Geographical Information Systems (GIS):

An Essential Tool for Research, Planning, and Archival of Data for Most Governmental Agencies

Mohammad A. RobUniversity of Houston-Clear Lake

Introduction

Understanding GIS

Applications of GIS: Examples

Use and Applications of GIS in

Bangladesh

Conclusion

Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used to make strategic decisions whenever data have spatial (geographical) distribution

Government agencies use it for assessment and planning in areas such as housing, healthcare, land use, transportation, and environmental monitoring

Businesses use it to locate optimum retail location and delivery route

And of course, we use it everyday in Yahoo! and Google Maps

What is GIS?GIS is a computerized system for input,

storage, management, display, and analysis of data that can be precisely linked to a geographical location (longitude and latitude)

GIS datasets come as layers:a layer for roadsa layer for riversa layer for zip code boundaryall within a particular geographical boundary

A GIS layer data comes in two types:

Raster or Vector

Raster data types are digital images

stored in pixels with reference to earth’s

coordinates

U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) regularly

maps the whole World using satellites

Vector data types are defined by points,

lines and polygons (boundary):

Points: hospitals and fire hydrants

Lines: Roads, highways, and rivers

Polygons: Zip code, county, state, and

country

A layer can have more than one features

Vector data are used in address coding

Each GIS layer has two views: map and data

Manhattan

Bronx

Brooklyn

11696

11385

10465

11413

11364

1143411208

11101

11357

11207

11367

1137711368

11365

11414

11378

10461

11215

11232

11432

10473

11354

11375

11358

11420

11422

11426

11203

11211

11362

11379

11355

11373

11361

11433

11222

1136011105

10460

11412

11423

11356

11427

11236

10469

1143511206

10474

11231

11212

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1046210457

11221

11233

11237

11239

11429

10464

11369

11411

11419

11226

11418

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10472

11213

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10467

10456

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11102

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10019

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10009

10034

10474

10011

10023

10003

10016

10013

10035

10033

11415

11430

10014

10024

11251

10022

10128

10036

10475

10464

1001810017

11104

10026

10010

10039

10012

10007

10028

10030

10038

10037

10044

10464

10004

11219

10463

1000510280

10038

11234

10005

Additional statistical data

Zip Code

Most commonly used GIS tool is ArcView from ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute)It uses a geodatabase to store all featuresCan be used as a desktop or multi-user

database

Many federal, state, and local government agencies publish GIS data in the ArcView’s shapefile format

These files can be downloaded from the Web

GIS

Dat

abas

e

In addition to Raster and Vector data for mapping, a shapefile may contain location-based important data such as population, income, voting record, etc.

The data view can be used to:to create a smaller dataset or mapto combine with user data to create a new

layer (as long as there is a common attribute between the GIS data and the user data)

Asthma is a public health concern, especially among children in the U.S.

About 17.3 million Americans have asthma

More than 5000 people die from asthma per year

African Americans suffer more than Caucasians

Females suffer more than males

These statistics do not show any geographical distribution of asthmatic people

Most of the asthma data comes from hospitalization records or surveying a population

These data do not contain any spatial coordinate, but has zip code information

They can be joined with a spatial dataset such as a zip code layer - to create an asthma layer

