What is GIS?

There are a number of definitions of GIS. Different groups of people (general

public, planners, teachers, scientists) can find a different definition useful.

Here are some of them:

GIS is much more than a container of maps in digital form.

A GIS is a computerized tool for solving geographic problems
GIS is a spatial decision support system
GIS is a mechanized inventory of geographically distributed features and
facilities
GIS is a method for revealing patterns and processes in geographic
information
GIS is a tool to automate time-consuming tasks that are too tedious or
expensive or inaccurate if performed by hand
It is a set of computer tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will,
transforming and displaying spatial data from the real world for a particular set
of purposes, (Burrough et al. 1998)

Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
 What is GIS?
And why does it matter for teaching?

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are fundamental tools for

learning geography. They provide a means of enquiring into
geography through mapping. By extending and deepening the
way that maps are used to explore geographical issues, GIS can
re-emphasise the spatial dimension of geography, which is one of
the defining characteristics of our subject clarifying its unique
role and importance in the school curriculum. Using GIS therefore
encourages pupils to think spatially, or geographically.

Source: http://www.geography.org.uk/projects/spatiallyspeaking/
 What is GIS and why it
matters?
Almost everything happens somewhere and in most cases,
knowing where some things happen is critically important.
Examples:
Position of country boundaries
Location of hospitals
Routing delivery vehicles
Management of forest stands
Allocation of funds for sea defenses

Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
 Dr. John Snow
and the 1854 Cholera outbreak in London's Broad Street region

Source: John Snow Inc.

www.jsi.com

Dr John Snow is known as the father

of modern epidemiology and the
father of GIS because of the famous
case of the 1854 Cholera outbreak in
Londons Broad Street region.

In the 1850s, cholera was very poorly

understood and massive outbreaks
were a common occurrence in major
industrial cities. An outbreak in London
in 1854 in the Soho district was typical
of the time, and the deaths it caused
are shown in the map on the right.
Source: UCLA
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowmap1_1854_lge.htm
Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
 Component of GIS
A Geographic Information System is not only about computers, software and
electronic data.
A GIS is an organised collection of :
Hardware
Software
Network
Data
Procedures
And people!

Source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley a
Sons Ltd.
 Geographical Information
Geographical Information is different from other kinds of information
and therefore requires special methods to be analysed. Here are
some of the characteristics that make geographical information
special:

Multidimensional at least two coordinates must be specified to

define a location
Voluminous a geographic database can easily reach a terabyte
in size
Different Representations - and how this is done can strongly
influence the ease of analysis and the end results
Requires projection to flat surface
Requires unique analysis methods
Analyses require data integration
Data updates are expensive and time consuming
Map displays require fast data retrieval
Source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley a
Sons Ltd.
 Types of GIS
There are a number of Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) (or GIS software) available today. They range from high-
powered analytical software to visual web applications, and
each of those are used for a different purpose.
Due to the vast number of GIS available it is simply not
possible to provide training for each in this course. However,
there are common feature in all GIS. Understanding these
basic features will give you confidence with any GIS system
that you use in the future.
This course will cover three groups of GIS:
Web-based GIS: Education GIS(BANBEIS, MoE. Bangladesh)
Geobrowser: Google Earth
Desktop GIS: ArcGIS
 Desktop GIS
A GIS, or GIS software, allows you to interactively
work with spatial data. A desktop GIS is a mapping
software that needs to be installed onto and runs on
a personal computer.
In this course, we will use ArcGIS, which is developed
by ESRI. ArcGIS is what ESRI refer to as a suite of
products which can be tailored to your need. ArcGIS
is used for a vast range of activities, covering both
commercial and educational uses.
The basic version of ArcGIS is what we will be using
in this course and is all the majority of GIS users will
ever need.
 Geobrowser
A Geobrowser is better explained with reference to an internet
browser, i.e. Internet Explorer. In short, a geobrowser can be
understood as an Internet Explorer for geographic information.
Like the internet it allows the combination of many types of
geographic data from many different sources. The biggest
difference between the World Wide Web and the geographic
web however is that everything within the latter is spatially
referenced.
Google Earth is the most popular geobrowser available and
will be the one used for this course.
 Web-based GIS
Web-based GIS, or WebGIS, are online GIS
applications which in most cases are excellent data
visualisation tools. Their functionality is limited
compared to software stored on your computer, but
they are user-friendly and particularly useful as they
not required data download.
There are many WebGIS available, but in this course
we will use two of them: the Office of National
Statistics (ONS) Neighbourhood mapping tool and
the London Profiler.
 Data Model
Geographic Information
Spatial data
Aspatial data (attribute data)
Temporal data
Spatial data = Where?
X, Y coordinates
e.g: Latitude and Longitude
Attribute data = What?
A description of geographic features quantitative and
qualitative
Name, classifications, color, etc
Temporal data = When?
Temporal Relationship with geographic features

Example: What is Geographic Information (GI) of Dhaka?

