law (Ame (American
rican Congress on Surveying and servICes.
servIces.
Mapping [ACSM] et aI., aI. , 200 I). The report urged lhe
2001). the Licensin
Licensing g va ries throughout
varies throu ghout the [he world and a nd may also
NeEES to dro p exp
co drop explicit
licit reference [Q to GIS as a data manip- vary by stare
scate o r province. In addition,
add itio n. it appea
appears rs that the
a nd mapping tool. to refme
ulation and refine the definit
definition
ion of sur- numbe r of licensed professions is in transition
number transicion . In
veying
veyi ng so that i[it was less broad, and [0 ro specifically include Ca nada. professions mat
Canada, that require
requ_ire licenses are referred to as
certai n GIS-related accivities
and exclude certain activities in its defini tion
definition regula red occ
regulated occuparions.
upations. There are approxima[e1y
approximately 50 di dif-
f-
of surveying. The
or T he NCEES appears to ro have acted a[ leaS[t in
a( leas ferenr
ferent regu lated professions
professio ns in Canada (Government
(Govern ment in
parr to these reco
pan mmendatio ns. Previous to the Model
recommendations. Canada,
Ca nada, 2007). Within [he the US, the th e number of profes-
Law changes,
changes. the broader definitions of surveying creared
su rveyi ng created requ ire a lice
sions thar require nse fo
license forr participation
participario n has been bee n
difficulries for some stares
difficulties states that
char tried to incorporate the gradually
graduall y incincreasing.
reasing. Doyle (2007) found that lha[ about
abo u(
Model Law's definitions of surveying inco ow n state
into their own 20 per cem
cent of all professions in the rhe US requi
require re licensing,
starutes
statutes and regul
regulations
ations (Thurow & Frank, 2001). up from abo abourut 5 per ce centnt duri
during ng the early 1960s. Abou Aboutl
50 professions have a regist ration process (hat
registration that is recog-
The Need for GIS Certification nized in all 50 srates.
stares. Some people criticize (he the licensin
licensingg
and Licensing process and claim thar thal it resulrs
results in higher prices for serv-
ices without an a n equivalent gain gai n in the qua lity of the
quality rhe serv-
amo ng the
Chief among t he argumenr
argum enr for GIS
G IS certification
certifi ca ti o n is an ice or good provided. In additio addition, n. some peo people entry
ple see enrry
assess ment of how GIS activities might impact society's
assessment sociery's into the profession as being bein g prohibitively
prohibi tively limited once
welfare and safery
safety (Gibson, 1999). The surveying and licensing is in place. While Kleine Kle inerr (2000) found (hat thar
engineerin
engineering g professions
professio ns have long been involved in deter-
dete r- incomes from licensed occu pations were
occupations we re higher for those
mining how best to accllrarcly
accurately and precisely collect and occupations that [hat required more education and training, training.
ana lyze Earth
Earrh aand
nd structural
strucwral measurements. Since Si nce land faste e mpl oy ment growth
fasterr employment growrh was evidenced in many
va lues in North Ame
values rica w
America will
ili likely
likdy concinue
conrinue to increase as licensed professions, such as engineering and law. law, when
population also increases.
the human popularion increases, land areas that are compared
co mpared to no non-licensed professions. Kleiner
n-licensed professions. Kle iner (2000)
inco rrectly measured
incorrectly resulr in large monetary losses or
measmoo can result also reports that empirical
empirica l evidence address addressing whetherr
ing whethe
gai ns for land ow
gains owners. reliabiliry
ners. Knowing the reliabi lity of land licensing results in greater soc societa
ieta l good s. s, such
suc h as
unce rtai nty estimates)
measurements (exp ressed through uncertainty es tima tes) inc reased safety,
increased safety. is currently lacking.
will allow land managers to ro make better
bener decisions. While Iss ues of conrrol and eenforcement nforcement are additional additiona l
you may argue that a distinct parr of natural
natu ral resource data aspecrs of licensing and certification . Most states
aspects stares have
collection and analytical processes involves quamifying
quantifying clearr defi
clea definitio ns of what constitutes acceptab le surveying
n itions
a nd expressin
and expressing g theth e uncertainty that is associated with pracrices.
practices. These ru les typically
rules rypica lly cover what clients should
those measurements,
measurements. this quanrification
quantification is rarely used to ex pecr from a profess
expect professionalional land surveyor's services, services. in
reli ab ili
rate the reliab ty of measurements
ility measu rements collected.
collected. Thus the producrs. as well as erhical
terms of products. consideratio ns.
ethical considerations.
surveying and enginee ring professions may be better bette r posi- Ethical co conside rarions nor
nsiderations nOt only
on ly address
add ress the surveyor-

259
 Chapter 17 Certification
Certffication and Licensing of GIS Users
Users 249

relationship
client relationsh ip but also offer advice on the professional certification
cert ifi cation and licensing from the natural resource GIS GI
relationships cha thatt should exist berween
becween surveyors. Most community. largely composed of natural
communiry, narural resource man-
states
Sca develo ped a process [0
tes also have developed [0 fac il itate (he
facilitate the sub-
su b- age rs. bio logists. foresters,
agers, others. is to be expected .
foreseers, and others,
mirral of complaincs
minal surveyors. All state
complaints against land surveyors. Defining those areas of spatial data co llection and
collection
licensing boards have the power ro to revoke a surveyi
surveying ng mapping that porentially
potentially afFecr
.ffect public welfare
welfure and safery
safety
license if discipl
disciplinary
inary infractions occur as a resulr
result of com- is easy in some cases,
cases. and challenging in others.
orhers. Clearly,
Clearly.
plaines. Th is power
plainrs. This power encourages most land surveyors [0 to GIS databases used for acdviries
activ ities such as navigatio n, n. locat-
become familiar with board rules for professiona1
professional conduct ing underground facilities whe n excavating.
Facilities when excavating, or ensuring
and [0(Q adhere to the rules as [hey they engage in survey act ivi-
activi- that property boundaries have been accurately located and
ties. Such rules do not general GIS use in natural
nor exist in general namral used in calculating
calcularing land areas, areas. should fall full under [he the
resource management. purview of a professio
professionalnal lan
land d surveyor o r enginee
engineer. r.
Crit icism has also
Criticism aJso been weighed agaiaga inst
nst un licensed
unlicensed Activ ities (hat
Acriviries that involve displaying
display in g data for illustrative pur-
GIS and GPS users due to [he
GIS the lack of an acc redited
redi ted educa- recreatio nal gu ides, or in activit
poses, recreational ies [hat
activities that may only
tional curriculum.
donal curriculum . Most professions, including forestry .ffect perso n{s) or agency responsible for the associ-
affect the person{s)
and wildlife.
wildlife, have educa[ionalI and profes-
h.ve identified an education. ared decision,
ated decision. could perhaps fall ourside outside [he
the purview of a
sional backgro
background und [hat
that is necessary for accred
acc rediitat ion or
ta tion surveyor or engineer.
professional land surveyor engineer. Although these
licensing IlJithin
within their fields. The accred itation process usu-
accreditation examples illustrate
illusrra te distinctions becween acti
di stinct ions between activvici es [hat
it ies chat
suggestS me
ally suggests the coursework, minimum competency sran- stan- clearly affect
afFecr public welfare and safety safery and those
rhose that [har do
dards, professional standards, and imegration with other not,
nor, there are many orher other examples rhat that are less clear and
disciplines [hat
that should be provided to students pursuing will require furthe
lUrrherr discussion before agreements between
degrees in [hose
those fields (Huxhold.
(Huxhold, 2002). An accreditation rhe surveying and GIS commun ities are reached. In cases
the
process for GIS G IS could be developed (and perhaps is cur- where mapping products mighr might affect public welfare and
rently under developmenr).
development). However.
However, methe dilemma is rhat thac severall scenarios fo r making map consumers aware
safety, severa
if you view GIS as a field of study. srudy, [he
the students in [hose those of pocenriallimitations
poremial limitations have been suggested. Suggestions
cu rricula will graduate with a geography degree,
curricula degree. and be include requiring
requ iring that
(hat maps explicicly
explicitly iden ci fy me
identify the source
so urce
considered professional
profess ion al geogra phers. Most "amrai
geographers. natural documents, associated
assoc iared meradara, approp riate use of map
metadata, appropriate
resource organizations hire biologists, foresters.
foresters, soils sci- comenr. positional adj
content, and any positional usrmenrs Goffe.
adjustments Uoffe, 2001).
professionals, as well as geogra-
entists, or other associated professionals. Examples
Examp les of these caveats
caveatS and disclaimers were intro intro--
phers, to assis
assistt in the management of natural
natura l resources. duced in chapter
chapee r 4. Whether these caveats will continue
orga nizations increasingly expect all of thei
These organizations theirr per- ro fall shon
to short of requiring
requirin g a certified or licensed GIS G IS profes-
sonnel
so nnel to util ize GIS,
ucili1.e GlS. not JUSt those who have obtained a
nor just sional to
sional ro develop the mapping products wi ll likely be an
degree from an accredited
accredired geography program. area of discussion.
Finally.
Finally, and inreresringly.
interestingly, some people have argued
GIS Community Response to that the surveying profession has traditionally not
Certification and Licensing required training
tra ining in GIS in order to obtain professional
surveying (American Congress on Survey
surveyi ng cert ification (American Surveying in g
As you might expect,
expect. some members of the GIS commu- and Mapping,
Mapping. 1998). For th [h is reason.
reason, they argue.
argue, it i[ may
nity have voiced opposition co to the sugges tion that
suggestion thar certa
cerrainin not
nor be app ropriate fo
appropriate forr land surveyors
su_rveyors to manage rhe the
GIS activit ies be included in the lis t of funcrions
activi ries functions only co to development.
developmenr. maintenance.
maimenance. and use of GIS databases.
be performed by land surveyors. C riticism has been
Criticism However, the current exam syll syllabi
abi for the national
fOr rhe narional land
directed toward the sometimes-broad definitions of land surveying exams (borh rhe fundamental
(both the fundamemal an andd professional
surveying. and whether GIS databases deve.
surveying, developed
loped and dis- pri nciples and practice) do incl
principles ude GIS and land
include I.nd informa-
info rma-
tributed by public agencies should require management tion systems as potential
poremial exam topics.topics.
surveyorr GofFe.
by a licensed surveyo Uoffe, 200 1). In addition,
addition. some
proposals for ce certificatio
rtifica tionn and lilicens
censin
ingg have also been MAPPS Lawsuit
\'iewed as exclusionary. and coul
viewed co uld
d prevenr natural
~rforming the GIS
resource professionals from performing GIS activities
acr iviries In June 2006, rhe
the Managemenr
Management Associarion for Private
thatt they
tha rhey historically performed.
performed. Thus the opposition
opposirion to Phorogrammerric
Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) and rhree
three other

