Introduction to

Geographic Information
Systems
1. Objectives and Outcomes
Objectives:

●To introduce the fundamentals and components of Geographic information

System
●To provide details of spatial data structures and inputs, management and output
processes

Outcomes :

●Have basic idea about fundamentals of GIS

●Understand the type of Data Models
●Gain knowledge on GIS softwares
●Gain Knowledge on data input,topology, quality and standard

2
Geographic Information System
A set of tools for
●Collecting
●Storing
●Manipulating
●Retrieving
●Transforming and display of spatial data from Real world

3
What is GIS ?
Geographic
●Implies that locations of data items are known, or can be calculated, in terms of
geographic coordinates (latitude, Longitude )

Information
●Implies that the data in GIS are organized to used useful knowledge, often as
colored maps and images, but also statistical graphics, tables and various on
screen responses to interactive queries

System
●Implies that a GIS is made up from several inter-related and linked components
with different functions. Thus, GIS have functional capabilities for data capture,
input manipulation, transformation, visualization etc
4
What is GIS?
Geographical Information System (GIS)
●Links databases and maps
●Manages information about places
●Helps answer questions such as:
○ Where is it?
○ What else is nearby?
○ Where is the highest concentration of ‘X’?
○ Where can i find things with characteristics ‘Y’ ?
○ Where is the closest ‘Z’ to my location ?

5
6
7
What is GIS ?
● A technology
○ Hardware and software tools
● An information handling strategy
● The objective: to improve the overall decision making
strategy

8
GIS: a formal Definition

“ A system for capturing, storing, checking, integrating,

manipulating, analysing and displaying data which are
spatially referenced to the earth. This is normally
considered to involve a spatially referenced computer
database and appropriate application software. “

9
In Short, a GIS is

10
Why GIS Unique?

●GIS handles Spatial information

○ Information referenced by its location in space
●GIS makes connections between activities based on
spatial proximity

11
12
GIS concepts

13
GIS: Historical Background
This technology has developed from:
●Digital cartography and CAD
●Database management systems

14
GIS Process

15
Application of GIS
 Urban Planning, Management & Policy

 Environmental Sciences

 Political

 Civil Engineering/Utility
 Business

 Education Administration

 Real Estate
 Health Care

16
What GIS Applications Do:
collect, manage, analyze, communicate, represent
 Make possible the automation of activities involving geographic data
• map production,
• calculation of areas, distances, route lengths
• measurement of slope, aspect, shed view
• logistics: route planning, vehicle tracking, traffic management e.t.c.
 Allow for the integration of data
 Permits the succinct communication of complex spatial patterns (e.g
environmental sensitivity).
 Enable to spatial queries
 Perform complex spatial modeling
17
GIS System Architecture and Components

18
Knowledge Base for GIS

19
2. The GIS Data Model

20
The GIS Data Model: Purpose
●The purpose of the GIS models are to digitally
represent and store the geographic features in real world
locations in a database so that they can be abstractly
presented in map (analog) form, and manipulated to
address some problem

21
A layer-cake of information

22
23
The GIS Data Model:
Implementation: Geographic Integration of Information

24
 Data is organized by layers, coverages or themes 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.

25
The GIS Model: example
Here we have three layers or themes:
--roads,
--hydrology (water),
longitude --topography (land elevation)
They can be related because precise geographic
coordinates are recorded for each theme.

Layers are comprised of two data types

•Spatial data which describes location (where)
longitude •Attribute data specifying what, how much,when
Layers may be represented in two ways:
•in vector format as points and lines
•in raster(or image) format as pixels
All geographic data has 4 properties:
longitude projection, scale, accuracy and resolution 26
Types of GIS data

27
Spatial and Attribute Data
● Spatial data (where)
–specifies location
–stored in a shape file, geodatabase or similar geographic file
● Attribute (descriptive) data (what, how much, when)
–specifies characteristics at that location, natural or human-created
–stored in a database table
● 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 28
29
Spatial Entity
● Spatial data describes the location and shape of geographic features, and their
spatial relationship to the features
● The Spatial data can be represented through using

