Lecture 1 - Arch 423 GIS - Fall 2023

Arch 423: GIS
Geographic Information System

Session 1
Topics
1. Introduction to Module
2. Introduction to GIS
Introduction to Module
Introduction To Module
• Credit Hours/ Contact Hours
Credit Hours – 02
Contact Hours - 02
Introduction to Module
• COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
✓ familiarise students with the theoretical

and practical aspects of Geographic
Information System (GIS) at an
introductory level
INTRODUCTION TO MODULE
• COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
✓Emphasis is placed upon the acquisition

of practical skills associated with the use
of the software “QGIS” - a Free and
Open-Source GIS software
• TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES:
✓There will be lectures & practical sessions
✓The lectures & labs will include handouts as well
✓Labs mainly consist of a series of short exercises
✓Students will be given both, home & class

assignments, class tests, and project
• COURSE EVALUATION:
i. Final Exam
ii. Mid-Term Exam
iii. Sessional Work
• COURSE EVALUATION:
i. Class Tests 15
ii. Assignments 20
iii. Final Term exam 40
iv. Mid-Term exam 25
• TEXT & MATERIALS:
Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D.

J. and Rhind, D.W. (2005), Geographic
Information Systems and Science, 2nd Edition,
Wiley, London.
• TEXT & MATERIALS:
✓https://qgis.org/en/site/
✓https://www.esri.com/en-us/home
✓https://www.arcgis.com/index.html
✓Google
✓YouTube
What is GIS?
GIS
System
Information
Geographic
GIS
System
Geography
study of the physical
features of the earth &
Information
its atmosphere, and of
human activities,
including the
distribution of
populations & resources
and political and
economic activities
GIS
System
Geography
Information
facts provided
or learned about
something or
someone e-g
name of the
building etc.
GIS
System
Geography
technology and
Information methods for
capturing, storing,
analysing &
visualising GIS
data
GIS
System
Geography
technology and
study of the physical Information methods for
features of the earth & its capturing, storing,
atmosphere, and of facts provided
analysing &
human activities as they or learned about
visualising GIS
affect & are affected by something or
data
these, including the someone e-g
distribution of populations name of the
& resources and political building etc.
and economic activities
WHY DOES GIS MATTER?
Almost everything that happens, happens

somewhere
Knowing where something happens can

be critically important
Geographic location is an important

attribute of activities, policies,
strategies, and plans
All professionals work with positional data – also

called Spatial Data
Spatial Data refers to Where things are, or perhaps,

Where things will be
TO BE MORE PRECISE, most professionals deal

with questions related to geographic space, - as
having positional data relative to the Earth’s
surface
Geographic location is an important attribute

of activities, policies, strategies, and plans
tHAT’S WHY GIS MATTERS ..
Geographic location is an important attribute

of activities, policies, strategies, and plans
What is required to find the location of
geographic things…..
???????????
Map
MAP
✓ Cartography is the study and practice of
making maps
✓ Cartography Combines science, aesthetics,

and techniques
✓ Cartography is built on the ground that

reality can be modelled in ways that
communicate spatial information effectively
MAP
✓GIS is a modern extension of traditional

cartography - one fundamental
similarity and two essential differences
MAP
Similarity - both a cartographic document
and a GIS contain a base map to which
additional data can be added
Differences -
1. there is no limit to the amount of
additional data that can be added to a GIS
map
2. GIS uses analysis and statistics to present
data in support of the arguments
Map
MAP
Map
MAP
Map
MAP
MAP
QGIS - Vector & Raster Data, Attribute

Table
DEFINITION OF GIS
DEFINITION OF GIS
✓ GIS is a technological field that incorporates

geographical features with tabular data in
order to map, analyse, and assess real-world
problems
DEFINITION OF GIS
✓ GIS is a tool for performing operations on

geographic data that are too tedious or
expensive or inaccurate if performed by
hand
GIS LAYERS
DEFINITION OF GIS
“a GIS combines layers of information

about a place to give a better
understanding of that place
layers of information depend on the purpose
- finding the best location for a new grocery

store, analyzing environmental damage,
viewing similar crimes in a city to detect a
pattern, and so on”
DEFINITION OF GIS
✓ In the strictest sense, GIS is a computer

system capable of assembling, storing,
manipulating, and displaying
geographically referenced information
✓ Practitioners also regard the total GIS as

including operating personnel and the data
that go into the system
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH GIS?
46
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH GIS?
Capture Data Store Data
Display Data Manipulate Data
Analyse Data
47
BREAK – 15 Minutes
A Brief History of GIS
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GIS
✓ there is some controversy about the history of

GIS
✓the first GIS was the Canada Geographic
Information System (CGIS), designed in the
mid-1960s as a computerized map-measuring
system to assist in regulatory procedures of
land-use management and resource
monitoring
✓https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Geogr
aphic_Information_System
✓ the modern history of GIS dates from the

early 1980s, when the price of sufficiently
powerful computers fell below a critical
threshold
✓According to Longley, et al. – 3 phases of

