Department of Geospatial and Space Technology

University of Nairobi

FEB 503: Geoinformation Systems

(GIS)
S. M. Matara
matara@uonbi.ac.ke

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 Introduction to GIS

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Geospatial/Geomatics Engineering
• Geodesy
– GNSS
• Cadastral Survey
• Engineering Survey
– Control Survey
– Topographic Survey for design
– Setting out
• Hydrographic Surveying
• Cartography
• Photogrammetry
• Remote Sensing
• GIS

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 GIS--What is it?
• Geographic/Geospatial Information (GI)
– information that refers to a location on the earth’s
surface
– knowledge about “what is where when” (time – 4D)
– Geographic/geospatial/georeferenced: synonymous

• GIS--what’s in the S?
– Systems: the technology
– Science: the concepts and theory
– Studies: the societal context

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 Geographic Information Technologies
• Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS e.g. GPS,
GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou)
– a system of earth-orbiting satellites which can provide precise (sub-
mm.) location on the earth’s surface (in latitude/longitude
(Degrees) – Geographic Coordinates or equivalent e.g.
Northings/Eastings (Metres) – Universal Transverse Mercator
(UTM) –Projected Coordinates)
• Remote Sensing (RS)
– use of satellites or aircraft to capture information about the earth’s
surface without being in direct conduct with the target object/area.
– Digital orthophoto is a key product (map accurate digital photos)
• Geographic Information Systems (GISy)
– Software systems with capability for input, storage,
manipulation/analysis and output/display of geographic (spatial)
information
• GPS and RS are sources of input data for a GISy.
• A GISy provides for storing and manipulating GNSS and RS data.

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 GI Systems, Science and Studies
• Systems
– technology for the acquisition and management of spatial
information
• Science
– comprehending the underlying conceptual issues of
representing data and processes in space-time
– the theory and concepts behind the technology
• Studies
– understanding the social, legal and ethical issues associated
with the application of GISy and GISc
Geo-Information Science is the scientific field that integrates
different disciplines in studying the methods and techniques of
handling spatial information.

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 Defining Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• A powerful set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving,
transforming, and displaying spatial data from the real world.
(Burroughs, 1986)
• A computerised database management system for the capture,
storage, retrieval, analysis and display of spatial data (data whose
location is defined).
• A decision support system involving the integration of spatially
referenced data in a problem solving environment. (Cowen,
1988)
• A computer-based information system that enables capture,
modeling, storage, retrieval, sharing, manipulation, and
presentation of geographically referenced data.

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 Defining GIS
• A system of integrated computer-based tools for end-to-end processing
(capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, display) of data using location on the
earth’s surface for interrelation in support of operations management,
decision making, and science.
• A GIS is a computer-based system that provides the following four
sets of capabilities to handle georeferenced data:
1. Data capture and preparation
2. Data management, including storage and maintenance
3. Data manipulation and analysis
4. Data presentation
– Positional/spatial/geospatial/georeferenced/geographic data
“…a system of hardware, software, and procedures designed to support
the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, and display of
spatially referenced data for solving complex planning & management
problems”

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 GIS: intuitive description

o A map with a database behind it.

o A virtual representation of the
real world and its infrastructure.
o A consistent “as-built” of the
real world, natural and manmade
Which can be:
• queried to support on-going
operations
• summarized to support strategic
decision making and policy
formulation
• analyzed to support scientific
inquiry

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 Definition/ GIS Scheme
Output:
Representation
(visualization) and Input (data) - I
reports - P Queries

Geographic/
Alphanumeric
Storage (DB)
and
Management - M

Analysis and
Conversions - A
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 GeoInformation Systems – GIS
• Geographic Information Systems are systems for:

• I - Capture and update (Data Input)

• M - Storage and Management
• A - Analysis and simulation
• P - (Re)Presentation / Visualization of Spatial data
• Physical and methodological separation of storage, analysis and visualization of spatial
data,
• Thus enabling:
– Flexible analysis
– Flexible presentation
– Flexible data combination
– Integration of new data types (e.g. 3D, time, …)