260
250 Part 3 Contemporary Issues in GIS

engineering
professional enginee lawsu it
rin g associations filed a lawsuit su rveying and mapping activicies.
form surveying activicies, the lawsuit con-
aga inst the US governmenr.
against government. The lawsuit wasW<1S filed
fi led on tends that the co uncil should di
rhe FAR council direct
rect that licensed
behalf of the Federal Acquisirion
Acquisition Regulation
Regul ation (FAR) professionals be selected for government contracts
cOntracts invo
involv-
lv-
Council and is refe referred
rred to as the MAPPS lawsuit. The ing surveying and mapping. The implicarions
im plications of the
rhe
actuall tide
actua title for the
tbe lawsuit is MAPPS et al.
at. v. United States MArrs
MAPPS lawsuit are [hen potentially significanr
afe then significant given that
thar
America. The lawsuit requests changes in interpreta-
of Am(ricft, many
ma ny states do nO[
nOt draw a clear distinction berween
between sur-
tion of the 1972 Brooks Act (US Public Law 92-582) veying and mapp
mapping
in g in their
th eir laws and rules that govern
which is intended to (0 direct federal government policy in surveymg.
surveYing.
selecting
selecti ng providers to perform architectural.
prov iders [0 archi tectural. engineering, The American Association of Geographers (MG). (AAG).
ices. More specifically.
services.
and related serv laws uitt seeks
specifically, the lawsui Informationn & Technology
Geospatial Informatio
GISCI. Geosparial
co modify how the
[0 rhe selection process for government coo- Association (GITA). VCGIS. and VRISA jointly submitted
Associarion su bmitted
traccors is evaluated as it relates to mapping ac riviries.
tivities. a briefing (0
to the US District Court in Virginia
resulrs of the lawswr
The resultS lawsuit may impact
impacr how some US fed- (Alexandria Division) that
thaL opposed the MAPrs
MAPl'S lawsuit
eral agencies award government contracts. The MAPrs
governmenr contractS. MAPPS (Association of American Geographers. 2007). The brief
lawsuit has been a considerable concern for many GJS- stated that a successful lawsuit could cause serious con-
stared
oriented organizations and has once again fueled rh thee nm only for the
cern nO( rhe GIS community
commu niry but also fo r other
mher
debate over the definition
definicion of acdvactivities
ities that can be con- activ
related act ities and professions. Other related activit
ivities ies
activities
sidered surveying and engineering, which acriviries activides influ-
inRu- included GPS data collection, Interne
lnrernett mapping, geospa-
ence public welfare and safery. safety, and the appropriate analysis , remote sensing, academic
tial analysis, aca demic research that
geospatial certification
cerrificarion and licensing requirements.
requiremems. The involved mapping, and the broad activities encompassed
participation of prominent
prominenr oorganizations
rganizations on both sides withi n cartography. The briefing
wirhi that the law-
briefi ng claimed thar
of rhe
the laws uit is evidence that
lawsuit the MAPPS lawsui
thal rhe lawsu itt is not
nor ssuit's
uit's impact woul
wouldd greatly affect many activities and
trivial legal exercise.
a rriviallegal exerc.ise. industries that involve or rely on mapping activities and
Plaintiffs of the MAl'l'S
MAPPS lawsuit included the rhe American information.
inform acion .
Sociery of Civil Engineers (ASCE). National Sociery of The US Districr
District Court ruled againsr MAPPS in June
against MAPl'S
Professional Engineers (NSPE).(NSrE). and Council on Federal 2007 and issued a summary
su mmary judgment in favo favorr of the US
Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services Government. The judge in the case stated srated that the MAPPS
MArps
(COFPAES). The Brooks Act established that price alone plaintiffs failed to 'establish
plainrifFs 'establ ish that an injury in fact
faCt was suf-
should nO( be used in [he the awarding of government
governmenr con- fered by the
rhe individual surveyors or their firms'. In order
tracts to individual
rracts ind ividualss oorr firms. In Instead. Qualificarions-
stead, Qualificadons- for a case to be tried. a plaintiff (those hling
filing the lawsuit)
Selection (QBS) is to be used. which involves eval-
Based Selecrion must establish standing. indicated by sufferi
standing. Standing is indicared suffering
ng
uating professional qualjficadons
qualifications and expe experience.
ri ence. in a loss of some sort, be it monetary or otherw ise. The
addition to seeking a 'fair and reasonable' cosr
addirion COSt [0co rhe
the gov- judge found that MAPPS and the other plaintiffS had nor
rhar MAPl'S nOt
ernment,, in awa rding
ernment Negotiations for an
rdin g contracts. Negotiarions established sufficienr standing to suppOrt the lawsuit.
lawsuir.
acce ptable price should begin with the most qualified Alrhough there ate opportunities to appeal the
rhere are rhe judge's
firm. If negodat ions fail,
negotiations fail , then negociations
negoriarions should pro- deci sion, the
decision, rhe judge's ruling appears to be st
strong
rong enough
ceed with the second most qualified firm ., and so on . The that
tllar an appeal was considered unlikely.
unlikely.
COllncil applies the rules and laws rel
FAR Council ated to
related ro the There was great uncenainry
uncertainty in determining how a suc-
Brooks Act, and is supposed co ensu re mar
ro ensure that the intentions cessful MAPl'S lawsuit wou
MAPPS lawsuir would
ld have impacted the GIS com-
of the
rhe act
acr are upheld. Although the rhe Brooks Act Acr includes munity
mun iry and many community members expressed relief
'surveying me
'surveyi ng and mapping' among the list of architectural the lawsuir
that ti,e lawsuit came to end. Doubtlessly. there will be
ro an end.
and engineering services that thar it is intended CO to cover, fed- ssim ilar dispures
imilar disputes and uncertainty in the future regarding
eral agencies have not nor been consistent
cons istent in their interpreta-
inte rpreta- licen sing th
licensing that
at involves (he court
the co un system. Although (his this
rion and adherence to stated protocols. The MAPPS
cion MAl'l'S law- represents a US examp
examplele of the conAict
conRicr that has arisen
ar isen
su it seeks [0
to compel the FAR cou ncil to more rigorously
nci l ro with the widesp read use of GIS. could
GIS, you cou reaso nably
ld reasonably
interpret
inre rpre[ and apply rhe the Brooks Act in the selecrion selection of countries with an es(ab-
envision this happening in other counrries estab-
contractors for surveying and mapping services. In states lished land records system and regulations relared ro engi-
rela(ed to
where licensed surveyors
surveyo rs or engi neers are required ro to per- neering and land surveying practices.

261

Summary
In some circumstances, certification and licensing may be
necessary for those involved in (he developmem and man-
agement of GIS databases. to ensure that minimum stan-
dards of competency exist and (hat standards 3re being
mer in the development. maintenance. and applicacion of
G IS databases. Although many GIS activities related to
namral resource managemem may have no bearing on
public welfare and safery, some GIS acriviries result in
maps or mapped data being sold or made available to the
public. and thus may have direct or indirect implicacions
on public welfare and safety. GIS has evolved into its own
discipline, and is being integrated with other fields of
Applications
17.1. Licensing. Assume that the state or province in
which YOll work is considering the development of a
licensing board to oversee the licensing of GIS users. and
to regulate the use and managemenr of GIS databases
related to your field of namral resource management.
a) What benefits might a licensing board provide for
professionals engaged in GIS activiti es?
b) What disadvantages for GIS users might result from
the developmenr of a licensing board?
c) Describe three key dimensions of the licensing
process that the board should develop.
17.2. GIS certification programs. The owners of the
Brown Tract have recently become aware that GIS is used
extensively in the management of the fo rese. They are
concerned abo ut the credibility of their land management
team, and have suggested that all employees obtain GIS
certification .
a) What are the potential benefits of GIS certification
for GIS users?
b) What are the potential drawbacks of GIS certifica-
tion for GIS users?
References
Association of American Geographers (MG). (2007) .
Amicus Curiae Brief of the Association of American
Geographus, GIS Cutification InstituU, Geospatial
Chapter 17 Certification and Licensing of GIS Users 251
study. Guidelines should be developed for determining
the experience. educarionaJ background. professional con-
duct, and cominuing education that defines (he qual ifica-
[ions appropriate for those disciplines. Guidelines sho uld
also be developed to define the extent [Q which persons
who are qualified within disciplines can appropriately
develop, manage, and use certain GIS databases. Until a
national certification or lice nsing program for GIS gains
credibility and respect within society, GIS users in namra!
resource fields will find themselves struggling with local
or national regularory groups. the legal system, and other
professions for contro l of GIS activities.
c) What elements would be necessary in order for a
GIS certification to be more widely recognized and
respected within society?
17.3. NeEES Mood Law. Does the NeEES Model Law
process seem like a reasonable or rational approach to
clarifYing the issue of G IS licensing? Why or why not?
17.4. The need for licensing or certification. IdentifY
three GIS or GIS-related activities that could affect public
welfare. and that might suggest that those developing.
maintaining. or using the s upportin g data sho uld be
licensed or certified.
17.5. GIS community response to certification and
licensing issues. Many professional (foresters. wildlife
biologists. hydrologists. engineers. etc.) working in nat-
ural resource management currendy use GIS to ass ist in
making management decisions. Why might they be
concerned about the issue of GIS certification and
licensing?
Information 6- Technology Association, University
Consortium for Geographic Information Science, and
Urban and Regionallnfonnation Systems Association in
262
252 Part 3 Contemporal)'
Contemporary Issues in G
GIS
IS

opposition to plaintiffs 11otioll summary jJldgm~llt.

notion for mmmary judgmt nt. era of GIS? Proftrsional
Professional SlIrlltyor,
SlIroeyor. 19(7),
19(7). 14-18.
14- 18.
Retrieved on June 6, 6. 2007,
2007. from Imp:llwww.aag.orgl
hnp: llwww.aag.org/ GIS Institute. (2007).
GIS Certification Insritute. A" JOu
(2007) . Are you a GIS practi-
Donatellinks.html. tioner or a GIS professional? Retrieved October 5, 5. 2007,
2007.
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM). from Imp:llwww.gisci.org/.
Imp:llwww.gisci.orgl.
(I998). Should surveyors superv
(t998). ise GIS? ACSM
supervise A CSM Government in ill Canada. (2007). Types of work. Retrieved
Bull,tin,
Bulletin. NovnnberID,wnber,
NovemberiDeumber. 26--3 1. I. October 5,5. 2007,
2007. from Imp:llwww.goingrocanada.gc.
hnp:llwww.goingtocanada.gc.
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), (ACSM). carr
calT ypes_oC work_in_Canada-en.htm.
American Society of Civil Engineers-Geomatics Huxhold. W.E. (2002). GIS professionals-get a profes-
Division,
Division. American Sociery Society for Photogrammcrry
Photogrammeuy and sion! Geospatial
Ceospatial Solutions,
Solutions. 12(2). 58.
12(2),58.
Remote
Remme Sensing, Management
Managemem Association for Private Joffe, B.A. (200
Joffe. (2001). I). Surveyors and GIS professional reach
Phocogrammeuic
Phorogrammecric Surveyors, National Narional Sociery of accord. Surveying
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Professional
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tional States Geog raph ic 35-6.
Information Council, Council. & Urban and Regional Kleiner,
Kleiner. M M.. (2000). Occupational Licensing. journal of
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). GIS/LIS Perspectives, 14(4),
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to rhe report of the task force Force on the Korte,
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(1999) . The current controversy: GIS GIS and
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NCEES Suroeying and Land legislation. Part 1.
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Btginning,
Information
Infonnation Sysm""
Syswm. 61(1),
61(1). 24-34. 24(6). 70-3.
24(6),
PhotOgrammerry & Remote
American Society for Phorogrammerry Longley, P.A
Longley. P.A., .• Goodchild,
Goodch ild. M.F ., .• Maguire, D.J .•, &
Magui re. D.J.
Sensing (ASPRS). 2006. Certification and reunification
recertification Rhind, D .W . (2005). Geographic
Rhind. D.W. sysmm
Ceographic information systems
guid,lines
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and science (2ndnd ed.). Chichester, England : John
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Society for Photogrammerry Wiley & Sons.
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Examiners rs for Engineering and
http://www
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rtp:l l www.asprs.org Surveying (NCEES). (2006). ModelMod,l law. Clemson,
Clemson. SC:
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cert ficatt io n_gu iidel
ion_gu ines. h tm I#Certi
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fied_M &- NCEES.
NCEES.
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[0 terms with