GIS:
-1963-1977: Innovation
-1981-1999: Commercialization
-2000-present: Exploitation
COMPONENTS OF GIS
COMPONENTS OF GIS
✓The network
✓Hardware
✓Software
✓Data
✓Management
✓People
COMPONENTS OF GIS
The network – Intranet, Internet
without a network, no rapid communication or
sharing of digital information could occur, except
between a small group of people crowded
around a computer monitor
Internet
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Hardware
✓Any device (a computer, a smartphone, a
tablet, a laptop, a monitor, a printer, a scanner,
etc.) that stores large GIS datasets, GIS software,
and applications can be referred to as the
hardware
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Software
✓can be as simple as a standard Web browser

(Microsoft Explorer or Netscape)
✓a package bought from one of the GIS

vendors –
ESRI, USA; www.esri.com,
Autodesk USA; www.autodesk.com,
MapInfo Corp. USA; www.mapinfo.com)
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Data
Spatial data Metadata
Attribute data
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Data
Spatial data
describes the location (where), coordinates,
and projection information for spatial features
Like ( x, y, z), (latitude, longitude, elevation)
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Data
Attribute data
specifies characteristics at that location (what,

how much, and when)
• information appended in tabular format to
spatial features
• can be stored as one of five different field types
in a table or database: character, integer,
floating, date, and BLOB
COMPONENTS OF GIS
COMPONENTS OF GIS
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Example
✓ location of the schools is the spatial
data
✓ school name, level of education taught,
and student capacity would make up
the attribute data
It is the partnership of these two data types

that enables GIS to be such an effective
problem-solving tool through spatial
analysis
Components of GIS
Data
Metadata
✓Metadata is ‘data about the data’
✓Metadata can be stored as an inherent part of the

GIS data, or it may be stored as a separate
document
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Metadata
• Examples of information (this is not a

comprehensive list) contained within metadata
are:
creation date of the GIS data, GIS data author,

contact information, source agency, map
projection and coordinate system, scale, error,
explanation of symbology and attributes, data
dictionary, data restrictions, and licensing -
Essentially, a description of the GIS data set that
helps the user understand the context of the data
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Data
Spatial data Metadata
Attribute data
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Data
Traditionally, most spatial data were collected and

held by specialized organizations – recently,
increasing availability and decreasing cost of data
capture equipment has resulted in many users
collecting their own data
COMPONENTS OF GIS
Management/Methods/Procedures
Procedures include how the data will be

captured, stored, processed, modeled,
analysed & finally presented/displayed in
the form of output
COMPONENTS OF GIS
People
GIS is useless without the people who

design, program and maintain it, supply it
with data, and interpret its results - it also
applies to people like the GIS users
INTRODUCTION
Questions
QGIS - INSTALLATION
https://qgis.org/en/site/
QGIS - INSTALLATION
1. Go to https://qgis.org/en/site/
2. Click “For Users”
3.Click Download QGIS
4. Download Long term release (most
stable)
QGIS Standalone Installer Version 3.16
INTRODUCTION
Questions

Lecture 1 - Arch 423 GIS - Fall 2023

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 1 - Arch 423 GIS - Fall 2023

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 1 - Arch 423 GIS - Fall 2023

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Arch 423: GIS

Geographic Information System

• Credit Hours/ Contact Hours

• COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

✓ familiarise students with the theoretical

• COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

✓Emphasis is placed upon the acquisition

• TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES:

✓There will be lectures & practical sessions

✓The lectures & labs will include handouts as well

✓Labs mainly consist of a series of short exercises

✓Students will be given both, home & class

• TEXT & MATERIALS:

Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D.

• TEXT & MATERIALS:

Almost everything that happens, happens

Knowing where something happens can

Geographic location is an important

All professionals work with positional data – also

Spatial Data refers to Where things are, or perhaps,

TO BE MORE PRECISE, most professionals deal

Geographic location is an important attribute

Geographic location is an important attribute

✓ Cartography Combines science, aesthetics,

✓ Cartography is built on the ground that

✓GIS is a modern extension of traditional

QGIS - Vector & Raster Data, Attribute

✓ GIS is a technological field that incorporates

✓ GIS is a tool for performing operations on

“a GIS combines layers of information

- finding the best location for a new grocery

✓ In the strictest sense, GIS is a computer

✓ Practitioners also regard the total GIS as

Capture Data Store Data

Display Data Manipulate Data

✓ there is some controversy about the history of

✓ the modern history of GIS dates from the

✓According to Longley, et al. – 3 phases of

✓can be as simple as a standard Web browser

✓a package bought from one of the GIS

Spatial data Metadata

specifies characteristics at that location (what,

It is the partnership of these two data types

✓Metadata is ‘data about the data’

✓Metadata can be stored as an inherent part of the

• Examples of information (this is not a

creation date of the GIS data, GIS data author,

Spatial data Metadata

Traditionally, most spatial data were collected and

Procedures include how the data will be

GIS is useless without the people who

You might also like