UNIT - III:

Definition:

GIS is defined as an information system that is used to input, store, retrieve, manipulate,
analyze and output geographically reference data or geospatial data, in order to support
decision making for planning and management of land use, natural resources, environment,
transportation, urban facilities and other administrative records.

OBJECTIVES

 explain the components of GIS;

 classify different types of data model; and
 explain the vector data and raster data analysis.

How GIS Works

A GIS stores information about the world as a collection of thematic layers that can be linked
together by geography. This simple but extremely powerful and versatile concept has proven
invaluable for solving many real-world problems from tracking delivery vehicles, to
recording details of planning applications, to modeling global atmospheric circulation

Overview of Information System

GIS might provide the medium for studying one or more of the fundamental issues that arise
in using digital information technology to examine the surface of the earth or any related
systems. The Resource Information System (RIS) for agricultural management, for instance,
has to be considered multidimensional with attribute dimension, spatial dimension and
temporal dimension. Geographic Information System (GIS) offers capabilities of integrating

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multisector, multilevel and multiperiod database. is a compatial data. It is a generemptor
capture, storage, retrieveriod database splay the form, fourpose technology for handling
geosis, and data in digital form, and satisfying the following specific needs, annodling geogra

(i) the ability to preprocess data from large stores into a form suitable for analysis, including
operations such as reformatting, change of projection, resampling, and generalisation.

(ii) direct support for analysis and modeling, so that form of analysis, calibrations of models,
forecasting, and prediction are all handled through instructions to the GIS.

(iii) post processing of results including such operations as reformatting, tabulation, report
generation, and mapping.

In all these operations, the typical GIS user now expects to be able to define requirements and
interact with the system through a "user-friendly" intuitive interface icons and desktop
metaphors (Mark 1986). The function of an information system is to improve one's ability to
make decisions. An information system is the chain of operations that takes us from planning
the observation and collection of data, to storage and analysis of the data, and to the use of
the derived information in some decision-making process. This brings us to an important
concept that a map is kind of information system. A map is a collection of stored, analysed
data, and the information derived from this collection is used in making decisions. Fig.shows
the simplified information system overview.

GIS Architecture

According to the definition proposed by Marble and Peuquet (1983), GIS deals with space-
time data, and often but not necessarily, employs computer hardware and software. GIS can
be understood as the subsystem nature within the framework of a main system. According to
these investigators, GIS has the following generic subsystems:

(i) A data input subsystem which is also called data capture subsystem

(ii) A data storage and retrieval subsystem

(iii) A data manipulation and analysis subsystem

(iv) A reporting subsystem.

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Each of the subsystems has been described in terms of functions that the respective
subsystem performs. The data input/capture subsystem provides operational functions for
acquiring data. The data management or data storage and retrieval subsystem stores and
retrieves the data elements. The manipulation and analysis subsystem handles the
transformation of data from one form to another and derivation of information from the data.
The fourth subsystem output/reporting subsystem provides a way for the user to see the data
in the form of diagrams, maps, and/or tables. Fig. shows the architecture of all subsystems of
GIS from a structural perspective.

GIS Work Flow

There are five essential elements that a GIS must contain. They are data acquis there
processing, data management, manipulation and areseis, and produ generation. For any
application of GIS, it is important to view these elements as a continuing process. Fig. 9.7
shows the work flow process of GIS in procedural perspective. Data acquisition is the process
of identifying and gathering the data required for any given application. This typically
involves a number of procedures. One procedure might be to gather new data by preparing
large-scale maps of natural vegetation from field observations. Other procedures for data
acquisition may include locating and acquiring existing data, such as, maps, aerial and ground
photography, and data acquired by satellite sensing systems.

Collection, input, and correction operations concerned with receiving data into the system
include manual digitising, scanning, keyboard entry of attribute information, and online
retrieval from other database systems. It is at this stage that a digital map is first constructed.
The digital representation can never be of a higher accuracy than the input data, although the
mechanisms for its handling will frequently be capable of greater precision than that achieved
during data collection. The essential pre-processing procedures include:

(a) format conversion,

(b) data reduction and generalisation,
(c) error detection and editing,

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(d) Merging of points into lines, and lines into polygons,
(e) Edge matching and tiling,
(f) Rectification/registration,
(g) Interpolation, and
(h) Interpretation.