Doyle. R. (2
Doyle, 007). By [he
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61(1).39-43.
is in-are we beginning the surveying and mapping

263
Appendix A
GIS Related Terminology
The following represents a brief treatment of [he termi-
nology common to all eyp.. of GIS sofcwa re programs and
processes. An attem pt has been made to avoid [he varia-
tio ns of definitions that rend [0 be more descriptive of [he
processes related to one (or more) particular GIS software
programs. It is important that natural resou rce profes-
siona ls gain an understanding of a common, generi c lan-
guage. The lines of communica[ion becween [hose highly
versed in GIS and [hose wi[h a cursoey knowledge of GIS
need to be clear when making natural reso urce manage-
ment dec isions.
Accuracy: The ability of a measuremenr to describe a
landscape feacuce 's [rue locatio n, size, or conditio n.
Adjacency: A spadal relacio nship indicadng which land-
scape features share boundari es. or are w ith in cenain
discance of other landscape fearures. For example,
adjacency relationships for timber stands may indicare
which stands (Ouch other stands, allowing one to
model green -up requiremems.
Annotation: Text o r strings of characters and numbers
used co describe landscape feamres on a map .
Arc: A single s[[ing of X,Y coordinates (vercices), [hac
when connected, form a line. A singl e lin e may co n-
rain many arcs, bur a single arc may on ly represem one
line. or parr of a line. Arcs have staning and ending
nodes (Q allow analys is of directional travel , such as in
stream systems, where water emers one end of the arc
(the sta rr-node, or 'From-node') an d leaves the other
end of [he arc (the end node, o r 'To-node).
ASCII: Ame rican Scandard Code for Informacion lneer-
change. Many eypes of text fi les are commonly referred
to as ASCII files; some co main co mma-delimited data
(e.g., I , 12, 3.45, 65 .2, 0.45), ochers coneain space-
delimi[ed data (e.g., e.g., I 12 3.45 65.2 0.45), and
still others use other delimiters (0 separate individual
pieces of data. See Comma-dtlimited text filt and
Space-dtlimited text file.
Attribute: A characteristic of a landscape feacure.
A((rihutes can be represented by characters or num -
bers (o r a combination ofbo[h), and [hey describe var-
ious characteristics oflandscape feamres. For example,
the attributes of a timber sta nd co uld incl ude the fol-
lowing: stand number (o r code). basal area, trees per
acre, vo lum e per acre, dominam tree species, and so
on. The amibmes of a research plo[ (a poine) could
include: smdy eype, insta llacio n date, date last remea-
sured , dare of nexr remeasure, etc. See Fi~ld.
Azimuth: A degree of a circle, wi[h North being 0° (or
360°), Easc being 90°, South being 180°, and West
being 270°.
Azjmuthal project jon: A projeccion sys tem where the
direct ion s fro m a centra l point of origin are all
preserved.
Bear ing: An angle of 90° or less originating from either
[he North or Somh (and direc[ed towards [he Easc or
West). Thus an azimuth of 353 0 represems a bearing
ofN7°W.
Boolean expression : A rype of expression used in a query
o r co mputer code that requi res a yes o r no respo nse.
AND, OR, and NOT are the three most common
Boo lean exp ressions. For example, a query us in g a
264
254 Appendix A GIS Related Terminology
GIS Terminology

Boolean expression could take this fo rm::

form hab itat suitab ili ty index va lues fo
habitat forr spec ific timber
specific
stand polygons, with the [he first
firsr item of each line identi-
stand_age ~ 50 AND land_a
land_allocation
llocation
fying the polygon
polygon,, and the second item listing the
= 'Even-Aged'
habitat suitab ilility
ity index:
BASIC computer code using a Boolean expression
exp ression
1,0.657
wou ld look like this:
would th is:
2,0.433
If (sta
If nd_age ~ 50) AN
(stand_age ANDD (land_allocation 3,0.298
= ''Even_aged')
Even_aged') Then
Completeness: A description
desc ri ption of the eypes
types and extent of
landscape
landsca pe features
fearu res included in a GISGIS database, and
End if
co nversely, those that are oomirred.
conversely, m itted .
Buffering (or buffer): A type of spatial
spat ial analysis
analys is of prox- projecrion
Conformal projection: A projectio n system whe re angles
im i[}',, where zones
imity zo nes of a given distance are genera ted
gene rated o n the
on th e Earth's surface are rep resented by apapproxi-
proxi-
around selected lan dscape feat
landscape ures . The result of a
features mately the same angles on a map. map, thus the angles
buffering operation is one o r more polygopo lygo ns [hat rep~
that rep- rel ated to map features
related fearures are preserved. Therefore. the
resem (he the area
area within a specific distance (fixed. or
or vari-
v'dri- scale around any single poinr po inr on a map us using
ing this pro-
able, as defined through an amibute
attribute field) around jection system is the same sa me in every direction .
la ndscape featu
landscape res.
features. Conic projection: A projection system where a cone is
Buffer rone:
woe: A set of one oorr more polygo ns that represenT
polygons represent positioned so that it cuts cutS through the Eanh'sEarth's surface at
rhe area within a specific distance around landscape
[he one lat irude,
itude, and comes oOut ut at another (usua
(usuallyll y the
feam ces.
features. equator)
equator),, and mapped features are projected OntO OntO the

Cartesian coordinate system:

system: A system [hat
that allows one surface. based on
cone's surface, o n lines radiating outward
ourward from fro m
(Q
[Q locate any point on a planar sur
surface divid ed
face divided by a set the cencer
center of the Earrh
Earth..
of grid lines. Contour interval: The verri ven ica
call d ista nce that di stinguishes
distance sti ngu ishes
Cen: see Grid cell.
Cell: a ll. neigh bori ng co
neighboring nrour
conto lines..
ur lines
C haracter: A single attri
Character: bute describing a landscape fea-
acrribure Contour lines: Lines (hat that are connected,
connecred. and rep resent
represent
rure,
ru re, such as a le[[cr,
letter, number,
numbe r, o r special
spec ial symbo l, or
symbol. or a locat ionnss of
loca tio o f equal elevation.
el evat io n.
type of data that indicates the amibute
attribute should be con- Cylindrical
C y lindrical projection : A project pro jection
io n system where
sidered a piece of
o f text (eve
(evenn though numbers and spe- mapped featu res are projected onto
features onco a cylinder,
cylinder. then
cial symbols may be valid
val id attributes)
attri butes) . the cylinder is unrolled and the map becomes a planar
process: The process of extracting from one
Clipping process: surface.
GIS
GIS database only those landscape features within the Database: A collection of info
Database: rmat ion that is managed
information
bounds of another
anothe r GIS database (wh ich could contain
(which and stored as a single entity. enticy. A spatial database in-
a single polygon or a set of polygons) . This is an action
act ion info rm ation regarding the spatial coordinates
cludes information coo rdinates
that essenrialJy
thal essentially acts like a cookie-currer. of all of the landscape featu
features
res in the database, as well
Column: A A set of cells in a spreadsheet or database that information
as informatio n regarding the atuibutes
attributes of each land-
aare
re vertica
verr ica ll y ali
align ed , usually representing
gned represeming a ssingle
ingl e scape feature,
fea ture, usually tabu lar (spreadsheet)
usua lly in a tabular (spreadsheer) form.
form .
anr ibure of
anribure o f every featu re (record)
fearure (reco rd) in the database.
database. Database conversion: The translario
translationn of a database
darabase from
Columns co coulduld co main
conta in col umn headers, oorr terms rhat
column that one
o ne format
forma t to anot her.
ano th Forr example
e r. Fo exa mple,, to co nvert
conven
describe
descr ibe the data in the columnco lumn,, oorr in spreadsheets,
spreadsheers, ArcView shapefiles to Mapln fa tables would
Maplnfo require
wo uld requi re a
ssimp
impllyy be represeIHed
represented by characte rs such as A, B, C, database conversion.
conversion.
etc. Often called ' Fields'; see Field. Related to Datum: A mathemat ical represenration
Datum: rep rese nration of the Earth's su r-
Ruord.
'Records'; see Rtcord.
'Records'; forming
face fo controll surface upon
rmi ng a contro upo n wh
whichich an elli
ellipsoid
psoid
Combine process:
process: A process of eliminating the shared and oother
ther locatio
location referenced
n data are refere nced..
edges or inrersections
intersections between rwo
two landscape features. Destination table:
table: One of twO tables used in a Join oper-
Comma-delimited text file: A A text file
me created in a word atio n, [he
ation, the one where [hethe information resides after che the
processing system, a {ext
text ediro r, spreadsheet,
editor, spreadsheer, or
o r data-
da ta- join operarion.
operat ion. In (he
the case of linlinking
kin g {WO database
twO darabase
base, and saved ina formar where commas separate
in a format sepa.rare rabies ~e rable
together. it is the
tables together, table [hat
that is active JUSt
just before
items. The fo llowing, for example, could indicate
irems. they are linked.
li nked.
265
 Appendix A GIS Related
Related Terminology 255

