Geography 291: Geospatial Analysis with Desktop GIS

Chapter one

GIS can be used for more purposes than building geodatabases and making maps. Most notably, it can be used to address pressing issues and world problems. GIS is used to look at geographic information/patterns in data and address relationships between features. The features can be quite simple, and they can also be quite complex. To begin, you must start with an analysis; to do this, you need to figure out the information needed. It is important to be as specific as possible with your question. Next, you must understand the data to be able to decide the method you use. Once you have your method, you can process the data to then be able to interpret it.

Discrete features: have locations and lines, and the actual location can be pinpointed at any given spot.
Continuous phenomena: precipitation or temperature that can be found or measured anywhere. This will blanket the whole area that we are mapping.
Continuous data: often begins with sample points that can be regularly or irregularly spaced out. It can also show areas closed in by boundaries if everything inside the boundary is the same.
Features summarized by area: can represent the counts or density of individual features that are in certain boundaries. An example mentioned by the book is the number of businesses in each zip code and the total length of streams in each watershed, and lastly, the number of households in each country.
Categories: groups of similar characteristics/things.
Ranks: ranks features from high to low, mainly used for direct measures when they are difficult or if the quantity represents a combination of factors.
Counts and amounts: a count shows the true number of features on a map. The amount is any quantity associated with a feature that is measurable.
Ratio: shows the relationship between two different quantities.
Continuous and non- continuous values: counts, amounts, and ratios are continuous values.

It seems like you have to be very careful and technical with how you use GIS. One part that I read talked about cell size: if you use a cell size too big, some information can be lost, and if you use a cell size too small, then it takes up too much storage space.

Chapter two

Maps are used to see where and what a certain feature is. If you look at the allotment of features on the map, you can notice patterns that better help you understand the area that is being mapped. GIS can be used to map the location of different features to see if certain features occur in the same place. The book gives examples of businesses mapping customers by age, a police station creating maps based on crimes that vary in type, or seeing if assaults and thefts happen in the same area.
When planning a map, make sure that geographical coordinates are assigned and that each feature has a different category. Each feature needs a code that is unique to that feature. The GIS will store the location of all the features with a pair of geographic coordinates that will define their shape(line or area). Symbols will be assigned to the features as you specify them.
For linear features (streets), the GIS will draw lines to connect the points of interest that define the shape of each street. For areas like land, the GIS will draw the outline, or it will fill them in with a certain color or pattern.
When dealing with a subset of features, it is important to map the features in a data layer. Mapping within subsets is more commonly used with individual locations.
It is important when mapping an area that is large area to have fewer than seven categories. This makes it easier to see patterns. And if there are more than seven categories, then grouping some of the categories will help lessen the initial number.
Freeways are often drawn wider than highways.

Chapter three

Maps show location, but to add more factors to elevate the amount of information that a map shows, you can add different features based on quantities. Some features that can be mapped are: discrete features, continuous phenomena, and data summarized by area.
Quantities can be: amounts, ratios, or ranks.
When summarizing by area, if you use counts or amounts, they can skew the patterns if the areas happen to vary in size
The most common ratios are averages, proportions, and densities
Proportions: show you what part of a whole each quantity represents and are often shown as percentages.
Densities show you where the features are concentrated. (value/area=value per unit of area). Density is used to show distribution for the areas that are being summarized
Ranks put features in order from high to low. Ranks are used to show relative values instead of measured values. Sometimes direct measurements may be hard. Ranks also tend to be mapped as individual values. Also, it is worth noting that you should assign one symbol for each rank. And if you have too many ranks (more than seven), put them into classes.
Classes: Classes are counts, amounts, and ratios grouped. Using classes is helpful when the map is used for public discussion since it makes the viewer able to compare areas more quickly. How you decide to define the class will determine what features fall into each class and what the map will look like.
Individual values: Individual values can present a clear picture of data since the features are not grouped. If you map individual values, then you can search for certain patterns in the raw data, this can help if you are unfamiliar with the data or the area that you are mapping when looking for subtle patterns in the data.
Natural breaks: a classification that finds groups and patterns that are inherent in the data. The values in a class are probable to be similar, and the values between different classes are different.
Equal interval: each class has an equal scope of values (the difference between high and low values is the same for each class).
Standard deviation: “each class is defined by its distance from the mean value of all the features”