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 GeoInformation Systems – IMAP
• I: Data capture:
– Data sources: images, raster maps, geodetic measurements, vector data,
digital topographic landscape models, statistics, reports …
• M: Data management:
– Data modeling and data structures (databases)
– Goal: rich data structures that support later analysis processes
• A: Data analysis:
– Thematic queries (SQL – Structured Query Language for Database
Management Systems)
– Geometric analysis (intersection, buffering, overlaying, …)
• P: Data presentation:
– 2D-Visualization of maps, diagrams …
– 3D-Visualization
– Simulation and Virtual Reality (VR)
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 GIS OBJECTIVES
• To maximize the efficiency of planning and decision making
• To provide efficient means for data distribution and handling
• To eliminate data redundancy therefore minimize duplication
• To develop capacity to integrate information from many sources
• To enable complex analysis/query involving georeferenced data to
generate new information.
For any application there are five generic questions a GIS can answer:
• Location - What exists at a particular location?
• Condition - Identify locations where certain conditions exist.
• Trends - What has changed since ……? Enables prediction
• Patterns - What spatial pattern exists?
• Modeling - What if ………. ?

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 GIS System Architecture

Data Input

Query Input Geographic Database

Transformation and
Output: Display and Analysis
Reporting

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 Relationship of GIS and other Disciplines

Computer Science and Application Areas:

Mathematics public administration
graphics planning
visualization geology
GIS
databases mineral exploration
system administration forestry
security site selection
marketing
Geography and geoscience: civil engineering
cartography criminal justice
geodesy Surveying
photogrammetry Environmental planning
Earth science and management
spatial statistics.
GIS: The convergence of technological fields and traditional
disciplines.
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 Why is GIS Unique?
• GIS is unique because it enables the examination of data which
have geographic location as an inherent property;
• GIS provides a suite of tools for manipulating, analyzing,
visualizing and illustrating geographic (spatial) data;
• GIS reveals relationships, trends and patterns that are not
apparent in written or tabular format.
• Analysis with a GIS generates answers for simple to complex
questions such as:
• Where is the best location for a new development?;
• Which residents would be impacted by a change in local
zoning?;
• Where has the incidence of malaria disease increased
over time?

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 Types of GIS
There are a number of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) (or GIS
software) available today. They range from high-powered analytical software to
visual web applications, and each of those are used for a different purpose.
Due to the vast number of GIS software available it is simply not possible to
provide training for each in this course. However, there are common feature in all
GIS. Understanding these basic features will give you confidence with any GIS
system that you use in the future.
Three types of GIS:
• Web-based GIS: ArcGIS Online
• Geobrowser: Google Earth
• Desktop GIS: ArcGIS
 Desktop GIS
• A GIS, or GIS software, allows you to interactively work with
spatial data. A desktop GIS is a mapping software that needs to
be installed onto and runs on a personal computer.
• In this course, we will use ArcGIS, which is developed by ESRI.
 Geobrowser
A Geobrowser is better explained with reference to an internet browser, i.e.
Internet Explorer. A geobrowser can be understood as an Internet Explorer for
geographic information. Like the internet it allows the combination of many
types of geographic data from many different sources. The biggest difference
between the World Wide Web and the geographic web however is that everything
within the geobrowser is spatially referenced.
Google Earth is the most popular geobrowser available and will be the one used
for this course.
 Web-based GIS
Web-based GIS, or WebGIS, are online GIS applications which in
most cases are excellent data visualisation tools. Their functionality
is limited compared to software stored on your computer, but they
are user-friendly and particularly useful as they not required data
download.
 Take a Break!

