What is Geographic Information Systems (GIS)? According to an ESRI website, a GIS software manufacturer ."..GIS combines layers of information about a place to give you a better understanding of that place." (http://www.gis.com Accessed: 4 June 2004). Put simply GIS is a way to combine and interpret spatial information using technology such as computers. A website (http://www.geoinnovations.com.au Accessed: 4 June 2004) suggests, most data that is used today has a spatial component or spatial data. Basically this is data with a location. For example it can tell you the land value of certain parcels or land or even things much more complicated like telling you the rapid erosion of sensitive sand dunes. A map is the representation of this spatial information. The basis of using GIS software is simple however there are many complex parts to it. Basically as was stated before all you are require to do is add and alter the layers needed for your specific task. A layer is a group of similar information/data, for example roads and rails could a layer and houses/buildings could be another. To pick out certain data you can run query's through the software. Another feature of the software is that, with permission, you can edit nearly everything simply and also write programs to do tasks for you. With most Geographic Information systems it is a matter of adding the appropriate data in layers to co-inside with the consumers needs. For example, Fire and emergency services would need maps that show data like available water and access tracks while people interested in environmental damage would need information on the spread of feral species ect. With spatial data, geographical features are represented mainly using symbology. For example a tree may be a triangle or a certain data may be shaded in colour. They basically use points, lines, or polygons which are the three basic types of geographic features. Points are dots, triangles square, ect. used to show positional data for example trees may be triangles. Lines or thin polygons area used to show linear data. Polygonal information is placed over an area with a common attribute (something in common). These can also show graduating colours/symbols to show a differences in the attributes. For example the change in the height of a certain terrain. As well as shows symbology it is important for the maps dynamics that you generalised the information.
distances. The artist 's choice of elements indicats the conditional nature of the observations. The colors are used to compliment and support the painting 's composition. The uses of colors show how the clever composition of the painting successfully draws the viewer 's eyes around it.
Ken Jennings was a map nerd from a young age himself, you will not be surprised to learn, even sleeping with an old creased atlas at the side of his pillow, most kids his age were cuddling with a trusted blanket- Jennings was not. As he travels the world meeting people of kindred spirits--map librarians, publishers, geocachers, and the engineers behind google maps. Now that technology and geographic unknowing is increasingly insulting us from the space and land around us, we are going to be needing these people more than ever. Mapheads are the ones who always know exactly where they are and...
So what exactly is a geographical perspective, well according to Penn state “A geographic perspective is a way of looking at and understanding the world. When
Often by comparing an idea to an object that can be symbolically related somehow, the level of understanding is increased, and then that object can later be used as a trigger mechanism for recalling the specifics of that concept (Matlin, 1998, p. 351). "…a visual image can let us escape from the boundaries of traditional representations. At the same time, however, the visual image is somewhat concrete; it serves as a symbol for a theory that has not yet bee...
because it gives the reader something that they already know and compare it to what
Until the 1950s, Atlases were mostly comprised of maps that simply show space and place. However in 1953, the World Geo-Graphic Atlas, published by Walter Paepcke’s Container Corporation of America (CCA) with Herbert Bayer, changed people’s notion of what maps look like and what information they contain. Bayer believed, that maps were “a record of time and perhaps even a tool of prognostication.” By the use of Isotypes (International System of Typographic Picture Education), Bayer created an atlas that is universal, therefore allowed viewers to understand complex data more clearly and easily.
As applications of geospatial technologies continuously break the disciplinary barrier, the need for books on these technologies to reach diverse audiences is greater than ever. The challenge, however, is to write a book on this complicated subject that incorporates the knowledge of multiple disciplines and makes it valuable for those who may or may not have diverse educational backgrounds, but require using these technologies. Most books on geospatial technologies target a specific audience. Contrary to this, Geographical Information Science tries to target three different audiences (users, students, and engineers) by using formats and languages comfortable to them. While this effort is laudable, maintaining the balance and attractiveness to all the three audiences is challenging. The author, Narayan Panigrahi, has accomplished this balancing act but with mixed outcomes. His computer science background is clearly seen in the structure and contents of the chapters.
Geographers plan new communities, decide where new highways should be placed, and establish evacuation plans. Computerized mapping and data analysis is known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a new frontier in geography. Spatial data is gathered on a variety of subjects and input onto a computer. GIS users can create an infinite number of maps by requesting portions of the data to plot.
Historical geographer JB Harley wrote an essay on Map Deconstruction in 1989, in which Harley argues that a map is more than just a geographical representation of an area, his theory is that we need to look at a map not just as a geographical image but in its entire context. Harley points out that by an examination of the social structures that have influenced map making, that we may gain more knowledge about the world. The maps social construction is made from debate about what it should show. Harley broke away from the traditional argument about maps and examined the biases that govern the map and the map makers, by looking at what the maps included or excluded. Harley’s “basic argument within this essay is that we should encourage an epistemological shift in the way we interpret the nature of cartography.” Therefore Harley’s aim within his essay on ‘Deconstructing the Map’ was to break down the assumed ideas of a map being a purely scientific creation.
Now days, companies are searching for new ways of gathering data so that they can get useful data in order to make well informed decisions regarding the market they are operating in. Google analytics is considered one of the best tools offers extensive amount of data to business owners for free. However, the success of business is highly depended on how well they can arrange data and customize their collected data corresponded to their business priorities. Google analytics provides beneficial information for companies regardless of their extent of operation. Google Analytics (Location data)
Hillier, A., & Culhane, D. (2013). GIS Applications and Administrative Data to Support Community Change. In M. Weil (Ed.), The Handbook of Community Practice (2nd ed., pp. 827-844). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Retrieved from
Geographical concepts have been traced back to ancient days, geography is defining as the scientific study of the location of people and activity across earth and reasons for their distribution. It asks where and why things are where they are. Geographers organizes materials by the places they are located, thus being they have concluded that what happens in one place affects what happens in another place and can further affect conditions in the near future. Like any other subject geography has its own language and knowledge for better understanding of its concepts. Thinking geographically means learning the language, we need both geographical vocabulary and grammar in order to do this. Geography has concepts that enables us to have geographical
...rent to modern scientific maps; it drew on a number of sources mentioned above, such as art, the writings of Pliny, the influence of Roman mapping, and the beliefs and superstitions of the medieval world. The Map is an insight into medieval world, and acts as an encyclopaedia charting different historical events within. The Hereford Map is also an art work demonstrating that a map is not just a geographical representation of an area but that it can give a huge amount of historical insight
GIS is an emerging method of data storage and interpretation. GIS is, simply put a database. It is many tables of data organized by one common denominator, location. The data in a GIS system is organized spatially, or by its physical location on the base map. The information that is stored in the database is the location and attributes that exist in that base map, such as streets, highways, water lines, sewers, manholes, properties, and buildings, etc. each of these items don’t just exist in the database, the attributes associated with the item is also stored. A good example of this would be a specific sewer line, from and arbitrary point A to a point B. Ideally, the sewer line would be represented graphically, with a line connecting the two points or something of the like. When one retrieves the information for that line in particular, the attribute data would be shown. This data would include the size of pipe, the pipe material, the upper invert elevation, the downstream invert elevation, the date installed, and any problem history associated with that line. This is the very gist of what a GIS system is.
The claim being discussed here is that the only way a map or a way of representing things can be useful is if it simplifies the knowledge that the actual territory gives, that is, if it reduces the salient i...