1. Spatial Information Systems (SIS) COMP 4025 Dr. Michela Bertolotto Dept. of Computer Science, UCD Room B2.21, michela.bertolotto@ucd.ie michela.bertolotto@ucd.ie Academic year 2006/2007

2. Spatial Information Systems (SIS) Outline of the course: Spatial information system: concepts and applications Spatial information system: concepts and applications Spatial data: definitions, formats, models, queries Spatial data: definitions, formats, models, queries Traditional GIS vs SDBMS Traditional GIS vs SDBMS DB issues in GIS/SIS DB issues in GIS/SIS Geometric problems and algorithms in GIS/SIS Geometric problems and algorithms in GIS/SIS Research issues in GIS/SIS Research issues in GIS/SIS Lecture notes will be at: http://www.cs.ucd.ie/staff/mbertolotto/home/lecture-notes4025-06-07.htm

3. Spatial Information Systems (SIS) Suggested readings: “Database issues in GIS” N. Adam and A. Gangopadhyay, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997 “Database issues in GIS” N. Adam and A. Gangopadhyay, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997 “Spatial databases – A tour”, S. Shekhar and S. Chawla, Prentice Hall, 2003 “Spatial databases – A tour”, S. Shekhar and S. Chawla, Prentice Hall, 2003 “Spatial databases – with applications to GIS”, P. Rigaux, M. Scholl, A. Voisard, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2002 “Spatial databases – with applications to GIS”, P. Rigaux, M. Scholl, A. Voisard, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2002 “Geographical Information Systems”, Chang, McGraw-Hill, 2002 “Geographical Information Systems”, Chang, McGraw-Hill, 2002 “Geographic Information Systems and Science”, P. Longley, D.J. Maguire, M.F. Goodchild, D.W. Rhind (Eds.), 2002 “Geographic Information Systems and Science”, P. Longley, D.J. Maguire, M.F. Goodchild, D.W. Rhind (Eds.), 2002

4. Spatial Information Systems (SIS) COMP 4025 Introduction

5. “SIS is a computer software, hardware, data, and personnel to help manipulate, analyze and and personnel to help manipulate, analyze and present information that is tied to a spatial location” present information that is tied to a spatial location” Spatial information systems (SIS)

6. Terminology Spatial data: data with an associated spatial location (with respect to a given reference frame) Geographic data/geo-spatial data: data whose underlying reference frame is the earth’s surface Geographic data/geo-spatial data: data whose underlying reference frame is the earth’s surface NOTE: spatial data and geographic data often used interchangeably NOTE: spatial data and geographic data often used interchangeably GIS/SIS: often used interchangeably GIS/SIS: often used interchangeably SDBMS: a DBMS for storing and manipulating spatial data SDBMS: a DBMS for storing and manipulating spatial data GIScience: new discipline studying geographic information in theory and practice (includes GIS) GIScience: new discipline studying geographic information in theory and practice (includes GIS) GIServices: more recent GIServices: more recent

7. (Geo)-Spatial data Examples: NOTE: The earth’s surface is not the only reference frame for spatial data (e.g., a silicon chip can be a frame of reference) Satellite images Maps Terrain data Aerial photos

8. Huge amounts of spatial data available – e.g. NASA’s Earth Observation System generates one terabyte of data every day 80% of all data available has a spatial component 80% of all data available has a spatial component –recently the interest in exploiting this spatial component has arisen; need to intergrate spatial information handling functionality within a wide variety of contexts Spatial data “explosion”

9. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) represent the main technology motivating interest in developing spatially enabled systemsGeographic Information Systems (GIS) represent the main technology motivating interest in developing spatially enabled systems GISs provide convenient mechanisms for analysing and visualising geographic data (i.e., data whose underlying reference space is the earth’s surface)GISs provide convenient mechanisms for analysing and visualising geographic data (i.e., data whose underlying reference space is the earth’s surface) Initially developed for expert users for complex calculations/queriesInitially developed for expert users for complex calculations/queries Rich set of functions to analyse geographic data: powerful toolsRich set of functions to analyse geographic data: powerful tools Starting to integrate in a wide range of applications to exploit spatial component of dataStarting to integrate in a wide range of applications to exploit spatial component of data Geographic Information Systems

10. ESRI (Arcview/ArcInfo, …): demoESRI (Arcview/ArcInfo, …): demodemo MapInfo Corp. (MapInfo, …)MapInfo Corp. (MapInfo, …) Intergraph (GeoMedia,…)Intergraph (GeoMedia,…) Autodesk (Autodesk Map sw/AutoCAD, …)Autodesk (Autodesk Map sw/AutoCAD, …) Laser-Scan (different packages)Laser-Scan (different packages)...... Freely available sw packages:Freely available sw packages: –GRASS –OpenMap Main GIS Vendors

11. MapmakingMapmaking CartographyCartography Digital photogrammetryDigital photogrammetry Traditionally: GIS only for expert users Traditionally: GIS only for expert users Classical spatial information applications

12. Emergency response planningEmergency response planning Simulating environmental effectsSimulating environmental effects Urban developmentUrban development Public transportation monitoringPublic transportation monitoring Wayfinding and planning (route planning, etc.)Wayfinding and planning (route planning, etc.) Location-based servicesLocation-based services Crime trackingCrime tracking GIS for everybody? New spatial information applications

13. All data in an organisation is stored and managed via a DBMSAll data in an organisation is stored and managed via a DBMS Classical DBMSs are not capable of storing spatial informationClassical DBMSs are not capable of storing spatial information What is spatial data and what is “special” about it?What is spatial data and what is “special” about it? Non-spatial data vs spatial dataNon-spatial data vs spatial data Non-spatial queries vs spatial queriesNon-spatial queries vs spatial queries And more…And more… Spatial vs Non-Spatial

14. When we talk about spatial data, we mean data that has a spatial componentWhen we talk about spatial data, we mean data that has a spatial component Both spatial and non-spatial (i.e., descriptive, or also alphanumeric, attribute) aspects are associated with this kind of dataBoth spatial and non-spatial (i.e., descriptive, or also alphanumeric, attribute) aspects are associated with this kind of data –For example, a river will have attribute information associated with it (such as its name and length) together with its geometric description (the spatial component) Often we talk about spatial data to mean its spatial component (also called extent)Often we talk about spatial data to mean its spatial component (also called extent) NOTE

15. Spatial queries Examples:Examples: - “What are the two post offices nearest to Dun Laoghaire dart station?” (proximity query) - “In what county is Bray?” (containment query) - “What are Italy’s neighbouring countries” (adjacency query) - “What Italian regions are crossed by the river Po?” (intersection/overlap query) Etc…

16. Non-spatial queries Examples:Examples: - “What is the population of Dublin City?” - “How long is the river Shannon” (assuming that population and length are attributes stored for city and river, respectively) These are standard DB queries that request to retrieve the value of some attribute. Spatial queries, on the other hand, require different type of computations.