Schuurman Ch. 4 & 5

    In chapter 4, which is entitled “Bringing it All  Together,” really starts to talk about how the program of GIS works and how manage maps.  The chapter talks a lot about grids and how maps are divided into them.  Each grid square can have data in it, different than all the others.  The smaller the squares, the more precise the map is to reality.  Data squares can be overlapped with other data squares from the same area on a different map.  An example from the text is, one map has grid squares by area and another map by population, these two maps are laid on top of each other to calculate density.  From the example, density could not have been determined if there were not any grid squares, and also if either map had been seen on its own.

While I was reading I was not sure if I understood what a raster based system or raster data is.  Another thought that I have been having is that I have not been sure about is if all GIS systems are 2D representations like on physical paper maps or can it also be 3D like a physical model of a town.

In chapter 5, which is entitled “Where do We go from Here,” discusses technical processes of how to use GIS and also research that involves GIS.  I found it very interesting how Schuurman discussed that if a wrong letter is entered into GIS, that something totally different than what is wanted could appear.  For example it was discussed how a zero could be mistaken for the letter o, or that “;.” could be typed where only “;”was wanted.  These small mistakes are very hard to find and fix, which in the end change your final product.  I have had a good amount of experience with Microsoft Access which has the same amount of precision in the data entry  it sounds like.  If a word is so much as misspelled, or if an abbreviation does not have a period at the end of it, the data will be read as something totally different.  For the factor of precision, Schuurman discusses that it is very hard to cram a project into the night before it is due.  It is very hard to be able to keep the precision needed in the data.  I am not planning on waiting till the last day for anything, but I am really going to make sure that I do not in this class.

Schuurman Ch. 2 & 3

     This was a very tough reading for me with my limited knowledge of GIS.  It had many ideas and concepts that were way over my head.  Chapter 2 discussed how we interact with GIS and how it works in the world, and chapter 3 discussed more about the data that goes along with GIS.

     In chapter 2 the reading begins with a little history how humans have perceived GIS over the years and then moved onto how it interacts with us.  I found it interesting how Schuurman said that GIS maps can present the information stored in their system in many different ways for us to interpret it.  I’ve run into this instance before in my life.  I was in a social science class once that told me though interpretation of maps that Earth does no have a high amount of land used by humans and that there are many natural resources left.  With being a science major I am constantly being told that we are running out of resources and that humans are consuming and taking over all the land which I have also seen interpreted from maps.  So with the same data it seems that there can be more than one perspective on how to perceive the same thing (such as social science vs natural science view of the world).

     While I was in chapter 2 I ran into the words epistemological and ontological and I was not sure what they meant.  I did however learn that GIS is like a layer cake, (Schuurman’s description) with the ability to over lay different informative maps on top of each other to show a new map with both of the original data sets on it.

      In chapter 3  I learned that all maps are represented by tables full of data.  Images in GIS are represented by values on a table.  Also the way that the data lays, causes different representations of the same data set.  An example of this is could be described with temperature being featured with different degree ranges being different shades over the state of Ohio. Depending on the intervals, such as by 2 or 10 degrees, areas could be not correctly interpreted for the actual temperature in a specific area.  If the interval are 10 degrees, data could show that the whole state is at the same  temperature, but in reality the actual difference between Cleveland and Cincinnati could still be 10 degrees in difference, which is a fairly large temperature deviance.  This is not to be blamed on humans for the misinterpretation of the data, but as Schuurman puts it “The Devil is in the Data.”

Project Ideas

I talked to my Island Biology instructor about the possibility of doing GIS work down in the Galapagos and she said that it probably would not work out.  So if that does not here are a couple of other ideas for a project:

1. Use data from OWU to map hometowns of students at the university each year all the way back to 1842 when the University opened.  See how the distance between hometowns and OWU has changed over the past centuries.
2. Use data from a family tree (possibly mine) and plot the distributions of the family over the past couple hundred years until the present where all descendants are mapped in their present location.

GIS Analysis Ch.1

    The first chapter of Mitchell’s book, which is entitled “Introducing GIS Analysis,” is the beginning of the overview to basic GIS. It explains how different features appear on the screen, which can include the following:

• Linear Features
• Panels
• DotsGrids

I found it very interesting how it was talking about map shadings, that show such things as elevation, are not always wanted to be shown in the highest number of pixels possible. I would have thought the higher the pixel content the better the quality. This is not entirely true. Although it is necessary to have enough pixels to show the detail so that it is not just a bunch of boxes, too many pixels could be even worse. For example having a high number of pixels can cause for very large memory space that causes large files to be too big for transfer. Also if there are too many pixels there can be different shades of colors that run together and cause for confusion where one ends and another begins.

The only problem that I came across was that I was a little confused on the difference between continuous and noncontinuous values in the reading.