Chapter 1

GIS analysis is the process of looking at geographic patterns in your data and at relationships between features. Understanding GIS analysis is important in making accurate decisions about what to expect and how to prepare for future conditions. Throughout this chapter, I was able to learn the steps of performing a GIS analysis and the necessary geographic features and attributes. To start an analysis, you need to form a specific question based on the information you need and how it will be used. Based on the chosen question, you then must choose an analysis method that best fits your data and features. There are three types of features used in GIS: discrete, continuous phenomena, or summarized by the area. Each geographic feature has one or more attributes that help identify it. These types of attribute values include categories, ranks, counts, amounts, and ratios. Features can be represented by two models: vector or raster. After choosing the method, you then must process the data and analyze the results. Analysis is done through summary statistics. The three most common types of summary statistics used in GIS include selecting, calculating, and summarizing. Finally, after the analysis, it is important to decide whether your information is valid and useful or if it is necessary to rerun the analysis. 

Key Concepts/Definitions:

Discrete features: Features with specific locations that are either present or absent at any given point. 

Continuous phenomena: Can be found or measured everywhere. 

Summarized by the area: Represents the counts or density of individual features within area boundaries. 

Vector Model: Each feature is a row in a table and feature shapes are defined by x,y locations. Areas in the vector model are defined by borders and are represented as closed polygons. Discrete, summarized by area, and continuous categories.

Raster Model: Features are represented as a matrix of cells in continuous space. Each layer represents one attribute and most analysis occurs by combining the layers to create new layers with different values. Continuous numeric values.

Selecting Statistics: Select features to work with a subset or assign a new attribute value to just those features.

Calculating Statistics: Calculate the attribute values to assign new values to features such as rank or ratios.

Summarizing Statistics: Summarize the values for specific attributes to get the statistics such as mean or frequency.

Chapter 2

Throughout this course, I learned that GIS’s ability to map where things are is an important visual in solving real world problems. In order to do this however, one must have a deep understanding of GIS analysis and the ability to create a suitable map. In this chapter, I was introduced to a variety of steps and suggestions to convey an appropriate analysis of data through mapping.

When deciding what to map, the information must be appropriate for the audience and the issue being addressed. To prepare your data, each feature in your map needs geographic coordinates. You can also map by type, categorize similar features, or map by subset categories. I was then intrigued to ask when it is most beneficial to divide major categories into subtypes? The chapter later explains that the general rule of mapping is no more than seven categories. However, if the features are dispersed or the map is smaller, your number of categories can vary. Later, the chapter explains when making your map there are several different ways you can display data including single type, subset feature, or by categories. Mainly, what I have gathered about the mapping process is that there is a delicate balance between being too informative and including as much data into the map as possible. The chapter, however, gives several map making tips on grouping categories, choosing appropriate symbols, and mapping reference features to make the process easier. The chapter concluded by introducing several patterns to look for in analysis such as clustered, uniformly spaced, and random distribution.

Key Concepts/Definitions:

Single Type Map: To map features of a single type. Same symbol used for all features. Basic map to reveal patterns. May suggest differences in the features to further explore.

Subset Feature Map: A map of all features in a data layer or subset based on category value. Can reveal patterns that aren’t apparent when mapping all features. Commonly done for individual locations.

Category Map: Maps features by category. Features represented by different symbols for each category value. Provides understanding of how a place functions.

Chapter 3

In this chapter, I was introduced to the features and process of accurately mapping the most and least features. Mapping where the most and least occur is extremely important in visualizing the relationships between places. This type of mapping is based on the quantity associated with each feature. When the data is discrete or continuous, you should map using counts or amounts. When summarizing by area, however, using counts or amounts can skew the patterns so it is useful to use ratios or ranks instead. Since there can be many different values in mapping, mapping by class allows the reader to compare the data more efficiently. The four most common classification schemes are natural breaks, quantile, equal interval, and standard deviation. When choosing a classification scheme, you need to know how the data values are distributed across the range. Creating a bar chart is a helpful way to see that data. If there is an outlier, you need to pay close attention to it as it can heavily skew your data on the map. One of the most useful things I learned throughout the chapter, however, was how to appropriately use graduated symbols, graduated colors, charts, contour lines, and 3D perspective views to map effectively. Having this knowledge on how to map the most and least is crucial in creating an informative and respectable map through GIS analysis.

