Topic:
Introduction to GIS and Spatial Data Handling: Part I
OVERVIEW and OBJECTIVES
In Part I of this module we provide background on Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), and the spatial data that they use.
- What are the capabilities of GIS?
- What kind of headaches present themselves in handling spatial data?
- Where does spatial data come from?
In Part II, Geoff Jacquez explores the role
of spatial statistics in GIS.
OBJECTIVES:
Those who successfully complete the module should
- understand why we need GIS;
- appreciate some of the questions GIS can and can't answer at this time;
- know the basic data and file types of GIS;
- know two ways to lie with GIS;
- appreciate the need for Meta data.
SCENARIOS FOR DISCUSSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Some images from the following two books have been used, which we
gratefully acknowledge:
- Cliff, A. D. and P. Haggett. 1988. Atlas of
Disease Distributions: Analytic Approaches to Epidemiological
Data. Blackwell, Ltd., Oxford, UK.
- Chou, Yue-Hong. Exploring Spatial Analysis in Geographic Information
Systems. Onword Press, Santa Fe, NM, USA.
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