Geographic Information Systems/Science

The goal of Discovering GIS and ArcGIS is to teach students how to combine GIS concepts with ArcGIS software skills. Students learn to use the software, apply it to real-world tasks, and discover the concepts behind their actions. Students learn background and theory when appropriate as they work through hands-on applications of ArcGIS.

Over the past few decades the world has been organized through the growth and integration of geographic information systems (GIS) across public and private sector industries, agencies, and organizations. This has happened in a technological context that includes the widespread deployment of multiple digital mobile technologies, digital wireless communication networks, positioning, navigation and mapping services, and cloud-based computing, spawning new ways of imagining, creating, and consuming geospatial information and analytics. GIS: An Introduction to Mapping Technologies is written with the detached voices of practitioner scholars who draw on a diverse set of experiences and education, with a shared view of GIS that is grounded in the analysis of scale-diverse contexts emphasizing cities and their social and environmental geographies. ...

Historical GIS is an emerging field that uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to research the geographies of the past. Ian Gregory and Paul Ell's study comprehensively defines this field, exploring all aspects of using GIS in historical research. A GIS is a form of database in which every item of data is linked to a spatial location. ...

In an age of unprecedented proliferation of data from disparate sources the urgency is to create efficient methodologies that can optimise data combinations and at the same time solve increasingly complex application problems. Integration of GIS and Remote Sensing explores the tremendous potential that lies along the interface between GIS and remote sensing for activating interoperable databases and instigating information interchange. ...

Written for majors and non-majors alike, Introduction to Geospatial Technologies demonstrates the wide range of geographic technologies available to and used by geographers today. Each chapter contains an introduction to the key concepts and a lab activity, so that in addition to gaining a basic foundation of knowledge, students also obtain hands-on experience with the relevant software. This new edition stays current with its rapidly moving field, with coverage and lab activities revised to reflect is the most up-to-date ideas and innovations in GST.

Geographic Information Systems are an essential tool for analyzing and representing quantitative spatial data. Qualitative GIS explains the recent integration of qualitative research with Geographical Information Systems. With a detailed contextualising introduction, the text is organised in three sections: Representation: examines how researchers are using GIS to create new types of representations; working with spatial data, maps, and other visualizations to incorporate multiple meanings and to provide texture and context. Analysis: discusses the new techniques of analysis that are emerging at the margins between qualitative research and GIS, this in the wider context of a critical review of mixed-methods in geographical research Theory: questions how knowledge is produced, showing how ideas of 'science' and 'truth' inform research, and demonstrates how qualitative GIS can be used to interrogate discussions of power, community, and social action. ...

This collection of case studies describes how experienced instructors have used GIS within the traditions of a classical undergraduate education, spanning subjects as varied as the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. These stories offer creative ways for teachers to help students analyze, manage, and visualize information by describing how instructors have integrated mapping software into their syllabi, pursued the learning goals of their discipline, and strived to create a realistic learning environment in which students practice inquiry in their fields.

This book offers a graphics-intensive presentation of published maps, providing cartographic examples that GIS users can then adapt for their own needs. Each chapter characterizes a common design decision and includes a demonstration map, which is annotated with specific information needed to reproduce the design, such as text fonts, sizes and styles; line weights, colors, and patterns; marker symbol fonts, sizes, and colors; and fill colors and patterns. Visual hierarchies and the purpose of each map are considered with the audience in mind, drawing a clear connection between intent and design. ...

Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users is a comprehensive guide to creating maps that communicate effectively. In Designing Better Maps, renowned cartographer Cynthia A. Brewer guides readers through the basics of good cartography, including layout design, scales, projections, color selection, font choices, and symbol placement.

In the five years since the publication of the first edition of A Guide to Effective Map Design, cartography and software have become further intertwined. However, the initial motivation for publishing the first edition is still valid: many GISers enter the field without so much as one hour of design instruction in their formal education. Yet they are then tasked with creating one the most effective, easily recognized communication tools: a map. In this second edition of a bestseller, author Gretchen Peterson takes a "don't let the technology get in the way" approach to the presentation, focusing on the elements of good design, what makes a good map, and how to get there, rather than specific software tools. ...

Lauded for its accessibility and beautiful design, this text has given thousands of students and professionals the tools to create effective, compelling maps. Using a wealth of illustrations--with 74 in full color--to elucidate each concisely presented point, the revised and updated third edition continues to emphasize how design choices relate to the reasons for making a map and its intended purpose. All components of map making are covered: titles, labels, legends, visual hierarchy, font selection, how to turn phenomena into visual data, data organization, symbolization, and more. ...

Get your hands on the award winning GeoAcademy exercises in a convenient workbook format. The GeoAcademy is the first ever GIS curriculum based on a national standard--the U.S. Department of Labor's Geospatial Competency Model--a hierarchical model of the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to work as a GIS professional in today's marketplace.

Learn how to work with various types of data and create beautiful maps using this easy-to-follow guide- Give a touch of professionalism to your maps, both for functionality and look and feel, with the help of this practical guide- This progressive, hands-on guide builds on a geo-spatial data and adds more reactive maps using geometry tools. ...

This book is your one-stop solution to all of your GIS needs using the open source QGIS. Master QGIS by learning about database integration, geoprocessing tools, Python scripts, advanced cartography, and custom plugins. This example-rich, practical guide will help you create sophisticated analyses and maps. ...

If you are a beginner or an intermediate GIS user, this book is for you. It is ideal for practitioners, data analysts, and application developers who have very little or no familiarity with geospatial data and software.

Learn how to use QGIS to take your cartographic products to the highest level. With step-by-step instructions for creating the most modern print map designs seen in any instructional materials to-date, this book covers everything from basic styling and labeling to advanced techniques like illuminated contours and dynamic masking.

A collection of articles on the use of analytical methods in studies concerning geospatial analysis and data integration for cultural heritage evaluation. This volume is presented as a collection of self-contained articles providing easy access to suit the requirements and interests of individual readers. In order to be self-contained, each article is prefaced by a general introduction which briefly provides the theoretical principles and the general background of the discussed methods or techniques.

From the Congressional Research Service.
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

To understand the power of Geographical Information Systems and Geographical Positioning Systems today, it is essential to understand their background and history, and the needs they were designed to answer .

This book provides an essential insight into the practices and ideas of maps and map-making. It draws on a wide range of social theorists, and theorists of maps and cartography, to show how maps and map-making have shaped the spaces in which we live. Going beyond the focus of traditional cartography, the book draws on examples of the use of maps from the sixteenth century to the present, including their role in projects of the national and colonial state, emergent capitalism and the planetary consciousness of the natural sciences. ...

Even though Geographic Information Systems GIS have been available for over 20 years, they have only recently become accessible to geographers and others as a useful tool in spacial analysis. This is a sampling of basic principles of GIS, as well as ...