© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Instructor: Austin TroyUniversity of VermontSchool of Natural ResourcesEmail: austin.troy@uvm.edu

Lecture materials by Austin Troy except where noted.Acknowledgements are due, in particular, to the UC Berkeley GIS Center, where many of the ideas for these lectures evolved in the development of their short course series.

NR 143: Introduction to GIS

Lecture 1

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Source: adapted from UC Berkeley GIS Center

What is GIS?(some boring definitions)

• The complete sequence of components for acquiring, processing, storing and managing data (Star and Estes, 1990)

• It is a configuration of computer hardware and software specifically designed for the acquisition, maintenance and use of cartographic data, (Tomlin, 1990)

• It is a set of computer tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming and displaying spatial data from the real for a particular set of purposes, (Burrough et al. 1998)

• A system of hardware, software, data, people, organizations and institutional arrangements for collecting, storing, analyzing and disseminating information about areas of the earth.

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Big Picture Concepts

• Quality

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

“Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line.”

-Mandelbrot, 1983

A first lesson in GIS:

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Core Concepts

• Quality

• Scale

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Coastline of Britain measurement problem

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Core Concepts

• Quality

• Scale

• Documentation and transparency

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Important that we know more than just “where?”

What is this a map of?

Federally owned lands

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

How about this map?

IQ test scores in the UK

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

What is the heck is this a map of?!!

Percent of population that buys salsa

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Any clue?

Amount of manure created by county

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

• We are used to road maps!

• GIS maps tell a far more complex story

• These stories need cliff notes!!

• METADATA

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Approaches to GIS

• Projects

• Custom GIS applications

• Internet Map Servers

• Client side applications

• Some examples of GIS in action

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Viewshed analysis

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Some examples of GIS in Action: Conservation Planning

Image by Dave Catts at http://3dnworld.com/galapp.php?user=DCatts&app=CARTOG

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Conservation Planning: Analysis of road disturbance in ecologically important areas

Source: Thesis research from Dick Cameron; http://greenwich.colorado.edu/drc/rese.htm

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Watershed delineation using digital elevation models

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Urban vegetation assessment

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Urban Park Planning

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Change detection from LANDSAT over 2003 NAIP

1999 Orthophotos with parcel boundaries

Estimated 99-02 changed pixels from LANDSAT

Land use change detection

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Land use change simulation

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Shelburne road, circa 1937

2003

Historical analysis

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Natural Hazards: Fire Mitigation Decision Support

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Natural Hazards: Susceptibility of hillsides to seismically-induced landslides

Source: Dissertation research by Bijan Khazai, UC Berkeley,Dept. of Civil Engineering

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Market cluster analysis

American Dreams

Big City Blend

Blue Blood Estates

Blue-Chip Blues

Bohemian Mix

Fmaily Scramble

Gray Collars

Gray Power

Hometown Retired

Inner Cities

Mid-City Mix

Military Quarters

Mobility Blues

Money & Brains

New Beginnings

New Empty Nests

Old Yankee Rows

Pools & Patios

Single City Blues

Smalltown Downtown

Southside City

Suburban Sprawl

Towns & Gowns

Upstarts & Seniors

Urban Achievers

Urban Gold Coast

Winner's Circle

Young Influentials

Young Literati

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Calculate Trade Areas for a facility by drive time and by circular radius

Source: Geonmonics, Inc. http://www.geonomicsinc.com/products.htm

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Site and demographic analysis for retail/office location

Source: Geonmonics, Inc. http://www.geonomicsinc.com/products.htm

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Transportation: predicting potential transit ridership to help Determine the location of a

new transit route

Source: UC Berkeley GIS Center

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Transportation: Network routing and driving directions

Source: Google maps

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Drive-time service area

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Some examples of GIS in Action:3 D Visualization for scenario analysis

Image by Eric Crews, US Forest Service at http://3dnworld.com/gallery.php?user=ECrews

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Some examples of GIS in Action:Visualization of proposed sites

Image by Jeff Nighbert, at http://3dnworld.com/users/40/images/nighbertblendtest.jpg

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Some examples of GIS in Action:3 D Visualization for development scenario analysis

Image by Marco Gualdrini at http://3dnworld.com/users/27/images/Phase1OriginalState1.jpg

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Some examples of GIS in Action:3 D Visualization for development scenario analysis

Image by Marco Gualdrini at http://3dnworld.com/users/27/images/Phase2ActualState1.jpg

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Municipal Information Internet Map Server: NaviGate LA

© 2007 Austin Troy

Introduction to GIS

Site Selector Internet Map Server for urban development