Geographic Information Systems I

GIS Concepts

Lecturer:
By Eng. Thomas MAatabaro
[email protected]
GIS Concepts

 GIS definition
 Purpose of GIS
 Applications of GIS
What is GIS ?
 Geographic/Geospatial information :
• information about places on the earth’s
surface
• knowledge about “what is where” (when)

 GIS,  what is the S?

• Systems: the technology
• Science: the concepts and theory
• Studies: the societal context
GI Systems, Science and Studies

• Systems:
– technology for the acquisition and management of spatial
information

• Science: Introduce enough of the science to apply the

systems correctly and understand their capabilities and
limitations.
– comprehending the underlying conceptual issues of
representing data and processes in space-time
– the theory and concepts behind the technology

• Studies
– understanding the social, legal and ethical issues
associated with the application of GIS
GIS Definition
Geographic:
Refers to features with a fixed location on the Earth surface.
All spatial objects and/or phenomena

Information:
Information is an answer to a specific question; the question
generally emerges in the context of problem solving in
connection with management/decision making activities.

System:
Collection of people, means (technical, financial) and
procedures organised to accomplish a specific set of
functions (applications)
Towards a GIS Definition

 A computer-assisted information management of

geographically referenced data.

 GIS is a way to organise and analyse data so that it can

be seen and understood easily

 System of computer hardware, software, and

procedures designed to support the capture,
management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, and
display of spatially referenced data for solving complex
planning and management problems (FICCDC, 1988)
Geographic Information technologies
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
– a system of earth-orbiting satellites which can
provide precise (100 meter to sub-cm.) location on
the earth’s surface (in lat/long coordinates or equiv.)
• Remote Sensing (RS)
– use of satellites or aircraft to capture information
about the earth’s surface
– Digital ortho-images
• Geographic Information Systems
– (already defined)

GPS and RS are sources of input data for a GIS.

Components of GIS

People who operates

the system

The software (the GIS

software)

Spatial data (and also

attribute)

Data Management and

Analysis procedures
(the Methods)

Computer system
(hardware +operating
system)
GIS defined

Capture
Key Functionalities of a GIS:
Store
• Data acquisition/Input of data
• Data organization and management
Query
• Data manipulation & analysis
• Data visualization and output of Analyse
information
Display

Output
 The GIS Data Model: purpose

• Allows the geographic features in real world

locations to be digitally represented and
stored in a database so that they can be
abstractly presented in map form, and can
also be worked with and manipulated to
address some real world problem
GIS Data Model
Volcanoes national park

Real world Geographic Abstract

locations features representations
The GIS Data Model: example
Three layers or themes: roads, hydrology
(water), topography (land elevation).
These layers can be related because
roads precise geographic coordinates are
recorded for each theme.
longitude
Layers are comprised of two data types
•Spatial data which describes location
(where)
hydrology •Attribute data specifying what, how much,
when
longitude
Layers may be represented in two
ways:
topography •in vector format as points and lines
•in raster(or im age) format as pixels
longitude
All geographic data has 4 properties:
•projection, scale, accuracy and resolution
Spatial data
Components of Spatial data
1. Geometric and spatial relationships: Point

Point
Line

Polygon
Spatial and Attribute Data
• Spatial data (where)
– specifies location
– stored in a shape file, geodatabase or similar
geographic file
• Attribute data (descriptive: what, how much, when)
– specifies characteristics at that location, natural or
human-created
– stored in a data base table
• GIS systems traditionally maintain spatial and
attribute data separately, then “join” them for display
or analysis
2. Attributes (Descriptive data):
Spatial data organization
Linking locational and descriptive data

Map
Digital database
Raster & Vector models
Raster Model
• Area is covered by grid with (usually) equal-sized, square cells
• Attributes are recorded by assigning each cell a single value based
on the majority feature (attribute) in the cell, such as land use type.
Image data consists of raster data in which the “attribute” is a
reflectance value from the geomagnetic spectrum
• cells in image data often called pixels
Vector Model
• The fundamental concept of vector GIS is that all geographic features
in the real work can be represented either as:
– points (nodes): trees, poles, fire plugs, airports, cities
– lines (arcs): streams, streets, sewers,
– areas (polygons): land parcels, cities, counties, forest, rock type

ArcMap refers to files containing vector data as shapefiles

 Data query

 Identifying specific features

 Identifying features based

on conditions

Areas in Rwanda with Landform=“Plain”

 Data query
Which parcels or which tea plantations are
within 50 feet of the road?

Proximity

Well type Drilled

Building owner Smith
Overlay Soil type Sandy

Network
 Result
Graphs
Reports

Internet
Paper Map

GIS
Data
Document
Image Kigali.jpg Rwanda.mxd
Material

GPS
Scanne
Server r
Digital table

Softwar
e

Networ
k Workstati
on

Printer Hard Plott

disque er
GIS Capabilities
Why do you have to use GIS?
GIS is a powerful/useful tool for Monitoring,
Management and Prediction of spatial
complex phenomena.
GIS is support tool to decision making which
is more used now.

GIS is much more than a map

GIS Functionalities

Data
Acquisition

Data
Management

Data
Manipulation&
Analysis

Data
visualization/
Output
GIS Applications:
Mapping Engineering design and
Land use planning and planning
management Marketing and Retailing
Environmental studies Urban Management and
Natural resource mapping Planning
 and management Agriculture
Land tenure Marine Sciences
Mineral exploration Coastal management
Natural hazard prediction Water Resource Management
and management Soil Resource Management
Geological studies etc…………………
Some examples of GIS applications

Natural resources management

Rwanda National Parks
Volcanoes National Park Zoning Plan
Education maps
Community Development
Development of a GIS based
Decision-Support System for Coffee sector

Rwanda Coffee Sector

22 unique Coffee zones
Environmental monitoring
Urban planning
Thanks for your attention