7-Ex 7 Getting Started With Quantum GIS-sujang
7-Ex 7 Getting Started With Quantum GIS-sujang
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Recent advancements in spatial technologies have proved instrumental in management of Earth
resources. The main reason for using image processing techniques and GIS is that images and
maps have always been easier to understand. It brings us closer to visualising complex interactions
and patterns in real-world planning.
In the previous exercise, you have learnt about working with ISRO’s Bhuvan. In addition, you have
also learnt to download data and use them for various applications.
It is important to have working experience of some image processing and GIS software so that you
are able to process your data and extract useful information. In this exercise, you will be introduced
to image processing and GIS software namely, QGIS. The software have raster and vector data
processing and analysis capabilities.
7.2 REQUIREMENTS
While writing this manual it has been assumed that you have basic familiarity
with the computer. To perform this exercise successfully, following are the
requirements:
a computer, and
internet connectivity (for downloading QGIS software and sample data).
It is important to note that both remote sensing and GIS analysis requires a
specific set of tools which include computer hardware, software and relevant
data. Today, there are number of both commercial and open source image
processing and GIS software available in market. However, the commercial
software not only cost you a good amount of money but may also need
specialised training for their usage. On the other hand, there are several image
processing and GIS software that are Free and Open Source (FOS) or Open
Source Software (OSS). Most of the FOS software have been developed by
academic institutions and are made available to other users without any cost.
They are generally developed to analyse specific problems and have very good
image processing as well as GIS analysis capabilities.
OSS or FOS software worldwide have been credited for their ability to provide
flexible and powerful software applications. Briefly, OSS programmes are those
programmes whose licenses give users the freedom to run the software for
their use. Therefore, our main focus is on FOS software but it does not mean
that you cannot use commercial software. In fact, we encourage you to use
both FOS and commercial software while processing your data, if you have
access to them.
In the field of remote sensing and GIS, Open Source Geospatial consortium,
formally known as OSGeo is one of the most comprehensive platforms which
provides suits for remote sensing and GIS applications. It has variety of
applications ranging from geospatial libraries, web mapping applications, and
metadata catalogues and desktop applications. Examples of such applications
are Quantum GIS and GRASS. In this practical exercise, you will be introduced
to Quantum GIS software.
the templates of maps that can be directly published on internet using QGIS
server. There is also another option for publishing maps, which is with Export to
Mapfile capability. Since its inception, QGIS is providing internal integration with
Geographic Resource Analysis and Support System (GRASS) package.
GRASS is powerful raster GIS software. The official current release is QGIS
3.28.2 aka 'Firenze'. You can check for updated version on the web page of
official QGIS project.
The software is popular among students, scientists and academicians alike for
its user friendly graphic user interface (GUI) and series of user contributed
plugins which makes QGIS stand different compared to other commercial and
open source software. This has enhanced the capability of software e.g.,
plugins such as GDAL raster processing, Vector tools, Open street map (OSM),
Home range of animals, Forest tool kit, Post GPS, manage R (R statistics
package for Geospatial statistics), Google layer, etc. are few of the
functionalities that are very easy to use through QGIS.
QGIS will be focus of the exercises related to vector data. Let us first get
acquainted with some related terminologies:
Plugins: One of the best features of any open source software is user
contributed algorithms in the forms of plugins. In QGIS, there are more than
hundred plugins to date. These plugins are developed by developers across
the globe, each one with different function and application.
Google Layer Plugin: The google layer plugin is available in the user
contributed repository in main QGIS plugin download interface. Its use is
subject to a query limit of 1000 unique (different) image requests per viewer
per day. It is essential that user uses the google Mercator projection as the
project projection before using the tool. The google layers that are available
to download are road, mobile network, terrain profile, satellite and hybrid.
Raster: It performs most of the digital image processing operations, ranging
from importing and exporting raster data to different formats, clipping
raster’s, projecting raster’s, raster calculator, mosaicking multiple images,
RGB to PCT and reverse conversion, raster to vector and vector to raster
conversions, etc.
Vector: This plugin performs most of the vector functions such as clip,
intersection, dissolve, difference, matrix generator, unique value calculator,
vector statistics, random selection, interpolation, simplifying polygons, grid
generation, etc.
WMS and WFS Services: QGIS provides option to connect to variety of
already available WMS and WFS servers, from where one can connect to
freely available data on different themes.
Easy Print: It is a template already constructed for map making. It consists
of default map features such as legend, scale, copyright, north arrow and
data creation option.
