What is GIS?

GIS is then defined, and a range of issues and ideas associated

with its use identified. Much of the material introduced in this chapter
will be covered in more detail later in the book, and be covered in more
detail later in the book, and pointers to the appropriate sections are
provided.
1) Where are particular features found?
When skiers visit Happy Valley they need to know where all the
visitor facilities are located. to help the Happy Valley GIS is used to
produce maps of the ski area. In addition, visitors can ask direct
questions about the location of facilities using ' touch screen'
computerized information points located in shops and cafes throughout
the ski resort. These information points provide skiers with a
customized map showing them how to find the facilities they require.
2) What geographical patters exist?
Over the last two ski seasons there have been a number of
accidents involving skiers. All these incidents have been located and
entered to the GIS. The Happy Valley management team is trying to
establish whether there is any spatial patters in the accidents. Do
accidents of a certain type occur only on specific ski pistes, at certain
points on a ski piste such as the lift stations, or at particular times of
tday? So far one accident black spot has been identified where an
advanced ski run cuts across a slope used by beginners, just below a
mountain restaurant.
3) Where have changes occurred over a given time period?
In Happy Valley avalanches present a danger to those skiers who
wish to venture off the groomed ski pistes. The management team and
the ski patrol use the GIS to build up a picture of snow cover throughout
the area. This is done by regularly recording snow depth, surface
temperature, snow water content and show strength at a number of
locations. A study of the geographical changes in these parameters helps
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the management team prepare avalanche forecasts for different locations
in Happy Valley.
4) Where do certain conditions apply?
Every day, during the winter season, the happy Valley
management team provides information on which ski pistes are open.
Since this depends on the snow cover, avalanche danger and wind
strength , data on these factors are regularly added to the GIS from
reports provided by the ski patrols and local weather service. The
warden can use the GIS to help identify which runs should be opened or
closed.
5) What will the spatial implications be if an organization takes
certain action?
The access road to Happy Valley is now too narrow for the
number of skiers visiting the area. A plan is being prepared for
widening the road. However, any road-widening scheme will have
impacts on a local nature reserve as well as surround farm land. The
Happy Valley GIS is being used to establish the amount of land that is
likely to be affected under different road-widening schemes.
Searching for SITES:
Searching for optimum location to put something is a task
performed by individuals and organization on a regular basis.
NIREX is the UK company with responsibility for the
identification of suitable radioactive waste disposal sites.
In the past, NIREX used a pen and paper approach to sieve
through large numbers of paper maps containing data about geology,
land use, land ownership, protected areas, population and other relevant
factors.
Openshaw et al. (1989) demonstrated the use of GIS for this
application, and their method is summarized in Figure 1.1. First a
number of data layers were established, each containing data for a
separate siting criterion ( for example, geology, transport networks,
nature conservation areas and population statistics).
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 Figure 1.1 Using GIS for siting a nirex waste site ( Adapted from
Openshaw et al., 1989).
Evaluating Land use Planning:
Virtually every country in the world has areas of natural beauty
and conservation value that are managed and protected in the public
interest.
The protect area of Zdrske Vrchy, in the Bohemian – Moravian
highlands of the Czech Republic, is an example of an area that has
suffered as a result of ill-considered state control.

Issues raised by the NIREX case study:

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 • Errors in source data, such as those introduced during the
conversion of data to digital form, may have a significant effect on
the GIS site – searching process. Mistakes in capturing areas of
appropriate geology form paper maps may lead to inappropriate
waste repository sites being identified, because areas on the
ground will have different geological properties from those
recorded in the GIS.
• The GIS site – searching process relies on the translation of
abstract concepts such as 'near to' and ' far from' into precise
conditions that can be mapped.
• GIS output can be used to inform public participation in the
decision – making process. A series of maps could be used to
illustrate why a particular geographical location has been
identified as a suitable site for the disposal of radioactive waste.

