“Introduction to Geographic Information System(GIS)”

Goutami Ganga
([email protected])

“Fundamentals of Remote Sensing & GIS and Oceanographic Applications”

During 08th - 12th April, 2024
Organized by International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean) ESSO-INCOIS, Hyderabad, India
 GIS Contents

❖What is GIS ?
❖History of GIS
❖How is GIS Used ?
❖How does GIS work ?
❖GIS Data
❖Data Capturing
❖Topology
❖Spatial Analysis
❖Applications of GIS
❖Summary
❖Geographic Referencing Concepts
 What is GIS?

Geographic Information System

Geographic: Location-specific data(Spatial Data)

latitude and longitude.

Information System: It is a system used for

collecting, storing, manipulating, and retrieving Spatial
Data.

https://previews.123rf.com/images/naschy/naschy1611/naschy161100007/67318621
Definition:

GIS is defined as an information system that is used to input, store,

retrieve, manipulate, analyze and output geographically reference data
or geospatial data, in order to support decision making for planning and
management of land use, natural resources, environment, transportation,
urban facilities and other administrative records.
https://cdn1.byjus.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/census-2011.jpg
https://www.mapsofindia.com/census2011/population.html
London Cholera Epidemic 1854

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 History of GIS

The field of geographic information systems (GIS) started in the 1960s as

computers and early concepts of quantitative and computational geography
emerged.

The First GIS

Roger Tomlinson’s pioneering work to initiate, plan, and develop the Canada
Geographic Information System resulted in the first computerized GIS in the
world in 1963. The Canadian government had commissioned Tomlinson to
create a manageable inventory of its natural resources. Tomlinson created
the design for automated computing to store and process large amounts of data,
which enabled Canada to begin its national land-use management program. He
also gave GIS its name.

Roger Tomlinson

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Roger_Tomlinson_-_Father_of_GIS.jpg
 How is GIS Used ?

GIS Store information about the World as a

Collection of themed Layers that can be used
together.

A layer can be anything that contains similar features

such as Land Cover, Water body, Road Network,
Buildings etc.

https://images.nationalgeographic.org/image/upload/v1638886493/EducationHub/photos/gis.jpg
Describing our world
We can describe any element of our world in two ways:
1.Location Information:
Location information describes where a particular geographic feature situated on the earth in
spherical coordinate systems i.e. Degree, minute and seconds.
This can be converted into cartesian coordinate system to prepare a 2 dimensional map.

2.Attribute Information:
Attribute information Describes the feature’s details like what it is ,what it contains etc.
Geography began in map making and regional descriptions ,but has been transformed by the
advancement of science, the development of computers and global environmental change .

Today geographers combine natural science, social studies, information technology to

understand our changing world.
https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/manage-data/tables/GUID-5A309AD2-B84E-4ECF-A475-7E4B492660EC-web.png
 Building Name-Rainbow
Type-Hospital
Latitude-17˚25’32’’ N Address- No-2,
Longitude-78˚25’55” E Banjara Hills, Hyderabad
Pin-500034

What it is ?
Where it is ? Attribute information
Location information

https://easydrawingguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Hospital-Step-10.png
 How does GIS Work ?

Components of GIS:-

Software

Hardware Procedure

Computer
System

GIS

Data People
Computer System:-

Hardware:
It consists of the computer on which the GIS software runs.
Hardware should be robust and should have the future potential to
deal with heavy software patches and updates.

Software:
GIS software provides the functions and tools needed to store,
analyze, and display geographic information. Key software
components are:
❑ A database management system (DBMS)
❑ Tools for the input and manipulation of geographic information
❑ Tools that support geographic query, analysis, and visualization
❑ A graphical user interface (GUI) for easy access to tools

Some examples of GIS Related Software are-Arc View, Arc GIS, Arc
SDE,MAP Info, QGIS
https://mycomputernotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/computer_hardware.jpg
https://www.qgis.org/en/_images/qgisdesktopscreenshot.jpg
Procedure:
A successful GIS operates according to a well-designed plan and business rules, which are the
models and operating practices unique to each organization.

Data:-

Data are named as geospatial data in GIS. The sources of spatial data are digitized
maps, aerial photographs, satellite images, statistical table and other related
documents.
These are some technology are used to collect the geospatial data: Field survey,
Aerial photography, Satellites and SONAR – LIDAR Technology.

