Advanced GIS

Unit 3
Geographic Information System (GIS)

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GIS Introduction

integration of

➔ data,
➔ hardware
➔ software designed for management,
➔ processing,
➔ analysis and
➔ visualization of georeferenced data

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 Open Source

Richard M. Stallman first defined the concept of

Free Software in form of four freedoms:
Software following these four principles is called “Free
0. freedom: The freedom to run the program, for Software”. In 1984, Richard M. Stallman started to work
any purpose.
on the GNU-Project and in 1985 he created the “Free
1. freedom: The freedom to study how the Software Foundation” to support the Free Software
program works, and adapt it to your needs. concept.
2. freedom: The freedom to redistribute copies. The basic idea behind free software is based on the
3. freedom: The freedom to improve the assumption that by allowing the programmers to read,
program, and release your improvements to the redistribute, and modify the source code, the software
public, so that the whole community benefits. evolves: it gets improved, bugs are fixed and capabilities
expanded. The ubiquitous availability of the source code
and the continuous, often instantaneous peer-review of
the code contribute significantly to this process.

Source : Neteler, M. and Mitasova, H., 2013. Open source GIS: a GRASS GIS approach (Vol. 689). Springer Science & Business Media. 4
 GRASS as an Open GRASS provides complete access to its internal
Source GIS structure and algorithms.

Advanced users who want to write their own GIS

GRASS (Geographical Resources Analysis Support
modules may therefore learn from existing modules as
System) is a raster/vector GIS combined with well as by reading the “GRASS Programmer’s Manual”
integrated image processing and data visualization (GRASS Development Team, 2006).
subsystems. It includes more than 350 modules for
The documented GRASS GIS libraries with the
management, processing, analysis and
Application Programming Interface (API) make the new
visualization of georeferenced data.
module development more efficient and allow to
integrate new functionality into GRASS.

Applications can be also written with shell or Python

scripts to automate the GIS workflow.

https://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Quick_wxGUI_tutorial https://grass.osgeo.org/
Source : Neteler, M. and Mitasova, H., 2013. Open source GIS: a GRASS GIS approach (Vol. 689). Springer Science & Business Media. 5
 Data model

Raster Data model

Vector Data model

Source : Neteler, M. and Mitasova, H., 2013. Open source GIS: a GRASS GIS approach (Vol. 689). Springer Science & Business Media. 6
 Vector Data model

A representation of the world using points, lines, and

polygons. Vector models are useful for storing data
that has discrete boundaries, such as country
Advantages:
borders, land parcels, and streets.
● Data is represented at original resolution and
form without generalization.
Disadvantages: ● Graphic output is usually more aesthetically
pleasing (traditional cartographic representation);
● location of each vertex needs to be stored explicitly.
Since most data, e.g. hard copy maps, is in
● For effective analysis, vector data must be converted into a topological
structure. This is often processing intensive and usually requires extensive
vector form no data conversion is required.
data cleaning. Furthermore, topology is static, and any editing of the vector ● Accurate geographic location of data.
data requires re-building of the topology. ● Allows for efficient encoding of topology, and as a
● Algorithms for manipulative and analysis functions are complex and may be result more efficient operations that require
processing intensive. Often, this inherently limits the functionality for large data topological information, e.g. proximity, network
sets, e.g. a large number of features. analysis.
● Continuous data, such as elevation data, is not effectively represented in
vector form. Usually substantial data generalization or interpolation is required
for these data layers.
● Spatial analysis and filtering within polygons is impossible

https://maxdisruption.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/advantage-and-disadvantages-of-vectorraster-data/ 7
 Raster data model

Raster is a regular matrix of values.

If the values are assigned to grid points, the raster usually

represents a continuous field (elevation, temperature,
chemical concentration) and is sometimes called lattice.

If the values are assigned to grid cells (area units, pixels), it

represents an image (satellite image, scanned map,
converted vector map).

If the cell values represent category numbers, one or more https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/manage-da

attributes can be assigned to that cell using a database. ta/raster-and-images/what-is-raster-data.htm

Source : Neteler, M. and Mitasova, H., 2013. Open source GIS: a GRASS GIS approach (Vol. 689). Springer Science & Business Media. 8
 Raster data model
The area represented by a square grid cell is computed from the length of its
side, called resolution.

Resolution controls the level of spatial detail captured by the raster data.

● Most data are represented by a 2D raster, with the grid cell (unit area)
called a pixel;
● volume data can be stored as a 3D raster with a unit volume called a
voxel (volume pixel).