Specialists in hydrology, geology and ecology were consulted to

identify a range of important criteria describing:
• the type of soil and its waster retention ability;
• the character of the topography ( for example, presence of
absence of hollows or hills);
• the type of land use, as certain agricultural practices exploit
the water retention capacity of the landscape; and
• the presence or absence of human-enhanced water drainage
channels.
• Paper maps ( for soil type and geology);
• Contour map ( for topography);
• Ecological field maps ( for drainage conditions); and
• Remote sensing ( for land use ).

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 The Zdarske Vrchy project shows how GIS can be used to bring
together data from a wide variety of sources to help address a range of
environmental management problems.

Issues raised by the Zdarske Vrchy case study.

The greatest problem associated with bringing data together for
the creation of the Zdarske Vrchy GIS was deciding which map
projection to adopt as the common frame of reference. Several different
projection systems were used by the source maps. A projection system
is the method of transformation of data about the surface of the earth on
to a flat piece of paper. Because many methods exist which can be used
to perform this task, maps drawn for different purposes ( and maybe
even for the same purpose but at different points in time ) may use
different projection systems. This does not present any problems as long
as the maps are used independently. However, when the user wishes to
overlay the data in the GIS the result can be confusing. Features that
exist at the same location on the ground may appear to lie at different
geographical positions when viewed on the computer screen .This
problem became apparent in the Zdarske Vrchy project when the road
network present on two of the maps, was compared. Map projections
are explained in more detail in Chapter 2.
The Zdarske Vrchy case study also shows how GIS can be used to
create model of environmental processes with maps used as the building
blocks for the model. The topic of modeling and GIS is returned in
Chapters 6 and 7.
Bringing people together to search for a solution to a common
problem is often difficult. Different specialists will have diffeetn ideas
about the problem. For example, an econlogist might recommend one
approach, an engineer a second and an economist a third. The Zdarske
Vrchy project whoed how, through the use of GIS, the common medium
of the map could be used as a tool to help experts from different
backgrounds exchange ideas and compare possible solutions. The idea
that GIS can be used as a participatory problem solving tool has also

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received considerable attention for the GIS research community
( Carver et al., 1997) Chapter 7 consideres this topic in more detail.
Constraints excluded certain areas from the analysis altogether; for
example, participants could decide that they did not wish to live with
500 m of a major road.
Locations of houses that were for sale were plotted over the top of
the suitable areas identified , and ranked according to the number of
criteria which they meet.

Figure 1.2 Using GIS for identifying conservation zones in Zdarske

Vrchy ( Adapted from Petch et al., 1995)

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Figure 1.3 Using GIS to assist in house hunting.

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Table 1.1 Application areas for GIS

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 The Department of the Environment (1987) lists the capabilities that
a 'well – designed GIS ' should be able to provide:
1) Quick and easy access to large volumes of data.
2) The ability to:
o select detail by area or theme;
o link or merge one data set with another;
o analyze spatial characterizes of data;
o search for particular characterizes or features in an
area;
o update data quickly and cheaply; and
o model data and assess alternatives.

3) Output capabilities ( maps, graphs, address lists and

summary statistics ) tailored to meet particular needs.

Components of a GIS :
There are examples of software already developed to perform
similar tasks, including Wigwam in the UK ( Anon., no date) and
GeoData in the USA (ESRI, 1995) . These systems have been designed
to make it possible for a home buyer to visit their estate agent, explain
the type of house and neighborhood they prefer, and come aways with a
map showing the locations of houses for sale which meet their
requirements. These products bring help to the home buyer deciding
where to look for a new home in an unfamiliar area.GIS in this context
is a decision support system.

Defining GIS:
There have been so many attempts to define GIS that is difficult to
select one definitive definition.

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 Some of the shorter definitions give an idea of what a GIS is,
albeit in a superficial way. Fuller definitions give more idea of what
GIS can do, as well as what they are.