D igital elevation model (DEM): A GIS database formed

Digital bounds of anomer
another GIS darabase
da[abase (which could contain
comain
of fea m res (typically
offeamres (rypically regularly-spaced as in a grid)
grid) [hac
that a single polygon or a ser
ser of polygo
polygons). T his is an action
ns). This
contain X.Y as well as Z (elevation) coordinates.
X.Y rhat
that essentially
essemiaJly acts like a cookie-cutter
cookie-curter with objects
Usually i[
it represents a [opogra phic da[abase.
topographic database. oucsicleme
outside the cookie-cutter being retained.
Digital orthophotograph: An image. usually a scanned Extent: The limits of the locations of all landscape fea-
photograph.
phocograph. [hat
[hac has had removed some of [he me dis- tu res in a GIS database. Coordinates are used [0
tures to define
placemem
placemenc normally caused during (he
the aerial photo-
phoco- the lower-left and upper-right
uppe r-right corners of a rectangular
graphic process (tilt.
(tilt, terrain
terra in relief) . mat would include all of the landscape fearures.
area tha[ feamres.
(DRGs) : Digitally
Digital raster graphics (DRGs): Digi[ally scanned repre- Field: As in ami bure field. a column in a tabular da[abase
a[[[ibme database
sen[ations of USGS 7.5 Minute
sentations Minu<e Series Quadrangle that represents some characteristic
characteri stic of the landscape
maps. features in that
mat database. For example. in a polygon
Digitize (digitizing): To record the X.Y coordinates
coordina[os of database representing
rep resenting timber stands.
stands, stand volum e.
volume,
features in a compmer
landscape feamres compucer file or system as dig- trees per acre, basal area,
area , and dominant
dominam species type
ital data. Digitizing can occur using a digitizing tablet.
tablet, could all be fields in a [abular
tabular database. In an owlloca-
owl loca-
where maps are raped down, down. reference points are database, a field could be developed to
tion da[abase. co represent
represenc
featu res (points.
noted, and feacu (paines, lines, or polygons) are [he firs< sigh[ing.
the first lasc sighting.
sighting. last sigh[ing. a.nd
and number of owls ar
then traced
rhen traced,. and theif
their locations in space are known certain
certai n po
points
ints on the landscape.
with some level of precision and accuracy. A looserlooser File T ransfer Protocol (ITP):
Transfer (FTP): A widely used memod
method of
form of digitizing can occur when using the 'heads-up' transferring data over [he:
the Internct,
Internet, allowing one [0
to
techn ique, where you use
technique. lise your compmcr's
compuccr's mouse [Q
co transfer compmer
transfer computer files to orner
other remote computers, or
delineare
delineate landscape featfeatures com purer screen,
ures on a computer to download com puter fi les fro
[0 fromm a remore computer.
with a digital ormophotograph
perhaps wi[h orthophocograph as a backdrop. Fixed-width buffers:
buffers: Buffers tha[
[hat do no[
nOI vary in size and
The heads-up cechnique
technique is quicker [han
rhan regu lar digi-
regular are applied uniformly co
to all landscape fea[ures
fearures..
tizing,
tizing. but usually comes with a COSt
COSt reflected in lower Flattening ratio: A ratio used to describe [he
the difference
accuracy. or both
precision or accuracy, both.. between the shape of the
berween [he Earth and a perfect
perfecc sphere.
Dissolve:
Dissolve: To remove theme boundaries (a rc. lines) between
(arc, described by the relationship (a-b) /a. where a is the
(a-b)/a. rhe
adjacenr the fact [hat
adjacenc polygons. keying on [he that some of the equatorial (or semi-major) radius and b is the polar (or
polygons
po 3nrihure. thus
lygons have the same value for some attribme, rhus semi-minor) radius of the
[he Earm.
Earth.
they should be logically combined.
[hey Font: The rype of <ext
Font: text style
sryle being used. such as Times
segmentation: A vec[Qr
Dynamic segmentation: vector data analysis
ana.lysis process New Roman, Arial. Co urie
Arial, or Cour r . lr
ier. l[ may also repre-
that centers
cencers on
011 the use of lin
linee segments,
segments. and anempts
atte mpts sent
sem rypes of symbols commonly used in word pro-
to link a nerwork
necwork ofoflines.
lines, based on a common attdb-
attrib- cessing or graphics programs.
programs.
ute,, so mat
ute that the lines are grouped or joined into cate-
3re grouped. From-node: One of the twO end nodes of a line
From-node: Itne or arc.
arc,
gories of inrerest.
interest. the first one of the (wo
twO (hat
that was digitized. The mher
other is
Easting: A measu
measurere of distance east of a coordinate sys- the to-node.
rem 's
tem 's origin. Geodesy: An area of mathematics that
thar involves determin-
determ in-
Editing: The process of modilYing
modifying either [he
the spatial
spatial shape ing the precise shape and size of Earth features,
feat ures. as well
or locarion
location of landscape fearures.
features, oorr the
me tabular data as posidons
positions of features on the Earth's surface.
ma[ describes the attributes of each landscape fearure.
that feamre. Geographic Information Scien ce (GIScience) : The
Science
Elevation contours: Lines that indicate vertical elevation identification and study of issues that are related to
distances. or changes in elevation, across a landsca
landscape.
pe. GIS use, affect its implementat
GIS implementation.
ion. and that arise from
Ellipsoid: A spheroidal figure used co
ro describe me
the shape irs application
ics applica[ion (Goodchild. 1992).
of [he
me Earth.
Ea"h. Geograpb
Geographic ic Information System (GIS): A system
syscem
Equal area projection: A projection system where the designed to captu re, store, edit, man
capture, ipulate, analyze.
manipulate. ana lyze.
Earth's features are represented on a map using a con- display. and export data related
display, reiated to geographic
geograph ic featu res.
features,
stant
scant scaling factor. thus (he
the area of land features is and includes not
nor only the hardware and software
sofTWare nec-
preserved.
preserved. essary to accomplish tasks, but also the data-
accomplish these tasks.
p rocess: The process of exrracting
Erasing process: extracting from one GIS
GIS bases acquired or developed. and the people perform-
database only those landscape features outs ide [he the tasks.
ing the casks.
266
256 Appendix A GIS Related Terminology

Geoid: An irregular shape mar that approximates Earth's Join process: A process designed co to eirher ( I) associare
ei ther (1) associate an
mean sea level perpendicular co to the forces of gravicy.
gravity. exrernal table
external rable (wi
(withth no landscape features)
feamres) to a table rable of
Global Positioning System (GPS): A system allowi allowingng a spatial database using a join ite item,
m, or (2) to associate
one to locate their position on the Earth's surface su rface by fearu res from one spatial
features spatial database to another spatial
another spada)
rece iving signals from satellites.
receiving satell ites. TThehe signals are used (Q to database.
database, usi ng poinr-in-polygon
using point-in-polygon or nearest neighbor
calculate a posicion
position based on triiarcration.
rrjlarerarion. and perhaps rechniques. When joining ,ables,
(echniques. tables, the 'Ype type of join can
differemial correction, processes.
differential be a one-repone join. a one-tQ-many
one-to-one join, one-to-many join, a many-to- manY-(Q-
Graticule: The collecrion
Graticule: collection of meridians and parallels o ne join,
join) or a many-ro-few
many-to-few join join..
superimposed on the rhe Earth's
Ea"h's surface. Join item: A field (column) in a tabular database darabase thatrhar
Grid: A geographic database made up of rasrer raster features, contains similar informatio
in formationn as a field (column) in a
commonly called grid cells. Can also refer to ro a graticule. seco nd tabular
second tabu lar data base. For example)
database. example, a field in o ne
one
Grid cell: The smallest unit in a raster ras ter darabasc.
database. or pixel. database may be called 's 'stand_number'
tand_number' and contain co ntain
represemed by squaresi however.
Usually these are represented however, any timber stand numbers, while a field in a second data-
regular formfo rm that fully covers an area (square. rectan- base may be called 'srand', 'stand', and again contain timber rimber
gle, "iangle,
triangle, hexagon, polygon, erc.) etc.) could be consid- srand
stand numbers. While ,he the field names do not have to
ered a grid cell. be [he jnformation within each field must be
the same, the informacion
Gross error: Sometimes referred [0 to as human error, it is similar, such as in this example. where both contain co ntain
a blunder or mher other mistake made somewhere in {he the rimbe r stand
timber srand numbers.
numbers. The join would then rhen link the rhe
dara
data collcedon.
collection, map creation, or editing processes. two databases using timber stand number
twO number as the rhe com-
Heads-up digitizing: A A merhod
method of developing vector veccor GIS mon element. so data for sta standnd 1234 from one dara- data-
darabases (of poines,
databases points, lines, or polygons) where a user base will be matched
marched wirh with dara stand 1234 in the
data for srand rhe
creates landscape features using the com purer's puter's mouse, second database.
generally with a raster rasre r image as a backdrop so SO as to Labels: Like annotation)
annotation, which is text or strings of char-
draw (or point poim out)our) those
rhose landscape fear featuures rhar are
res that acters and numbers, these are used [Q to describe land-
imporram.
important. For example, displaying a digital orrhopho- orthopho- karu res on a map. They us
scape features ually arise from some
usually
tograph as a backdrop,
backdrop , one might use the computer's com purer's anribme field. or column, in the
anribure field, rhe spatial da tabase's rab-
database's tab-
mouse to draw roads, or timber stands. T his method
This ular database. where for each landscape feature, feature. a
of dar
daraa development is quicker than rradirionaJ uaditional d. igitiz-
digitiz- description of that arrr ibute
attr ibu te (such as srand stand number,
iog, bur usually less accu
ing, rate, and does not
accurate, nor require a volume per acre, ac re, trail rype,
eype, road eype, etc.) exists. exiscs.
digitizing table.
rable. Legend: TIl.r
That parr
part of a physical map that thar contains
con rains therhe
Identity process: The acquisition of information within reference informatio
informationn necessary to inrerprer interpret [he the colors
a GIS database concern ing the area represented represe nted by of polygons, and the rhe sryles
styles aandnd colo
colors rs of lines and
another GIS GIS database. Here, like with an intersect incersecc poims.
pOlms.
process, one GIS database is physically laid onco onto Line: A A String
string ofX,Y coordinares (vertices) that rhat make up
anorher,
another, yer yet rhe
the resulting thirdulird (new) GIS database is a cominuous
cont in uous linear feature.
feawre. A single si ngle line feature (a
defined by the rhe area of coverage of one of (he the inpm
input GIS road) can contain
comain many small arcs that thar are to ropologi-
pologi-
darabases.
databases. cally linked at ar their
rheir nodes (end-points),
(end-pointS), since each arc
Intersect process:
process: The acquisition of information con- co n- stans
starts and ends with a node.
cerning the rhe overlapping areas of two rwo GIS darabases.
databases. In Linlc A line thar
Link that connects
co nnects poims, as defined by nodes
uti lizing
mil iz ing an intersect process,
p rocess, a thithird, GIS database
rd. new GIS and vertices (some(somerimes
rimes called
caIled an arc).arc) .
wi
willll be created chat that consists
co nsists of only those areas wbere where Link process:
process: A process designed [0 eimer
to ei ther assoc iateiare land-
the twO two o riginal GI
original GIS databases overlap, no more, no scape features from one database to another database.
less. This process allows the selection and view of landscape
Intervisibility: A descriprion
description (from(fro m each unir unit of land's feawres from database.
features database, and the inspection of associ-
perspective) of the number of viewpoints viewpo ints that can be ared
ated {linked} dara in the
(linked) data rhe other database. Sometimes Somerimes
seen from a land unit. relare.
called a relate.
Intranet: A network of compucers
Intranet: similar ro
computers similar to the Internet,
[nterner, Logical consistency: A desc descrip
rip tio
rio n of how well the rela-
except access is limited to a set of authorized 3urhoriz.ed people trionships
ionships of different
difFerenr 'Ypes
types of daradata fit cogerher wir;,in
together with in
(usually internal
inrernal ro organ ization).
to an organi zation). aa system.
267
 Appendix A GIS Related
Appendix Related Terminology 257