The raster data model is often used for physical and biological subsystems of
the geosphere such as elevation, temperature, water flow, or vegetation.
However, it can also be used for data usually represented by lines and
polygons such as roads or soil properties, especially for scanned maps. The
raster data model was designed with a focus on analysis, modeling and image
The advantages of storing your data as a raster are as follows: processing.

★ A simple data structure—A matrix of cells with values representing

Its main advantage is its simplicity, both in terms of data management as well
a coordinate and sometimes linked to an attribute table
as the algorithms for analysis and modeling, including map algebra.
★ A powerful format for advanced spatial and statistical analysis
★ The ability to represent continuous surfaces and perform surface
analysis
This data model is not particularly efficient for networks and other types of data
★ The ability to uniformly store points, lines, polygons, and surfaces heavily dependent on lines, such as property boundaries.
★ The ability to perform fast overlays with complex datasets
GRASS has extensive support for the raster data model.

Source : Neteler, M. and Mitasova, H., 2013. Open source GIS: a GRASS GIS approach (Vol. 689). Springer Science & Business Media. 9
 Choosing Between Data Models

Raster data model "Raster is faster but vector is corrector"

Raster data is useful when:

● Working with continuous data types: elevation, slope,
satellite photos
● Good for large area analyses
● Good for surface analysis
There are other considerations for storing your data as a raster ● Mathematical modeling
that may convince you to use a vector-based storage option. For ● Spatial detail isn't important
example: Vector data is useful when:
● Working with discrete data types: trees, buildings, property
There can be spatial inaccuracies due to the limits imposed by boundaries
the raster dataset cell dimensions. ● Good for small study areas
● Spatial detail is important (When "close enough" isn't really
Raster datasets are potentially very large. Resolution increases
good enough)
as the size of the cell decreases; however, normally cost also
increases in both disk space and processing speeds. For a given ● When topology is needed for the analysis
area, changing cells to one-half the current size requires as much
as four times the storage space, depending on the type of data Other factors that can influence your decision include:
and storage techniques used. ● Available storage: some rasters are really large
● Expected types of analysis: some tools only work with raster
There is also a loss of precision that accompanies restructuring or vector data
data to a regularly spaced raster-cell boundary. ● Expertise of human operators
● Level of accuracy desired

https://gsp.humboldt.edu/olm/Lessons/GIS/08%20Rasters/RasterToVector.html
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 Shape of Earth

approximated by a mathematical model represented by

Map Projection Principle an ellipsoid (also called a spheroid).

A variety of cartographic ellipsoids have been designed to

provide the best-fit properties for certain portions of the
Earth’s surface, for example, Clarke 1866 for North
When working with GRASS, the projection and
America, Bessel 1841 for several European countries, or
coordinate system must be defined whenever a new the current WGS 1984 used worldwide.
project (LOCATION in GRASS terminology) is created.
While the ellipsoid describes the shape of Earth by a
relatively simple mathematical function, the geoid, an
The map projection definition is stored in an internal file equipotential surface of the Earth’s gravity, undulates due
within the given LOCATION. It is used whenever the to the spatially variable distribution of the Earth’s mass.
data need to be projected into a different projection or
For map projections, the ellipsoids are usually sufficient
when calculations requiring information about the for horizontal positioning; however, the geoid has to be
Earth’s curvature are performed. used for high accuracy elevation calculations.

Different parameters are needed to define different

projections and coordinate systems; therefore, it is
important to understand the map projection terminology.

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 Map projection
To transform the curved Earth surface into a plane (flat
sheet of paper or a computer screen), a map projection is
Map Projection Principle used.
Direct projection of a spherical object to a plane cannot
be performed without distortion.
The most common approach is to project the spheroid
onto a developable surface, such as a cylinder or a cone
Geodetic or map datum
that can be developed into a plane without deformation
A set of constants specifying the coordinate system (tearing or stretching),
used for calculating the coordinates of points on Earth is The conformal projection preserves angles (shapes for
called a geodetic datum. small areas) and is often used for navigation and national
grid systems.
Horizontal datums define the origin and orientation of a The equidistant projection preserves certain relative
coordinate system used to calculate the horizontal distances and is used for measurement of length.
coordinates (usually northing and easting). The equivalent projection preserves area and is used for
measurement of areas. Each of the properties (angle,
Vertical datums define the coordinate system origin for distance, and area) is preserved at the expense of the
calculating the elevation coordinate, such as mean sea others.
level.
For maps to match, their coordinates must be computed
using the same datum. Different datums mean a shift in Most coordinate systems used for land surface
the origin of the coordinate system, and that means a mapping use conformal projections.
shift of the entire map.

