GEO 506: Introduction to GIS

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GEO 506 Introduction to GIS

• Douglas M. Flewelling, Ph.D.
• University at Buffalo
• Buffalo, New York, USA

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Tell me about yourself
Name
Douglas M. Flewelling, Dr. Flewelling, Professor
Flewelling, Doug, Dr. Doug
E-mail
dougf_at_geog.buffalo.edu
Major/Program
Geography Department
Degrees/Licenses Earned
B.A. Geography , Syracuse University (1981),M.S.
Geography, Oregon State University(1984), Ph.D.
Spatial Information Science and Engineering,
Univ. of Maine (1997),Wilderness First
Responder (1998)
Home Town
Presque Isle, Maine
Computer Experience
(8) Ada, APL, BASIC, COBOL, C, C, FORTRAN,
Pascal, MacOS
Database Experience
(7) SQL, Oracle, Ive written a DBMS
GIS Experience
(7) Ive written one or two from scratch, but I
dont know all the ArcInfo commands by heart
Why are you here?
Other than the money? I want to rid the world of
ignorance with regard to spatial database design.
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Administrative Details

• Office 151 Wilkeson Quad
• Office Hours - Tues/Thurs 11 - 12
• 645-2722 extension 38
• dougf_at_geog.buffalo.edu
• www.geog.buffalo.edu/dougf/GEO506/GEO506.htm

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How to get an A in this class

• Attend and ask questions
• Complete lab exercises thoroughly and on time
• Perform well on the two mid-term exams
• Develop a good GIS project
• Keep up with the readings
• Chrisman
• Others as assigned
• Ask questions

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(No Transcript)
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What Make Information Geographic?

• Information about things in the world
• It has a form of location
• We are able to relate two things through the
  locations

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Attributes of Spatial Features

• Identifier (name, code, number primary or
  secondary key)
• Locator (position on earths surface)
• Character of the entity
• Role, behavior or function of the entity
• Spatial property of the entity

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What is a Geographic Information System?

• First, it is a system
• comprised of interacting components
  differentiated from their environment
• An information system provides useful data
• Provides tools to
• Store, Retrieve, Evaluate
• Within a context of space or location

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What can you do with a GIS?

• Display Maps
• Combine Data
• Querying Database
• Analyze Spatial Relationships
• Create New Data

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Spatial Processing

• Automated mapping
• Thematic mapping
• Composite mapping (map overlay modeling)
• Spatial statistics

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Spatial Processing

• Spatial analysis (simulation location-allocation)
  
• Spatial browsing
• Spatial problem solving (spatial decision making
  spatial decision support systems)

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Spatial Relations

• Connectivity
• Orientation (to, from)
• Adjacency (proximity)
• Containment
• Measurement
• Spatial collocation

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Types of Spatial Interactions

• Movements or flows (population migration)
• Networks (highway systems water pipes)
• Nodes (intersections of roads)
• Hierarchies (ordering of cities)
• Fields or surfaces (newspaper territories)
• Diffusion (disease ideas)

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Localization - Alocation

• Location of some point
• Allocation of some resources from points to other
  points
• Route-finding (airport to downtown)
• Path-finding (avoiding mountains)
• Creation of areas (political redistricting)
• Layout (designing a subdivision)

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Two Ways to Represent Space

• As a distinct object
• Vector data has discrete boundaries
• As a continuous field
• Raster data has a value at every location

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Forest Habitat Analysis
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Infrastructure Management
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Finding Real Estate
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Preservation of Archeology Sites
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Environmental Analysis
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Land Use Analysis
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Linking Maps with Data