Key Concepts/Definitions

Counts: Actual number of features on the map.

Amounts: Any measurable quantity associated with a feature.

Ratios: The relationship between two quantities and are created by dividing one quantity by another for each feature. Can display the average, proportion, or density of certain features.

Ranks: Feature in order from high to low. Show relative values rather than measured values.

Class: Features with similar values represented by the same symbol. 

Natural Breaks: Set where there is a jump in values so block groups having similar values are placed into the same class. Unevenly distributed data.

Quantile: Each class contains an equal number of features. Evenly distributed and emphasis on the relative difference between features.

Equal Interval: The difference between high and low values is the same for every class. Evenly distributed and emphasis on the difference between features.

Standard Deviation: Features are placed in classes based on how much their values vary from the mean. Evenly distributed and emphasis on the difference between features.

I completed the GEOG 291 Quiz.

Introduction:

My name is Charlie Holbrooks, and I’m a Junior from Perry, OH. I’m majoring in Creative Writing and Environmental Studies and minoring in dance, so I’m taking this course as required for my Environmental Studies major. I’m happy to be taking this course to add to my resume and better understand processes in conservation and populations. I am also an intern for the campus Upcycling Center in Haycock Hall, where we process donations of items that can’t quite be recycled or sold. If you are an art student or enjoy art, come use us as a free resource for your materials! I also participate in Orchesis and Terpsicorps dance companies, and am a member of Delta Gamma Fraternity (Sorority).

I’m also trying to revive our campus skating club this year, so PLEASE let me know if you’d be interested!

Ch.1 thoughts:

What I noted about this chapter was the frequent discussion of how global or geographical questions are typically also social questions. I find it really interesting how we can transpose data between two things as different as the most popular cereal brand in America and the number of people by area that consume it on a daily basis. I also loved learning about how our food systems are mapped out, and how that allows us to discover where our food comes from and the route it took to get to us. Another thing that I found interesting was its use for mapping roads, surface materials, weather, waterways, and public transportation. I love to roller skate everywhere, so I am constantly using services like Flattest Route to find the best route to my destination. Knowing that GIS is pertinent in my day-to-day life makes me very excited to learn more about it. I have a friend who is extremely passionate about third spaces and what they do for children specifically, and I would love to see how she could use GIS to map out the use and placement of third spaces within communities. This is a bit unrelated to the reading, but I would also love to see GIS used in mapping out where different colleges/high schools are, and the routes taken to ‘away’ sports games and the frequency of visitation between them. Within the reading, I also think it’s important for us to learn how government agencies use GIS to map out borders/boundaries, and how it’s used to monitor our daily lives. 

Google Scholar findings:

A quote I found within one of my sources sums up what I find most interesting about GIS: “Spatial historians have underscored the potential of tools like GIS for discovering the correlations and connections ‘among events in space and time for narrative generation.’” I searched for a use of GIS within the dance world, and found that GIS is frequently used to map the relationships between ballet tours from around the world. “Spatial history tends to depend on GIS-based understandings of space as a more absolute, pre-given Cartesian grid, which curtails local specificity and understandings of place. For example, looking through archival materials, there is a cultural precision to the granularity of place names like “Harlem” and “Fifth Avenue,” but this needs to be negotiated vis-à-vis the opportunity for a larger connection to New York City in general. In addition, there are professional agreements in the geodata community that have identified generic latitude/longitude coordinates for cities. But in the case of New York City, that point itself is fixed at Fifth Avenue. What about that exact location qualifies it to stand in for the whole? Likewise, most base maps can only represent a single period of time at once in terms of national borders, railways, major roads, and so on, and yet the very existence of some routes and not others in a given year will have determined a touring company’s pathway.” This section explains this use of GIS in such a fantastic and understandable way, and helps me to see exactly how GIS was used in this study. I find it interesting that they discuss the actual topography of a location vs points we fix/distinguish as important as humans. It makes me question: what is the more ‘natural’ solution? Is it more natural to follow the topography and natural borders of a location, or more natural to allow human instinct to select certain points or areas to go off of?