Logical operators:
operators: The operarors 'and', 'or', and 'not' Point:
Po int: A single X,Y
X,V coordinate that represenrs
represents a feature
feamre
that
rhar allowing one to
ro develop a complex query wirhour
without on the landscape (such as a research plot, culvert, owl
having ro
to perform several single ccriterion
riterion queries in neSt, or
nest, or spring). These features
feamres are usually deemed tOO
roo
sequence. small (by an organization) co £0 represent as a line or
Map
M ap scale:
scale: T he ratio of map distance £0
[0 ground distance
disrance polygon.
represented
rep resemed on the map. For example, I :250,000 map Polygon:
Polygon: A multi-sided, closed spatial object thar
that has an
scale indicates that I un
unit
it (inch, perhaps) on a map area. Polygons are formed by connecting lines (arcs)
represents 250,000 units (inches) on the ground repre- uuntil
mil a closed area is formed. They may define the
sented
semed by the
rhe map. boundaries of timber stands, so il s types, riparian
prOeeM: A process that
Merge process: rhat creates a single G IS data- buffers, wildlife habitat,
habitar, and so on, using a set of logic
base from a set (or subset) of one or
or more
morc previously- consistent across the landscape. Squares. triangles,
triangles. rec-
developed GIS
G IS databases. Poinr,
Point, liline,
ne, and polygon polygons, yet
tangles, and hexagons can be considered polygons. ye r
together,
databases can be merged rogerhe however, database
r. however. the term
rerm usually applies to irregularly shaped objects.
types
rypes are generally mixed. The resulting merged GIS Precision: The degree of specificiry
specificity £0
to which a measure-
dacabase may co
database comain feacures (hat
ntain landscape features that overlap. ment is described. Can also refer to consistency.
consis rency.
M etadata: Data that summarize the characteristics of
Metadata: Public Land Survey System (PLSS): Established in 1785
databases (or 'data about data).
dara). by the US Congress as a na<ional
national system for the
rhe meas-
Network: A co collection
ll ection oflines
of lines con
connected
necred via their nodes, urement and subdividing of public lands. At 24-mile
representing possible paths from one location
and represeming loca tion to intervals north and south of each baseline,
basel ine, standard
another. For example, a stream ne[Work
anomer. network would include parallels
pa rallels are established that extended east and west of
all of the streams, where
where: the smaller headwater Streams
streams the principal meridian. Guide meridians were also
connect co to wider streams
screams with more water
water flow.
Row, and so established at
ar 24-mile imervals
intervals east and west of the
on to rivers, and perhaps rhe the oceans. A road system is principle meridian. The grid of meridians and parallels
anothe r network char
3.nQ[her that is more complex in nacu re. re, creates blocks, each nominally 24 miles square.
rhere may not be a logical flow
because there Row of traffic from Townships are creared
created wirhin
within each block by forming
one road £0 (Q me
the next. Yet to de termine
£0 determ ine optimum paths range lines (running
(run ning north and sour h) and township
south) townsh ip
or alternative roUtes,
routes, you would need to £0 know which lines (ru nning easr
(running east and west) both at sLx-mi inrer~
six-mi le inter-
roads connect (Q ro which other roads, what types
orner roads. rypes of roads vals. Each township
£Ownship is six miles square.
square. Each township
they are, and what
whar restrictions may be placed on them . is divided into sections, with each section measuring
Node: One (of two) end-points
end-pointS of a line. one square mile; there are 36 secdons
sections within a town-
£Own-
Northing:
Northing: A measure of distance
diStance nonh
norrh of a coordinate ship. Sections
ship. Secrions are numbered 1-36 sraning
starting at the
system's origin. upper right hand corner of a township.
tOwnship.
Overlay analysis: The process of analyzing or combining Query: To selecr
select a subset of landscape features from a
multiple layers of inform
information
ad on at one time. la rger set using some selection criteria.
c ri teria. These state-
Pan: To slide the
rhe viewable image to
to one side (left, right, ments can include a single piece of logic (stand_age
mentS
up. down,
up, down. or some combination of these).
these), allowing a S 40), or multiple pieces of
$ of/ogic
logic connected by Boolean
view of some portion of the landscape not
nOt viewable wirh
with operators. For examp
example,
le. suppose you have 10,000
10.000 tim-
the previous arrangement. Actively called
caHed 'panning,' or
or ber stands,
ber stands. and you are interested in those chat
that could
'grabb ing' when users are performing (his
this action.
acrion. be commercially thinned.
rhinned. You could query the rhe GIS
Photogrammetry: T The mC'.suremenrs of
he act of collecting measuremems database for those stands of a cenain
certa in age,
age. with a query
landscape fearures
features from a image or photograph. such as (stand_age ~ 30 AND stand_age S
$ 40).
40) .
Pixel: The smallest unit in a raSter
raster database, or
o r a grid cell. Queries can be rather quite complex.
ramer simple, or quite.
Formed
Fo rmed by combining the twO fWO terms 'picture' and Random error: A narural by-product of how one meas-
'element'. ures and describes landscape featu res.. No matter
fearures marter how
Planar coordinates: X,V coordinates that relate co, £0. or are well maps are developed oorr data are collected, error wiU will
positioned on
on,, a planar or
or horizomal
ho rizonral surface. usual ly exist in the representation
usually rep resentation oflandscape features.
Plane coordinate system:
sys tem: Recta ngular coordinates
Rectangular coo rd inates that Raste r: A data structure based on cells organized
Raster: o rganized in rows
reference landscape features displayed
fearures as disp layed on a flat map and columns. T This
his is a grid-based structure where an
of rhe
the Earth's surface.
surfilce. rep resented by aa cell, an
entire area is represented and d a single land-
268
258 Appendix A GIS R
Appendix Related
elated Terminology
Terminology

seape fearure
scape feature (rimber stand. road,
(timber stand, plor) can be
road. research plOl) (poin<ing
(pointing and clicking wirh
with a com purer
compu ter mouse). The
represcmed by one or more cell.
represented landscape features selected are usually
us ually done so for
Rasterization:
Rasterization.: The process of coconve rti ng veccor
nverting veccoc data to
(Q some reason, perhaps (0 spacial opera-
to perform some spatia]
data, usually by scann ing.
raster daca. tion
ti o n on
o n them (such as buffer some selected srreams).
screams), or
Record
Record:: Each fearure
feature (poin<.
(point, line. polygon)
line, or polygo GIS
n) in a GIS to sim
simpplyly visually inspect those landscape features with
fea tu res w ith
represenred by a record in a tabular
database is represented tahu lar data- a characteristic of interest (such as being curious about
ofimerest
base. A record is a row in the ta bular
tabu database, thus
lar darabase, where the culverts
cul vens over 20 yeayears
rs old are located in a
each row represents
represems a feamce
feacure.. Associated with each forest).
fores t).
record are more fields (columns), which con-
arc one or morc Shaded relief map: A map intended to simulare
Sbaded rhe sun-
sim ulate the slln-
tain (he
rain the character istics of each feature.
characrc riscics lir and shaded areas of a landscape when assuming thaT
li t aod rhar
Region da(3 structure mat
Region:: A data that consis ts of vector features
consists the sun
su n is pos idoned
itioned at some location in the sky.
(lines or polygons),
polygons). yet allowing
al lowi ng overlapping areas. Slivers:
Slivers: Very small polygons thar res ul r during
that result du ring overlay
Remotely sensed data: Raster dara data acqui red by a sensor
acquired se nsor operations (union, identity,
(u nion , ide intersectio n) or during
nti ty. incersecdon)
(camera, satellite) that is some d distance
istance from the land- processes. Sometimes these occur
clipping or erasing processes.
scape fearures
features being sensed. when common borders are represented differendy, differently,
Root mean square error (RMSE): A measure of the error from sepa
separate dig itizing
rate digitiz ing processes, and sometimes
berwee n a mapped point and its associated nue
between true simply
these occur sim ply as a result ooff the spatial process that
grou nd position. Common
ground Com mo nly ly used when assess in ingg spa- was anempred.
attem pted.
cial
tial accuracy o r digitizing
digitizi ng a map.
map , RMSE measu res d1C the Slope class
class:: The gradien< porrion of a landscape.
gradienr of a portion landsca pe, as
posicional error inherent in the registrati
registration
on po ints
ims on ddescr ibed by a distinct
esc ribed disriner class (e.g
(e.g..•, 0-10 per een<.
ce n t,
the hardcopy map. perr een<.
11 - 20 pe ere.).
cent, etc.).
Satellite
SateUite imagery: Dara Da ta eaprured remote sensing
capru red by a remote- Space-delimited text file: A
Spaee-delimited rexr file created
A text creared in a word
device housed in a satellsatellite
ite that is positioned above me system,
processing sys tem , a text ediror, spreadsheet,, or data-
edirar, spreadsheet dara-
Earth's surfuce.
surface. Generally, the data consists of values base, and saved in a format where items are separated
sepa rated
representing
represeming the relative degree of reAecrance reflectance of elec- by blank spaces. The following.
fo llowing, for example.
exampl e, could
co uld
tromagnetic energy in cenain cereain wavelength categories indicate hab
habitat suitability
irat su i(abili ry index values
in dex vaJ forr speci
ues fo specific
fic
(bands). T he imagery is srored sto red as rasrer dara with a
raster data timbe r stand polygons, with the first hem
timber item of each
eac h line
spaciall resolution
spatia resoludon that can range from 1I meter to 1I identifYing the
identifying rhe polygon,
polygon. and the
rhe second irem
item listing
lisring
kilometer. rhe habitat
the habitar suitability index:
Scale: The relarionship
relatio nsh ip between a map displayed on a
10.657
computer screen or primed
computer printed on a typerype of media (paper,
20.433
mylar. ere.). and the
mylar, etc.), rhe actual physical dimensions of tbe rhe
30.298
area . For example, a townsh
same area. tow nsh ip (36 sq square
uare miles,
m iles ,
or 23.040
23,040 acres) drawn on a map where I inch on the data):: A
Spatial database (or data) A database containing
co ntaining some
represems 1I mile on the ground,
paper represents grou nd, is displayed at information about an area or landscape, the relation-
relacion-
a scale where I inch represems
represenrs 63.360
63,360 inches.
inches. This ships among
amo ng the features in the landscape,
landscape. and per-
scale can thenrhen be expressed as a fraction (I :63360) or haps some tabular or attribute (non-spatial)
(non-spacial) data about
abom
a equ ivalence (i"
equivalence (l" = I mile). each feature
fea mre.. These
T hese databases are usually stored in
excraccing features from a map
Scanning: The process of extracting some known coo rdi nate system, thus each la ndscape
or phorograph
photograph and an d sroring
storing reAeered
reA ccted values generally as feature has one or more
mo re spat ial coo rdin ates [hat
rdinates define
that defi ne
a raster database. Line fo llowing
follo wing and text recognitio
recognition n where it exists.
exists.
processes are promising methodsmelhods for converting analog
fo r convening process: A process of erearing
Splitting process: creating mulriple
multiple land-
maps to vec(Qr
vector GIS databases. scape features from a single landscape
landsca pe feature.
Secant projection: A projection system where whe re the Earth's Spurious polygons: Small fractions of polygons ereared
created
intersects
surface intersec ts a map surface in mo marc than one
re (han GIS process.
as a result of a GIS
locat ion. system : A coordinate
State plane coordinate system: system
coo rdina te sys tem
Selection:: A set of one oorr more landscape features
Selection fearures developed in the
rhe 1930s by rhe
the US Coast and Geoderie
Geodetic
(poinrs.
(poims, lines.
lines, or polygo
polygons)ns) from
fro m a single GIS
GIS darabase.
database, Survey to create a unique set
creare planar coo rdi
sel of planar rdinates
nates for
cchosen
hosen based on a Query or by manual methods rhe 50 United States.
each of the Sures.
269