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 GIS Components

• A GIS integrates five key

components:
– HARDWARE,
– SOFTWARE,
– DATA,
– PEOPLE/LIVEWARE,
– METHODS/PROCEDURES/
TECHNIQUES

• A system of hardware, software, people, data, organization and institutional

arrangements for collecting , storing, analyzing and disseminating information
about places on the earth surface. ( Dueker & Kjerne, 1989)

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 GIS Components
• Hardware
Hardware is the computer system on which a GIS operates. Today, GIS software runs on a
wide range of hardware types, from centralized computer servers to desktop computers
used in stand-alone or networked configurations and even on mobile devices.
• Software
GIS software provides the functions and tools needed to capture, store, analyze, and display
geographic information. The functionality of the software used to manage the GIS
determines the type of problems that the GIS may be used to solve. The software used
must match the needs and skills of the end user.
• Data
The most costly component (60% – 80 % of the GIS implementation cost). Geographic
data and related tabular data can be collected in-house, compiled to custom specifications
and requirements, or occasionally purchased from a commercial data provider. A GIS can
integrate spatial data with other existing data resources, often stored in a corporate DBMS.
The integration of spatial data, and tabular data stored in a DBMS is a key functionality
afforded by GIS. Since a GIS often incorporates data from multiple sources, its accuracy
defines the quality of the GIS.

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 GIS Components
• People/Liveware
People are the most important part of a GIS, they define and
develop the procedures used by a GIS to solve real world
problems and can overcome shortcoming of the other 4
elements (data, software, hardware, procedure), but not vice-
versa. GIS users range from technical specialists who design
and maintain the system to those who use it to perform their
everyday work. The identification of GIS specialists versus end
users is often critical to the proper implementation of GIS
technology.
• Methods / Procedures/ Techniques
The procedures used to input, analyze, and query data
determine the quality and validity of the final product.

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 GIS Components – Software Perspective

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 GIS Functions

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 Data Capture

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 Storing Data

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 Query

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 Analysis

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 Display

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 Output

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 Organizing Spatial Data

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 Representing Features in Vector Data

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 Map Scale
• Ratio comparing size of map features to real-world geographic features
• Represents dimensions on map versus dimensions on earth
• The ratio of map distance to actual ground distance

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 Using spatial relationships

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 The major areas of GIS application
• County Governments
– Public works/infrastructure management (roads, water, sewer)
– Planning and environmental management
– property records and appraisal
• Real Estate and Marketing
– Retail site selection, site evaluation
• Public safety and defense
– Crime analysis, emergency management, military/defense logistics and strategy
• Natural resource exploration/extraction
– Petroleum, minerals, quarrying
• Transportation
– Fleet management, vehicle tracking, airline route planning, transportation
planning/modeling
• Public health and epidemiology
• The Geospatial Industry
– Data development, application development, programming

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 Examples of Applied GIS

• Urban Planning, Management & Policy • Civil Engineering/Utility

– Zoning, subdivision planning – Locating underground facilities
– Land acquisition – Designing alignment for freeways, transit
– Economic development – Coordination of infrastructure maintenance
– Code enforcement • Business
– Housing renovation programs – Demographic Analysis
– Emergency response – Market Penetration/ Share Analysis
– Crime analysis – Site Selection
– Tax assessment • Education Administration
• Environmental Sciences – Attendance Area Maintenance
– Monitoring environmental risk – Enrollment Projections
– Modeling storm water runoff – School Bus Routing
– Management of watersheds, floodplains, • Real Estate
wetlands, forests, aquifers – Neighborhood land prices
– Environmental Impact Analysis/Audit – Traffic Impact Analysis
– Hazardous or toxic facility siting e.g. Nuclear – Determination of Highest and Best Use
– Groundwater modeling and contamination • Health Care
tracking
– Epidemiology
• Political Science – Needs Analysis
– Redistricting – Service Inventory
– Analysis of election results
– Predictive modeling

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 Applications of GIS – Cont….

