Geographic Information Systems

Geographical Information Systems, Three Volume Set is a computer system used to capture, store, analyze and display information related to positions on the Earth’s surface. It has the ability to show multiple types of information on multiple geographical locations in a single map, enabling users to assess patterns and relationships between different information points, a crucial component for multiple aspects of modern life and industry. This 3-volumes reference provides an up-to date account of this growing discipline through in-depth reviews authored by leading experts in the field. VOLUME EDITORS Thomas J. Cova The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States Ming-Hsiang Tsou San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States Georg Bareth University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany Chunqiao Song University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States Yan Song University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States Kai Cao National University of Singapore, Singapore Elisabete A. Silva University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom Covers a rapidly expanding discipline, providing readers with a detailed overview of all aspects of geographic information systems, principles and applications Emphasizes the practical, socioeconomic applications of GIS Provides readers with a reliable, one-stop comprehensive guide, saving them time in searching for the information they need from different sources

Fully updated to reflect advances in GIS concepts and techniques, this guide approaches the subject from the broader context of information technology. Gives complete, up-to-date coverage to the concepts and techniques pertaining to every stage of the systems development life cycle of GIS, as well as its applications to various areas of spatial problem solving and decision making. For GIS specialists, GIS technologists, GIS sales directors, urban planners, natural resource managers, land surveyors, geomatics engineers, and foresters who want a complete understanding of GIS and how GIS applies to their fields of interest.

Geographic Information Systems for Geoscientists: Modelling with GIS provides an introduction to the ideas and practice of GIS to students and professionals from a variety of geoscience backgrounds. The emphasis in the book is to show how spatial data from various sources (principally paper maps, digital images and tabular data from point samples) can be captured in a GIS database, manipulated, and transformed to extract particular features in the data, and combined together to produce new derived maps, that are useful for decision-making and for understanding spatial interrelationship. The book begins by defining the meaning, purpose, and functions of GIS. It then illustrates a typical GIS application. Subsequent chapters discuss methods for organizing spatial data in a GIS; data input and data visualization; transformation of spatial data from one data structure to another; and the combination, analysis, and modeling of maps in both raster and vector formats. This book is intended as both a textbook for a course on GIS, and also for those professional geoscientists who wish to understand something about the subject. Readers with a mathematical bent will get more out of the later chapters, but relatively non-numerate individuals will understand the general purpose and approach, and will be able to apply methods of map modeling to clearly-defined problems.

Introduction to GIS -- Georeferencing -- Data for GIS -- Data Quality -- Spatial Data Models and Databases -- Spatial Analysis of Vector and Raster Data -- Network Analysis -- Statistics and Spatial Data Measurements -- Spatial Analysis of 3-dimensional Data -- Cartography Using a GIS -- GIS Hardware/Software and Programming -- Future Considerations.

Geographic information systems (GIS)--a central repository of geographic data collected from various sources, including satellites and GPS--is emerging as one of the most intriguing and promising high-tech fields. This easy-to-understand resource provides technical and nontechnical professionals, regardless of their background, with an accessible and practical guide to important GIS know-how.

The new edition has been substantially revised and updated to include coverage of the latest advances in GIS technology and applications (particularly web-based and mobile applications) and to provide pointers to recent research and publications. --