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GIS > Chapter 1 - Text Book > Flashcards

Chapter 1 - Text Book Flashcards

1
Q

What problems do GIS solve?

A

problems that involve the aspects of location

these sorts of problems are called Geographic Problems

For example delivery services solve geographic problems when they choose a route

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2
Q

What are the three bases for distinguishes Geographic Problems

A

Scale, purpose and time scale

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3
Q

Geographic Problem 1 : Scale

A

Scale or Geographic Detail
For example the scale of a building or the scale of a problem that is being dealt with (like covid-19)

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4
Q

Geographic Problem 2: Purpose

A

Sometimes the problems are practical like costs or emergency regulations
When the purpose of GIS is to create knowledge or test hypothesis it is argued that GIS is not distinct in its methods as its used by a range of people like academics and the government.

= design vs normative use

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5
Q

What is GIS able to do with a single collection of tools?

A

GIS is able to bridge the gap between curiosity-driven science and practical problem solving

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6
Q

Geographic Problem 3: Time Scale

A

Time scaled are mor complex than maps or what we can comprehend. For example geophysicists look at things that are longer than the average human life

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7
Q

Why is Geographic Information mulit-dimensional ?

A

Because two coordinates must be specified to define a location e.g. x and y or longitude and latitude

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8
Q

GIS is voluminous, explain

A

a geographic database can store a LOT. E.g. it can easily reach a terabyte in size

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9
Q

Why is Geographic Information so time consuming?

A

although the information is static , the process of updating it is complex and expensive

To display geographic information as a map takes large amounts of data

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10
Q

Geographic Meaning

A

The Earths surface and near surface

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11
Q

Spatial Meaning

A

Any space, not only the Earths space

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12
Q

Other than the Earth, where can GIS methods be applied?

A

The Cosmos, other planets and the human body. There is even an example of GIS being applied to genome sequences in DNA

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13
Q

Geospatial meaning

A

Implying a subset of spatial applied specifically to both the earths surface and near surface

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14
Q

Why is geographic information so important?

A

Because almost every decision ever is made using it and it is especially used to
make difficult decisions

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15
Q

What do Information Systems help us do?

A

They help us manage what we know by making it easy to store, access and retrieve, manipulate and synthesize and apply to solutions of problems

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16
Q

1 megabyte

A

6 zeros
Single dataset in a small project databse

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17
Q

1 gigabyte

A

9 zeros
Entire street network pf a large city or small country

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18
Q

1 terabyte

A

12 zeros
Elevation of the entire earth taken at 30m intervals

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19
Q

1 Petabyte

A

15 zeros
satelliet image of entire earth at 1m intervals

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20
Q

1 exabyte

A

18 zeros
A future 3d representation of the earth at 10m intervals

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21
Q

What is data

A

Data can be numbers, text or symbols without context or bias
data is the most mundane kind of information and wisdom to the most substantive

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22
Q

Information meaning

A

Can be narrow or broad

Narrow: Can be treated as devoid of meaning, which means it is basically like data

Broad: there is a degree of selection, organization, and preparation for a purpose

its costly to produce but once digitilized it is cheap to reproduce

it is also easy to add information to information through merging and processing

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23
Q

What is GIS better at sharing?

A

It is better at sharing data and information rather than knowledge

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24
Q

Knowledge

A

Knowledge is information with added context, experience and purpose

When you read something and understand it, it goes from information to knowledge

25
Q

Codified Knowledge

A

Knowledge is codified if it can be written down and transferred with relative ease to others

26
Q

Tactic Knowledge

A

Tactic knowledge is slow to acquire and hard to transfer

Because of its nature it is often a source of competitive advantage

27
Q

How are knowledge and information different (3 ways)

A

1)knowledge needs a knower (it is related to people) whereas information can exist independently

2)Knowledge is harder to transfer between people whereas information is easy and quantifying knowledge is harder

3)Knowledge needs more assimilation. , we digest it rather than hold it. While we may hold conflicting knowledge , we cannot have conflicting information.

28
Q

Evidence

A

Is considered the halfway between knowledge and information

It can be considered a multiplicity of information from different sources related to specific problems

29
Q

Wisdom

A

is the top level of a hierarchy of decision making infrastructure

Decisions made with all the information with an awareness of the consequences

30
Q

What are Geographic Information Systems?

A

Computer based systems used for storing and processing geographic information

31
Q

What are Geographic Information Systems used for?

A

They are used as tolls to improve efficiency and effectiveness of handling information about geographic objects and events.