Mapping Environmental Justice

This GIS project, on Environmental Justice in Delaware Co. PA was on the issue of different areas and how the social science and the natural science interact together. I found it very interesting how south part of the county had many factors that were predominately found there and no where else. These included:

• Very low income
• Non Caucasians
• High unemployment
• Low education
• Young age
• Most air emissions
• Most water discharges

So GIS can correlate that all of the above factors are connected and can be found in the same area. This is only part of the situation. Now that it is known what is wrong it is time to figure out how to fix it. That was what the other part of the report explained was possible ways to fix the environmental problems and help the people that are living there.

During this report I figured out a lot of new terms. Green spaces means, undisturbed land that is still very natural and undeveloped. Also riparian buffers are green spaces next to water sources that have little affection by pollution. Brown-fields are industrial and commercial sites.

My only question from this report is,” Are we going to have our report look in this fashion when we are done with it?”

Class Projects 2000-2005

     I thought that most of these projects were really cool that students have done, and they gave me a bunch of possible ideas for personal projects if the Galapagos idea does not work out.  I had no idea that OWU was that involved with the bike paths going in around Delaware.  Such as the ones over next to Kroger and over to the Mingo Park.  I was not sure exactly what a watershed was when I was reading the project on the Delaware Run.

     The coolest project in my opinion was the one on the geographic look on where OWU students were from.  This looked into also what the distribution of students that were accepted into the university and which ones actually came.  I thought that a possible project could be a look at the distribution of students, based on hometown, and how their area’s interest in attending OWU had changed over time.  This would look into the issue of has the distance from OWU changed over the past 150 years of who has come to study at OWU.  I thought that this could be a possible project that I could work on.

Geographic Information Systems and Science

Just when I thought that I had recovered from being blown away the first time with the power of GIS, here it is again with even more applications that I would have never even thought to connect with GIS. The introduction to Longley’s book emphasized the basic principle and applications of GIS and the second chapter, entitled “A gallery of Applications,” dove more into the how GIS affects us everyday. I never knew that On-star, the call in directions company, was run on a GIS system, so does this mean that other programs such as Google Earth, Map-Quest, and vodeedoo.net are all GIS systems? What about a step even past that, are all maps, hard-copy or digital, GIS run? I also did not really understand either what the difference between GIS and GI-Science was, or if they were the same thing?

I found it very interesting how he talked about that one of the first teams to be called into ground zero on 911 was a GIS crew. On the news we heard about all of the work done by the fire, police, and rescue, but we never heard about the people mapping out the entire area and decided the courses of action to take created by maps. The more and more I learn about GIS, it seems that it is hidden more and more in our world, with the common population unaware of it. Why is that?

The reading also talked about the history of GIS a bit. It seems amazing that the first GIS system was used in Canada in the 1960s for monitoring the nation’s resources. How can something as old as that be so unknown? There was also the section on the infrastructure of decision making that I found very interesting. Most of these terms I actually thought were the same, but now I see that they are actually quite different. These are:

• Data- numbers, text, and symbols
• Information- anything that can be digitalized
• Evidence- validated information
• Knowledge- information with interpretation added on to it
• Wisdom- advice given

The reading also listed the six parts of a GIS. This seems very simple, but it is at the core of how GIS works and without one part it could spell doom for the entire system.

• People
• Software
• Data
• Procedures
• Hardware
• Network

So I think that I will draw this post to a close. With the packet being so big, I think that I could post on it to the same about of hours that it took to read it. I will end with the note from the reading that GIS has grown a lot in the past to this point in history and will continue to grow even bigger in the future with its influence on man kind.

GIS Websites

GIS in the waters around the Galapagos

This application of GIS is from a group of scientists in the Galapagos Islands off the East shore of Ecuador.  They are gathering information for a database that can be used with a color satellite from space.  The satellite will picture different colors showing different quantities of phytoplankton in the water around the islands.

 GIS and the eradication of goats in the Galapagos

In the Galapagos the Judus Goat is an invasive species that has been out-competing other animals in the Galapagos.  For decades hunters have been trying to eradicate them and have not had much luck.  In 1998-1999 a new stragy was used with the tracking of collared goats that were released and then tracked with GIS to goat herds on an island, where hunters could find and dispose of them.

GIS and land ecology in the Galapagos 

A database for a GIS system is being made for ecological purposes in the islands of the Galapagos.  This will be able to track such items as: species densities, physical features of the land, and human impact on the islands.  The idea is that the information will be used to help make decisions about future management of the islands.

Geography Matters

    For my first ever reading and exposure to GIS, past that it means Geographic Information System, I learned that there are applications of GIS everywhere in the world that we live.  From Schuurman’s essay I found that GIS seems to almost run the world that we live in, even though people like me, before this class, have no idea of it.  The sheer power and ability to bring information is almost unlimited.  From government agencies using it with international affairs to scientists using it to predict how nature works.  In my Island Biology class my professor told us of a scientiststuding kelp forests around the world used GIS to predict where unknown forests would be located.  One place that it reported was on the East side of Isabella island in the Galapagos.  So he went to that location and sure enough he found one.

With all of these applications of GIS out there, I almost feel stupid for never hearing of it before.  It seems very logical that GIS is the driving force for almost everything in the world.  Over the next semester I hope to have my eyes opened even more the applications and the limitless power of GIS.

Galapagos

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