Lucas Coffee
02/18/2008
The Benefits of GPS with respect to GIS
GPS and GIS
The cheap LED display that enshrined the glorified model spaceship at
the entrance of the exhibit was the first thing to catch my eye. This part of
the museum was meant to earn money: to excite visitors enough to donate
money on their way out. The more people this exhibit convinced that
technology was on the march and it would drastically change their lives for
the better in the near future, the more people they convinced to drop some
coins in the hopes of furthering this progress for their own benefit.
I don’t necessarily say this scornfully or with any level of malice
toward the museum. No matter what the exhibit might be for, what it does
try to impress upon visitors is all true. Technology of the future is limitless.
At least that was the impression that I got when wandering the alcove of
technological advancements.
Walking past the model astronauts viewing the depths of space was the first
sight to give me such an impression. Looking at the backs of their Styrofoam
heads I began to wonder how ridiculous it really is that we can send people
outside of our own stratosphere and how unbelievable the concept had
seemed before we’d actually done it. What else is there in the world that
seems so unbelievable but may truly be within the grasp of my own
generation?
One aspect that I found particularly interesting was in the GPS exhibit
that I had been commissioned to pay particular attention to. I noticed the
dedication to the Global Information System or GIS for short. This system
was using GPS to capture, store, analyze, and manage geographical
information all over the globe. Where once it was a painstaking and long
drawn out process to be a cartographer in this world, we can now map out
expansive areas in seconds.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based radio
positioning system designed to provide suitably equipped users with highly
accurate positioning, velocity, and time data. To get a better perspective on
this and how GPS is truly revolutionizing our world, one must observe the
historical events that led to our current GIS.
Before any GPS system was ever created, the first GIS was organized
in 1854 when John Snow attempted to track the source of an epidemic
cholera outbreak. Using dots to indicate specific incidences of outbreak he
was able to notice a preponderance of illness in one area and located the
source as a contaminated pipe. It has been said that Mr. Snow is the father
of modern epidemiology.
The next big step in the advancement of the art of Global mapping
came with the development of computer mapping systems during the
1960’s. Fueled by the cold war, these computerized systems were a step in
the right direction but were only put to real good use in 1962 when the CGIS
or Canada Geographic Information system incorporated information about
land capability for rural Canada; this included dozens of different factors
about wildlife and geographic features on a 1:50,000 scale in an attempt to
really map out the entire country.
Even with the use of computerized systems the CGIS and similar
systems really only started taking on a new life with the use of satellites and
global positioning systems. Cartographers are now capable of creating
complex and detailed maps of the world in a fraction of the time and with
much greater accuracy than ever before.
Using what is commonly referred to as a datum, or a set of
characteristics that define a coordinate system, and a set of control points
whose geometric relationships are known either through measurement or
calculation, cartographers can determine the specifics of a location as simply
as a flat earth model or be able to completely describe the size, shape,
orientation, gravity field, and angular velocity of the earth depending on
what needs are called for. These datum can now be calculated with great
ease and accuracy with the use of mobile GPS that are taken to points all
over the world.
Having accurate accounts of our planet such as these that constantly
update exact details of geography has countless implications and benefits.
For the most obvious of these we can see the immediate usefulness in
navigation. More and more travel throughout the world is becoming easier
because there are no longer any great mysteries to explore. When one can
simply check one’s location with a mobile global positioning system and look
at the already detailed systems of maps for the location that one finds
oneself, there seems little chance for truly getting lost anymore in this
world.
Perhaps not so immediately obvious is the benefit provided in
observing trends in nature and attempting to predict future events. For
example: by observing the storm runoff patterns from burned areas one
could determine flood threats in particular watersheds. Or perhaps data
about serious change in vegetation could be combined with data concerning
burn severity, elevation and rainfall of that location to anticipate serious fire
threats. By computing various details about our rapidly shrinking planet
allows us to predict and plan for the future, thus providing us with a safer
existence. In essence, whenever we find that there is particular danger of a
fire or a flood somewhere we need only issue warnings to those locations so
that they might prepare for the worst.
The obvious implications of prediction future danger and preventing
confusion in a world that was once unpredictable and utterly vast, the use of
GIS and GPS shows me just how much we are mastering the environment
around us and makes me question how much farther we can take this
mastery.
Some speculations for advancements in this particular field lie not in
GIS itself as the advancement of technology has not seen a halt at any point
in history. Rather the true frontier lies in our ability to interpret the
information that we receive from the data GIS give us. Observing the
patterns of movement of refugees and of military aggressors could lead us
to a greater and more precise understanding of that most imprecise political
science. Making conclusions about widespread changes in the environment
could allow us to come up with green solutions to solve the ever more
troublesome problems with pollution and the destruction of our world.
Others still lie in the frontier of infinity. Where other worlds exist that
no man has laid eyes on, we could send satellites to chart and gain
understanding of alien worlds that might harbor a haven for future human
settlement. The possibilities are innumerous.
One thing is certain, the advance of human development will not end
here.
Bibliography
(n.d.). Retrieved 02 18, 08, from http://umgc.olemiss.edu/pdf/workshop/umgc_gps_gis.pdf
Benefits of GIS. (n.d.). Retrieved 02 18, 08, from http://cgrp-gis.lanl.gov/benefits.html
John Snow- A Historical Giant in Epidemiology. (n.d.). Retrieved february 18, 2008, from
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow.html