Systematic error: Sometimes referred [0 as instcumencal
error, it is propagated by problems in the processes
and [Ools used (0 measure spatial locations or other
attribute data.
Tabular data: The data in a GIS database that describe the
attributes of each landscape feature. Usually displayed
as rows (records) and colu mns (fields), where each row
represents a landscape fearure, and each column repre-
sents an attribute of that feature. When displayed, a
tabula r database often looks as if it is in a spreadsheet.
Tangent projection: A projection system where the
Earth's surface (O uches a map surface at one location
(a tangent).
To-node: One of the [wo end nodes of a line o r are, the
last one of the twO that was digiti zed. The other is the
from-node.
Topology: An exp ression of the spatial relationshi ps
among landscape features in a GIS database.
Triangular irregular network (TIN) : A vecto r data
model that descri bes the landscape using triangles.
Each corner of each triangle is described by a set of
values, such as elevation, aspect, and coordinates.
Unj on process: The acquisition of information within
twO GIS databases concerni ng the area represenced by
both GIS databases. H ere, like with an incersect
process, one GIS database is physically laid onto
another, yet the resulting th ird (new) GIS database is
defined by the area represented by both of the input
GIS databases.
Universal Transverse Mercator (lJfM) : The most com-
mon coordinate system used in the US, which divides
the Eanh into 60 venical zones, each w ne covering 6°
oflongitude. The zones are numbered 1- 60 stanin g at
180· longitude (the international date line) and pro-
ceeding eastward.
Update interval: The period of time betwee n the per-
formance of subsequenc update processes on a GIS
database.
Update process: T he methods used to maintain the cur-
rent Sta tus and descrip tion of landscape features con-
tained in GIS databases.
References
Goodchild, M.F. 1992. Geographical information sci-
ence. Internationaljournal o/Geographical information
Spurns. 6(1):31-45.
,
Appendix A GIS Related Terminology 259
Variable-widtb buffers: Bu ffe rs that vary in size based
on some anribu te of the landscape features being
buffered.
Vector: A data structure common ly used to represent
points, lin es, or polygons. This is a coordinate-based
stru cture (nor a regular grid), which may not enrirely
fill an area, and each landscape featu re is represented
by X,Y coord inate pairs. Attributes can be assoc iated
with each feature (point, line, or polygon).
Vectorization: The process of converting rasrer data to
vectO r data.
Verification process: The processes that one wo uld use
to find landscape features or attri butes requi ring ed it-
ing. With a verificat ion process, the goal is to ensure
that a particular set of data is ap propriate (o r reaso n-
able, or within some standard)
Vertex (Vertices pl.): One of a set ofX,Y coordinates that
delineate an arc o r line.
Viewshed analysis: The process of understanding the
pan ions of a landscape visible from specific landscape
features of interest.
X, Y coordinates: A set of values [hat represent a pain[ in
space, relative to the coord in ate system be ing
employed. A single X,Y coordinate could represent a
point featu re. Lines (arcs) are characterized by a series
of X,Y coordinates. Polygo ns are formed by a collec-
ti on ofl ines (a rcs), thus have many X,Y coordinates to
define their shape and posi tion on a landscape.
Z coordinate: A th ird value associated with an X,Y coor-
dinate usually indicating the elevat ion of the paine in
space above some reference (such as mean sea level) .
X,Y coordinates do not necessarily need to have a Z
coo rdinate to be usefu l, whereas Z coordinates need
their X,Y associates to be of use.
Zoom: To focus more closely on a smaHer or larger area
of a spatial database, or to enlarge o r make smaller an
area of a spatial database, showing more or less detail.
Zoom-in refers to focus ing mo re closely on a portion
of a spatial database. Zoom-out refers to focusing less
closely on a portion of a spatial database.
270
Appendix B
GIS Related Professional
Organizations and Journals
Compi/.d by Rongxia (Tiffany) Li
The following is a list of GIS-related professional organi-
zation and peer-reviewed journals. We apologize in
advance for any om issions. and will gladly add any other
o rganizations or journals to the list as they are brought
our attention.
Organizations
American Association for Geodecic Surveying. 6 Mont-
gomery Village Avenue . Suire #403 Gaithersburg.
MD 20879 USA. (h ttp://www.aags mo.org/)
American Association of Geographers. 1710 Sixteenth
Street NW. Washington. DC 20009-3 198 USA.
(http: //www.aag.org)
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. 6
Montgomery Village Aven ue. Suite #403 Gaithers-
burg. MD 20879 USA. (http://www.acs m.net/)
American Geophysical Union. 2000 Florida Avenue
NW. Washington. DC 20009- 1277 USA. (http://
www.agu.orgl)
American Plan ning Association. 122 S. Michigan Ave.,
Suite 1600 Chicago. IL 60603 I 1776 Massachuserrs
Ave .• NW. Washington. DC 20036-1904 USA.
(http://www.planning.orgl)
American Society of Landscape Architects. 636 Eye
Sueet. NW. Washington. DC 20001-3736 USA .
(http: //www.asla.orgl)
American Sociery for Phomgrammercy & Remote
Sensing. 5410 Grosvenor Lane. Suite 210. Bethesda.
MD 20814-2160 USA. (http://www.asprs.orgl)
(0 Association of American Geographers. 17 10 16th Street.
NW. Washington. DC 20009-3198 USA (http://
www.aag.org/)
British Cartographic Society. BCS Administration. 12
Elworthy Drive. Wellington. Somerset. T A21 9AT.
England. UK. (http://www.cartography.org.ukl)
Canadian Association of Geographers. McGill University.
Burnside Hall 805 Sherbrooke Sr. West. Room 425.
Montreal. Quebec. Canada H3A 2K6 (http://www.
cag-acg.ca/en/)
Cartography and Geographic Information Society. 6
Montgomery Village Avenue. Suite #403 Gaithers-
burg. MD 20879 USA. (http://www.carrogis.orgl)
Geog raphic and Land Information Society. 6 Mont-
gomery Village Avenue. Suite #403 Gaithersburg.
MD 20879 USA. (http://www.glismo.orgl)
Geographical Society of New South Wales. PO Box 162
Ryde NSW 1680. Australia. (http://www.gsnsw.org.aul)
Geosparial Information and Technology Association.
14456 East Evans Avenue. Au rora. CO 80014 USA.
(http://www.gita.orgl)
Management Association for Private Photogrammetric
Surveyors. 1760 Reston Parkway. Suite 515. Reston.
VA 20190 USA. (http://www. mapps.orgl)
271
 Appendix B GIS Related Professional Organizations and Journals
Narional Council of Examiners for Enginee ring and
Surveying. 280 Seneca Road. Clemson. SC 29633-
1686 USA. (Imp://www.ncees.org)
National Society of Professional Surveyors . 6 Mont-
gomery Village Avenue. Suite #403 Gaithersburg.
MD 20879 USA. (http://www.nspsmo.orgi)
National States Geographic Information Council. 2105
Laurel Bush Road . Suite 200 Bel Air. MD 21015
USA. (http: //www. nsgic.orgl)
New Zealand Geographical Sociery. Department of
Geography. The Universiry of Waikaro. Private Bag
3105. Hamilton. New Zealand. (http ://www.nzgs.
co.nzl)
Remore Sensing and Phocogrammerry Sociery. c/o
Department of Geography. The Universiry of Not-
tingham . University Park. Nottingham NG7 2RD.
United Ki ngdom. (http://static.rspsoc.orgi)
Society of Cartographers. Mr Brian Rogers. Membership
Secretary. Canographic Resources Unit, Depr of
Geographical Sciences. University of Plymouth. Drake
Circus. Plymouth PL4 8AA. Uni ted Kingdom (http:
//www.soc.org.uki)
University Consonium for Geographic Informacion
Science. PO Box 15079. Alexandria. VA 22309 USA
(http://www.ucgis.org)
Urban and Regional Information Systems Associacion
(URlSA) . 1460 Renaissance Dr .• Suite 305 Park Ridge.
IL 60068 USA. (http://www.urisa.orgi)
Journals
Annals of th. Association ofAm"ican Ceographers (http://
www.blackwellpublishing.com/journaLasp?ref=0004-
5608)
Asian Ceograph" (http: //geog.hku.hklag/default.htm)
Asian Journal of Ceoinformatics (http ://www.a-a-r-s.
org/ajglindex.htm)
Australian C.ographer (http://www.tandf.co.ukljournals/
carfax/00049182.html)
Cartographica (http://www.utpjournals.com/carto/carto.
htm1)
Cartography and C.ography Information Science (http://
www.cartogis.org/publications)
Computational Ceosciences (http://www.springerlink.com/
content/ 1573- 1499)
Computm and Electronics in Agricultur< (http ://www.
e1sevier.comlloC3te/compag)
Computers 6- GloscilllUS (h [{p: //www.e1sevier.com/loca(e/
cageo)
261
Cybergeo. European Journal of Ceography (http: //www.
cybergeo.presse.fr/)
Environmental Modeling and Softwar< (http ://www.
e1sevier.com/loC3(e/envsoft)
Geocarto Interna tional (hnp:llwww .geocarro.com/
geocarto.html)
Ceographical Analysis (Imp://www.blackwellpublishing.
com/journaLasp?ref=OO 16-7363)
Ceographical and Environmental Modelling (http://www.
tandf.co.uk/jo urn als/carfax/13615939.html)
Ceographical Research (Imp://www.blackwellpublishing.
com/journaJ.asp?ref= 1745-5863&Site= 1)
Ceographical Systems (http://link.springer-ny.comllink/
service/journals/l 0 109Irocs.htm)
Ceography Compass (http://www.blackwellpublishing.
com/journaLasp?ref= 1749-8198&site= I)
Ceol nformatica (http ://www.springer.com/west/home?
SGWID=4-40 109-70-35704166-0)
CIScimce 6- Remote Sensing (http://www.bellpub.com/mses)
IEEE Transactions on Ceoscience and Remote Sensing (http://
ieeexplo re. ieee.org/xpIiRecenrlssue.jsp?punumber=36)
International Journal of GeographicaL Information Science
(http: //www.tandf.co.ukljournalsIrf/13658816.html)
International Journal of R.mot( Sensing (http: //www.
tandf.co.ukljournalslrf/O 1431 161.html)
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry 6- Remote Sensing (http:
Ilwww.itc.nl/isprsjournall)
Journal of C.ographic Information and Decision Sci",ce
(http://www .geodec.org/)
Journal of Ceographical Systems (http://link.sprin ger.de/
linklservice/journals/l 0 109/index.htm)
New Zealand C.ographer (http://www.nzgs.co.nzlJournals
Online.aspx)
Norwegian Journal of CfOgraphy (htt p: //www.tandf.
no/ngeog)
Photogrammetric Engineering 6- Remote Sensing (http://
www.asprs.org/publications/pers/index.html)
Remote Slnsing ofEnvironment (hnp://Wr.vw.clsevier.com/
locate/rse)
Spatial Cognition and Computation (http://www.wkap.nl/
journalhome.htm/1387-5868)
Surveying and Land Information Systems (http://www.
acsm.net/salisjr.html)
The Bulktin of the Soci.ty of Cartographm (http: //www.
soc.org.uklbulletin /bulletin.html)
Th. Canadian Ceographer (http://www.blackwellpublishing.
com/CG)
The Cartographic Journal (http: //www.maney.co .uk/
journals/carm)
272
262 Appendix B GIS Related Professional Organizations and Journals
Appendix