The functions of database management govern the creation of an access to the database itself.
These functions provide consistent methods for data entry, update, deletion, and retrieval.
Modern database management systems isolate the users from the details of data storage, such
as, the particular data organisation on a mass storage medium. A modern Database
Management System (DBMS) is used to create GIS database, that is, attribute database.

Storage and retrieval mechanisms include the control of physical storage of the data in
memory, disk or tape, and mechanisms for its retrieval to serve the needs of the other three
components. In a disaggregate GIS this data storage may be physically more from the rest of
the system, and may meet the database requirements. This module includes the software
structures used to organise spatial data into models of geographic reality.

The may form the input to further analysis, is an important function of any GIS. The list of
data manipulation and analysis operations are, (i) reclassification and aggregation, (ii)
Geometric Operations: as Rotation, translation and scaling, rectification, and registration, (iii)
Controlled Determination, (iv) Data structure conversion, (v) Spatial operations of
connectivity and neighbourhood operations, (vi) Measurement of Distance and Direction, vii)
Statistical analysis as descriptive statistics regression, correlation, and ross-tabulation, and
(viii) Modelling. This operation or subsystem represents the whole spectrum of techniques
available for the transformation of the digital model by mathematical means. A library of
data-processing algorithms is available for the information of spatial data, and incorporated in

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new visual maps. Using these chniques it is possible to deliberately change the characteristics
of the data representation in order to meet theoretical requirements. It is equally possible to
mishandle or unintentionally distort the digital map at this state.

COMPONENTS OF GIS

Introduction: There is almost as much debate over the components of a GIS as there is about
its definition. At the simplest level, a GIS can be viewed as a software package with various
tools to enter, manipulate, analyze and output of geographical data (Heywood et al., 2006).
At the other extreme, GIS components include the computer hardware, software, spatial data,
data management and analysis procedures and the peoples to operate it (Figure No:1). If the
computer is located on a network, it can also be considered as the component of GIS since it
enables data sharing among users. Hence, GIS is the combination of all these six components
organized to automate, manage, and deliver information through geographic presentation.

Network:

Today, the most fundamental component of GIS is probably the network. Without rapid
development of IT, the network, there is no rapid communication or sharing of digital
information could occur, except between a small group of people crowded around a
computer monitor (Goodchild et al., 2005). Users connected to the Internet could zoom in
to parts of the map, or pan to other parts in their desktop WWW browser without ever
needing to install specialized software or download large amounts of data. The Internet is
increasingly integrated into the GIS. The rapidly growing application of Web GIS has the
following capabilities

✓ Displaying static maps which users can pan or zoom whilst online;

✓ Creating user-defined maps online which are in turn used to generate reports and new
maps from data on a server;

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✓ integrating users ‘local data with data from the Internet;

✓ Providing data that are kept secure at the server site;

✓ Providing maps through high-speed intranets within organizations;

✓ Providing maps and data across the Internet to a global audience.

Hardware components:

The hardware components of a GIS consist of a computer, memory (CPU or

workstations), data storage devices, tape drives or others, scanners, digitizer, plotter,
printers, global positioning system (GPS) units, and other physical components. The user
controls the computer and the peripherals via a visual display unit (VDU) or terminal.

✓ The disk drive unit provides space for storing of map and document data in a digital
format and sends them to the computer.

✓ The plotter used to present the results of the data processing.

✓ A tape or CD/DVD drive is used for storing data or programs.

✓ A scanner or digitizer is required to convert the analogue data into digital format

The choice of hardware ranges from personal computers to multi user super computers.
Computers should have essentially an efficient processor to run the software and
sufficient memory to store data.

