Geoscience Reference
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of problems involving the location of objects in space and (b) the proposal of
new algorithms that have enabled researchers and practitioners alike to efficiently
tackle larger and more complicated problems. A pivotal role in this process of
evolution is certainly attributed to the rapid advances in computer technology.
These advances facilitated the development of modern Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) which have now become an invaluable decision support tool in many
planning problems where geographically referenced information must be taken into
account. In fact, the emergence of GIS results from the insight that, in order to fully
comprehend certain phenomena, it is necessary to associate them with the locations
where they occurred. Hence, the need to store, handle and analyze spatial data has
been prominent in many disciplines. One of the first documented applications of
spatial analysis is the study by Picquet in 1832 in which he represented the 48
districts of the city of Paris by halftone color gradient according to the percentage
of deaths by cholera per 1,000 inhabitants. In 1854 John Snow depicted a cholera
outbreak in London using points to represent the locations of some individual
cases. His study of the spatial distribution of cholera helped to identify the source
of the disease, a contaminated water pump, whose handle he disconnected, thus
terminating the outbreak. The term “GIS” was initially used by Roger Tomlinson
and his colleagues who developed a digital natural resources inventory system for
Canada in the 1960s. The system provided capabilities for measurement, digitizing,
scanning and overlay, thus enabling the spatial analysis of stored data.
Given that placing objects in some sort of space is the core of location science,
several possibilities arose for interaction between location science and GIS. Initially,
GIS were seen as an efficient means of handling data and visualizing results
of location science problems, resulting in numerous applications where GIS and
location models were linked in a loosely coupled way. However, over the last
decade, GIS have evolved into highly sophisticated systems offering enormous
capabilities for data storage and manipulation. Consequently, a much broader range
of possibilities emerged for linking location science models with GIS in ways that
fully exploit the analytical capabilities of modern GIS. Our aim in this chapter is
to discuss the various linkages between location science and GIS and to highlight
the ways these two disciplines have influenced each other. In addition, we wish to
indicate possibilities for further connections that may materialize in the future.
This is not the first attempt to analyze the connections between location science
and GIS. Church ( 1999 , 2002 ) and Murray ( 2010 ) give notable reviews of the
linkages between the two disciplines. Since the two fields and especially GIS
continue to develop rapidly, it is important to evaluate how these linkages have
evolved over time in comparison to the earlier reviews.
In the discussion of GIS we have chosen not to focus on any particular GIS
software package. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, our objective is to present
the theoretical principles and the functionality of GIS as well as the connections
with location science, rather than specific GIS techniques. Secondly, we expect GIS
software technology to develop at such a rate that references to particular packages
may soon become obsolete.
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