Computer Systems and Software:

GIS run on the whole spectrum of computer systems ranging from
portable personal computers (PCs) to multi-user supercomputers, and
are programmed in a wide variety of software languages. These include
( after Burrough, 1986):

• the presence of a processor with sufficient power to run the

software;
• sufficient memory for the storage of large volumes of data;
• a good quality, high – resolution colour graphics screen; and
• data input and output devices ( for example, digitizers,
scanners, keyboard, printers and plotters).

Spatial Data:
All GIS software has been designed to handle spatial data.
• latitude and longitude as a geographical reference. This
reference can be used to deduce relationships with nearby features
of interest . If the latitude and longitude of a weather station are
known, the relative position of other weather stations can be
deduced, along with proximity to ski slopes and avalanche areas;
• connection details such as which service roads, lifts and ski
trails would allow the meteorologist access to the weather station;
• non-spatial ( or attribute ) data, for instance details of the
amount of snowfall, temperature, wind speed and direction.

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 • A series of spatial references to describe position;
• Details of other runs that cross or join the ski piste;
• Attribute data such as the number of skiers using the piste
and its standard of difficulty.

Spatial data, represented as either layers or objects, must be

simplified before they can be stored in the computer.

Area features are used to represent geographical zones, which may

be observable in the real world ( such as the happy valley car park ) or
may be artificial constructs ( such as administrative areas ).

Data management and Analysis Procedures:

The functions that a GIS should be able to perform include data input,
storage, management, transformation, analysis and output.

It is the procedure of encoding data into a computer – readable

form and writing the data to the GIS database.
Non-spatial attribute data describe what the features represent. They tell
the computer what a particular set of entities represent.

Aronoff ( 1989) classifies GIS analysis procedures into three types:

1) Those used for storage and retrieval. For example,
presentation capabilities may allow the display of a soil map of the
area of interest.
2) Constrained queries that allow the user to look at patterns in
their data. Using queries, only sandy soils could be selected for
viewing or further analysis.

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 3) Modelling procedures, or functions for the prediction of
what data might be at different time and place. Predictions could
be made about which soils would be highly vulnerable to erosion
in high winds or during flooding; or the type of soil present in an
unmapped area.

The form of data output used will depend on cost constraints, the
audience to whom the results are directed, and the output facilities
available.

However, most GIS output is in the form of maps. These may be

displayed on – screen for immediate communication to individuals or
small groups, photographed, stored digitally, or plotted to produce
permanent hard copy.

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Figure 1.4 Points, line and areas.

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 For an overview of GIS form a more applied perspective there are
a range of texts available . Korte (1993) provides a ' smart managers'
guide' to GIS that offers comment on industry trends and particular
software systems. Martin (1996 ) looks at GIS with a focus on socio-
economic applications in a UK setting; while Grimshaw (1994)
considers GIS from an information namangement perspective and offers
some useful business case studies.

Like many GIS texts, Martin (1996) , Burrough (1986) and Korte
(1993) contain useful glossaries of commonly used GIS terms and
acronyms.

People and GIS

Most definitions of GIS focus on the hardware, software, data and
analysis components.

GIS projects range from small research applications where one

user is responsible for design and implementation and output, to
international corporate distributed systems, where teams of staff interact
with the GIS in many different ways.

Research has been undertaken to highlight the factors that promote

successful GIS and it has been suggested that in certain business sectors,
innovative flexible organization with adequate resources and
straightforward applications are more likely to succeed ( Campbell and
Masser, 1995).

So the issues surrounding how to choose a system and how

implement it successfully require examination.

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Conclusions:

GIS technology is now well – established and as we will see in

chapter 9, has bee in use since the 1960s.

The growth in application areas and products through the later

years of the twentieth century ha helped GIS to become an accepted tool
for the management and analysis of spatial data.

Further Study:
There are many sources of further reading that complement the
material presented in this chapter.

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