1. Geographic Information Systems GIS Definition

2. 1. GIS is Important Because most information has a spatial component ESRI, GE SmallWorld Locations Networks Areas

3. GIS is Important It helps temporal reasoning as well S. H. Gage, J. Helly and M. Colunga, GIS/EM4 2000

4. GIS is Useful The “W” questions Where, what, when, why, how, who, what if… GIS shows “what” are “where”, and helps us to think other “W”s It helps generate and test hypothesis

5. Social Factors Biodiversity Engineering Land Use EnvironmentalConsiderations It allows us to see the “whole” Courtesy: USGS GIS integrates various information

6. GIS is Useful GIS is used by a wide range of disciplines It changed the way we operate It opened many opportunities

7. A Few Facts NCGIA/NSF grants GIS programs in government agencies GIS consulting firms and contracts GIS conferences, journals, and professional societies http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/gis_poster http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu http://www.ucgis.org

8. 2. What is a GIS An early effort, Ian McHarg, 1969

9. What is a GIS A process oriented definition: A GIS is a computer-based system that provides for the collection, storage, analysis, and display of geo- referenced data. A problem solving oriented definition: A decision support system involving the integration of spatially referenced data in a problem solving environment.

10. What is a GIS Data Information Knowledge Intelligence (DIKI)

11. What is a GIS GISystems and GIScience GISystems refers to software and hardware, and is used as a tool to support a project GIScience refers to the particular field of scientific study http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu http://www.ucgis.org People Software Data Procedures Hardware Network

12. 3. Related Fields Manual cartography DBMS (Data base management system) CAD (Computer-aided drafting) Computer Mapping AM/FM (Automated Mapping/Facility Management) LIS (Land information system) GIS

13. Spatial Operations GIS is not just mapping. It does spatial operations. For example, it helps to find: Where is object A? Where is A in relation to place B? How many occurrences of type A are there within distance D of B?

14. How many cardiovascular patients have a cardiologist within 5 miles? ESRI, GE SmallWorld

15. Identification and Awareness of Hazardous Waste Sites

16. Spatial Operations What is the value of function Z at position X? How large is B (area, perimeter, count of inclusions)? What is the result of intersecting various kinds of spatial data?

17. Geographic Analysis of Disease Risk Where are the potential areas of disease? Who are the populations at risk now and in the future?

18. Spatial Operations What is the path of least cost, resistance, or distance along the ground from X to Y along pathway P? What is at point X1, X2? What objects are next to objects having certain combinations of attributes?

19. Dispatching delivery vans, taxis, or repair trucks

20. 5. Readings Chpt 1