The Proftssional Ceographa (http://www.blackwell

Proftssiollal Geographtr Omp: ll www.b lackwell fnstitllU of BritiJh
Transactions of the Imti"''' Ceographers (hnp:
British Geographm (h((p:
publishing.com/PG) Ilwww .blackwellpliblishing.com/journaLasp?
.blackwellpliblishing.com/journal. asp? ref=
Transactions in GIS
CIS (hcrp:llwww.blackwellpublishing.
(http://www.blackwellpublish ing. 0020-2754&si[<= I)
0020-2754&si,e= Il
com/journalsltgis)
com/jou rnalsitgisl URISA lo.mal
Journal (http://www.urisa.org/
(http://www.urisa.org/urisajournal)
urisajournal)

273
Appendix C
GIS Software Developers
Compiled by Rongxia (Tiffany) Li
The following is a list of organizacions-governmemal.
university, and private-that develop and distribute GIS-
related software programs. Included are many of the com-
mon GIS software programs as well as contact informa-
rion (e.g .• website addresses) for each, however. the list is
not exhaustive. In most cases, GIS software programs
must be purchased either from the developers, or from
software diStributOrs, who are nor listed below. Sales rep-
resentatives associated with (he developers may be able to
direct you to a loeru software distributor. We apologize in
advanee for any omissions, and wiil gladly add any other
products to [he list as (hey are brought to our atremian.
GIS Software Program,
Distributor, and Website
ArcGIS(Environmenta l Systems Research Institute, Inc.
[ESRI], 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-
8100 USA) http: //www.esri.eom
Arclnfo (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.
[ESRI1 , 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-
8 100 USA) http://www.esri .com
ArcYiew (Environmental Systems Research insricuce, Inc.
[ESRI], 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-
8100 USA) http://www.esri.com
ATLAS (Environmental Systems Research Insricute, Inc.
[ESRI], 380 New York Sueet, Redlands, CA 92373-
8100 USA) http://www.esri.com
Auro CAD (Aurodesk Media & Emertainmem, Mumbai,
400052, India) http://www.aurodesk.com
ERDAS Imagine (Leica Geosystems Geosparial Imaging,
5051 Peachtree Corners Circle Norcross, GA 30092-
2500 USA) http://gi.leica-geosystems.com/LGISubl
x33xO.aspx
Geomatica (PC! Geomatics, 50 West Wi lmot Street,
Richmond Hill, Omario, Canada, L4B IM5) http: //
. .
www.pclgeomancs.com
GeoMedia (lntergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL
35894 USA) http://www.intergraph.com
GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Supporr System)
http://grass.itc.i t
IORISI (Clark Labs, Clark University, 950 Main Street,
Worcester, MA 0 I GI 0-1477 USA) hrrp:/Iwww.
c1arklabs.org
ILWIS (lmernarional Institute for Geo-Information
Science and Earrh Observation, [lTC], 7500 AA
Enschede, The Netherlands) http://www.itc.nllilwis/
Manifold System GIS (Manifold Net Ltd., 1945 North
Carson Street, Suite 700, Carson City, NY 89701
USA) http://www.manifold.net
Map Info (MapInfo Corporation, One Global View,
T roy, NY 12 180-8399 USA) http: //www.map info.
com
MGE Products (lmergraph Corporation, 170 Graphics
Drive, Madison , AL 35758 USA) hrrp:/Iwww .
inrergraph.com
SuperMap GIS (SuperMap GIS Technologies, Inc., 7th
Floor, Tower B, Technology Fonune Center, Xueqing
Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China, 100085 )
h[tp: llwww.supermap.com
274
Index
accred itation, 234, 249
accuracy. 9-10; relative, 9
adjacency, 45
Albers' equal area projection, 34
allocation distance function, 214
American Society for
Phomgrammerry and Remote
Sensing (ASPRS), 245--{j
analysis mask, 214
annotat ion , map. 76
arc: overlay process and, 171; vecroc
data and, 46
ArcGIS, 6--7, 8, 213, 219-20
Arisrode, 28
assoc iation: databases and. 144-56
attribure, 38, 49; definition of, 93;
editing, 60-1; errors in, 65--{j;
selecti ng, 90-9; updating, 167
AVIRlS,229
axis, 30-1
azimuth, 200-1
azimuchal map projection. 32-4
baseline, 37
bearing, 20 I
Bernard, A.M., and Prisley, S.P., 23
Berthier, Louis-Alexandre, 5
Bettinger, P., 237, 240
Boisrad, P., et al., 19
bounds, 36--7
Brooks Act, 250
buffering, 92, 106, 119-31;
concentric rings and, 125-6;
constam/fixed width, 121,
123, 125; individual , 121-2;
out pur of, 127; overlapping,
121-2,124,126,137;
uncontinguous/ non-
concinguous, 121-2; variable
width, 121, 123-4, 125
buffer zone, 119
cameras, 11 , 13-14
Canada Geographic Information
Sysrem (CGIS), 6
Canada Land Inventory, 186--7
Cartesian coordinate system, 30-1
canograms, 84
cartography, 3-4, 5, 72; com purer,
3-4, 5; see also maps
Cary, T., 234
catchmems,208-10
caveats: maps and, 79-80
cells; see grid cells
Census Bureau (US), 5--{j
Cemral Imelligence Agency (CIA), 5
centroid, 222
certification, 245-52
Clarke Ellipsoid, 30
classification, land, 185-8
clipping process, 106--14
color: DEMs and, 197-8; maps and
77-8,81-2,83
combine process, 132-8, 144
compact discs (CD), 19
completeness, 64
computer aided drafting (CAD)
sohware, 3-4
compurers, personal, 7, 19-20,22-3
conformal map projection, 33-4
conic map projection, 32-4
connectivity,45
containment, 45
COntou r intervals, 4 1, 298-9
COntou r lines, 198-200; watershed
delineation and, 208-9
contrasr: maps and, 77-8
control: datum and, 29-30
coo rdinate pair. 45
coordinate systems: geographical,
30-2; negative values in, 34-5;
planar, 34-7; rectangular,
34-7; vector data and, 45
coSt weighted distance function,
214-15
Cressie, N ., 63
cylindrical map projection, 32-4
Dangermond, J., 6
data: auxiliary, 227-8; collection of,
8-20, 228-9, 231; elevation,
30, 38-9; field collection of,
16--1 9; in co nsistent, 62-3;
manipulation and display of,
19-20; missing, 62; output
devices and, 20-2; sensitive,
242; data, soils, 186; spatial,
3, 9-10; storage technology
and, 19
databases: acquiring, 54-7, 241-2;
associating, 144-56; auxiliary
data and, 227-8; clipping,
106--14; combining, 144;
conversion of, 218-29;
creating, 10-20,57-9; editing,
59--{j3; erasing and, I 14-16;
format of, 55; high resolution,
228-9; joining, 144-53, 154;
linking, 144, 153-4; merging,
132,137-8,140-2; official,
134; overlay with point and
line, 178-80; ownership of,
239; permanent, 153;
proprietary, 109, 238; raster,
275

89. 197-224; relating. 144.
153-4; resolution of. 51.
228-9; scale of. 51; sharing.
237-40; soils. 110-11; sparial.
27-53; temporary. 144;
terminology for. 3; updating.
59-63.157-69.229-31.
239-40; vector. 89. 202-5; see
also database struc[Ure
database managemem, 3-4
database struc[Ures, 38-50;
alternate. 48-50; conversions
and . 218-19; raster. 38-44.
47-8.49; vector. 38. 44--8. 49
datum. 29-30. 42; vertical. 30
degrees. 31-2
density functions. 216-17. 221 - 2
density surface. 221-2
Oem. B.D .• 82
Descartes. Rene. 30-1
de Steiguer. J.E.• and Giles. R.H .• 2
desrination rable. 145
differential correction, 17
digital elevation model (OEM). 13.
16. 38-9. 197-211
digital line graph (OLG). 6
digital orthophotographs. 15-16.
39-40; updating and. 166-7
digital orthophoto quadrangle
(OOQ). 39. 231
d igiral raster graphics (ORGs).
40-3.231
digital versatile discs (OVO). 19
digitizing. 57-8. 163; 'heads-up'.
40.57.58.163; manual. 10.
57- 8
OIME (Dual Independent Map
Encoding). 6
direction, 201; map. 73; flow,
209-10
disclaimers. 233; maps and.
79-80
dissolve process. 133; see also
combine process
distance functions. 214--15, 220-1
dimibutions. 82-3
Dominion Land Survey. 37
Doyle. R.• 248
dynamic segmentation. 49-50
Earth: shape and size of. 27-8
eastings. 34--5
education. GIS. 234. 246-7, 249
Edwards. D .• 80-1
electronic distance measuring
dev ices (EOMs). 16
elevation, viewing. 206
elevation camours, 198-200
ell ipsoid. 29-30
engineer ing: v. GIS users, 246.
247-50
ENVI.227
Environmental Systems Research
Institute (ESRI). 6-7. 8
equal area map projection, 33--4
'erasing outside', 108
erasi ng process. 107. 114--16;
merging and. 140
Eratosthenes, 28
Erdas Imagine. 227
errors: a[(cibure, 65-6;
co mpensating. 64; cumulative,
63; database. 59-60. 62-7;
definition of. 64; gross. 63;
human, 63; instrumental,
63; multipath. 17-18;
positional. 64--5; random.
63-4; roer mean square,
65. 66; syntax. 102;
sysrema ric, 63
ERSI grid. 220
event themes, 49
Federal Acquisit ion Regulation
(FAR). 250
fiducial marks. 14
field offices: GIS capabilities and.
229-30.239-40
File Transfer Protocol (FTP). 56
flattening ratio, 29
flight line, 14--15
float ing point raster databases,
2 19
Aow direction. 209-10
focal searches. 2 15
font: maps and. 77
Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). 233. 242
fu nctions. 214-17. 220-2
Index 265
Galileo satellite sYStem. 18
geodesy. 28
Geodetic Reference System of 1980
(GRS80). 29. 30
geographic information science and
technology (G IST). 247
geographic informacion systems
(GIS) : applicarions of. 2. 7-8 ;
definition of. 3-4; hiStory
of, 4-7; natural resource
management and, 2, 7-8;
technology of. 8-23. 226-36
geographic information systems
specialiSt (G ISP). 246
geographical coordinate system,
30-2
Geography Network Canada. 55
geoid. 29. 30
global posirion ing sYStem (G PS) ,
11-13. 16-19; errors in.
17-18; receivers fo r. 18- 19
GLONASS (Global Navigation
Satellite SYStem). 18
Google Earth. 7. 227
graticule. 3 1. 32
gray tone: OEMs and. 197-8
grid cells. 38. 48. 217-18; OEMs
and. 197-8; null. 198; size
of. 58. 66; slope class and.
201.205
grid cell resolution. 214. 219
grid cell search functions. 215-16
habitat: definition of. 191 ; wildlife.
185, 19 1-2
habitat suitability index (HSI). 185.
191-2
high resolution databases. 228-9
'hot spots'. 216-1 7
hyperlinks. 227-8
identity process. 170. 174-5.
178-8 1
images. graphic. 22
input devices. 10- 20
insets. map. 75-6
Internet: databases and, 55-7; GIS
and. 7. 230-1; open. 234
interoperab ility. 234
276
266 Index

intersect processes, 170, 171-4.