The essential hardware elements for effective GIS operations include:

a) The presence of a processor with sufficient power to run the software

b) Sufficient memory for the storage and backup of large volumes of data

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c) A good quality, high resolution colour graphics screen or monitor and

d) Data input and output devices, like keyboards, printers and plotters.

Software components

GIS software components and sub-components have several functional elements to

perform different operations. All GIS software fit this requirement; except in their user
interface differences

Data input

Data input is the operation of encoding data and writing them on to the database for the
GIS use. Data input involves data acquisition – i.e. identification and collection of the
required data. It covers all aspects of transforming data captured from existing maps, field
observations, and sensors into a compatible digital format.

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 Data input can be performed in the following stages:

✓ Acquire or capture spatial data

✓ Entering spatial and associated attributes of non-spatial data

✓ Linking the spatial to the non-spatial data using unique identifiers.

Data pre-processing/ processing

Data input in a computer may involve several steps known as pre-processing. The procedure
is used to convert a dataset into a format compatible for permanent storage within the GIS
database and establishes a consistent system for data recording. Often, a large proportion of
GIS data requires some kind of processing and data manipulation to get coordinated set of
data layers. At this stage, the first digital map is constructed.

The essential pre-processing procedures include:

✓ Format conversion such as geo-referencing with geometric correction and resampling,

data generalization, and reduction (i.e. converting of GPS points into feature classes),

✓ Error detection and editing, edge matching and tiling,

✓ Merging of points into lines, and lines into polygons,

✓ Merging data storage and database management.

✓ Rectification/registration, interpolation, and photo-interpretation

Data storage and database management

The key idea to grasp about GIS software component is the geographic database management
system. The data management functions necessary in any GIS facilitates the storage,

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organization and retrieval of data using a database management system (DBMS). It is a set of
computer programs for organizing information, at the core of which will be a database. A
database is a large, computerized collection of structured data. The computer program used to
organise the database is a database management system (DBMS). It is a software package
that allows the user to set up, use and maintain a database. All GIS software, regardless of
vendor, consists of a DBMS capable of handling, organizing, and integrating of spatial data
and attribute data.

Data analysis and modelling

This functional element is the most important capability of GIS as far as the user is concerned
and facilitates spatial analysis using spatial and non-spatial attributes. It involves working
within databases to derive new information using several basic and advanced tools. This
subsystem transforms spatial data, for example from one entity type (points, lines and areas)
to another, and performs spatial analysis.

✓ Retrieval, (re)-classification, and measurement functions

✓ Overlay operations involve the combination of two or more datasets.

✓ Connectivity operations include contiguity, proximity, network, and spread operators

✓ Neighborhood functions include search operations, topographic function, and

interpolation.

✓ Modeling involves simplified representation and prediction of the reality (e.g. a land use
map).

Data output

This functional element concerns with the ways in which data are displayed and the results of
analyses are reported to the users. These output products can be available in a variety of ways
that includes statistical reports, maps, tables, figures, and graphics of various kinds.

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Data

Perhaps data is the most important component of a GIS. GIS can integrate spatial data with
other existing data resources stored in a DBMS. All GIS software is designed to handle
spatial data (also called geographical data). GIS technology utilizes two basic data types:
attribute and spatial data.

✓ Attribute data describes the characteristics of spatial features often referred to as tabular
data such as a name, number of stories, depth, or population.

✓ Spatial data refer to the real-world geographic objects such as streets, buildings, and
countries, and their respective locations. They are represented in the form of vector data
(points, lines and areas feature) or in the form of raster or image data (grid form).

People

People are the key components of GIS, without which, nothing else would work or the GIS
will be useless. Hence, there must always be people to plan, design, program, maintain it,
supply it with data, interpret its results, implement and operate the system as well as make
decisions based on the required output. People are the most complex component of GIS. This
component is the most failure prone, and the only component capable of self-correcting; and
able to repair other components. People may operate individually or within a group or team.
Individuals may function as a GIS manager, analysts, technicians, or as a user.

