Introductio

n to GIS
֍The geographic(al) information system (GIS) consists
of two distinct disciplines, namely, geography and
information system.
֍Geography is the scientific study of [geo] spatial
pattern and process.
֍It seeks to identify and account for the location and
distribution of human and physical phenomena on
the earth's surface.
֍Emphasis in geography is placed upon the
organisation and arrangement of phenomena, and
upon the extent to which they vary from place to
place and time to time.
֍To this end, emphasis in geographical study is
placed upon models and theories of locations rather
than on descriptions of individual features (Clark
1982).
֍The overriding aim is to develop an understanding
of general principles which determine the location of
human and physical characteristics.
֍Information system most often refers to a system
containing electronic records, which involves input of
source documents, recording on electronic media,
and output of records, along with related
documentation and any indexes.
֍The information system can be defined as an
interactive combination of people, computer
hardware and software, communications devices,
and procedures designed to provide a continuous
flow of information to the people who need
information to make decisions or perform analysis.
֍The GIS is a computer-based information
system used to digitally represent and analyse
the geospatial data or geographic data.
֍Geospatial means the distribution of something in
a geographic sense; it refers to entities that can be
located by geographic coordinate system.
֍'Every object present on the earth can be
georeferenced', is the fundamental key of
associating any database to GIS.
֍Here, the term 'database' is a collection of
information about things and their relationship with
each other, and 'georeferencing' (or spatial
referencing) refers to the location of a feature or
coverage in space defined by the geographic
coordinate referencing system.
֍The GIS is a particular form of information
system applied to geographical data.
֍A system is a group of connected entities and
activities which interact for a common purpose.
֍For example, a car is a system in which all the
components operate together to provide
transportation.
֍Thus, an information system is a set of
processes, executed on raw data to produce
information which is useful in decision making.
֍The information system is a chain of steps that
leads from observation and collection of data
through analysis.
֍An information system must have a full range of
functions to achieve its purposes, including
observation, measurement, description,
explanation, forecasting, and decision making.
֍A GIS uses geographically referenced data ([geo]
spatial data) as well as non-spatial (attribute or
descriptive) data and includes operations which
support spatial analysis.
֍In GIS, the common purpose is decision making for
managing use of land, resources, transportation,
retailing. oceans, or any spatially distributed entities.
֍In this context, GIS can be seen as a system of
hardware, software, and procedures designed to
support the capture, management, manipulation,
analysis, modelling, and display of spatially
referenced data for solving complex planning and
management problems.
֍Although many other computer programs can use
spatial data (e.g., computer-aided design (CAD) and
statistics packages), GIS includes the additional
ability to perform spatial analysis/operations.
֍Earlier we had paper maps, which were very
colourful, but not modifiable.
֍Then, the computer revolution took place, where
the maps were digitized and stored in digital format.
֍These were just geometric entities (line, circle,
polygon, or point) and did not provide any
information about what that entity implied in
geographical terms.
֍These digital files were easily modifiable and could
be reproduced quickly, but could not be used for any
analysis purpose.
֍Then came the GIS, which made these entities
intelligent. It attached a value (attribute) to these
entities, with what it actually means in
geographical terms.
KEY COMPONENTS OF
GIS
֍The GIS constitutes of
five key components,
namely, hardware,
software, procedure, data,
and users as shown in Fig.
֍These five components
need to be in balance to
function any information
system satisfactorily.
Hardware
֍It consists of the computer hardware system on
which the GIS software runs.
֍The GIS run on the whole spectrum of computer
systems ranging from portable personal computers
(PCs) to multi-user supercomputers.
֍The hardware for GIS consists of input devices
such as digitizers, scanners and GPS receivers, the
storage devices such as magnetic tapes and disks,
CD ROMs and other optical disks, central processing
units, and the output devices such as display
devices, printers, and plotters.
Software
֍Software refers to the programmes that run on
computers; these include programmes to manage
the computer and to perform specific functions.
֍The GIS software provides the functions and tools
that are necessary to store, analyse, and display
geographic information. Some common GIS software
are ArcGIS, ArcView, ArcSDE, ArcIMS, MapInfo,
Geomatica, TNTmips, and Autodesk Map.
Software
֍Some of these GIS software can work on desktop
computers; some can work on networked server-
based environment; and some (with extended
features) has both capabilities.
֍Web-based GIS is another concept, which is
becoming very popular nowadays, and it uses the
Web application software.
֍A common practice in GIS is using MS-Access,
Oracle, SQL Server, etc. as a DBMS software along
with the chosen GIS software.
Procedure
֍A computer system for GIS consists of hardware,
software, and procedures designed to support the
data capture, storage, processing, analysis,
modelling, and display of geospatial data.
֍ Besides the technical components like hardware,
software and databases, institutional framework and
policies are also important for a functional GIS.
֍The interest and willingness of decision makers in
exploiting GIS technology, and the organisational set
up for collecting spatial data, analysis procedures,
and using the results for planning and
implementation form a very important component in
Procedure
֍A successful GIS operates according to a well-
designed plan and business rules, which are the
models and operating practices unique to
each organization.
֍A computer system for GIS consists of hardware,
software, and procedures designed to support the
data capture, storage, processing, analysis,
modelling, and display of geospatial data.
֍ Besides the technical components like hardware,
software and databases, institutional framework and
policies are also important for a functional GIS.
Users
֍The roles of the user are to select pertinent
information to set necessary standards, to design
cost-efficient updating schemes, to analyse GIS
outputs for relevant purposes, and plan the
implementation.
֍Most definition of GIS focuses on the hardware,
software, data, and analysis components.
֍However, no GIS exist in isolation of the user.
Users
֍There must always be people to plan, implement,
and operate the system as well as to make decisions
based on the output.
֍The GIS projects range from small research
applications, where one user is responsible for
design and implementation and output, to
international corporate distributed systems, where
different type of users interact with the GIS in many
different levels and ways.
Users
֍There must always be people to plan, implement,
and operate the system as well as to make decisions
based on the output.
֍The GIS projects range from small research
applications, where one user is responsible for
design and implementation and output, to
international corporate distributed systems, where
different type of users interact with the GIS in many
different levels and ways.