Spatial data = Longitude 2342 ', Latitude 9022'
Attribute data = Dhaka city
Temporal data = Devastating flood occurred Dhaka city in 1986
 i) Spatial Data: Where?
Absolute
Objects usually described within a Cartesian (x,y) coordinate
system such as:
Transverse Mercator (UTM) or
Australian Map Grid (AMG) or
Global referencing LATITUDE/ LONGITUDE system

Maps, images, censuses, field data all have to have a common

coordinate system before they can be entered into a GIS and
before any spatial analysis can be performed.

This is a critical area of GIS development (registration of datasets to

a common coordinate system).
 Cont. Spatial Data:
Where?
Relative

Things can be described in terms of their position in relation

to each other.
They can be adjacent, they can overlap and they can be
contained within.
These are topological descriptions of an object ie. spatial
relationships between objects.

Both absolute and relative coordinate systems form the

mapping element of GIS. There are numerous digital
mapping packages, but only those that recognize spatial
topology (relative spatial location) can function as GIS
 ii) Non spatial attributes: What?

The identity or properties of an object or

theme such as colour, cost, name, area, pH,
vegetation type, etc. .
 iii) Temporal properties: When?

Temporal relationships:
before
after
at the same time
change at a particular rate, etc..

These are all important properties, and have

consequences for the analysis of spatial patterns.
 Cont.- Temporal properties: When?

How old is the information data?

How up-to-date is the data?
Can we rely on its temporal accuracy?
Depends on the type of data
e.g. Analysis of wildlife habitat. If aerial photos are 5 years
old, can we be sure that the vegetation in the landscape
hasnt changed. However, we could be pretty sure that a 5
year old DTM (Digital Elevation Model) would probably be OK.
 Cont.- Temporal properties: When?

GIS widely used in temporal modelling, i.e.

measuring and predicting change.

Before it can function as a modelling tool, a GIS must

have a historical component

Change may be episodic or continuous.

 Cont.- Temporal properties: When?

Episodic Change
e.g. BBS census. Provides us with a range of
demographic information. Every 10 years in
Bangladesh.
CENSUS (t1) CENSUS (t2) CENSUS (t3).
Three different versions of the same theme.
allow analysis of historical trends in the same
theme, and this data is represented in an episodic
form (although actual change is continuous).
 Cont.- Temporal properties: When?

Continuous Change
Continuous change occurs in environmental phenomena, such as
the weather, crop growth or condition
Fire regimes intensity, frequency, timing and extent of fires.
Surface water distribution timing, extent, depth of water bodies
in floods or in drainage systems
Biomass measurements of relative greenness and bareness
(primary productivity) in relation to local grazing impacts, seasonal
change or longer term climatic trends, e.g. El Nio, Sidr
Cont.- Temporal properties: When?

The Key to measuring continuous change is

Remotely Sensed data, which can be used to
monitor at rates of between every 12 hours to 16
days, and arrives in raster data format.
Type of Spatial Data Models
 the way in which the relationship between the
objects or entities (real world) are represented in a
computer system

1. Raster (cells/grid)
2. Vector (outlines)

Spatial primitives - fundamental spatial elements which can be used to

constitute or represent any 2D spatial object
 Spatial Data Models Cont.

Objects and surfaces are

represented in completely
different ways in vector and
raster spatial data structures.
 Spatial Data Models: Raster

Raster is basically a grid structure, matrix of cells (pixels)

The region is split into uniform, regular cells that cover the entire area

Cells usually
square but may
be rectangular
and occasionally
triangular or
hexagonal

Common sizes
are 10m2, 30m2,
100m2 or 10km2 or
1000km2 (Bernhardsen 1999, p. 68)
 Objects in Raster Format
Each cell (pixel) on the grid has a value that corresponds to the
geographical theme being represented. For instance, the
LANDUSE overlay represented in the previous diagram has 3
values for differing land cover types.

An object is represented by a cell or connected group of cells.

If the majority of a cell contains a particular feature, then the

entire cell will usually be given a value representing that
feature.

