Geographical Information System

(GIS)

Dr. H. J. Chauhan
Assistant Professor
BVM Engg. College
 Introduction to GIS
 An information system that is designed to work with
data referenced by spatial or geographic co-ordinates.
 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.
 GIS may be thought of as a higher-order map
 A system of computer hardware, software and
procedures designed to support the capture,
management, manipulation, analysis, and display of
spatially referenced data for solving complex planning
and management problems.
 Why GIS is needed
 Poorly maintained geospatial data
 Out of date maps and statistics
 Inaccurate data and information
 Absence of data retrieval service
 Absence of data sharing
 Digital format data is compact and large quantities
can be maintained and retrieved at a greater
speed and lesser cost
 Planning scenarios, decision models and
interactive process are normal functions of GIS
 Ability to perform complex spatial analysis rapidly
 Ability to manipulate different types of data
efficiently
 Benefits of GIS
 Geospatial data better maintained in a standard
format
 Revision and updating easier
 Geospatial data and information easier to search,
analyze and represent
 Value added products can be generated
 Geospatial data can be shared and exchanged
freely
 Productivity and efficiency of staff is improved
 Saving in time and money
 Better decisions making
 GIS: Components
4Ms of GIS
 Measurements
 Maps
 Monitoring
 Modeling

Components of GIS
 GIS consists of the following three components
Hardware Used to store, process and display
Software Used to control and perform operations
Expertise Human element required to drive system to
meet requirements
 Major software components
 GIS software comprises several functionally
related components to carry out variety of
operations.
 These can be grouped as follows:
 Data acquisition/Input
 Data processing and preprocessing
 Database management (storage and retrieval)
 Spatial data manipulation and analysis
 Product generation: output and visualization
 GIS Software Functional elements
Components Sub-components
Data acquisition/Input Digitizing and Editing

Topology building, Projection transformation,

Data processing and
Format conversion and Attribute assignment,
preprocessing
etc.

Database management Data archival, Hierarchical modelling, Relational

(storage and modelling, Attribute query and Object oriented
retrieval) database

Measurement operations, Buffering, Overlay

Spatial manipulation
operations
and analysis
and Connectivity operations

Graphical output and Scale transformation, Generalization, Topographic

visualization maps and Statistical maps
 Data input
 Operation upon which the usefulness of the GIS depends.
 Data input involves data acquisition including identification
and collection of data required for applications.
 It covers all aspects of transforming data captured from
existing maps, field observations, and sensors into a
compatible digital form.
 Various sources for data input may be:
 text files
 existing maps
 aerial photographs
 satellite imagery
 airborne scanners
 field measurements
 other GIS databases
 Data to GIS can be input in the following stages:
 Entering the spatial data (digitizing)
By manual cartographic digitizing and automatic scanning
 Entering the non-spatial, associated attributes
Non-spatial associated attributes are those properties
of the entity that need to be handled in GIS
 Linking the spatial to the non-spatial data
Linking the spatial data to the already existing
digitized points, lines, and areas can be done
using a special program that requires only the
digital representation of the points, lines and areas
themselves, carrying unique identifiers as part of
normal digitizing.
 Data Pre-processing/processing
 Data input in a computer compatible form
involve several steps known as pre-processing.
 format conversion
 data reduction and generalization
 error detection and editing
 merging of points into lines and of points and
lines into polygons where appropriate
 edge matching
 rectification/registration
 interpolation
 photo-interpretation
 Data storage and database management
 It concerns the way in which the data about the
position, linkages (topology), and attributes of
geographical elements (points, lines, areas,
and more complex entities representing objects
on the earth's surface are structured and
organised.
 The computer program used to organize the
database is known as database management
system (DBMS).
 Data analysis and modelling
 Spatial analysis using spatial and non spatial attributes
 Working within database to derive new information using
several basic and advanced tools for statistical analysis
and modeling.
 A set of functions or software modules for data analysis:
 Retrieval, (re)-classification, and measurement
functions
 Overlay functions
 Neighbourhood functions including search operations,
topographic function, interpolation
 Connectivity operations including contiguity, proximity,
network, and spread operators
 Modelling involves simplified representation of reality
and facilitates better decision making.
 Data output
 Data are displayed and the results of analyses are
reported to the users
 Data may be presented as maps, tables & figures

Professional GIS packages in the market such as:

 ARCGIS
 ILWIS
 ERDAS
 IDRISI
 MAPINFO
 GRASS
 The widely used database systems are Oracle and dBase
 Geospatial data: Introduction
 A real world inside a computer is represented in
the form of spatial or geographical objects.
 Spatial objects are delimited geographical areas,
with a number of different kind of associated
attributes or characteristics

Any given spatial object will be one of the following:

 Point: It is a spatial object with no area
 Line: It is a spatial object, made up of a connected
sequence of points
 Polygon: It is a closed area
Geographical data in computer
 Applications of GIS
Locating underground cables, Planning facility
Facility
maintenance, Telecommunication network services,
management
Energy use tracking and planning.

Environmental Agriculture crop suitability, Management of forests,

and natural agricultural land, water resources, wetlands, etc.
resource Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA), Disaster
management management and mitigation’ Waste dumping sites location
Street Car navigation, Locating houses and streets, Site selection,
Networking Ambulance services & Transportation planning
Planning and Urban planning, Regional planning, Route selection for
engineering highways & Public facility development
Cadastre administration
Land
Taxation
information
Zoning of land use
system
Land acquisition
 Data structures for GIS
 Organization of data in an information system is
referred to as data structure
 Different kind of spatial data are arranged in the
form of theme or data layer or data plane
 Spatial data in each layer can be reduced to three
basic spatial entities:
 Point: Location of tube-wells, water tanks, rain
gauge stations, etc.
 Line : Road, railway line, canals, streams
 Polygon: Reservoir, lake, district, state, country
boundaries, etc.
 Layer concept in GIS
 Concept of layer or theme is
very important in GIS
 In a topographic map all
components are seen on a
single sheet
 In a GIS each of the
components are presented
in separate layers. For
example, geometrically
registered layers of building,
topography, land use, etc.
 This facilitates switching off
or switching on a layer while
preparing final maps.
 This aids decisions on
spatial queries
 Geospatial data
 Geospatial data in each GIS layer are described in
the following terms:
 Location: It is specified with reference to known coordinate
system. This is sometimes known as spatial attribute.
 Attributes: These indicate characteristics which are not
inherently related to geographical location. This is also
known as the non-spatial attribute.
 Topology: It indicates spatial and adjacency relationship
among the geographical features which are characterized by
location and attributes.
 It may be noted that paper maps convey information by
graphic symbolization (points, lines, and polygons), convey
attributes by color, symbolization and pattern. On the other
hand, GIS conveys information by graphic symbolization
(points, lines, and polygons), and retains spatial
relationships mathematically through the concept of
topology.