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 Benefits of GIS Applications
• make possible the automation of activities involving geographic data
– map production
– calculation of areas, distances, route lengths
– measurement of slope, aspect, view-shed
– logistics: route planning, vehicle tracking, traffic management
• allow for the integration of data hitherto confined to independent
domains (e.g. property maps and aerial photos).
• by tying data to maps, permits the concise communication of
complex spatial patterns (e.g. environmental sensitivity).
• provides answers to spatial queries (how many houses in Kano plain
are built on the flood pain?)
• perform complex spatial modelling (what if scenarios for
transportation planning, disaster planning, resource management,
utility design)
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 Agriculture and Suitability Analysis

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 Planning and Economic Development

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 Telecommunications

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 Education

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 GIS DATA MODELS
• GIS is used to analyse and understand more about processes and
phenomena in the real world.
• Modeling is building a representation which has certain characteristics in
common with the real world. This refers to the process of representing
key aspects of the real world digitally. This digital representation can
then be subjected to various analytical functions (computations) in the
GIS, and the output can be visualized in various ways.
• (Spatial) Modeling is the process of producing an abstraction of the
‘real world’ so that some part of it can be more easily handled.
• A GIS stores information about the world as a collection of thematic
layers that can be linked together by geography. This simple but
extremely powerful and versatile concept has proven invaluable for
solving many real-world problems from tracking delivery vehicles, to
recording details of planning applications, to modeling global
atmospheric circulation. The thematic layer approach allows us to
organize the complexity of the real world into a simple representation
to help facilitate our understanding of natural relationships.

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 GIS DATA MODELS

Conversion of real world

geographical variation into
discrete objects is done through
data models. It represents the
linkage between the real world
domain of geographic data and
computer representation of
these features.

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 The GIS Data Model: Purpose

• allows the geographic features in real world

locations to be digitally represented and stored in a
database so that they can be abstractly presented in
map (analog) form, and can also be worked with and
manipulated to address some problem
(allows description and representation of the real world
thus enabling analysis, presentation and interpretation
of geographic phenomena)

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 The GIS Data Model: Implementation
Geographic Integration of Information

Administrative Boundaries
Utilities

Zoning
Buildings
Parcels
Hydrography
Streets
Digital Orthophoto

• Data is organized by layers, coverages or themes (synonomous concepts), with each layer
representing a common feature.
• Layers are integrated using explicit location on the earth’s surface, thus geographic location is the
organizing principal.

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 The GIS Model: Example
Here we have three layers or themes:
--roads,
--hydrology (water),
roads
--topography (land elevation)
longitude They can be related because precise geographic
coordinates are recorded for each theme.

Layers are comprised of two DATA TYPES

hydrology •Spatial data: Says where a feature is/describes
location (where)
longitude •Attribute data specifying what, how much, when
Layers may be represented in two ways (DATA
MODELS):
•in vector format as points, lines and polygons
topography •in raster(or image) format as pixels
All geographic data has 4 properties:
projection, scale, accuracy and resolution
longitude
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 GIS Data Types: Spatial and Attribute Data
• Spatial data (where)
– specifies location/position and geometry
– stored in a shape file, geodatabase or geographic file
• Attribute (descriptive/semantic/non-spatial) data (what, how much,
when)
– specifies characteristics at that location, natural or manmade
– stored in a database/table (also called tabular data)
GIS systems traditionally maintain spatial and attribute data separately,
then “join” them for display or analysis
– for example, in ArcView, the Attributes of … table is used to
link a shapefile (spatial structure) with a database table containing
attribute information in order to display the attribute data
spatially on a map

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 GIS Data Formats/Models: Raster and Vector Data Models

Raster Model
• area is covered by grid with equal-sized, square cells
• attributes are recorded by assigning each cell a single value based
on the majority feature (attribute) in the cell, such as land use type.
• Image data is a special case of raster data in which the “attribute” is
a reflectance value from the electromagnetic spectrum
– cells in image data often called pixels (picture elements)
Vector Model
The fundamental concept of vector data is that all geographic
features in the real world can be represented either as:
• points or dots (nodes): trees, poles, airports, cities
• lines (arcs/polylines): streams, streets, sewers, power lines
• areas (polygons): land parcels, cities, counties, forest, rock type
Because representation depends on shape, ArcView refers to files
containing vector data as shapefiles

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Concept of
Vector and Raster Data Real World

Raster Representation
Vector Representation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 R T
1 R T point
2 H R
3 R line
4 R R
5 R
6 R T T H
polygon
7 R T T
8 R
9 R
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Concept of Vector and Raster Data