Therefore, the resolution of the analysis is limited by the size of

the cell

Raster GIS does not record precise boundaries it only records

the presence or absence, or a range of values for a property in
a cell.
 Raster Data Storage

Cells in a raster model are given in a specific

sequence from the matrix (starting from the upper
left corner).

Data is usually stored in two databases.

1. Cell number and the value of the cell.
2. An attribute table that assigns real world attributes to each
value.

Therefore, attributes are assigned to every cell.

(Bernhardsen 1999, p. 70)
 Multiple Layers in Raster Format
Each cell can have only one value, so different types of
objects must be assigned to different raster layers.
Each raster layer deals with one theme.

Where multiple
attributes
correspond to a
certain suite of
objects, multiple
layers must still be
used.

Therefore, raster
data models usually
have more layers
than vector models.
(Bernhardsen 1999, p. 70)
 Applications of Raster GIS

Different values can be allocated to each cell. This can represent a

continuous gradient very well, e.g. temperature, rainfall, vegetation.

Therefore, can represent continuous data, e.g. topography (DEMs).

Particularly important to environmental data

Forms of environmental data such as depth, quality or mineral content

of water, soil, biomass, or greenness in crop productivity, and changes
in the structural characteristics of vegetation.
These are continuous, have fuzzy boundaries, and some may
require temporal analysis.
Later on, well look at why raster is better at dealing with this type
of data.
 Raster GIS
The most important thing to remember about raster GIS
at this stage is that one of the most important types of
geographical information - remotely sensed data - is
captured by environmental monitoring satellites in raster
form.

Some of the techniques used in raster analysis are

similar to those used in digital image analysis. Therefore,
raster GIS is sometimes called image-based analysis.
 Spatial Data Models: Vector

Vector GIS format does not use grid cells.

Objects are recorded as points, lines (arcs), or polygons.
Lines consist of two or more points that are connected, while
polygons are made up of 3 or more lines that join to enclose
an area.
Spatial relationships between objects are recorded through
the use of topology.
Topology describes the relationships between elements in
space, and is necessary for advanced vector analysis.
Stores info in a continuous co-ordinate system (i.e. not
limited by the size of the pixels). (The graphics are a much
higher quality than that of a raster system.)
 The spatial information for each object in the map or each map unit
is stored in a separate database from the attribute information.
Spatial relationships between objects are recorded through the use
of topology (covered in detail later).

(DeMers 1997, p.
110)
 Vector GIS Cont.

Spatial information is stored in a continuous co-

ordinate system where each object in a map is
represented by its geographic co-ordinates, rather
than as a series of cells.

Therefore spatial resolution not limited by the size of

pixels.

It has virtually infinite scaling: limited only by the

precision of the computer.
 Vector GIS Cont.

An object is represented as closely as possible to

reality in the continuous co-ordinate space, so the
graphics are a much higher quality than a raster
system.

Vector GIS is a cartographic, and database GIS.

You cannot use it as a platform for image analysis,
terrain modelling, or environmental modelling. The
spatial data structure does not permit it.
 Vector approach

Points Lines Polygons

House Road Parcels

School River Polling districts
Station Administration Cadastral zones
boundaries
 Comparison of Raster and Vector Data
Structures

The Raster Model The Vector Model

Equivalent of a Attempts to represent

continuous grid objects as exactly and
precisely as possible by
covering the surface,
storing points, lines
whereby each cell in (arcs) and polygons
the grid represents a (areas) in a continuous
square on the ground. co-ordinate space
 Comparison of Raster and Vector Data Structures

RASTER VECTOR
Advantages

Simple data structure More compact data structure

Easier and efficient
overlay operation
Efficient representation
of high spatial variability
Efficient in manipulation
and enhancement of digital images
Efficient encoding of topology, hence
efficient operations that require
topological information, such as
network analysis
Better suited to supporting graphics that
closely approximate hand drawn maps

Disadvantages

More complex data structure

Less compact. Data compression
technique overcome this problem
Topological relationships are
difficult to represent
Graphic output is less aesthetically
pleasing due to blocky appearance
Overlay operations are difficult
to implement
Representation of high spatial
variability is inefficient
Manipulation and enhancement
of digital images can not be effectively
done in the vector domain
Raster versus Vector
 Metadata
Metadata is data about data. It should
include such information as:-
The origin of the data source
When the dataset was created
Who created / modified it
Data coverage and scale
Accuracy and precision
Ownership, copyright and restrictions on use
Dataset file location

Critical to maintaining an effective GIS