Zip code from the two datasets can be used as a join parameter

Zip Code Total Number

Surveyed

Number Of Asthmatics

Percent Asthmatics

93015 358 31 8.66

11212 335 68 20.3

11373 288 17 5.9

10029 163 41 25.15

20002 103 15 14.56

10039 101 21 20.79

10027 99 13 13.13

11372 97 5 5.15

10030 88 13 14.77

10031 88 16 18.18

20019 87 22 25.29

10035 83 12 14.46

11758 82 7 8.54

Impo

rtan

t GIS

Par

amet

er

The Asthma data is joined with this zip code data

Manhattan

Bronx

Brooklyn

There are missing Asthma data for some Zip codes

Manhattan

Bronx

Brooklyn

7

76

4

6

79

8

95

9

6

6

0

7

0

7

6

9

7

0

5

10

15

0

27

0

14

0

9

13

0

9

429

5

110

4

12

5

13

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8

8

4

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10

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33

10

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8

27

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24

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13

High Low Missing Data

Manhattan

Bronx

Brooklyn

0.00

9.36

12.08

6.89

4.27

4.37

8.68

4.93

4.21

10.11

7.33

29.68

26.98

33.28

13.18

7.85

5.89

19.51

8.48

5.07

7.57

3.74

6.25

11.18

4.47

14.08

32.52

13.40

22.42

3.30

8.49

9.09

12.93

6.31

6.28

8.53

13.32

41.68

12.78

13.59

23.54

14.98

5.72

11.04

41.68

7.13

11.97

11.98

4.01

46.22

49.57

23.58

35.38

17.427.63

12.65

6.28

42.82

37.18

37.59

40.80

27.11

2.184.99

3.10

13.49

10.42

18.77

8.05

9.18

29.95

26.55

21.08

40.90

18.07

45.32

16.59

54.50

6.49

45.92

6.08

28.57

46.04

7.79

34.08

32.58

28.83

22.82

17.20

37.94 46.37

15.70

30.90

31.98

17.37

0.00

49.54

10.56

21.13

9.06 100.00

11.62

20.66

13.25

50.63

37.31

9.28

19.39

8.59

8.47

13.89

0.00

33.71

30.81

30.51

25.81

49.57

10.59

13.21

5.77

11.08

16.76

6.61

46.37

7.01

29.34

15.57

7.13

9.34

20.88

6.36

42.43

4.73

14.38

44.01

34.83

17.46

10.95

43.88

25.26

28.52

7.13

17.37

6.88

25.20

13.71

3.8514.29

8.81

25.26

5.55

14.29

Manhattan

Bronx

Brooklyn

7

76

4

6

79

8

95

9

6

6

0

7

0

7

6

9

7

0

5

10

15

0

27

0

14

0

9

13

0

9

429

5

110

4

12

5

13

15

8

8

4

21

10

17

33

10

28

8

27

12

1419

6

20

12

5

0

12

12

13

0

11

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25 14

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Asthma

Poverty

2008 mid-term Democratic primary results

In addition to querying addresses in the web, GIS has multiple governmental applications

In Houston, it is used to display real-time traffic and air pollution data on the web

Air pollution monitoring stations in the Harris county area - surrounding the City of Houston

GIS can be used for mapping, data storage, querying, analyzing, and planning for many government and non-government projects:

Recording much-disputed landsControlling population, poverty & diseaseMapping election zones and natural resourcesAssessing river erosion; flood and cyclone damageDistribution of food, gas, power, and waterImprovement of roads, highways and urban areasOptimization of education, healthcare, & sanitary Optimization of fisheries, dairies, cultivation,

forestry, and tourismLaw enforcement, public safety, environment, etc.

Since1970s various government agencies of have been using Raster/image data provided by LANDSAT & other program of U.S.Atomic Energy CommissionGeological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB)Petrobangla

Most activities have been focused on mapping geological and geophysical resources (topography, minerals, petroleum, gas, etc.)

Since 1990s, UNDP has been trying to educate and train GIS personnel in some governmental agencies, especially for the engineering & planning activities in Dhaka & Chittagong cities; however, the progress is slow

Currently, the vector data to display layers for roads, highways, rivers, lakes, forests, and land boundaries in Bangladesh are not available or incomplete

Main data that are available are digitized versions of existing maps of various districts and sub-districts, and they are used by many organizations

There are GIS programs in Geography and Geology departments in few educational institutions; however, true output is yet to be seen

There are some software companies, at least in name, available as well

A central location such as cartography department of GSB should be responsible to develop vector data and make them available to all governmental agencies

Almost all government agencies should have a GIS department with appropriate analysts and technicians

Need to provide appropriate Software, train personnel, have long-term plans and coordination between various agencies

GIS uses various data/map layers to create a map

A layer has two views: data and map, and the user-defined data can be combined with map data to understand and query spatial distribution of data

In developed countries, most data layers are available through various government agencies

GIS can be used in almost all government programs in Bangladesh; however basic vector data needs to developed and people need to be trained

US Geological Survey: http://ww.usgs.gov/ ESRI: http://www.esri.com/index.html Houston-Galveston Area Council GIS:

http://www.h-gac.com/rds/gis/clearinghouse/default.aspx Texas Commission on Environmental Quality GIS:

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/gis/datalink.html UT-Austin Map Library: http://txdot.lib.utexas.edu/ Bangladesh Government Maps:

http://www.bangladesh.gov.bd/maps/index.htm Technical Assistance to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

for Preparing the Dhaka Water Supply Project: ADB Report 2005

GIS Implementation in Developing Countries-A United Nations Perspective: http://www.gisqatar.org.qa/conf97/links/m3.html