Introduction to Geographical

Information System
 Geographic Information System
(GIS)
• Information that can be associated with
– A place name
– A street address
– A zip code
– Coordinates of latitude and longitude
• Knowledge about
– What
– Where
– How
 Geographic Information System
(GIS)

Query
Information
System

Data Storage

Information
 Geographic Information System
(GIS)
• System : Technology for acquisition and
management of spatial data
• Science : Theory and concept behind the
technology
• Studies: Understanding the social, legal and ethical
issues associated with the GISy and GISs
 Defining Geographic Information System
• The common ground between information
processing and the many fields using spatial analysis
techniques. (Tomlinson, 1972)

• A powerful set of tools for collecting, storing,

retrieving, transforming, and displaying spatial data
from the real world. (Burroughs, 1986)

• A computerized database management system for

the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis and display of
spatial (locational defined) data. (NCGIA, 1987)
 Why GIS
• Most of the issues in our world have a critical spatial
component
– Where is a suitable site to build new housing scheme
– What are the necessary elements (like topography, soil,
environment, population, economic activities) that need to
be considered while planning for a commercial tower?
– How can we use our buildings more effectively?
– Do you need to build at all?
 Components of GIS

 Hardware
 Software
 Data
 People
 Applications
 Data

 Data is the most important component of GIS

Without data we can’t do anything

 Approximate time breakdown of most GIS

projects
80% = Database development
10% = Data analysis
10% = Cartographic production
 GIS Data

Spatial Data / Geographical Data

Non-Spatial Data / Attribute Data

 Name of Country Pakistan

Continent Asia
Coordinates
X 70E National Language Urdu
Y 30N
Provinces Four

Spatial / Non Spatial / Attribute Data

Geographical Data
 Map_GIS Output

 Output of GIS is visualization as a map

 A map is a graphical representation of
georgraphical data
 Maps are very efficient in storing and
communicating the geographical
information
'A Picture Worths A Thousand Words'
TYPES OF MAPS
 Political Map
 A political map does not show any topographic
features.
 It focuses solely on the state and national
boundaries of a place.
 They also include the locations of cities - both
large and small, depending on the detail of the
map.
 A common type of political map would be one
showing the Pakistan’s provinces and their
borders along with the Pakistan' north and south
international borders 
Political Map
Political Map
Political Map
 Physical Map
 A physical map is one that shows the physical
landscape features of a place.
 They generally show things like mountains,
rivers and lakes. Water is always shown with
blue.
 Mountains and elevation changes are usually
shown with different colors and shades to show
relief.
 Normally on physical maps green shows lower
elevations while browns show high elevations.
Physical Map
Physical Map
Physical Map
 Topographic Map
 A topographic map is similar to a physical map
as it shows different physical landscape features.
They are different however because they use
contour lines instead of colors to show changes
in the landscape.
 Contour lines on topographic maps are normally
spaced at regular intervals to show elevation
changes (e.g. each line represents a 100 foot
(30 m) elevation change) and when lines are
close together the terrain is steep.
Topographic Map
 Climate Map
 A climate map shows information about the
climate of an area.
 They can show things like
 the specific climatic zones of an area based
on the temperature,
 the amount of snow an area receives
 average number of cloudy days.
 These maps normally use colors to show
different climatic areas.
 A climate map of Australia, for example, uses
colors to show differences between the
temperate area of Victoria and desert region in
the center of the continent.
Climate Map
Climate Map
Climate Map
 Economic or Resource Map
 An economic or resource map shows the specific
type of economic activity or natural resources
present in an area through the use of different
symbols or colors depending on what is being
shown on the map.
Economic or Resource Map
Economic or Resource Map
 Road Map
 A road map is one of the most widely used map
types.
 These maps show major and minor highways
and roads (depending on detail) as well as things
like airports, city locations and points of interest
like parks, campgrounds and monuments.
 Major highways on a road map are generally red
and larger than other roads
 Minor roads are a lighter color and a narrower
line.
Road Map
Road Map
 Thematic Maps
 A thematic map is a map that focuses on a
particular theme or special topic
 They are different from the six aforementioned
general reference maps because they do not just
show natural features like rivers, cities, political
subdivisions, elevation and highways. If these
items are on a thematic map, they are
background information and are used as
reference points to enhance the map's theme.
Thematic Maps
Thematic Maps
Thematic Maps
Thematic Maps
 Base Maps
 Basemaps bring key data together to make a
reusable foundation for a variety of maps.
 Basemaps provide a foundation or canvas for
your work
 Examples
 topographic basemap,
 an imagery basemap,
 a street basemap,
 a particular theme, such as a hydrological or
geological basemap
 Base Maps
 Basemap provides geographic context and
reference detail
MAP SCALE, CLASSES OF MAPS,
MAPPING PROCESS
 Map Scale
 A map represents a portion of the earth's
surface.
 Since an accurate map represents the land,
each map has a "scale" which indicates the
relationship between a certain distance on the
map and the distance on the ground.
 The map scale is usually located in the legend
box of a map, which explains the symbols and
provides other important information about the
map.
 A map scale can be printed in a variety of ways.
 Map Scale
 A ratio or representative fraction (RF) indicates
how many units on the earth's surface is equal to
one unit on the map.
 It can be expressed as 1/100,000 or 1:100,000.
 In this example, one centimeter on the map
equals 100,000 centimeters (1 kilometer) on the
earth.
 It also means that one inch on the map is equal
to 100,000 inches on the land (8,333 feet, 4
inches or about 1.6 miles).
 Or even 1 paperclip on the map is equal to
100,000 paperclips on the ground.
 Map Scale
 A Descriptive Scale gives a written description of
map distance
 Such as "One centimeter equals one kilometer" or
"One centimeter equals ten kilometers."
 Obviously, the first map would show much more
detail than the second because one centimeter on
the first map covers a much smaller area then on
the second map.
 Map Scale
 A graphic scale is simply a line marked with
distance on the ground which the map user can
use along with a ruler to determine scale on the
map.
 Map Scale
 Maps are often known as large scale or small
scale.
 A large scale map refers to one which shows
greater detail because the representative fraction
(e.g. 1/25,000) is a larger fraction than a small
scale map which would have an RF of 1/250,000
to 1/7,500,000. Large scale maps will have a RF of
1:50,000 or greater (i.e. 1:10,000).
 Those between 1:50,000 to 1:250,000 are maps
with an intermediate scale.
 Maps of the world which fit on two 8 1/2 by 11 inch
pages are very small scale, about 1 to 100
million.
Thanks

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