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Concept of Vector and Raster Data

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Vector Data
Advantages :
• Data can be represented at its original resolution and form without generalization.
• Graphic output is usually more aesthetically pleasing; since most data, e.g. hard copy
maps, is in vector form no data conversion is required.
• Accurate geographic location of data is maintained.
• Allows for efficient encoding of topology, and as a result more efficient operations that
require topological information, e.g. proximity, network analysis.
Disadvantages:
• The location of each vertex needs to be stored explicitly.
• For effective analysis, vector data must be converted into a topological structure. This is
often processing intensive and usually requires extensive data cleaning. As well, topology
is static, and any updating or editing of the vector data requires re-building of the
topology.
• Algorithms for manipulative and analysis functions are complex and may be processing
intensive. Often, this inherently limits the functionality for large data sets, e.g. a large
number of features.
• Continuous data, such as elevation data, is not effectively represented in vector form.
Usually substantial data generalization or interpolation is required for these data layers.
• Spatial analysis and filtering within polygons is impossible

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Raster Data
Advantages :
• Simple data structures
• Analysis and simulation is easy, because cells have the same size and shape .
• The inherent nature of raster maps, e.g. one attribute maps, is ideally suited for mathematical
modeling and quantitative analysis.
• Discrete data, e.g. forest stands, is accommodated equally well as continuous data, e.g. elevation data,
and facilitates the integrating of the two data types.
• Grid-cell systems are very compatible with raster-based output devices, e.g. electrostatic plotters,
graphic terminals.
Disadvantages:
• The cell size determines the resolution at which the data is represented.;
• It is difficult to adequately represent linear features depending on the cell resolution. Accordingly,
network linkages are difficult to establish.
• Processing of associated attribute data may be cumbersome if large amounts of data exists. Raster
maps inherently reflect only one attribute or characteristic for an area.
• Since most input data is in vector form, data must undergo vector-to-raster conversion. Besides
increased processing requirements this may introduce data integrity concerns due to generalization and
choice of inappropriate cell size.
• Most output maps from grid-cell systems do not conform to high-quality cartographic needs.

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Vector and Raster Data
Data
Advantages Disadvantages
Model
 Requires greater storage space on
computer
 Simple data structure
 Depending on pixel size, graphical
 Compatible with remotely sensed
output may be less pleasing
Raster or scanned data
 Simple spatial analysis procedures  Projection transformations are more
difficult
 More difficult to represent
topological relationships
 More complex data structure
 Not as compatible with remotely
 Requires less disk storage space sensed data
 Topological relationships are readily  Software and hardware are often
Vector maintained more expensive
 Graphical output more closely  Some spatial analysis procedures may
resembles hand-drawn maps be more difficult
 Overlaying multiple vector maps is
often time consuming

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 Smart Vector—Pavement polygons
Dumb Images
& Smart GIS Data

Smart Raster—5 feet grids

Images—dumb rasters
(although they look good!)
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 MAPS AND SPATIAL INFORMATION
• A map is a graphic representation of where features are, explicitly and relative to
one another. A map is composed of different geographic features represented as
either points, lines, and/or areas. Each feature is defined both by its location in
space (with reference to a coordinate system), and by its characteristics (typically
referred to as attributes). A map is a model of the real world.
• Geographic/spatial data features are referenced in a coordinate system that
models a location on the earth's surface. Two main coordinate system types exist:
– Geographic coordinates such as latitude and longitude, e.g. 56°27'40" and
116°11'25". Units: degrees, minutes, seconds or decimal degrees, e.g. 54.65°.
– Projected coordinates, e.g. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) where
coordinates are measured in metres, e.g. 9,845,000.000 and 256,254.000
normally reference to a central meridian. Eastings refer to X coordinates while
Northings refer to Y coordinates.
• A map portrays 3 kinds of information about geographic features. The:
• Location and extent of the feature (spatial)
• Attributes (characteristics) of the feature
• Relationship of the feature to other features (topology).
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 Projection, Scale, Accuracy and Resolution
the key properties of spatial data