 

Figure showing routes between ballet schools by language/word vs physical travel

 

I have completed the GEOG 291 quiz and reviewed the syllabus

Introduction

Rafay here! A Microbiology major from Pakistan. I do plant biology research in Dr. Wolverton’s lab, and outside of that I make documentaries and shoot film photography. I am taking this class as I know nothing about GIS and it intrigues me. Hope to learn more about it. 

Thoughts on Chapter 1

“After reading the text I can sum it up in three words; GIS is not exactly constant, that’s four but as Schuurman says that GIS “suffers from the scourge of being many things to many people: software to a municipality, a scientific approach to a researcher.” Hence the applications are not limited, whether you are a Humanities student or a STEM one, or you are a corporate worker or a researcher, you can use it.

Moreover, in the reading one camp asks where spatial entities are, the other asks how we encode them and what different analytical methods do to the answers. Both are GIS! But maps and mapping is not the same as doing spatial analysis. Mapping shows a dataset visually and stops there, however, spatial analysis generates information that can not be extracted by just taking a look at either, map or data.

The author then dabbles into the history of this system talking about McHarg’s 1962 highway overlay which, being super old school, used tracing paper on a light table. No computer was involved; it was the metaphor of overlay that entered GIS.

Though ironically, the history is messier than I expected, and kind of accidental. CGIS came out of Tomlinson and Pratt happening to sit next to each other on a plane, and the name was handed down by a member of Parliament. 

That does carry into how we use GIS now, most users treat GISystems as a black box, borrowing Latour’s term; nobody asks how the software decides where the income polygon boundaries go, the output is just assumed true. 

GIS wants crisp lines and reality is fuzzy, so the categories you pick determine the answer. And that stops being abstract the moment resources are attached, if funding depends on communities falling below an income threshold, then how you define income is doing political work, not just technical work.”

Application

Astrophotographers use GIS to overlay satellite sensor data with topographic maps to locate dark sky areas classifying them into Bortles. By mapping artificial light domes, they can pinpoint the optimal remote locations for executing long night sky exposures and capturing clear star trails.

Source: Esri UK, “Explore your night sky this WInter” Map Gallery.

 

Completed GEOG 291 quiz

My name is Katie McMahon and I am a sophomore this year. I am majoring in Environmental Studies and I am minoring in Sociology. This class is required for my major but I think learning the content will be important for my major.

Before reading the passage by Schuurman, I was unfamiliar with GIS and its importance. I had a vague understanding that it was a collection of data, but after reading the passage, I learned that it is the examination of the map and not just a graph of data. With understanding that, I learned how it contributes to everyday life and not just the environmental aspects of life. From the passage, I learned how much GIS has advanced over time and how these advancements are improving urban life. I found it interesting that so many amities such as parks, buildings, and other public spaces rely on the spacial data from GIS. I also found it interesting that many choices that people make every day are influenced by the systems that GIS created. And with that, the reading pointed how GIS can be related to feminism by questioning the data that was collected for any bias. From the reading, I did learn how GIScientists analyze their data very closely since bias and miscommunication can occur. Along with that the author states how GIScience is the theoretical justification for data and showcases the way in which the data was collected.  Whereas GISystems are much more straightforward in presenting the data. From the reading I learned that GIS is more than just a collection of data. It’s more about the interception of the data and what it means. This can prove to be important to the environment and urban living since both influence each other on a daily basis.

GIS data of crime density in

This figure shows crime density in different locations. This can prove to be important for people living in these areas to know where crime occurs and the analyzation of why crime is happening in these places. This is important for safety and then striving to eliminate the cause of the crime.

Shrivastava, A. (2025, May 15). Crime mapping with GIS: Tools, techniques, and real-world uses. GeoWGS84. https://www.geowgs84.com/post/crime-mapping-with-gis-tools-techniques-and-real-world-uses

GIS data of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

This figure examines the rate of deforestation to the rate in which the forrest is restoring from 1975-2018. Scientists can analyze this rate of restoration compared to deforestation in order to redirect deforestation into a part where restoration is greater than the loss of trees and wildlife.