imersect Manual of Federal Geographic
Geogtaphic Data 'No Data' category,
categoty, 198
178-8
178- 811 Products, 55 node, 45-6
node,45-6
imerva ls: contour, 41,198-9;
intervals: 41, 198-9: maps maps:
maps: anci llary informacion
ancillary information and. North American Datum of 1927
and, 82-3,
82-3; update, 159 78-9,
78-9; ch loropeth,
loroperh, 8 1-2; (NAD27),30
inrervisibiliry.205
intervisibility, 205 common problems of, 85-6, 85-6; North American Datum of 1983
Imranet,229
Intranet, 229 components of, 72-80, 72- 80; (NAD83), 30, 42
inven selection technique, 97-9
invert selecdon conrour, 83, design of, 71-88;
contour, 83; North Ame
Nonh American
rican Vertical Datum
Darum of
design loop and, 85, 85; digitizing 1988 (NAVD88), 30
join itemlfield,
item/field, 145 dot-densiry, 84;
of, 10; dot-density, 84, northings, 34-5
join
jo in process, 144-53, 154,154; nearest graduated circle, 84; projeccion
projection
neighbor, 150;
ISO, non-spatial and and, 27, 28, 32-4,
32--4, 37; ras<er-
raSter- Odyssey GIS, 6
spatial databases and
and,, 145- 56;
56, based, 84; reference, 80-1, 80-1; Ohio code system, 42
150-1,
point-in-polygon, 150-1; scale of, 15, 17; shaded relief, Onsrud, H.J.,
H.J ., 233
tabu lar atrributes
tabular attributes and, 167 200-1; slope ciass,class, 201-2; O pen Geospatial
Open Geosparial Consortium, 234
journals, GIS, 7, 261-2 rhematic, 81-4;
thematic, 8 1--4; types
rypes of, 80-4
80--4 organizations: GIS use and, 237-44;
Mapping Scientist,
ScientiSt, 246 professional GIS, 260-1
260- 1
Kaya, N ..., and Epps, H.H.,
H .H ., 77-8
77- 8 mapping unit: joining and, 150; I SO, ooutput
utpU[ devices, 20-2
Kieine r, M., 248
Kleiner, minimum , 133, 173
minimum, overlay analysis, 3, 106, 170- 83;
MapQuest,77
MapQuest, manual, 4-5, 170; null
111111 cells
Lambert
Lamberr conformal conic projection. Mercaco[ projeccion,
Ivterc3co[ 33-4
projec tion , 33--4 and, 198
33--4,35-6
33-4,35-6 merge process, 132, 137-8, 137- 8, 140-2
buildings,
landmark bui ldings, 43 meridian
meridian:: prime, 31; principal, 37 parallels: PLSS and, 37
parallels:
Landsat Thematic Mapper, II Merry, K.L.,
K.L. , er ai.,, 8
et aI. personal digiral
digital assistam
assistantss
landscape features: contiguous,
features: contiguous. meradata, 49, 55, 56-7, 67, 241
metadata, (PDAs), 231
(rDAs),231
similar, 135-6: discontiguous
sim ilar, 135-6; discontiguous,l meres,
metes, 36-7 Peucker, T .K.,
Peucker. .K., and Chrisman,
136-7; overlapping, 137- 8;
136-7, 8, mili tary grid system,
military sYStem, 35 N .,6
selecting, 90-105
90- 105 minutes. 31 - 2
minutes, 31-2 Phill ai. , 77
ips, R.J., et ai.,
Phillips,
latitude, 31 , 32, 35 Model Law, 247-8 photogrammerry, 13-
photogrammetry, 16;
13-16;
legal issues, 232--4
232-4 analytical, 15
IS
legend: interval, 82-3,
82- 3; map, 74-5 Naesser, E., and JonmeiSter,
jonmeisrcr, TT..,, 19 phorographs,
photographs, 13-16;
13- 16; scale of, 15;IS,
liabiliry, 232-3, 241 - 2
liability, National
Na tional Council of Exami ners for
Examiners vertical/oblique, 14;14, see also
licensing: data
dara products and, Engineering and Surveying digital onhophotographs
orthophotographs
233--4, professionals and
233-4; and,, (NeEES),247-8
(NCEES), 247-8 raster data and.
pixels: rasrer and, 38
246, 247-9 National Geodetic
National Venical Datum
Geodet ic Verrical planar coo
coordinate systems, 34-
rdinate systems. 34-77
LiDAR (light detecrion
detection and of 1929 (NGVD29), 30 plorrers, 20-1
plotters, 20- 1
ranging), 11 -l3,
-13, 238 National Map Accuracy Standards poinrs, 44-5
points, 44-5,, 47
line, 44-5, 47 (NMAS), 41, 43--4 43-4 polygo ns: overlapping, 137-8;
polygons:
link,46
link, 46 National Soil Database of Canada,
Canada, regions and , 50; spurious,
spurious.
link process, 144, 153-4,
153--4, 171 III 133, 173; Thiessen, 214;
local searches, 2 15 National
Natio nal T opographic Data Base
Topographic u ncon ti nguousl
uncontin no n-
guous/non-
'local shapes', 65 (NTDB),
(NTDB),40 40 conringuo
comi nguous.us. 121-2; vecto
vec[Qrr
consistency, 64
logical consisrency, Natoli, J.G
J. G..,, et ai.,
al., 237 data and, 44-5, 47
logical operators, 94-5 Natural Resources Canada.Canada, 55 Position
Posit ion D ilution of Precision
Dilurion
longitude, 3 1, 32, 35
longirude, NAVSTAR (Navigation Satellite (PDOP),
(PDO r ), 17
Tracking and Ranging), 18 poim, 209
pour point,
l., 5, 170
McHarg, I., map , 76
neadine, map. paine positioning. 18
precise point
Management
Manageme nt Association for
fo r Private
Privare neighborhood search func
funcrions,
tions) 9-1 OJ relative,
precis io n. 9-10;
precision. relative. 9
Phorogrammetric
Ph orogrammetric Surveyors 215- 16 'precision techn iques'., 228-9
techniques'
(MArrS),249-50
(MAPPS),249- 50 Newmn.
Newton, Isaac, 28-9 primers, 20- 1
printers,
277

privacy: as legal issue. 232-3
projections. map. 27. 2B. 32-4. 37
proximiry analysis, 120; su also
buffering
Public Land Survey System (PLSS).
37.43
public relations. 205
Pythagoras. 2B
Quadrangle maps; see USGS
Quadrangle maps
Qualifications-Based Selection
(QBS).250
queries. 90-1. 92-102.106;
advanced. 102; combinations
of. 9B-9; complex. 95;
dynamic. 102; hierarchical.
95-7; multiple criteria. 94-5;
single criterion. 94. 95-7;
spatial. 99- 101
ranges: PLSS and. 37
raster database analysis. 197-224;
software parameters for.
213-14
raster database structure, 38-44,
47-B. 49; vectO r databases and.
202-5
raster map algebra. 21B
raster reclassification, 217-18
raster resampling. 219
receivers. GPS. IB-19
Recreational Opponuniry Spectrum
(ROS). IB5. IBB-91
reference points. 57-B
reflectance intensity. 12-13
region data system. 49
regions. specific geographic.
106--IB
relate process; see link process
femme sensing. 3-4,11-13.38; see
also satellite data collection
Rempel. R.S .• and Kaufmann.
e.K.. 191
restricted/unrestricted areas, 115.
119.140--1
riparian areas: definicion of, 122
root mean square error (RMSE),
65. 66
satellite data collection. 11-12.
16--17. lB. 3B. 22B-9
scale: map. 74; photOgraphs and
maps. 15
scann ing. 10-11.57. 5B
screen displays. 21-2
secant map projection. 33
seconds. 31-2
sections: dynamic segmentation and .
49; PLSS and. 37
selection : landscape fearuces and,
90-105
selective avai lability (SA). IB
shaded relief maps. 200-1
shortest path distance function, 215.
220- 1
Sigrist. P.• et al.. 19
sink. 209. 210
slope class. 201-5
snapping. 137
Snow. Dr John. 5
software: computer aided drafting.
3-4; computer mapping. 5;
desktOp. 7. 22-3; developers
of. 263; GIS. B. 22-3;
integrated vectO r/raster. 226-7;
maimenance charges and . 23;
map projecrions and. 37; raster
ana lysis and. 213-14; vector
data and. 46-7j workstation.
22-3
soil survey geographic database
(SSURGO). III
source table. 145
Space Based Augmemation Systems
(SBAS) . IB
Spatial Analyst. 2 13. 219-20
spatial data. 3; quality of. 9-10
specific geographic regions:
definition of. 106; obtaining
information about. 106--IB
spectrum. e1ectromagnecic. 13
spli((ing process. 132. 136. 13B-40
standards: data exchange and. 231 - 2
standard deviacions. 204
state plane coordinate system (Spe ).
35-6
statist ical summary search functions,
215-16
Index 267
statistics, 3-4; zo nal. 216
STATSGO soils database. III
stewardship classes. IB6. IB7
straight line distance function. 214
Structured Query Language
(SQL). 101
surveying: v. GIS users. 246. 247-50
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
(SFI). I B6
symbology. map. 72-3
symax errors: queries and, 102
synthesis: GIS processes and. IB4-96
tables: joining and. 145. 153
tabular output. 22
tangem map projecdon. 33
target table. 145. 153
TerraServer. 7
Thiessen polygon. 214
TIGER (Topologically Integrated
Geographic Encoding and
Referencing System). 6
wpo logy. 6; edit ing. 61-2; vector
data and. 45-7
Tourism Opportunity Spectrum,
IBB
townships. 37
Triangular Irregular Network
(TIN). 48-9
typography. map. 76--7
Tyrwhi((. Jacqueline. 5
union processes. 170. 175-B. lBO- I
universal polar sterographic (ups)
system. 35
Universal Transverse Mercawr
(UTM).33
Universiry Consortium for
Geographic Information
Science (UCGIS). 245
'un-select'. 92
update process, 157-69; reasons
for. 158
Urban and Regional information
Systems Association (URlSA).
246
US Geological Survey (USGS). 6.
39-42.49- 50; 30 meter OEMs.
197; 7.5 Minute Series
278
268 Index

Quadrangle maps, 39-43, ve rtex, 45-6

vertex, Wing, M.G.,
M.G. , eret aI., 19
57-B
57-8 analysis,
viewshed ana 205-B
lysis, 205-8 workstations,
works ratio ns, 19-20, 22-3
'World Data Bank', 5
Valdez, 7B
Va ldez, P., and Mehrabian, A., 78 wa rranries: maps and,
warramies: and . 79 World Geodetic System of 1984
B9, 202-5
vecto r databases, 89, watershed delineation
warershed delineat ion,, 208- 10
20B-IO (WDS84),
(W DSB4), 29, 30
vecto r database struccure,
vector st ruccu re, 38, Wide Area Augmentar
Augmenration ion System
Sysrem
44-B,49
44-8,49 (WAAS) , 18
(WMS) IB zonal sratisrics,
zonal stat istics, 216
processes, 59-60
verification processes. Wing, M.G., and Karsky, R., 19

279