1. The Point

2. The Line

3. The Area

4. Network

5. The Surface
30
GIS Data Modeling
● A data model describes the thematic layers used in the GIS application, their
spatial representation, their attributes, their integrity rules and relationships,
their cartographic portrial, and their metadata requirement
● A conceptual description of how spatial data are organized for use by the GIS
● Represents a set of guidelines to convert the real world to the digitally and
logically represented spatial objects consisting of the attributes and geometry
● The attributes are managed by thematic or semantic structure
● The geometry is represented by geometric-topological structure

31
Data Representation (Raster and Vector Models)
Raster Model
•area is covered by grid with (usually) 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 where cells in image data often called pixels.
Vector Model
●Vectors are graphical objects that have geometrical premitives to represent geographical
entities in the computer graphics
●A vector refers to a geometrical space which has a precise direction, length, and shape
●points, lines and polygons can be defined by the coordinate geometry

32
 Vector Data
● Vector data provide a way to represent a real world features within a GIS
environment
● A vector feature has its shape represented using geometry
● Vector data model uses sets of coordinates and associated attribute data to
define discrete objects
● The geometry is made up of one or more interconnected vertices
● A vertex describe a position in space using an X, Y and potentially Z axis
● In the vector data model, features on the earth are represented as:
○ Points
○ lines/ routes
○ Polygones / regions
○ TINs (Triangulated Irregular Networks)

33
Point
● Point objects in spatial database represent location of entities considered to
have no dimension
● Simplest type of spatial objects
○ E.g. wells, sampling points, poles, telephone towers, etc.
● A point is a zero dimensional object and has only the property of location,
used to model features such as a well, building, power pole, sample
location etc.
● Other names for a point are vertex, node

34
Line

● Line objects are used to represent linear features

using ordered set of coordinate pairs
○ E.g. infrastructure networks (transport networks: highways,
railroads, etc.) ; utility networks: (gas, electric, telephone, water,
etc. ); airline networks: hubs and routes, etc.); natural networks
such as river channels

35
Polygon
●Polygon objects in spatial database represent entities which covers
an area
○ E.g. lakes, Buildings, parcels, etc.
●Boundaries may be defined by natural phenomena (e.g. lake), or by
man made features (e.g census tracts, neighborhoods)
○ E.g. Land cover data: forest, wetlands, urban areas, etc.
○ Soil data – soil types

36
● In vector world the point is the
basic building block from which all
spatial entities are constructed

● The simplest spatial entity, the

point, is represented by a single (X,
Y) coordinate pair

● Line and area entities are

constructed by connecting a series
of points into chains and polygones

37
Vector Data Advantages
● Accurately representing true shape and size
● Representing non-continuous data (e.g rivers, political boundaries, road
lines)
● Vectors can store information about topology
● A vector data model uses points stored by their real coordinates and so
requires a precise coordinate system
○ Geographic coordinate system - latitude/ longitude
○ Cartesian coordinate system - X/Y coordinate system

38
Vector data Disadvantages

●The location of each vertex needs to be stored explicitly

●Vector data must be converted into a topological structure
○ This is often processing intensive and usually requires extensive data cleaning
●Updating or editing of the vector data requires rebuilding of topology

39
Raster Data Model
● The term raster implies a regularly spaced grid
● Raster data consists of rows and columns of cells (or pixels)
● In this format a single value is stored against each cell

40
 Raster Data
● Raster Data Model defines the world as a regular set of cells in a uniform grid

pattern
● Cells are square and evenly spaced in the x and y directions

● Each cell represent attribute values and cell location of phenomena or entities

● Cell dimension specifies the length and width of the cell in surface units

● Raster data models represent continuous phenomena or spatial features

○ E.g. Elevation/DEM, bathymetry, precipitation, slope, etc.

● Raster data model may also be used to represent discrete data

○ E.g. Land cover: forest, wetlands, urban areas

● E.g. of Raster data are digital aerial photographs, imagery from satellites, digital

pictures, or even scanned maps

41
Raster Data
● Cell based data such as aerial imagery and digital elevation models is
characterized by pixel values
● Basically a raster file is a giant table, where each pixel is assigned a specific
value from 0 to 255.
● The meaning behind these values is determined by the user. It represents
○ Elevations
○ Temperature
○ Hydrology etc.