MAP SCALE

By necessity, the process of representing geographic features on a sheet of paper involves the
reduction of these features. The ratio between the reduced depiction on the map and the
geographical features in the real world is known as the map scale that is the ratio of the
distance between two points on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground. The
scale may be expressed in three ways and the pictorial representation of these three types is
shown in Fig.

Fractional scale:

If two points are 1 km apart in the field, they may be represented on the map as separated by
some fraction of that distance, say 1 cm. In this instance, the scale is 1 cm to a kilometer.
There are 100,000 cm in 1 km; so this scale can be expressed as the fraction or ratio of
1:100,000. Many topographic maps of the United States Geological Survey have a scale of
1:62,500; and many recent maps have a scale of 1:31,250, and others of 1:24,000. In India,
commonly used fractional map scales are 1:1,00,000,00; 1:250,000, 1:50,000; 1:25,000 and
1:10,000. The method of representing this type of scale is called Representation Fraction
(RF) method.

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Graphic scale:

This scale is a line printed on the map and divided into units that are equivalent to some
distance such as 1 km or 1 mile. The measured ground distance appears directly on the map
in graphical representation.

Verbal scale:

This is an expression in common speech, such as, "four centimeters to the kilometer", "an
inch to a mile". This common method of expressing a scale has the advantage of being easily
understood by most map users.

The ratio and map scale are inversely proportional. Therefore, 1:1,00,000 (large ratio) map is
considered a small scale. In this instance, the scale is 1 cm to a kilometer. As there are
100,000 cm in 1 km, this scale can be expressed as the fraction or ratio of 1:10,000 (small
ratio) map is considered a large scale. The small scale maps depict large tracts of lands (such
as continents or countries) usually with a limited level of detail and a simple symbology.
Large scale maps can depict small areas (such as cities) with a richness of detail and a
complex symbology.

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Map Projections

Maps are one of the oldest types of document and have been integral in the scientific
expedition since ages. While the objective of map projections is basically deals with
transforming the curved surface of the earth in to a flat surface, the greatest challenge one
face is the shape of the earth itself. Since the earth is conceptually a spherical surface and
while transforming into a flat surface reducing of scale becomes important so as to use it for
reference. Thus distortion becomes the biggest hurdle. One of the simplest ways to map the
earth surface without any kind of distortion is the globe. But it has its own disadvantages; it is
expensive to make, difficult to practice (measure and draw on) and reproduce and difficult to
carry. Another is that in globe only half of the globe is visible at one time. Thus all these
drawbacks of globes can be solved out if a map is prepared on a flat surface. But constructing
a map on a plane surface does require an important operation which requires mathematically
converts features between a spherical or ellipsoidal surface to a projected flat surface.

Representing the curved earth on a flat paper or on a computer screen requires mapping of
earth on the two dimensional (2D) mapping plane. Mapping on a 2D surface means
transforming each and every point on the reference surface with geographic coordinates (ϕ, λ)
into the set of projected coordinates (x, y) that can be represented on the position of the
features on a flat surface. It is a systematic transformation of the latitudes and longitudes of a
particular location on surface of the sphere into location on a flat surface. While projecting
map on a flat surface distortion of the earth surface to some limited extent is obvious and
thus, depending upon the purpose of the map, projections are applied in order to maintain or
preserve some particular properties.

Metric Properties of Map

The metric properties of maps that need to preserve are;

a. Area
b. Shape
c. Distance

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 d. Direction
e. Bearing and
f. Scale.

Every map projection maintains these properties while the purpose of the map generally
determines which of the map projection is best suitable. Another consideration in the
configuration of a map projection is its compatibility with data sets to be used on the map.
Data sets are geographic information, collected depending on the chosen datum (Model) of
the Earth.

Scale factor and transformation

Projections are constructed in two stages; first the reduction of the size of the earth in
reference to a hypothetical globe that is scale, second transform each and every point of the
globe into a flat surface (x, y), that is transformation of Geographic coordinates into projected
coordinates.