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 Map Algebra
What is Map Algebra? Reclassifying raster data
Reclassification is the process of reassigning a value, a
Map Algebra is a simple and powerful algebra with range of values, or a list of values in a raster to new
which you can execute all Spatial Analyst tools, output values.
operators, and functions to perform geographic analysis. Why reclassify your data?
One reason is to set specific values to NoData to exclude
Map algebra performs logical, arithmetic, statistical,
them from analysis. Other reasons are to change values
trigonometric, and bitwise operations on a set of raster in response to new information or classification schemes,
maps. or to replace one set of values with an associated set (for
Reference: https://baharmon.github.io/map-algebra-in-grass example, to replace values representing soil types with
pH values). Still another reason is to assign values of
preference, priority, sensitivity, or similar criteria to a
raster.

Reclassification is an important process when you need

to combine dissimilar data using a common value scale.

Source:
http://www.geography.hunter.cuny.edu/~jochen/gtech361
/lectures/lecture11/concepts/Reclassifying%20raster%20
data.htm

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 Map Algebra
Interpolation of raster data Why interpolate to raster?
Source: The assumption that makes interpolation a viable option
https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/tools/spatial-analyst-toolbox/understanding-inter is that spatially distributed objects are spatially correlated;
polation-analysis.htm in other words, things that are close together tend to have
Interpolation predicts values for cells in a raster from a similar characteristics.
limited number of sample data points. It can be used to For instance, if it is raining on one side of the street, you
can predict with a high level of confidence that it is raining
predict unknown values for any geographic point data, on the other side of the street. You would be less certain
such as elevation, rainfall, chemical concentrations, and if it was raining across town and less confident still about
noise levels. the state of the weather in the next county.

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 Map Algebra
Interpolation methods
Source : Spline with Barriers
https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/tools/spatial-analyst-toolbox/comparin The Spline with Barriers tool uses a method similar to the
g-interpolation-methods.htm technique used in the Spline tool, with the major
difference being that this tool honors discontinuities
IDW encoded in both the input barriers and the input point
The IDW (Inverse Distance Weighted) tool uses a method of interpolation that
data.
estimates cell values by averaging the values of sample data points in the
neighborhood of each processing cell. The closer a point is to the center of the
cell being estimated, the more influence, or weight, it has in the averaging Topo to Raster
process. The Topo to Raster and Topo to Raster by File tools use
an interpolation technique specifically designed to create
Kriging a surface that more closely represents a natural drainage
Kriging is an advanced geostatistical procedure that generates an estimated surface and better preserves both ridgelines and stream
surface from a scattered set of points with z-values. More so than other networks from input contour data.
interpolation methods, a thorough investigation of the spatial behavior of the The algorithm used is based on that of ANUDEM,
phenomenon represented by the z-values should be done before you select the
developed by Hutchinson et al at the Australian National
best estimation method for generating the output surface.
University.
Natural neighbour
Natural Neighbor interpolation finds the closest subset of input samples to a Trend
query point and applies weights to them based on proportionate areas to Trend is a global polynomial interpolation that fits a
interpolate a value (Sibson, 1981). It is also known as Sibson or "area-stealing" smooth surface defined by a mathematical function (a
interpolation. polynomial) to the input sample points. The trend surface
changes gradually and captures coarse-scale patterns in
Spline the data.
The Spline tool uses an interpolation method that estimates values using a
mathematical function that minimizes overall surface curvature, resulting in a
Interpolation Methods in GRASS:
smooth surface that passes exactly through the input points. https://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Interpolation 15
 Overlaying Spatial
analysis
Operation in GIS for superimposing the multiple layer of datasets that
representing different themes together for analysing or identifying relationship
of each layer.

Overlay analysis represent the composite map by the combination of different

attribute and geometry of datasets or entity.

Overlay is the operations of comparing variables among multiple coverage.

In the overlay analysis new spatial data sets are created by merging data from
two or more input data layers.

Overlay analysis is one of the most common and powerful GIS technique. It
analyses the multiple layer with common coordinate systems and determine
what is on the top layer. There are four overlay operators in common use:

1. Point-in-area (also known as point in polygon)

Overlay operations combine the data from same entity or different entities and
create the new geometries and new unit of change entity. 2. Line-in-area (also known as line in polygon)

3. Area-on-area (also known as polygon on polygon)

More Information
https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/tools/spatial-analyst-toolbox/understanding-overlay-analysis.htm 4. Weighted overlay
GIS & REMOTE SENSING, David Harbor, Washington and Lee University
https://geol260.academic.wlu.edu/course-notes/
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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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Geo Processing tools
Source: https://gisgeography.com/geoprocessing-tools/

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“Thank you”

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