42
Cell size of Raster Data
● The level of detail represented by raster is often dependent on the cell (pixel)
size or spatial resolution of the raster
● The cell must be small enough to capture the required detail but large enough
so computer storage and analysis can be performed efficiently

43
44
Three types of raster data
● Thematic raster data
● Imagery raster data
● Spectral raster data

45
46
➔ In the raster data model the basic building block is the individual grid cell, an
➔ the shape and character of an entity is created by the grouping of cells.
➔ The size of the grid cell is very important as it Raster is a method for the storage,
Processing and display of spatial data.
➔ Each area is divided into rows and columns, which form a regular grid structure. Each
cell must be rectangular in shape, but not necessarily square.
➔ Each cell within this matrix contains location coordinates as well as an attribute value.
The origin of rows and column is at the upper left corner of the grid.
➔ Rows function as the ‚y‛coordinate and column as‛x‛coordinate in a two dimensional
system. A cell is defined by its location in terms of rows and columns.

47
 Several methods exist for encoding raster data from scratch. Three of these
models are as follows:

●Cell-by-cell raster encoding

●Run-length raster encoding
●Quad-tree raster encoding

48
Raster Data Advantages

● Raster is the best way to store continuously changing values such as

elevation, slope
● Analysis faster and more flexible than vector for many applications
● Rapid computations (‚map algebra‛) in which raster layers are treated as
elements in mathematical expressions

49
Raster Data Disadvantages
● It is especially difficult adequately represent linear features depending on
the cell resolution
● Network linkages are difficult to establish
● Processing of associated attribute data maybe cumbersome if large amount of
data exists
● Raster maps inherently reflect only one attribute or characteristics of an area
● Most output maps from grid cell systems don’t confirm to high quality
cartographic needs

50
Difference between Raster and Vector

51
52
3. Spatial Data Structure

53
Spatial Data Structure
 Data structures provide the information that the computer requires to
reconstruct the spatial data model in digital form.
 There are many different data structure in use in GIS
 Based on that the spatial data structures can be classified according to
whether they are used to structure raster or vector data structure.

54
3.1. Raster Data Structure
● Raster or grid data structure refers to the storage of the raster
data for data processing and analysis by the computer
● Three commonly used data structures
○ cell-by-cell encoding
○ run-length encoding
○ quadtree

55
Cell-By-Cell Encoding Data Structure
● This is the simplest raster data structure and is characterised by subdividing
a geographic space into grid cells
● Each pixel or grid cell contains a value
● A grid matrix and its cell values for a raster are arranged into a file by row
and column

value 1 represents the gray

cells and 0 has no data

56
Run-Length Encoding Data Structure
● Run-Length Encoding (RLE) algorithm was developed to handle the problem
that a grid often contains redundant or missing data
● When the raster data contains more missing data, the cell-by-cell encoding
method cannot be suggested
● In RLE method, adjacent cells along a row with the same value are treated as
a group called a run
● If a whole row has only one class, it is stored as the class and the same
attributes are kept without change
● Instead of repeatedly storing the same value for each cell, the value is stored
once together with the number of the cells that makes the run
● RLE data compression method is used in many GIS packages and in standard
image formats.

57
● run-length encoding structure of a
polygon.

● In the figure, the starting cell and

the end cell of the each row
denote the length of group and is
generally called as run

58
Quadtree Data Structure
● To compress the data as well as to save the space in original grid, quadtree
data structure can be used
● A quadtree works by dividing a grid into four quadrants for the available
data
● The available data quadrant is again split into four half-size quadrants and so
on until the individual pixel is reached
● The attribute data for all the pixels of the quadrant remains the same even if it
is divided.