For example, storing vast amount of geographical information in databases, conducting analytical operations in a fraction of the time it would take to do it by hand and automating the process of making useful data

32
Q

What are the requirements of the GI scientific method

A

Transparency of assumptions and methods so that other GI scientists know how the results were reached and how they can add to it

Objectivity to avoid bias , intentional or not

The ability of any other qualified scientist to reproduce the results

Methods of validation using the results of the analysis (internal validation) or other information sources (external sources)

33
Q

Knowledge about how the world works is…

A

more valuable than knowledge about how it looks because it can be used to predict

34
Q

How does knowledge about how to world works and how it looks differ?

A

Mainly in their level of generality

Whilst places can look very different how processes effect different places is more complex

35
Q

Idiographic Geography

A

The description and features of a landscape

36
Q

Nomothetic Geography

A

Seeks to discover the general processes

37
Q

How does GIS combine Idiographic and Nomothetic Geographies

A

It reflects real life attributes (like slopes) and the probability of mass movement under pressure (general process)

Therefore accommodates both types of data

38
Q

Classification

A

The simplest form of general information

widely used in geographic problem solving

classifying data - like what kind of land is grass and what is not

39
Q

Rule Sets

A

Another form of general information

Rules that determine an outcome - e.g. what part of the forest can be destroyed

40
Q

Law

A

things that are almost considered certain to predict human actions

lots of errors do tend to occur when using this ‘general information’

41
Q

What does solving problems in GIS typically involve

A

It involves several conponents and stages
Objective

42
Q

Objective (GIS problem solving)

A

What the person aims to achieve - e.g. to minimize or maximize

minimize costs or greatest profits
maximizing quality of life and minimizing environmental impacts

sometimes objectives are both easy and hard to measure

sometimes measured through surveys and questionnaires

usually a problem will have more than one objective

43
Q

What is the basic definition (because it keeps changing ) of GIS

A

A collection of software tools ( sometimes brought by a vendor) to carry out certain well defined functions (GIS software), digital representations of the real world in the form of a dataset (GIS data), people who advocate for the use of these tools for a variety of purposes (the GIS community), and the activity of using GIS to solve problems ( doing GIS)

44
Q

Everyone has a ..

A

different definition of GIS. This depends on the context of who you are (e.g. the general public its a map making software or scientists its a tool for revealing what otherwise would be invisible with geographic information)

45
Q

Explain the ARC GIS’s

A

ARCGIS is a brand name for a variety of diverse types of GIS
ArcINFO -high end information system
ArcView -using for viewing and analzying mapping data
ArcGis Engine - software that developers can embed in their applications
ArcGis Mobile - a simple version available on a phone

There are other versions

page 22

46
Q

Does GIS have well defined component parts?

A

Yes , despite its complexity
The most fundemental part is the Network

47
Q

Network component

A

Allows for communication and data sharing amidst big groups of people
This would not be possible without the Network component of GIS

48
Q

Internet Component (network)

A

The internet was designed to be a network between computers. Has developed into society’s mechanism for information exchange.

The internet has had a massive effect on the development of technology over the past 20 years

1.4 billion people across the planet use the internet

Is core to most aspects of GIS , as a result the days of standalone GIS are basically over

49
Q

What is the main effect that the web has had on GIS

A

That it allows collabortation

For example , Web2.0 allows two-way collaborations between users and websites

50
Q

AJAX-enabled websites

A

they work better with first generation GIS where the users click/ pan/ zoom and wait for the map to load

51
Q

API’s

A

Are available from a variety of websites , both spatial (google maps) and non spatial (facebook) and provide a variety of functions to third party applications

e.g the ability to add point or lines to a google map

you need a high level of technical proficiency but it is now easy to download

52
Q

What are the 6 components of GIS

A

Network
hardware
Software
Data / Database
Management / people
Procedures

53
Q

Hardware

A

The machiene itself that is used to access GIS , e.g. a desktop of a phone

54
Q

Software

A

Is what runs locally within the machiene e.g. a web browser or microsoft

in recent years GIS software packages have become quite sofisticated and can handle all the requierments of a standard GIS project

Commercial software is rarely open sourced

55
Q

Data / Database

A

e.g a 3D representation of the real world

They consist of a digitalrepresentation of certain aspects of the earth or near earth surface, usually with the purpose of answering a scientific query

56
Q

Management / people

A

An organization that makes sure that GIS runs and updates as it should

people - the people that use it to answer geographic questions. Can be of varying skill

57
Q

open source

A

Data that is readily available to the public

58
Q

What is the Software Industry

A

The most conspicuous part of the GIS sector

GIS is worth over $1billion in software terms

GIS (12 decks)

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