From Monitoring deforestation using GIS, by Da Cruz et al. (2021), as reproduced in Rahman et al. (2025), ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Monitoring-deforestation-using-GIS-Da-Cruz-et-al-2021_fig4_388281540

 

 

 

Chapter 1 gave a brief insight into what GIS is and how we can use it. One thing I find very interesting is that you can use GIS mapping for many different things, from crime in certain cities to deforestation or the loss of certain animals. To me, this is interesting because GIS seems like a science-type of thing, but in reality, it isn’t. Another interesting thing is that you can use GIS mapping for more precise things (like precise locations) or you can just use it for more broad stuff (like looking at a whole city).

Key Words:

Most common geographic analysis tasks:

• Mapping where things are
• Mapping the most and least
• Mapping density
• Finding what’s inside
• Finding what’s nearby
• Mapping change

GIS analysis: the process for looking at geographic patterns in your data and at relationships between features

Steps of GIS analysis:

• Frame the question
• Understand the data
• Choose a method
• Process the data
• Look at the results

Types of features:

• Discrete
• Continuous Phenomena
• Summarized by area

Ways to represent geographic features:

• Vector
• Raster

Types of attribute values:

• Categories: groups of similar things
• Ranks: put features in order, from high to low
• Counts: the actual number of features
• Amounts: any measurable quantity associated with a feature
• Ratios: show you the relationship between two quantities and are created by dividing one quantity by another for each feature

Three common operations on features and values:

• Selecting
• Calculating
• summarizing

Chapter 2 gave us a summary of why mapping is important in our world. When mapping is used, we are able to see where the main problems may be occurring and where people need to be focusing on to fix a problem. Another important thing is that there are many types of maps that can be used, which causes some to be better for showcasing certain topics than others. One cool thing that I realized in this chapter was that there are so many ways to show what data you are looking at. You can use dots, lines, or plots. There are so many different types. The only problem that I have is that it seems that some are more difficult to understand than others. For example, when they are showing the zoning code with all the different colors compared to the business map.

Chapter 3 helped give us an idea of how to pick which data is best for presenting. If you were focusing on something in a high-income area, you probably wouldn’t want to include low-income areas unless there is a similarity between the two in what you are searching. One thing that this chapter has shown me is that there is a decent amount of math that goes into these maps for each point of data. One thing that stuck out to me was mapping individual values. This helps with finding patterns in raw data and is also very useful when you are looking at something you aren’t used to. One final thing is that there are many advantages and disadvantages to the way people classify their schemes. So, no matter which one you use, there is always going to be a fault, and it will never be perfect

Key Words:

Counts: the actual number of features on a map

Amounts: the total of a value associated with each feature

Ratios: show the relationship between two quantities (averages, proportions, and densities)

Proportions: Show you what part of a whole each quantity represents

Densities: show you where features are concentrated

Ranks: put features in order, high to low

Classes: help features with similar values by assigning them with the same symbol

Natural Breaks: values within a class are likely to be similar and values between classes are different

Quantile: Each class has an equal number of features in it

Equal Interval: each class has an equal range of values

Standard deviation: defined by its distance from the mean value of all the features

*I have completed the GEOG 291 Quiz

My name is Keira Bruner and I am a sophomore from Cleveland majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Sociology. I chose to take this class mostly because it is required for my major, but also because I think it would be a helpful science for me to understand if I ever want to actually work in the environmental field.

Before reading the Schuurman reading, I had no idea that GIS was such a widely used system. For some reason I thought that people only used it to map environmental issues/improvements, but then again, I thought it was closer to just being cartography. I learned that it is actually the analysis of a map, not the map itself. I was also impressed to find out that the US Census Bureau uses GIS, because I have had to use that website to analyze information even further for a sociology class, and it is just interesting to find out that I have used the information already without knowing what it was.