59
60
3.2. Vector Data Structure
● Vector files were simply lines and were having only starting and ending point
● The vector file consists of a few long lines, many short lines, or even a mix of
the two
● The files are generally written in a binary or ASCII (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange) code
● two types of data structure.
○ Topological Data Structure
○ Non-Topological Data Structure

61
Topological Data Structure

● Topology is the arrangement of how point, line, and polygon features share
geometry
● Topology is used for the following:
○ Constrain how features share geometry
● Topological data structure is often referred to as an intelligent data structure
○ because spatial relationships between geographic features are easily derived when using them
● Topological vector data structure is important in undertaking complex data
analysis
● In a topological data structure, lines cannot overlap without a node

62
● The arc-node topological data structure is now used in most of the systems
● In the arc-node data structure, the arc is used for the data storage and it also
works when it is needed to reconstruct a polygon
● In file of arcs, point data is stored and linked to the arc file
● Node refers to the end points of the line segment
● The arc has information not only related to that particular arc but also to its
neighbours in geographic space

63
●Important topological vector data structures
○ Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER)
○ Coverage Data Structure.

64
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER)

● It is an early application of topology in preparing geospatial data

● created by US Bureau of Census as an improvement to the Geographic Base
File/Dual Independent Map Encoding (GBF/DIME) data structure
● In the TIGER database, points are called 0-cells, lines 1-cells, and areas 2-cells
● The main advantage of this data structure is that the user can easily identify
an address on either the right side or the left side of a street or road

65
Coverage Data Structure
● A coverage is a georelational data model that stores vector data—it contains
both the spatial (location) and attribute (descriptive) data for geographic
features
● Coverages use a set of feature classes to represent geographic features
● Coverage data structure was practised by many GIS companies like ESRI, in
their software packages in 1980s to separate GIS from CAD (Computer Aided
Design)
● A coverage data structure is a topology based vector data structure that can
be a point, line or polygon coverage
● A point is a simple spatial entity which can be represented with topology
● The point coverage data structure contains feature identification numbers
(ID) and pairs of x, y coordinates
66
Point coverage data structure

67
Line coverage data structure

68
Polygon coverage data structure 69
GIS Database

70
What is a database
● A database is any organized collection of data
● Some examples
○ papers in your filing cabinet
○ files on your computer hard drive.
○ a telephone book
○ T.V. Guide
○ airline reservation system
○ motor vehicle registration records

71
Database Definitions
What is a database?
It’s an organized collection of data, it need not be a
computer based system.

What is a database management system

(DBMS)?
A software system designed to:
–Organize that data in a flexible manner,
–Provide tools to add, modify or delete data from the database,
–Query the data,
72
–Produce reports summarizing selected contents.
Spatial Database
● A spatial database is a general-purpose database (usually a relational
database)
○ is a collection of spatial data types, operators, indices, processing
strategies, etc.
○ represents objects defined in a geometric space, along with tools for
querying and analyzing such data
○ Most spatial databases allow the representation of simple geometric
objects such as Pointm line and polygon
○ Some spatial databases handle more complex structures such as 3D
objects, topological coverages, linear networks, and triangulated
irregular networks (TINs)

73
What is SDBMS?
● A SDBMS is a software module that
○ can work with an underlying DBMS supports spatial data
○ Like models, spatial abstract data types (ADTs) and a query
language from which these ADTs are callable
○ supports spatial indexing, efficient algorithms for processing
spatial operations, and domain specific rules for query
optimization
● Example: Oracle Spatial data cartridge, ESRI SDE
○ Has spatial data types (e.g. polygon), operations (e.g. overlap)
callable from SQL3 query language

74
SDBMS Example

● Consider a spatial dataset with:

○ County boundary (dashed white line)
○ Census block - name, area, population,
boundary (dark line)
○ Water bodies (dark polygons)
○ Satellite Imagery (grayscale pixels)

● Storage in a SDBMS table:

create table census_blocks ( name string, area float,
population number, boundary polygon );

75
How is a SDBMS different from a GIS ?
● GIS comprise set of tools to visualize and analyze spatial data using spatial
analysis functions such as
○ Thematic search, search by region, (re-)classification
○ Location analysis Buffer, corridor, overlay
○ Terrain analysis Slope/aspect, catchment, drainage network
○ Flow analysis Connectivity, shortest path
○ Distribution Change detection, proximity, nearest neighbor
○ Spatial analysis/Statistics Pattern, centrality, autocorrelation, indices of
similarity, topology: hole description
○ Measurements Distance, perimeter, shape, adjacency, direction
● GIS uses SDBMS
○ to store, search, query, share large spatial data sets

76
● SDBMS focusses on
○ Efficient storage, querying, sharing of large spatial datasets
○ Provides simpler set based query operations
○ Example operations: search by region, overlay, nearest neighbor,
distance, adjacency, perimeter etc.
○ Uses spatial indices and query optimization to speedup queries over
large spatial datasets.
● SDBMS may be used by applications other than GIS
○ Astronomy, Genomics, Multimedia information systems, ...

