Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
GI ANALYSIS: UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD
GI Analysis and GIS
Chapter 13
GI Analysis and GIS
Every day people make spatial choices based on geographic information
analysis: how to drive home, what is the best spot for fishing, where to go on
vacation, where is the most convenient childcare, which site is preferred for
opening a store. Looking only at a map will not necessarily provide you with
the best choice. It can help, but reading a map is time-consuming and the
map may be inaccurate. You often need fuller comparisons and analysis of
data to make the best choice. Indeed, geographic information analysis is
becoming more common through online and software navigation applica-
tions. Geographic information analysis also has been and remains a key part
of many government and business activities. These navigation applications
and professional analyses are similar in concept, but the commercial orienta-
tion of many online and commercial software applications hides many of the
details of their analysis and restricts consumers. Professional analysis almost
always involves considering many details and choosing between possibilities.
In terms of geographic information, analysis takes many forms. It can
involve little more than the comparison of two data sets collected at different
times for the same area. Or it can be complex: the analysis of the relation-
ship between existing residences and a proposed highway that will use sound
buffers—entailing complex geostatistical analyses that dynamically model the
processes of noise being created by different types of traffic through the
course of a 24-hour period. Geographic information analysis involves the
explicit or implicit translation or transformation of things and events into
patterns and processes.
This chapter begins with an overview of this translation or transforma-
tion. Translations and transformation take place in the context of communi-
cation. Considering the communicative role of the analysis helps one to get a
grasp on the different forms of geographic information analysis. The chapter
next provides an overview of geographic information analysis types and GIS.
This chapter concludes with a discussion of GIS definitions and some exam-
ples of how GIS is used for analysis in environmental and urban domains.
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