People:-

People are an important catalyst in doing a GIS Components setup. GIS

Analysts and Technicians play along with the GIS data to analyze and monitor
various forms of data sets. GIS developers and database administrators look
after the frontend and the backend part of the setup.
https://img.freepik.com/free-vector/character-illustration-diverse-people-world_53876-66233.jpg?q=10&h=200

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-illustration-gis-spatial-data-260nw-514839721.jpg
GIS Data

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GIS Data majorly two types:

1. Spatial Data

2. Non-Spatial Data

1. Spatial Data is that which has physical dimensions and geographic locations
on the surface of Earth.
Example:-River, State Boundary, Lake, State Capital, etc.
Spatial Data is mainly classified into two types:-

Raster data and Vector data

1.1 Raster Data-

The data stored is in cell-based and color-pixel format with a digital
value/number (DN)for each cell. These are pixels that are arranged in columns
and rows format. Units are usually represented as square grid cells that are
uniform in size. The data is in .jpg, .png, and .tiff. The Raster Data in GIS is very
efficient for visualization and analysis, which is barely possible in vector-based
data.

https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/manage-data/raster-and-images/GUID-6754AF39-CDE9-4F9D-8C3A-D59D93059BDD-web.png
1.2 Vector data-

Vector data is a geographic data type where data is stored as a collection of points, lines, or polygons along
with attribute data.

Vector data specified in 3 types Point, Line, Polygon

• Point- Point data represents non-adjacent features and has zero dimensions. We can’t measure area or length
with point data but we can measure density(Number of points in certain area)
Point Data can be used to show the location of certain features.
Example– Cities Name

• Line- Line data is used to represent linear features. Line have one dimension and can be used to measure the
length of the feature.(how long)
Example-- Road Network, River, Railway line etc..

• Polygon- Polygon are used to represent areas. Polygon have two dimensions and can be used to measure
area. An area is fully encompassed by a series of connected lines.
Example-- Lake, forest, Urban areas, Political boundary etc..
https://www.cvrd.ca/ImageRepository/Document?documentID=78986
 Advantages Disadvantages
❑ Simple data Structure. ❑ Hard to represent objects less than cell size.

❑ High spatial variability efficiently represented. ❑ Finer resolution generates huge data.

Raster ❑ Efficient representation of continuous features. ❑ Loss of information when using large cells.

❑ Compatible with remote sensing imagery. ❑ Difficult to edit.

❑ Simple discrete geometry that means less data. ❑ Complex data structure.

❑ Easy to edit. ❑ Continuous data is difficult to represent.

❑ Attribute are combined with objects. ❑ Lots of manual editing may be necessary.

❑ Accurate map output ❑ High spatial variability inefficiently represented.

Vector
❑ Many types of geographical analysis techniques ❑ Not compatible with remote sensing imagery.
supported

2. Non- Spatial Data describes the characteristics of a geographical feature. Non spatial data is also known as
attribute or characteristics data. This data represented in table formats.

Example– Administrative boundary table has population information, districts name, provinces, Sex ratio etc..
 Data Capturing

When working on a GIS project, the first issue or decision that cartographers have
to face is how to incorporate data into the system. This is the process called “data
capture”. There are different methodologies to capture data.

Scanning: All of map converted into raster data

Digitizing: Individual features selected from map as point, line and polygons
https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/extensions/production-mapping/GUID-56E2BC12-601E-4E39-AC54-472D7EDC7B2C-web.png
Digitizing is the process of capturing knowledge of a feature’s geometry and attributes into a digital format stored
on the computer’s disk.

➢ GIS Data can be stored in a database or as files.

➢ One commonly used file format is the shapefile which is actually a group of three or more files
(.shp, .dbf and .shx).

➢ Before creating a new vector layer one need to plan both what geometry type and attribute fields it will
contain.
➢ Geometry can be point, polyline or polygon.

➢ Attributes can be integers (whole numbers), floating points (decimal numbers), strings (words) or dates.

➢ The digitizing process consists of drawing the geometry in the map view and then entering its attributes. This
is repeated for each feature.
 Topology
Topology expresses the spatial relationships between connecting or adjacent vector features (points, polylines and
polygons) in a GIS. Topological or topology-based data are useful for detecting and correcting digitizing errors (e.g. two
lines in a roads vector layer that do not meet perfectly at an intersection). Topology is necessary for carrying out some types
of spatial analysis, such as network analysis.
Contiguity(Adjacency)
➢ Every arc has a direction
➢ A GIS maintain a list of polygons on the left and right side
of each arc
➢ The computer then uses this information to determine which
features are next to one another
Connectivity(Node topology):
➢ Points along an arc that define its shape are called
vertices.
➢ End point of an arc called nodes.
➢ Arcs join only at the nodes.
Containment(Polygon -Arc topology):
➢ An enclosed polygon has a measurable area.
➢ Lists of arcs define boundaries and closed areas are maintained.
➢ Polygons are represented as a series of (XY) coordinates that connect
to define an area. FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT OF TOPOLOGY.pdf (dspmuranchi.ac.in)
Topology errors:

https://i1.wp.com/www.gislounge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/types-digitizing-GIS-errors.png?resize=620%2C900&ssl=1
Topology Rules:
Many common errors that can occur when digitising vector features can be prevented by topology
rules that are implemented in many GIS applications.

