GEOG 4426
Geographic Information
Systems I
General Information
Instructor: Shannon Crum
Office: 362 Phone: 245-1337
Office Hours: MW 10:00-11:00, T 11:0012:00
Text: Getting Started With Geographic
Information Systems by Keith C. Clarke.
Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
(1999).
Lab Manual: Getting to Know ArcView GIS
Weekly lab assignments on the Course Web
Site
Class Meetings
Lectures Monday and Wednesday from
9:00-9:50
Four hours of lab per week
The topics for lectures and labs will NOT
always correspond. Exams given in lecture
will cover lecture materials only and the lab
quizzes will cover lab materials only.
Lecture
About one chapter per week
Support materials on the WWW
URLs are listed in syllabus
Lecture outlines and chapter summaries will be
placed on the course website
Two midterms and a final exam (20% of
grade each)
Pop-quizzes for extra credit. NO OTHER
EXTRA CREDIT WILL BE AVAILABLE!!!
Exam Policy
Three exams will be given – 2 midterms and
a final
If you take all three tests, they will be
weighted equally to arrive at 60% of the course
grade (20% each).
If you are absent for one of the midterms, the
other midterm will be averaged with the final to
arrive at 60% of the course grade (30% each).
The final exam MAY NOT be skipped or
dropped.
NO MAKEUP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN!
Laboratory
LABS DO NOT MEET THIS WEEK
Lab counts 40% of final course grade.
Worked assignments using ArcView GIS
software
All labs must be completed on time for credit
Lab will have 2 graded lab quizzes
Lab instructor will announce specific rules and
requirements during first lab period
LATE LAB ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
Schedule
February 16 (?)
March 6
March 29
April 12
First lab quiz
First midterm exam
Second midterm exam
Second lab quiz
May 8 – 8:00
Final Exam
What will I learn?
An overview of GIS
How GIS data are captured, stored,
retrieved, analyzed & displayed
GIS software and its functionality
Where GIS is going
How to use a basic GIS (ArcView)
Lecture 1: What is a GIS?
Some Definitions of GIS
A Brief History of GIS
Sources of Information on GIS
Lecture 1: What is a GIS?
What in the world is a "GIS"?
GISs are simultaneously the telescope, the
microscope, the computer, and the Xerox
machine of regional analysis and synthesis
of spatial data. (Ron Abler, 1988)
It’s software, or hardware, or an approach to
problem solving, or a subject of scientific
inquiry… depending on who you ask!
Spatial and non-spatial data
Part No. Quant. Desc.
1034161 5
Wheel spoke
1051671 1
Ball bearing
1047623 6
Wheel rim
1021413 2
Tire
1011210 3
Handlebars
Crimes during 1995
Date
Location
1/22
123 James St.
1/24
22 Smith St.
2/10
9 Elm St. #4A
2/13
12 Fifth Avenue
Type
Robbery
Burglary
Assault
Breaking
& Entering
Figure 1.1 Two databases. A database contains columns (attributes) and rows (records). The bicycle
parts list on the left is not s patial. The parts could be located anywhere. The list of crimes on the right
is spatial because one of the attributes, the street address, locates the crimes on a map. This list could
be used in a GIS.
Definition 1: A GIS is a toolbox
"a powerful set of tools for storing and
retrieving at will, transforming and
displaying spatial data from the real world
for a particular set of purposes"
(Burrough, 1986, p. 6).
"automated systems for the capture,
storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of
spatial data." (Clarke, 1995, p. 13).
Definition 2: A GIS is an
information system
"An information system that is
designed to work with data
referenced by spatial or geographic
coordinates. In other words, a GIS is
both a database system with specific
capabilities for spatially-referenced
data, as well as a set of operations
for working with the data" (Star and
Estes, 1990, p. 2).
Map Overlay
SOLUTION MASK
SOILS
PARKS
URBAN
FOREST
Figure 1.3 Map overlay as presented in Design with Nature by Ian McHarg. Each transparent layer map
“blacked out” areas excluded as unsuitable locations.
Definition 3: GIS is an
approach to science
Geographic Information Science is
research both on and with GIS.
"the generic issues that surround the
use of GIS technology, impede its
successful implementation, or emerge
from an understanding of its potential
capabilities."
(Goodchild, 1992)
Definition 4: GIS is a
multi-million dollar business.
“The growth of GIS has
been a marketing
phenomenon of amazing
breadth and depth and
will remain so for many
years to come. Clearly,
GIS will integrate its
way into our everyday
life to such an extent
that it will soon be
impossible to imagine
how we functioned
before”
Defining GIS
Different definitions of a GIS have
evolved in different areas and disciplines.
All GIS definitions recognize that spatial
data are unique because they are linked to
maps.
A GIS at least consists of a database, map
information, and a computer-based link
between them.
Why Automated Spatial Data Handling?
spatial data customarily stored on maps
convenient data retrieval
wide variety of purposes
but….
Why Automated Spatial Data Handling?