77
Components of SDBMS
● Components include
○ spatial data model,
○ query language,
○ query processing,
○ file organization and indices,
○ query optimization, etc.

78
Spatial Analysis

79
What is spatial Analysis

● Spatial analysis is any of the formal techniques which studies entities using
their topological, geometric, or geographic properties
● Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques using different analytic
approaches, especially spatial statistics
● Through spatial analysis you can interact with a GIS to answer questions,
support decisions, and reveal patterns
● it includes all of the transformations, manipulations, and methods that can be
applied to geographic data to turn them into useful information

80
Types of Spatial Analysis

● Types of spatial analysis vary from simple to sophisticated

● spatial analysis will be divided into six categories:
○ queries and reasoning,
○ Measurements,
○ transformations,
○ descriptive summaries,
○ optimization, and
○ hypothesis testing

81
● Queries and reasoning are the most basic of analysis operations, in which the
GIS is used to answer simple questions posed by the user. No changes occur
in the database and no new data are produced

● Measurements are simple numerical values that describe aspects of

geographic data. They include measurement of simple properties of objects,
such as length, area, or shape, and of the relationships between pairs of
objects, such as distance or direction.

● Transformations are simple methods of spatial analysis that change data sets
by combining them or comparing them to obtain new data sets and
eventually new insights. Transformations use simple geometric, arithmetic, or
logical rules, and they include operations that convert raster data to vector
data or vice versa.

● They may also create fields from collections of objects or detect collections of
82
objects in fields.
● Descriptive summaries attempt to capture the essence of a data set in one or
two numbers. They are the spatial equivalent of the descriptive statistics
commonly used in statistical analysis, including the mean and standard
deviation.

● Optimization techniques are normative in nature, designed to select ideal

locations for objects given certain well-defined criteria. They are widely used in
market research, in the package delivery industry, and in a host of other
applications.

● Hypothesis testing focuses on the process of reasoning from the results of a

limited sample to make generalizations about an entire population.
○ It allows us, for example, to determine whether a pattern of points could have arisen by chance
83
based on the information from a sample.
Spatial Data Acquisition (Collection)

● Spatial data can be obtained from various sources

● It can be collected
○ from scratch, using direct spatial-data acquisition techniques,
○ or indirectly, by making use of existing spatial data collected by others

● Primary data Acquisition

○ Surveying,
○ Photogrammetry,
○ Gnss and remote sensing

84
Secondary Methods
• Digitization
• Automatic Line Following
• Scanning

85
Surveying
●Is a technique on mapping features
using different instruments
●Equipments include
○ TAPE(Short Distance),
○ Level(Height)
○ Theodolite / Total station (distance )

86
Photogrammetry
● It is a technique of mapping features using aerial
photographs (LiDaR, Drone, Airplane ..)
● Photos taken by set of cameras on board an airplane
● Instruments that can be used to help in the interpretation
are
○ Stereoscope
○ Stereo plotters

87
Remote Sensing
● Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses
light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.Features
are mapped from satellite imagery using
● Drone photography is the capture of still images and video by a remotely-operated or
autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also known as an unmanned aircraft system
(UAS) or, more commonly, as a drone.
● Airplane photography
● Followed by Visual interpretation or Automatic classification

● Mapping features using satellite imagery

● Images taken by a set of sensors on board a satellite
88
Digitizing and Scanning
● Digitization is the process of converting existing maps to
digital form (Vector format) - called Vectorization
● Scanning is a process of converting existing maps to
digital form (Raster format) - called Rasterization

89