• Projection: the method by which the curved 3-D surface of the earth is
represented by X,Y coordinates on a 2-D flat map/screen
– distortion is inevitable (distance, area, direction and scale)
• Scale: the ratio of distance on a map to the equivalent distance on the ground
– in theory GIS is scale independent but in practice there is an implicit range
of scales for data output in any project
• Accuracy: how well does the database infomation match the real world
– Positional: how close are features to their real world location?
– Consistency: do feature characteristics in database match those in real world
• is a road in the database a road in the real world?
– Completeness: are all real world instances of features present in the database?
• Are all roads included.
• Resolution: the size of the smallest feature able to be recognized
– for raster data, it is the pixel size

The tighter the specification, the higher the cost.

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 Projection, Coordinates and Metadata
• Projections allow spherical surface to be represented in planar format.
• Coordinates are not the same from one projection to the next.
• Conversions between projections allow datasets to be used together.
• Metadata for the datasets will describe the projections used.

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 Why are projections important?

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 Scale
Map scale can be defined as the ratio between the
distance on a paper map and the distance of the
same stretch on the terrain. A 1:50,000 scale map
means that 1 cm on the map represents 50,000 cm,
i.e. 500 m, on the terrain. ‘Large-scale’ means that
the ratio is large, so typically it means there is much
detail, as in a 1:1,000 paper map. ‘Small-scale’ in
contrast means a small ratio, hence less detail, as in a
1:2,500,000 paper map.

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 Examples

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 Layers

Vector
Layers

Street Network layer: lines

Land Parcels layer: polygons
Raster (image) Layer
Digital Ortho Photograph Layer:

Digital Ortho photo: combines the visual properties of

a photograph with the positional accuracy of a map, in
computer readable form.

Projection: State Plane, North Central Texas Zone, NAD 83

Resolution: 0.5 meters
Accuracy: 1.0 meters
Scale: see scale bar
0 1500 3000 Feet

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 Overlay based on Common Geographic Location

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 Analysis
Data Table

Scanned Drawing

Photographic Image

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 Spatial Query: Buffer-Operation

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 Integration of the 3rd Dimension

ArcScene solid models AutoCAD wireframe models

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 Example: Flooding Prediction

• Multi-temporal - probability of flooding

> 95 %
> 90 %
> 80 %
> 70 %
> 60 %
> 50 %
> 40 %
> 30 %
> 20 %
> 10 %
> 0%

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 Route Planning using Web GIS

How do I get from A to B? By car… 6,7km for 11minutes.

Walking… 5,5 km for68 minutes.
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 Geo-Marketing
• 80% of data in any organization have spatial connection and are spatial-based,
e.g. addresses of customers, location of shops, routes (traveling-agent), ….
• Geo-marketing can analyze and visualize these connections
– Integration of organization data with statistics about inhabitants, their income
level, economy, ….
• Application: location-based planning

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 Databases
GIS = Map + Database (spatial data + Attribute data)

Row

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 Databases
Spatial database/geodatabase besides traditional
administrative data, they can store representations of real
world geographic phenomena for use in a GIS.
Spatial analysis is the generic term for all manipulations of
spatial data carried out to improve one’s understanding of the
geographic phenomena that the data represents. It involves
questions about how the data in various layers might relate to
each other, and how it varies over space.
The aim of spatial analysis is usually to gain a better
understanding of geographic phenomena through discovering
patterns that were previously unknown to us, or to build
arguments on which to base important decisions.

