GIS
Geographic
Information System
What is GIS?
● A Geographic Information System
(GIS) is a computer system that
analyzes and displays
geographically referenced
information. It uses data that
is attached to a unique
location.
● Most of the information we have
about our world contains a
location reference:Where was a
rock sample collected? Exactly
where are all of a city's fire
hydrants?
● For example, if a rare species
of plant was spotted on a cliff,
the GIS would tell you its exact
conditions so that researchers
can find more of the species. 2
History of GIS
John Snow uses spatial
analysis to find source
of Cholera outbreak
Photozincography
allows maps to
have layers
First real GIS
created by Roger
Tomlinson
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I am Roger Frank Tomlinson, creator of the very
first operational GIS called the CGIS in
Ottawa, Canada! The CGIS was used to store,
analyze and collect data for the Canada Land
Inventory. Oh, and BTW I’m dead! So i'm talking
to you as a ghost! God, you can’t be dead
peacefully without being bothered by the living
all the time🙄
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1 - Capture
6 - Output 2 - Store
Features of GIS
5 - Display 3 - Analyze
4 - Query
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What is the most commonly
used GIS? 6
Arc GIS
● ArcGIS is a comprehensive GIS
software developed by Esri
(Environmental Systems Research
Institute).
● It is one of the most popular GIS
softwares, now topping the
market with its incredible market
shares.
● Several organizations around
the world use ArcGIS for
various purposes.
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● Showing information
relating numbers and
density.
Once the GIS has captured
the necessary data, there are EX. :
several things it can do:
● Comparing natural
Uses of The number of:
❏ Stray cats in a train
station
features with human ❏ Dead people who don’t
activity. have a proper grave
❏ People in a city who have
EX. : annoying siblings
Finding out:
❏ Which areas are prone ● Showing change over time
to flooding
❏ Average income of EX. :
humans in an area ❏ Advance and retreat of ice
❏ Sales a certain product in polar regions
in chosen area ❏ Changes in crime data so
officers can assign spots
for newbies
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❏ Scientific investigations
●
● Engineering purposes
Ex. :
❏ Used for tracking animal
One of the main uses of GIS is for
migration in biology
engineering. Architects around the
❏ The number of people who
world use this ingenious program
have the flu in a certain area
for several reasons:
❏ The conditions of the places
❏ The best place to build a
where a certain disease has
spread More uses of certain structure
❏ How much weight a bridge can
hold
● Federal uses
❏ To find out which
neighbourhoods don’t have a
Ex. :
hospital within 10 km.
❏ Which neighbourhoods are
❏ How nearby water bodies may
most in danger in case of a
affect a structure
tsunami
❏ Approximate rainfall in an area
❏ Planning escape routes if an
to see how much a specific
earthquake strikes
structure needs to be
❏ Most strategic areas for
elevated.
building emergency shelters
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GIS IS Not gps GIS GPS
➢ Helps architects plan where to place a ➢ Helps humans locate a building by giving
building them the best way to reach it
➢ It is a computer-based system which ➢ It uses satellites which are revolving
stores, analyzes and represents data in an around the Earth to send data to the GPS
appropriate manner receivers on the ground
➢ Mostly used by engineers, scientists and ➢ Used by the common folk; also found in
government officials everyday objects such as cars, phones and
➢ Example: ArcGIS, Google Earth (this even refrigerators
example is not a proper GIS, as it is meant ➢ Example: Google Maps, Amazon location
to be used by commoners) service, NASA’s GIPSY OASIS
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❖ In modern times, gis is being combined with augmented reality (AR) to
create interactive maps, that allows users to access all the features of a
normal GIS, but in AR!
❖ GIS is not only for Earth! It is also used in space exploration to map and
analyse planets!
❖ Certain scientists have worked together to create a program which combines
historical events and GIS, by showing users how these historical events
happened, with pinpoint accuracy!
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