The scale factor is the transformation of globe scale that is representative fraction (RF),
also called the Principal scale into a scale of a flat surface where the principal scale divides
the radius of the earth by the radius of the globe. The scale factor (SF) is the actual scale
divided by the principal scale.

Relationship between Coordinates and map projection:

The coordinates are the latitude and longitudinal position of an earth’s point that are
usually represented as (x, y). X refers to longitudinal position while y refers to latitudinal
position of a particular earth’s point. A coordinate system is super imposed on the map
surface to provide the referencing framework by which x, y positions are can compute and
measured.

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Grouping of Map Projections

All the map projections are grouped into four main families. They are, a

(i) the family of planar projections

(ii) the family of cylindrical projections

(iii) the family of conical projections, and

(iv) the family of azimuthal projections.

If we wrap a sheet of paper round the globe in the form of a cylinder, transfer the
geographical features of the globe on to it, and then unroll the sheet and lay of on a flat
surface, we would achieve a cylindrical projection. The resulting graticule would be
rectangular. In conic projection, if we repeat the above process, by wrapping the sheet of
paper round the globe in the form of a cone, the resulting graticule would be fan shaped. The
cone can be either tangent to a chosen parallel or it may intersect the plane along two

14
parallels. Conic projections are specially suited to mapping areas having east-west extents,
such as, Canada, USA and China. If a sheet of paper is laid tangent to a point on the globe
and transfer the geographical features of the globe on to it, we would achieve azimuthal
projections that appear as straight lines inter- secting at the designated centre point, and
parallels that appear as concentric circles round the centre point. A combination of any two of
the above projections forms an hybrid projection

The classification of map projections should follow a standard pattern so that any regular
projection can be described by a set of criteria, and, conversely, a set of criteria will define a
regular projection. Thus a classification scheme may follow a number of criteria subdivided
into classes. Adler (1968) have named five basic criteria, as follows:

(i) Nature of the projection surface as defined by geometry,

(ii) Coincidence or contact of the projection surface with the datum surface,

(ii) Position or alignment of the projection surface with relation to the datum surface

(iv) Properties of cartographic requirements, and

(v) Mode of generation of datum surface and coordinate systems.

The datum surface of the earth is usually an ellipsoid of revolution, but sometimes it is also
approximated by a sphere. Although this assumption that the earth is a sphere can be used for
small-scale maps to maintain the accuracy.

What is Datum:
A datum is a mathematical model that fits the earth to an ellipsoid as the earth surface is
not perfectly sphere or round. The datum is used to maintain or correct this undulation of the
earth in the process of map making. Most commonly used ellipsoid in GIS is WGS 84 (world
geodetic survey 1984). It is mostly useful as well as suitable if we are going to compute and
compare data collected by GPS (global positioning system) on map. Therefore it is widely
used in GIS in topographical mapping.

What is Coordinate system:

A coordinate system is a reference system used to represent the locations of geographic
features, imagery, and observations, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) locations,
within a common geographic framework

What is UTM in GIS?

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) is the most common and widely used
projection system in GIS. It divides the world into 60 narrow longitudinal zones of 6 degrees
numbering from 1 to 60, while the narrow zones of 6 degrees make the distortions so small
that they can be ignored when constructing a map for a scale of 1:10,000. UTM was
recommended for topographic mapping by the United Nations Cartography Committee
(UNCC) in 1952.

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The UTM was designed in such a way that it covers the whole world but excluding the Arctic
and Antarctic region which are in the northern hemisphere from 84° to 90° north and in the
southern hemisphere from80° to 90° south. This particular area can be mapped with help of
the Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) projection. The India comes under between UTM
zone 42 of north hemispheres to UTM zone 47 of northern hemisphere.

Map transformation

Convert the raster dataset from one projection to another, or change the cell size, you are
performing a geometric transformation. Geometric transformation is the process of changing
the geometry of a raster dataset from one coordinate space to another.

The process of geometric transformation requires a set of control points and transformation
equations to register a digitized map, a satellite image, or an aerial photogra dinate system.