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 Databases
A database is a repository for storing large amounts of data (a large,
computerized collection of structured data). It has a number of useful
functions:
1. A database can be used by multiple users at the same time—i.e. it allows
concurrent use,
2. A database offers a number of techniques for storing data and allows the
use of the most efficient one—i.e. it supports storage optimization,
3. A database allows the imposition of rules on the stored data; rules that
will be automatically checked after each update to the data—i.e. it supports
data integrity,
4. A database offers an easy to use data manipulation language, which allows
the execution of all sorts of data extraction and data updates—i.e. it has a
query facility,
5. A database will try to execute each query in the data manipulation
language in the most efficient way—i.e. it offers query optimization.
A query is a computer program that extracts data from the database that
meet the conditions indicated in the query by the user.
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 Database Types
• A variety of different database models exist for the
storage and management of attribute data. The most
common are:
– Tabular (flat file) data in single table
– Hierarchical
– Network
– Relational
– Object oriented

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 Databases
• Tabular Model
Stores attribute data as sequential data files with fixed formats (or comma delimited
for ASCII data), for the location of attribute values in a predefined record
structure.
It lacks any method of checking data integrity, as well as being inefficient with
respect to data storage, e.g. limited indexing capability for attributes or records, etc.
• Hierarchical Model
It organizes data in a tree structure. Data is structured downward in a hierarchy of
tables. Any level in the hierarchy can have unlimited children, but any child can have
only one parent. Hierarchical DBMS have not gained acceptance for use within
GIS. They are oriented for data sets that are very stable, where primary
relationships among the data change infrequently or never at all. Also, the limitation
on the number of parents that an element may have is not always conducive to
actual geographic phenomenon.

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 Databases
• Network Model
It organizes data in a network or plex structure. Any column in a plex
structure can be linked to any other. Like a tree structure, a plex structure
can be described in terms of parents and children. This model allows for
children to have more than one parent.
They have the same flexibility limitations as hierarchical databases; however,
the more powerful structure for representing data relationships allows a
more realistic modeling of geographic phenomenon. Network databases
tend to become overly complex too easily making it easy to lose control and
understanding of the relationships between elements.
• Object-Oriented Model
This database model manages data through objects. An object is a collection
of data elements and operations that together are considered a single entity.
This approach has the attraction that querying is very natural, as features
can be bundled together with attributes at the database administrator's
discretion.
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 Databases
• Relational Model
Relational databases organize data in tables. Each table, is identified by a unique table
name, and is organized by rows and columns. Each column within a table also has a
unique name. Columns store the values for a specific attribute, e.g. cover group, tree
height. Rows represent one record in the table. In a GIS each row is usually linked
to a separate spatial feature, e.g. a forest stand. Accordingly, each row would be
comprised of several columns, each column containing a specific value for that
geographic feature. Below is a sample table for forest inventory features. This table
has 4 rows and 5 columns. The forest stand number is the label for the spatial
feature as well as the primary key for the database table. This serves as the linkage
between the spatial definition of the feature and the attribute data for the feature.

Unique Stand Dominant Cover Avg. Tree Stand Site Stand

# Group Height Index Age
001 DEC 3 G 100
002 DEC-CON 4 M 80
003 DEC-CON 4 M 60
004 CON 4 G 120

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 Databases
• Relational Model
Tables can be joined or referenced to each other by common columns (relational
fields). Usually the common column is an identification number for a selected
geographic feature, e.g. a forest stand polygon number. This identification number
acts as the primary key for the table. The ability to join tables through use of a
common column is the essence of the relational model. Such relational joins form
the basis for querying in a relational GIS product.
The relational DBMS is attractive because of its:
• simplicity in organization and data modelling.
• flexibility - data can be manipulated in an ad hoc manner by joining tables.
• efficiency of storage - by the proper design of data tables redundant data can be
minimized; and
• the non-procedural nature - queries on a relational database do not need to take
into account the internal organization of the data.

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 Databases
• Relational Model
The relational DBMS has emerged as the dominant commercial data management
tool in GIS implementation and application.
The following diagram illustrates the basic linkage between a vector spatial data
(topologic model) and attributes maintained in a relational database file.

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 GIS APPLICATIONS: Case Study

• A Framework for GIS Analysis

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 GIS APPLICATIONS: Case Study

• Suitability analysis for the best site for a new school

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 Laboratory Session
• Introduction to a selected GIS Software system

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 Lecture Assignment
• Discuss any four applications of GIS in Environmental and
Biosystems Engineering (maximum 4 pages).

• Assignment due date; 11/10/2016

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