The following list shows some examples of where topology rules can be defined for real world
features in a vector map:

✓ Area edges of a municipality map must not overlap.

✓ Area edges of a municipality map must not have gaps (slivers).

✓ Polygons showing property boundaries must be closed.

✓ Undershoots or overshoots of the border lines are not allowed.

✓ Contour lines in a vector line layer must not intersect (cross each other).
 Summary

➢ Topology shows the spatial relation of neighbouring vector features.

➢ Topology in GIS is provided by topological tools.
➢ Topology can be used to detect and correct digitizing errors.
➢ For some tools, such as network analysis, topological data is essential.
➢ Snapping distance and search radius help us to digitize topologically correct vector
data.
 Spatial Analysis

Spatial analysis is a set of techniques and methods used to examine and understand patterns, relationships, and
trends in geographic data. It involves the study of the spatial distribution of various features, objects, and
phenomena on the Earth's surface or in other geographic spaces. Spatial analysis leverages geographic information
systems (GIS) and other tools to gain insights into how location, proximity, and spatial relationships impact various
processes and phenomena.

Geospatial Data Analysis Methods:

A wide range of functions for data analysis are available in most GIS packages, including data Query, Geospatial
Measurement, Overlay Operations, Network Analysis.

1. Database Query:

GIS database can be retrieved by simple browsing (display) and querying on the database.

There are two types of queries that a GIS generally allows on Vector data.
Spatial query:

• Containment Selects features that fall completely within features used for selection, e.g., selecting all cities within
the selected districts.

• Adjacency Selects features that are adjacent to features used for selection, e.g., selecting all adjacent districts of a
selected state.
• Intersect Selects features that intersect features used for selection, e.g., selecting all districts on which a selected
highway passes.

https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/api-reference/esri-rest-support-Query.html

• Proximity Selects features that are within a specified distance of features used for selection, e.g., selecting all the shops
and households that are situated within 80m from both sides of the selected road. One of the most popular proximity
analyses is based on ‘buffering’. Buffer can be defined as an influenced area/zone of an object in GIS.

https://www.tamiu.edu/cees/courses/fall2018/geol4460_labs/lecture12.pdf
Attribute query: Attribute querying is the process of identifying a subset of features based on the categories of the
attributes. Attribute queries are usually implemented based on logical conditions. Users can ask about the location of
the features based on their attribute values. Simple to more complex queries can be made with the help of SQL. The
attribute data can be searched with some specifications. The specifications include the following three items, usually
given in SQL.

• SELECT <attribute/fieldname>
• FROM <table(s)>
• WHERE<conditions statement(s)>
Geospatial Measurement:

Measurement is also a type of query; however, it does not select any object from the GIS database; instead, it
gives some statistical/geometrical results by measuring the map.

Two types of Geospatial measurements are popular in GIS.

• Measurement Of Density: The density tool distributes a measured quantity of an input point layer throughout a
landscape to produce a continuous surface.

• Measurement of Distance: Measures the distance that how far away one thing is from another.
 Input Output
Overlay Operations:
Union
Vector overlay: Integrate more than one layer.

• Union: Keep all the areas from both the coverages.

• Intersect: The output is only those portions of the input coverage features
falling within the overlay coverage features. Intersect

• Identity: Creates output layer by combining the features of overlapping

areas of input and analysis layers.
Identity
Raster Overlay:

• ADD performs the arithmetic function of the addition of cell values of two layers. Information from the input layer is added
to the corresponding cell value of the other layer. This information is later recorded if required for further analysis.

• SUBTRACT is performed by subtracting the values of one layer from the other layer. It is carried out normally to find out
the changes through time.