NEEDED for….
Repetitive calculations
Large data volumes
Integration & standardization
Why Automated Spatial Data Handling?
DEMAND arises from ….
Data sets distributed already in digital
form
Direct digital capture (e.g., Landsat)
Cadastral systems
(PLSS - public land survey system)
What is a GIS ?
No single agreement on a formal definition
or a name, for that matter...
What’s Special about GIS?
Data integration and access
Pro’s & Con’s… Summary
Pro’s:
faster
forces uniformity
database
procedures
allows greater
flexibility
range of
applications
sharing among
users
what if
Con’s
$$$$
Beware of $50
answers to $5
questions
requires expertise to
run and maintain
specific systems for
specific types of
applications
Examples of GIS use… Summary
Examples of application of automated
methods include a wide range:
engineering
mining
natural resource management
agriculture
planning (all gov’t levels)
etc...
Examples of GIS use… Summary
… but generally can be grouped into four basic
categories:
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Forest & Wildlife
Hydrological
Minerals
URBAN & REGSIONAL MANAGEMENT
Land Use Planning/Environmetal Impact
Public Works
Emergency Response
Legal Records
COMMERCIAL
Market Area Analysis
Site Selection
Routing
AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Field Records
Animal Management
Climate Change / Human Impact
Where Did GIS Come From?
GIS is built upon knowledge from
geography, cartography, computer
science and mathematics.
Geographic Information Science is a
new interdisciplinary field built out of
the use and theory of GIS.
A Brief History of GIS
GIS’s origins lie in thematic cartography.
Many planners used the method of map
overlay using manual techniques.
Manual map overlay as a method was first
described comprehensively by Jacqueline
Tyrwhitt in a 1950 planning textbook.
HcHarg used blacked out transparent
overlays for site selection in Design with
Nature.
A Brief History of GIS (ctd)
The 1960s saw many new forms of geographic data
and mapping software.
Computer cartography developed the first basic
GIS concepts during the late 1950s and 1960s.
Linked software modules, rather than stand-alone
programs, preceded GISs.
Early influential data sets were the World Data
Bank and the GBF/DIME files.
Early systems were CGIS, MLMIS, GRID and
LUNR.
The Harvard University ODYSSEY system was
influential due to its topological arc-node (vector)
data structure.
A Brief History of GIS (ctd)
GIS was significantly altered by (1) the PC and
(2) the workstation.
During the 1980s, new GIS software could better
exploit more advanced hardware.
User Interface developments led to GIS's vastly
improved ease of use during the 1990s.
During the 1980s, new GIS software could better
exploit more advanced hardware.
Sources of Information on
GIS
The amount of information available about GIS can
be overwhelming.
Sources of GIS information include journals and
magazines, books, professional societies, the
World Wide Web, and conferences.
GIS has Web Home pages, network conference
groups, professional organizations, and user
groups.
Most colleges and universities now offer GIS
classes in geography departments.
GIS Resources: Conferences
GIS Resources: Glossies
Major GIS-Only Journals
International Journal of Geographical
Information Systems
Geographical Systems
Transactions in GIS
Geo Info Systems
GIS World
Specialty Journals
Business Geographics
GIS Law
GrassClippings
GIS Asia/Pacific
GIS World Report/CANADA
GIS Europe
Mapping Awareness
Regular GIS Papers
Annals of the Association of American
Geographers
Cartographica
Cartography and GIS
Computer; Computers, Environment, and Urban
Systems
Computers and Geosciences
IEEE Transactions on Computer Graphics and
Applications
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing
Occasional GIS papers
Cartographic Perspectives
Cartographica
Journal of Cartography
Geocarto International
IEEE Geosciences
International Journal of Remote Sensing
Landscape Ecology
Remote Sensing Review
Mapping Science and Remote Sensing
Infoworld
Popular Distribution Magazines
Business geographics
Geo info systems
GIS law
GIS world (GEOWorld)
GPS World
Mapping awareness/Mapping
awareness and GIS in Europe.
Proceedings of Conferences
AUTOCARTO International Symposium on
Automated Cartography.
GIS/LIS. Sponsored by AAG, ACSM, AM/FM,
ASPRS, URISA. Held every year.
International Advanced Study Symposium on
Topological Data Structures for Geographic
Information Systems.
Proceedings International Symposium on Spatial
Data Handling. IGU Commission on GIS.
SSD Advances in spatial databases
Professional Organizations
AM/FM International Automated Mapping and
Facilities Management.
AAG: The Association of American Geographers.
ACSM: American Congress on Surveying and
Mapping.
ASPRS: American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing.
NACIS: North American Cartographic Information
Society.
URISA: Urban and Regional Information Systems
Association.
WWW Resources: USGS
WWW Resources: NSDI
WWW Resources: Textbook
Pages
Clarke GIS Internet Guide
CSG: Guide to Student Awards,
Fellowships and Internships
Next Topic:
GIS’s Roots in Cartography
READ: Clarke, Chapter 2