Geographical Information System (GIS)

Basic Concepts and Applications

Laboratory Manual

Manuel T. Tabada Jr.

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Overview

This laboratory experiment manual intends to deliver the basic knowledge of the
Geographical Information System (GIS) through the use of QGIS software. QGIS is an
open source and free to use and thus easy for learners to acquire and install the
software.

The aim of this manual is to teach the learners how to apply the software for
geographical mapping. The techniques that the learners will attain from this course
will pave way for future geospatial analyses undertakings.

The laboratory manual is composed of twelve (12) activities. The contents were
clearly discussed, presented with figures and tables, for a clear explanation of the
activities. Each of the exercises contains answer sheets to evaluate the learnings
acquired.

The manual starts with and activity that provides knowledge to learners of the
installation processes and familiarity of the QGIS interface through knowing the
functions of basic icons and menus. The introductory activity follows, which is for the
purpose of orienting learners about geographical data sets.

Following the introductory exercises are the activities with contents about
understanding shapefiles, vectors, the map symbology, attribute tables, digitization,
elevation imagery, and creating simple map layouts.

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Introduction

Map-based information systems are relevant in our society today. It can be used for
disaster monitoring and prevention, weather monitoring, agricultural observations,
health assessments, social and community issue evaluations, and many others.
Several meteorological stations used mapping systems for risk assessments. National
security agencies use map-based software for real-time monitoring of situations in the
ground.

Current map-based systems were made possible through the Geographical

Information System (GIS) software. GIS is capable of displaying real image data related
to the Earth’s surface in an above- ground perspective. The display provides
information and understanding on the spatial pattern on an area. The positioning of
the GIS map presentation are based on the Earth’s actual geographical coordinates
(georeferenced) hence, all plotted geographical data are guaranteed to be in its real
position, with only few meters of error margins.

There are more than 30 known GIS software available in the market. QGIS is one of
them and its main advantage is its availability on the internet. It is an open source
software, easily downloadable online, and continuously upgrading to fully bring
comfortability to users. QGIS contains the basic feature similar to other known
mapping software and thus QGIS is the utilized software for this course.

The GIS basic application course, through this laboratory manual, will provide
mapping-related knowledge intended for the academic and future professional
undertakings of students from engineering, computer studies, and agriculture
academic programs.

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 Laboratory Activity 01
The QGIS Mapping Preparations

The QGIS Software

The QGIS software, originally named Quantum GIS, came from a project created by
Gary Sherman in 2002. The main objective of the project is to have a geographic data
viewer that runs in Linux Operating System. The Linux OS during that time was a
developing contender for the Microsoft Operating System. The QGIS software was
basically written in C++ and Python. Similar with the open source Linux OS, QGIS is
developmental software that has continual modification even as of today, mainly with
interface enhancements and plugin compatibilities. These enhancements were in the
form of software releases, starting from QGIS 0.10.0 up to the current QGIS 3.8.3
release (https://download.osgeo.org/qgis/windows/)

Activity Objectives:

• Learn the installation process of QGIS

• Learn the file management needed in the creation of QGIS projects
• Familiarize with the basic QGIS interface

Allocated Time: 3 hours

Needed Resources:

• Computer (Desktop or Laptop)

• Internet
• Laboratory Manual
• QGIS online tutorial sites

Activity Procedures:

A. Managing Files for Software Pre-Installation

A.1. Before starting the software installation, make sure that the computer that
will be used for this activity will have the minimum hardware requirements
for the QGIS software.

• 8 GB of RAM
• CPU Speed of 1.9 GHz
• Hard Drive Storage of 1GB
• Check if the PC system is either 32-bit or 64-bit

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 To check the hardware requirements, perform the following steps:

1. Press the Window key of your keyboard

2. Type “System Information” in the search tab

3. Look into the System Summary if the computer specification suffices the
required hardware specification

A.2. Now let us manage the folders for file storage.

Create a folder in Drive D and name it with the format:

GIS_<First Name_Family Name>

Create the sub-folders Lab_Materials , My_Data, Output, and Software.

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B. Software Installation

Download the required QGIS release for this course at

https://www.qgis.org/en/site/. There are also other online sites that offer
downloadable versions of QGIS.

After downloading the software, locate the downloaded software in the computer
and then double click the software application.

After double clicking, the installation will commence.

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Once the software installation is finished, a folder with the name
QGIS_(version/release) will appear at the desktop.

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C. The QGIS Interface

Similar to any other modern application software, QGIS has a Graphical User
Interface (GUI). This interface is intended for the comfortability of the user to
perform spatial processes through either a single or couple clicks of the mouse.

To view a blank project sheet, click the “Project” then click “New”, or directly click
the New icon.

Observe and familiarize the QGIS interface.

1. Menu Bar – Contains the main menu

2. Toolbar – Contains specific icons for specific functions

3. Browser Panel – Used for browsing and loading map data

4. Manage Layer Toolbars – Used to load and create spatial data

5. Layers Panel – Used to toggle the arrangement of layers

6. Map Canvas – The work area interface to perform map editing

7. Status Bar – Contains information for the map scales, and geographic data

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In the browser panel, try to locate your “My_Data” folder and look for the
“Bunawan Brgy” folder. You can see in the exploded view of the browser panel
the Bunawan_Brgy.shp file. Double click the file and see what happens to your
Map Canvas screen.

Now click the Add Vector Layer (or Ctrl + Shift + V) in the Manage Layer
Toolbars then click the “…” button to browse a directory. Look for the location of
the “Bunawan Brgy” folder, select Simulao.shp, click Open and Add. Observe
what happens to your Map Canvas screen.

Click Here

After adding the shapefile, the Bunawan_Brgy and Simulao map image will
appear. Try to uncheck either one of these layers in the Layers Panel and observe
what happens to your Map Canvas.

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Name: __________________________________ Course, Year & Section _______________

Subject: ________________________________ Laboratory Activity # _________________

Activity Questions:

(Provide the answers on the space provided after the questions)

1. After performing the system information checking, list down the basic hardware
specifications of the computer that you are using.

Specifications:

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2. What do you think is the main reason for creating folders and sub-folders?

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3. Was there difficulties met during the software installation? If yes, in what part? If
no, can you say that the software installation is user-friendly? Why?

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4. Upon exploring the QGIS interface, do you find it complicated to use? Why?

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5. State at least three (menu items) that you have understood and provide a brief
explanation on each item.

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6. What have you understood after adding map files in the Layers Panel?

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