• MULTIPLICATION operation is carried out by multiplying the cell values of input layers and the result is written in the
output layer. This type of operation is needed to extract a small area from the larger data set layer. For example, extraction
of land use information of a district from the state data set. In this operation, the cell values outside the district data set are
assigned as '0'.
• DIVISION operation is performed by dividing the cell values of one set by the corresponding values of another data set.
This operation is used when one needs to calculate densities i.e. calculation of population density from population and area
layers.
• DIFFERENCE is performed by calculating absolute difference values between two layers.
Network Analysis:

Network analysis is a set of connected lines. These lines represent railways, streams, roads, waterlines, pipelines,
telecommunication lines, etc., that generally need to be analyzed as a network.

The three main types of network analyses are network tracing, network routing, and network allocation.

● Network Tracing finds a particular path through the network based on the criteria provided by the user, e.g., finding a path that
connects the nearest ATM of a specific bank.

● Network Routing determines the optimal path along a linear network. Some possible criteria to select the path include the shortest
distance, fastest route, or minimum cost from a position on the network to a known location.

● Network Allocation deals with the designation of the proportion of the network to ‘supply centers’ or ‘destination points’, e.g., a fire
station (to determine its service coverage and service distance). This example also shows the amount of overlap between the service areas
of the two fire stations.
 Spatial Interpolation

Spatial interpolation is the process of using points with known values to estimate values at other unknown points. Spatial
interpolation can estimate the temperatures at locations without recorded data by using known temperature readings at nearby
weather stations. This type of interpolated surface is often called a statistical surface.

This is majorly two types:

• Inverse Distance Weighted Interpolation (IDW)

• Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) Interpolation

• Inverse Distance Weighted Interpolation (IDW):

In the IDW interpolation method, the sample points are weighted during interpolation such that the influence of one point
relative to another declines with the distance from the unknown point we want to create.

Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation based on weighted sample point distance (left). Interpolated IDW surface from elevation vector points (right)
• Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) Interpolation

TIN interpolation technique uses the algorithm called Delaunay triangulation. It tries to create a surface formed by triangles
of nearest neighbour points. This method aims at creating non-overlapping triangles (as equilateral as possible) whose
circumscribed circle contains only the three points that gave birth to the triangle. To do this, circumcircles around selected
sample points are created and their intersections are connected to a network of non-overlapping and as compact as possible
triangles.

Delaunay triangulation with circumcircles around the red sample data. The resulting interpolated TIN surface is created from elevation vector points
 Applications of GIS

Geographic Information Systems are applied in various domains. The count of its applications is only
growing day by day. Below are some of the well-known applications concerning GIS.

Application
of GIS

Urban &
Town Agriculture
Planning

GIS for
Disaster
Business &
Management
Marketing
Mapping & Vegetation
Navigation Management
Oil Spill
 Urban &
Town
Planning

Developers, Builders, Architects, and Engineers are now using spatial data sets to plan on
the futuristic township. With the help of granular information, it becomes easier for
engineers and architects to hardly miss out on any of the parts. The data is also useful to
tackle water clogging during the time of flood and cloud burst in monsoons. It has also
helped in redesigning the drainage models.

Disaster
Management

GIS is used to monitor disaster and natural calamity prone areas. The geospatial data sets and databases allow
organizations to store data of all levels. The database can contain all the information related to risk-prone areas
like hospitals and isolation centres near the risk-prone zones, quick habitation centers, history of the calamities
in that area, and the effect of the past disaster to plan for further contingency plans.

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Mapping &
Navigation

The best example of today’s world mapping and navigation is Google Maps. Humans around the world use it
while travelling to a new place and also to review any place. It has also become a popular tool within Cab and
carpool service providers. GPS, with the help of GIS, adds crisper and edge to the experience of navigation.
Other Mapping applications are-Here Maps, Apple Maps

Oil Spill

Oil Spill can be intentional or accidental, depending on the conditions. The price is always paid by the Marine
life and the humans who have frequent access to that particular sea route. GIS and geospatial data sets are
used to curb such havoc spreading spills. It is cost-effective than the hazardous oil spill, which is also harmful
to marine life.
https://cdni.autocarindia.com/ExtraImages/20210608054804_Apple_Maps_new.jpg

https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2020/09/5a4f7d68-gp1su9nb-1024x576.jpg
 Vegetation
Management

Using GIS and geospatial data of forest lands allows organizations and governments to keep track of the rate
of deforestation. The past information of different periods is used for analysis to plan for reforestation and
vegetation. The datasets are used for the further analytical purpose of reforestation. With the help of heat maps
and imagery sources, the data can be classified and visualized to take further actions.

GIS for
Business &
Marketing

Apart from all the above applications, GIS also has unusual usage in making business and marketing sales.
Geospatial databases store data of target customers, marketing campaigns and sales territories. This
application enables companies and organizations to become strategically more competitive and strong in
the market.

Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the important tasks of human civilization. It is not only done for feeding the
bellies but also to run the global business. GIS has spearheaded into this field with many of the
https://digitalhubaustralia.com.au/wp-
applications. content/uploads/2020/06/45_omnivsdm.jpg

Uses in Drought, Pest Control, Land & Soil Analysis, Planning of future food demand
https://www.integratesustainability.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Insight-Thumbnails-GIS.png
 Summary

✓ What is at? :- location(lat, long)

✓ Where is it? :- condition(find the location having certain characteristics)

✓ Where has changes since? :- Trend (How things changed over times)

✓ Which is the best way? :- Routing

✓ What spatial pattern exist? :- Pattern(Describe and compare the distribution)

✓ What if? :- Modelling(Determine what will happen)

 GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCING CONCEPTS

Geographic Coordinate Systems

To understand how maps are created by projecting the 3-D earth’s surface into a 2-D plane of an analog map, we need to understand the
georeferencing concepts. Georeferencing involves two stages: specifying the 3-dimensional coordinate system that is used for locating points
on the earth’s surface that is, the Geographic Coordinate System (GCS), and the Projected Coordinate System that is used for projecting into
two dimensions for creating analog maps.
The traditional way of representing locations on the surface of the earth is in the 3- dimensional coordinate system is by its latitude and
longitude.

The true surface of the Earth is not the smooth ellipsoid shown in the figure but is quite uneven and rugged. The GCS is the surface used for
specifying the latitude and longitude of a point on the earth’s surface, is also an approximation and a 3-D model of the earth. Several standard
models of the ellipsoid are available to define the GCS (WGS 84, Everest ellipsoid) etc.

A GCS is defined by geoid, ellipsoid, and datum.

Geoid: Representing the earth’s true shape, the geoid, as a mathematical model is crucial for a GIS environment.

Ellipsoid: Assuming that the earth is a perfect sphere greatly simplifies mathematical calculations and works well for small-scale maps (maps
that show a large area of the earth). However, when working at larger scales, an ellipsoid representation of the earth may be desired if accurate
measurements are needed. An ellipsoid is defined by two radii: the semi-major axis (the equatorial radius) and the semi-minor axis (the polar
radius).

Datum: The ellipsoid model that is used to calculate latitude and longitude is called the datum.
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Projected Coordinate Systems

The surface of the earth is curved, but maps are flat. A projected coordinate system (PCS) is a reference system for identifying locations and
measuring features on a flat (map) surface. It consists of lines that intersect at right angles, forming a grid. Projected coordinate systems
(which are based on Cartesian coordinates) have an origin, an x-axis, a y-axis, and a linear unit of measure. Going from a GCS to a PCS
requires mathematical transformations called a projection system. Projection is a mathematical transformation used to project the real 3-
dimensional spherical surface of the earth in 2 dimensions on a plane sheet of paper.

The 3-D to 2-D projections can be done to a plane or to the surface of a cone or cylinder, leading to azimuthal, conic, or cylindrical
projections, respectively, with many variations.

https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms437/mapping/using-gis
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) is a map projection system for assigning coordinates to locations on the
surface of the Earth. Like the traditional method of latitude and longitude, it is a horizontal position representation, which
means it ignores altitude and treats the earth surface as a perfect ellipsoid.

The UTM system divides the Earth into 60 zones, each 6° of longitude in width. Zone 1 covers longitude 180° to 174° W;
zone numbering increases eastward to zone 60, which covers longitude 174°E to 180°. The polar regions south of 80°S and
north of 84°N are excluded.
Universal Transverse Mercator

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References:
1. https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/overview
2. https://webapps.itc.utwente.nl/librarywww/papers_2009/general/principlesgis.pdf
3. https://www.dspmuranchi.ac.in//pdf/Blog/FUNDAMENTAL%20CONCEPT%20OF%20TOPOLOGY.pdf
4. https://rashidfaridi.com/2008/06/27/topology-and-layers-in-gis/
5. https://eos.com/blog/spatial-
analysis/#:~:text=What%20Is%20Spatial%20Analysis%3F,of%20tasks%20and%20their%20complexity.
6. https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S000017GE/P001788/M027032/ET/15172071137_GIS_SEEM
A_NetworkaNALYSIS.pdf
7. https://docs.qgis.org/2.18/en/docs/gentle_gis_introduction/spatial_analysis_interpolation.html
8. https://mgimond.github.io/Spatial/chp09_0.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system
Thank You