Introduction to GIS

What is GIS

• GIS - Geographic Information System

• An integrated collection of computer software and data used to view and manage information connected with specific locations, analyze spatial relationships, and model spatial processes.

Why need GIS

• Problem • Significant of all information has a "spatial" or geographic component

• Most of time the spatial data are not easy to analyse and visualise

• Solution • GIS can perform complicated analytical functions and then present the results

visually as maps, tables or graphs, allowing decision-makers to virtually see the issues before them and then select the best course of action.

Who uses GIS

• Hundreds of thousands of organizations in virtually every field are using GIS. E.g. Health, Government, Education, Transportation, etc.

• Health: • Hospitals and Health Systems: identify the best location of hospitals

• Public Health: Manage pandemics, prevent chronic disease, and monitor environmental quality to transform community health

• Human Services: Fuse demographics and location data to better understand the links between infrastructure and challenges such as the needs of aging populations. Streamline processes and better serve clients.

Who uses GIS

• Geo-enabling the Health Information System in Myanmar https://doph.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=d0349cc76cb749fd8e6e2d4e3e756131

What GIS can do?

• Mapping where things are: shows the data collection and then represents it in visual map format.

What GIS can do?

• Mapping quantities: finds places that meet criteria or the relationships between places

What GIS can do?

• Mapping densities: quantity normalized by area or total number

What GIS can do?

• Finding what is inside: determines what is happening or what features are located inside a specific area/region

What GIS can do?

• Finding what is nearby: finds what is happening within a set distance of a feature or event by mapping what is nearby using geoprocessing tools like BUFFER

What GIS can do?

• Mapping change: map the change in a specific geographic area to anticipate future conditions

How GIS Works

• Visualizing Data: The geographic data that is stored in the databases are displayed in the GIS software.

• Combining Data: Layers are combined to form a maps of desire.

• The Query: To search the value in the layer or making a geographic queries.

• Analysing Data: the built-in tools and packages are useful to assist the analysis of the data

Popular GIS software

• Open source software • QGIS: previously known

as Quantum GIS

• SAGA GIS

• GRASS GIS

• Notable commercial or proprietary GIS software • ArcMap, ArcGIS Server

• Map 3D, Topobase, and MapGuide

References

1. http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/gis-and-pandemic-planning.pdf

2. https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/overview#image5

3. https://doph.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=d0349cc76cb749fd8e6e2d4e3e756131

4. https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/GIS

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_information_systems_software#GIS_as_a_service

6. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/geographic-information-system-gis/

7. https://grindgis.com/what-is-gis/what-is-gis-definition

8. https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/GIS

9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QGIS

10. https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/116956/why-is-add-basemap-grayed-out-in-arcmap