7.3.1 Installing QGIS Software
For beginners, QGIS official pagehttps://qgis.org/en/site/makes standalone
version available for download as shown in the Fig. 2.1. QGIS can also be
Contributors: Swapnil Chaudhary, Updated by Ms. Sujang, K. 3
MGYL-104 Geoinformatics Laboratory
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downloaded using the OSGeo installer. It is the easiest way for downloading
and installing the required software with associated dependencies and bundled
python modules. The installer also hosts other desktop and web application
managed by OSGeo foundation such as uDIG, GDAL, Geographic Resource
Analysis and Support System (GRASS), Open EV, map server, apache, etc.
QGIS can be downloaded from the following QGIS project web page,
https://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
When the website opens as shown in the Fig. 7.2, click at Download Now, if
your computer is running on Windows go to Download for Windows else
choose the appropriate operating system and download the software. Run the
file QGIS-OSGeo4W-3.28.2-1-Setup.exe and follow the steps to install the
software.
During the installation, QGIS also allows users to download sample data. If
checked, it will be downloaded in Documents folder of your computer in
Windows (C:) with the folder name GIS Database. You may later on copy and
move the entire folder into the folder you want to keep all your files. For the
exercise, the folder has been moved to E:\sw\QGIS.
Alternatively, you can either use your own dataset or download it from the
following QGIS website and store it at the convenient location on your hard
drive.
https://qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
After the installation process is complete, double click the QGIS shortcut icon
(a) (b)
Fig. 7.3: a) Launching the QGIS software from Start menu; and b) Opening screen
of the QGIS version 3.28 ‘Firenze’.
As you have seen in Fig. 2.3a, there are six icons under the Quantum GIS
Firenze namely, GRASS GIS 7.8.7, OSGeo4W Setup, OSGeo4W Shell, QGIS
Desktop 3.28.0, Qt Designer with QGIS 3.28.0 custom widgets and SAGA GIS
7.8.2. OSGeo4W not only provides ready packages for the current QGIS
release but also offers most of the dependencies needed to build it.
Quantum GIS Browser is a standalone application which lets you easily
navigate your file system and connection based (PostGIS, WFS etc.) datasets,
preview them and drag and drop items into the canvas. The GRASS GIS
launches GRASS software.
Initial window of the software appears as shown in Fig. 7.4.
To close the QGIS software go to Project menu and select Exit QGIS. You can
also close the window by clicking icon at the top right corner of the QGIS
window.
User manuals of the QGIS software are available in both .pdf and .html formats.
You can download them from
https://docs.qgis.org/2.18/pdf/en/QGIS-2.18-UserGuide-en.pdf
Download all the relevant user guides and sample datasets from the above
website prior to carrying out the next exercise. They are your quick guide book
for getting familiarised with the software and its functionalities.
7.3.2 Key Features of QGIS GUI
Let us now discuss about the key features of QGIS GUI (Fig. 7.5).
Fig. 7.5: GUI of the QGIS software showing main icons and tools.
scale selector which allows you to choose between predefined scales from
1:500 to 1:1000000. It also has a progress bar within the status bar that
shows progress of rendering when a layer is drawn to the map view. It also
shows status of lengthy operations.
Map view: It is known as the“business end” of QGIS wherein maps are
displayed. The map displayed in this window will depend on the vector and
raster layers loaded. You can pan, zoom in and zoom out the map view.
You can perform various other operations on the map as mentioned in the
toolbar description. The map view and the legend are tightly bound to each
other hence you make changes in the legend area it reflects the change in
the map view.
7.3.3 Installing QGIS Plugins
There are hundreds of plugins which provide additional functionalities to QGIS.
You will be installing several plugins while during the course of the forthcoming
exercises. However, it is advised to learn here to install plugins in QGIS.
To activate the internet connectivity for downloading plugins, launch QGIS, go
to top menu bar and select,
Settings → Options → Network
It will open a proxy setting box as shown in Fig. 2.6. For users who use internet
proxy servers, set the proxy as well as port number. One can identify the proxy
details for your computer through obtaining it from
Internet explorer → Tools → Internet Options → Connections → LAN
settings.
Copy the proxy details and port number. Fill it at network setting options in
QGIS setting option box.
To download and install the plugins go to top menu bar and select,
Plugins → Manage and Install plugins → select one or more plugins to
activate →
Out of the list in the box make sure you click the “Install Plugin” and the Plugin
will be installed (Fig. 7.7).
You should be able to see the list of plugins available for download as in Fig.
7.8.
You can install the plugins by selecting a particular plugin and clicking Install
plugin button. After installation the plugin function will appear under the
concerned menu. Shortcut icon will also appear in the toolbar.
Close the QGIS window.
2. Write main features of the menus available in the software including the
functions therein.