It is also interesting that there isn’t a way to avoid making some sort of distinction between two categories when approaching a blurry line in data, like the difference between a mountain and a valley. This would mean that two people could do a map on the same thing and end up with completely different boundaries and conclusions depending on where they decided to place lines. Also in this situation, the approach on the analysis of the data could completely differ because there are so many factors one could chose to define, but they can’t just do all of them or the final map will be entirely too busy and confusing to look at. I am gathering that this is just another instance, like coding, where the output from the technology is pretty customizable depending on the user.

As far as its uses go, I wasn’t surprised to learn that it can be used for predicting urban growth based on the analysis of current conditions. Looking into and preparing for the future seems to be a goal that a lot of people aim for when approaching new technology, because it is something humans can’t yet do while getting results that have certainty.

One application for GIS is shown in this map from a study connecting susceptibility of soil erosion to wildfire affected areas in Attika.

The map shows that there is a correlation between the two, as soil is much more eroded from heavy rainfall in the affected area post wildfire both compared to prior in that area and the unaffected areas around it.

Efthimiou, Nikolaos, Emmanouil Psomiadis, and Panos Panagos. “Fire severity and soil erosion susceptibility mapping using multi-temporal Earth Observation data: The case of Mati fatal wildfire in Eastern Attica, Greece.” Catena 187 (2020): doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2019.104320

Another example of a GIS application is to represent environmental injustices.

This map is representing air pollution in proximity to a factory in Canada. The thickness of the lines represents the density of air pollution in an area, and it is higher the closer you move to the factory.

*I have completed the GEOG 291 quiz and reviewed the syllabus*

My name is Brittney Parks and I am a senior at OWU. I am majoring in zoology and botany, with a minor in philosophy. I am planning to pursue a PhD. after I graduate this spring. On campus I am the secretary of the Women in STEM club and fundraising chair for the Women’s Rugby club. I have also been doing research with Dr. Gangloff for three years. I am hoping that being able to learn GIS will help me have a more diverse set of skills to assist me in my future research. 

Admittedly, I knew very little about GIS when I selected this course, I had just been told it would be a good skill to have. After reading this chapter I feel like I have a much better understanding of what GIS is. I had always just thought of GIS as an environmental science thing, so it was interesting reading about all of the interesting applications for GIS. I found it especially interesting that it can be used for researching the spread of infectious diseases and archeology. The example of John Snow’s application of visual intuition mapping to study the Cholera outbreak (Page 13) reminded me of how GIS could be used to study infectious diseases. I hadn’t considered that GIS could be applied to situations like that. 

This reading helped me understand the concepts and details of GIS better. The author discusses the difference between mapping, which is visually displaying geographic information, and spatial imaging, which generates information using geographic information. I was previously unaware of the different definitions of GIS, geographic information science (GIScience) and geographic information system (GISystem), but I think the reading did a good job of explaining it. To my understanding, GISystem is the development of tools and processes to analyze spatial data and GIScience is studying the theories and concepts related to spatial data. The author described it as “GIScience is the theoretical basis for GISystems” (Page 11). It was also interesting to read about the debate and discourse occurring within the GIS field. They are still trying to figure out how to define boundaries and categories for spatial entities. I found the examples of the boundary between the mountains and the foothill and the categorization of mountain elevation levels to be helpful in understanding this. Learning about how there is still debate within the field really highlights how it is still an actively growing and developing field. 

Application 1:

In this study, they used GIS to map out the presence of a viper species in the Iberian Peninsula in comparison to the suitability of the habitat in the area. Applications like this can be very important for wildlife conservation research.

Habitat suitability map is shown below.

Santos, X., Brito, J. C., Sillero, N., Pleguezuelos, J. M., Llorente, G. A., Fahd, S., & Parellada, X. (2006). Inferring habitat-suitability areas with ecological modelling techniques and GIS: A contribution to assess the conservation status of Vipera latastei. Biological Conservation, 130(3), 416–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.003

Application 2:

In this study, they used GIS to look at soil moisture across part of India and how it affects the agricultural capabilities in the area. Applications like this can be very important for fulfilling agricultural needs with the increase in drought conditions.

Soil moisture in the study area is shown below.