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1. Map-to-Map Transformation

 Geometric transformation converts a newly digitized map into projected coordinates

 A manually-digitized map has the same measurement as its source map: measured in
inches
 A converted scanned image of the map is measured in dots per inch
 To make the digitized map usable in GIS - it must be converted into a projected
coordinate system to align with other layers Geometric transformation also applies to
satellite imagery

2. Image-to-Map Transformation

 Remotely sensed data transformation involves changing row and columns

 Can spatially register a georeferenced image in a GIS database
 Must have same coordinate system
 The rows and columns can be transformed into a projected coordinate system

Georeferencing
Georeferencing is the process of aligning satellite imagery or other types of maps with real-
world geographic coordinates. In simple words, it involves taking an image of the Earth's
surface, and placing it accurately on a map of the same area.

To georeference an image, you need to identify a set of ground control points on the image,
which are known locations on the Earth's surface with known geographic coordinates. These
ground control points serve as reference points to align the image with the actual geographic
coordinates of the area. Once the image is aligned with the geographic coordinates, it can be
used to create accurate maps, perform spatial analysis, or combine with other datasets to
extract useful information.

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Georeferencing is essential—it helps create up-to-date, precise maps and enables thorough
spatial analysis. It is a pivotal step in utilizing satellite imagery or map data across various
sectors.

Key Benefits and Uses:

Creating Accurate Maps: Essential for purposes like urban planning, disaster readiness, and
environmental auditing.
Change Detection over Time: By comparing historical and current georeferenced imagery
to pinpoint environmental or urban shifts.
Spatial Data Integration: Merging maps with demographic stats, climatic conditions, or
geological data for enhanced regional insights.
Natural Resource Management: Enabling the monitoring of forests, agricultural expanses,
or hydric zones through dedicated analysis of georeferenced images.

Map providers, like LocationIQ offer access to vector and raster map tiles via API.
The vector maps are high resolution, use up low bandwidth and are flexible enough to be
used in a variety of implementations. The use of Open Source Mapping data provides an
additional layer of flexibility on use of the processed data.

Figure 1: We’re going to georeferenced the four corners of the rectangular clip region. The
clip region is common to both the GIS map and the scanned Land Use interpretation map. In
the absence of a clip region we would need to find items in common with both the scanned

18
map and the GIS map such as road intersections from a GIS roads map, or property
boundaries from a GIS map of cadastre.

Now I want to take you through the ten steps that I use to georeference a scanned map or air
photo in QGIS. The example is taken from my HD video follow-along-with-me QGIS
georeferencing and digitizing course.

In this case the scan is a map that I created in QGIS and printed out. It is a map of air photos
that are overlaid by a rectangular clip region. I turned the printout into a field map showing a
five class land use interpretation (commercial land, salt marsh, forest, open space and urban
land). The “before” version of the map is shown in figure 1a.

The version in figure 1b has the land use interpretation drawn on it, and has been scanned at
300dpi. It is a dumb scan and is in scanner coordinates. Because I printed the clip region onto
it, the scan can easily be related back to the GIS version of the clip region in QGIS.

Step 1: Open the QGIS map that you’ll be Georeferencing to.

Click the Open Data Source manager button and from the dialog
(LandUseInterpretationClipRegion.shp)

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Step 2: Give your QGIS map contrast.

In the Layers area, right-click the GIS map you’re Georeferencing to

(LandUseInterpretationClipRegion).

Launch the Layer properties dialog. In the Symbology tab, change the Fill Style to be no
brush and the stroke color to be bright pink (pink is a good color for contrast).

Step 3: Open the Qgis georeferencer

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From the Raster drop-down menu, click on Georeferencer and the Georeferencer dialog box
will appear.

Step 4: Open the scanned image you want to georeferenced.

Click the Open raster button to open the scan that you want to georeference. Scans are also
known as rasters and bitmaps.

From the drop-down menu, open the scan that you want to georeference. Take the time to
explore this menu. There’s a bunch of raster file types that QGIS can use.

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Step 5: The scan is open

The scanned Land Use interpretation opens in the Qgis georeferencer and its ready to be geo-
referenced.

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Step 6: Find ground control points

Now we need to find common points in both the scan and the GIS maps in QGIS. In this
case, we’re matching the surrounding rectangle on the scan, to its GIS version. So be sure
that the GIS map is open in the main QGIS map canvas.

Begin by zooming into a corner of the clip region on the scan.

Then click the Add point button…

On the scan, click your left mouse button on the top-left corner of the clip region.

The Enter map coordinates box will appear.

From the Enter map coordinates dialog you can either manually enter the coordinates of the
Ground control points OR you can get them interactively from the QGIS map canvas. To get
them from the map canvas…

Click the From map canvas button (red square in the figure) and the map canvas will display.

Place your mouse over a corner of the clip region in the QGIS main map canvas with your
mouse. Use your mouse wheel to zoom in close.

Click the left mouse button to add a point and the X and Y coordinates will be populated.

Click the OK button and dots appear in both the QGIS georeferencer and main QGIS map
windows.
Repeat these steps for each of the four corners of the clip region.

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Step 7: Match at least 3 ground control points

Georeferencing in QGIS involves mapping a scan’s pixel coordinates to GIS coordinates.

You can see our four GCPs and GCP table in Figure 2 as a red dot in each corner of both
images. GCPs are simply places in the scan on the left (in pixel coordinates) that you can also
find in the GIS map on the right.

There’s some things to note in the GCP table…

 The Visible checkboxes allow you to enable or disable a GCP. This is important
functionality, especially if you accidently digitize one in the wrong place.
 The id of the GCP starts at zero, not one!
 The Source X and Source Y columns refer to the Pixel Coordinates of the scanned
map interpretation
 The Dest.X and Dest.Y columns refer to the Destination Coordinates in the GIS map
on the right. In this example they are in the Massachusetts Mainland coordinate
system
 The dX (pixels), dY (pixels), and residual (pixels) columns refer to error

In other words, is one of your GCPs in the wrong place? In this example all are zero so the
match is perfect! Zero residuals don’t occur very often. But they can when you use the clip
region technique that I’ve used here. Its common to have errors of two or three (when you’ve
got good control) or up to ten or fifteen when the control is poor such as when your GCPs are
trees, wide road intersections or other poorly defined features. Depending on your project,
you might get away with errors up to say around twenty. There are no hard and fast rules

24
here. There are often many factors in play. You should always test to see if your
georeferencing results are acceptable. After I run the GIS georeferencer, I will overlay
cadastral maps. That way I can see how well the GIS property boundaries overlay onto the
rectified image.
I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about this stuff.

Step 8: Start the Qgis georeferencer.

Once you’ve digitized the four Ground control points then click the green arrow to start the
georeferencer.

Step 9: The Transformation Settings dialog

Next, the Transformation settings dialog box will appear. This dialog looks a bit daunting at
first glance, but because we’ve got a good quality scan to georeference (the basemap and its
border was printed from QGIS and was scanned pointing north), all you really need to do is
to…

 Set the Transformation Type: Polynominal

 Set the resampling method: Nearest neighbor

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  Set the target Spatial Reference System (SRS): In this case it’s the Massachusetts
Mainland. Avoid disaster and make sure the SRS you choose is the same coordinate
system as the other GIS maps you’re using
 Ensure that you nominate an Output raster. Give it a name
(YarmouthLandUseInterpretation_rectified.tif)
 Check the Load in QGIS when done box

The rest will look after itself.

We can take these defaults because we’re starting off with a basemap that…
 has already been photogrammetrically corrected, and
 has been carefully placed in the scanner so it faces north.

We only need to geo-reference our interpretation and we don’t need to geo-rectify it. Click
the OK button and the settings are loaded. Then click the program runs and the processed
image will load in QGIS.

Step 10: The image has been georeferenced in QGIS

And, there it is. Done!

The GIS clip region overlays the clip region that was printed on top of the base map
perfectly. The cadastre (property map) overlays perfectly too.

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