Saha, A., Patil, M., Goyal, V. C., & Rathore, D. S. (2019). Assessment and Impact of Soil Moisture Index in Agricultural Drought Estimation Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques. Proceedings, 7(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/ECWS-3-05802

I completed the GEOG 291 Quiz and reviewed the syllabus

My name is Elijah Grennell. This year I’m a junior, and I’m double majoring in Biology and Environmental Science. I’m from Whitehall, Ohio, which is a little east of Columbus.  I’m interested in doing Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) after I graduate from college, primarily in manufacturing.  As for why I’m taking this class, yes, it’s a core requirement for Envs. But I wanted to learn more about GIS.

3)

I’ve never heard of GIS until I added Environmental Science as a major my sophomore year. Since then, I’ve heard it all the time from students and faculty; however, I never actually knew what it was. Originally, I thought that GIS was only used for things like research projects that either big companies or universities conduct, but after reading the chapter, I now see that it can be anything. This reading helped me visually understand what GIS is. Before, i though GIS was just one basic overall map that only generally showed a specific item or topic that you were focusing on. However, now I understand that it is more of a group of maps that contain information to help gather awareness (or that’s what I got from the reading…)

One thing that specifically stood out to me was how it can be used to locate clusters of infectious diseases. The idea of mapping out either the locations where the disease/sickness sprouted or spread seems interesting but also quite difficult. Since I want to work in EHS, I think GIS would be a good skill to learn now rather than later. This is because the primary role in EHS is to maintain a safe and suitable environment. If I learn to understand and actually do GIS work, it would allow me to do things such as mapping hazards and air quality around job locations.

Another thing that I found interesting while reading is the origin of GIS; in the chapter, it says that GIS originated in architecture around the 1960’s because of a guy named Ian McHarg. He wanted to find the most straightforward and convenient place to build a new highway, so he made an overlay of drawings/maps of the surrounding area. Just the thought that such a simple idea has now taken such a significant role, not only in architecture but in almost every aspect of everyday life.  I also liked that in the article it’s stated that although it was made for architecture, any group could have come up with the idea.

4)

This study researched two species of lizards, Agamidae and Lacertidae lizards found in Turkey, and then tracked their locations. Their goal was to track the lizards and observe their preference in habitat in order to use GIS to find similar ones.  I chose this because I was initially looking for GIS tracking of reptiles as a form of indicator species for environmental change; however, I couldn’t find any. This was still interesting though.

Mert, A. & Kirac, A. (2019). GIS as a tool to map habitat suitability for two lizard species using environmental factors. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 28(2A), 1330-1336.

I have finished the GEOG 291 Quiz:

Pictured above is me standing in front of the London Tower!

 

 

Hello, my name is Brandon Elliott, but I go by Brandon Hughes. I am a freshman majoring in environmental studies. The reason I took this class is that my brother, who is a senior, expressed how he enjoyed learning about GIS and its uses from this course. I am also interested in the implications of GIS and how it is used to analyze land for various uses. I intend to do fieldwork with my environmental studies degree, so taking this GEOG 291 course will expand my knowledge of analyzing data, understanding the GIS resource, as well as how to utilize this system for my benefit.

 

Prior to this week’s reading, my understanding of GIS from my brother, who also is majoring in environmental studies, was that it was a system that people used to create maps and record the geography of locations. After the first reading, I now understand the value that GIS has, not only for simple factors like delivery services and maps but also for its utilization by emergency services and zoning. GIS has been utilized countless times dating back to the 1960s when the technology behind the system was being developed and the capabilities had not yet been fully comprehended. 

 

Schuurman’s initial chapter highlighted how the nascent GIS system was underestimated because of its technological limitations, an idea that resonated with me. Numerous people preferred manual cartography rather than computerized spatial analysis. This highlights how new technology may not always be a hit initially and can use improvements in order to adopt the system until it takes off. I find this interesting because at this time many individuals still preferred the physical and traditional cartography techniques rather than the newly invented GIS system of using computerized methods. This trend is becoming apparent in present times with how people are beginning to revert back to more traditional methods rather than newer technology such as the use of AI. However we could also be in a similar period where the newer technology is not trusted but with advancements the systems become more utilized and advanced. The spatial analysis confusion from common mapping can be highlighted by my observation with how individuals may not fully understand the differences i the systems and how they have independent uses rather than 

 

The textbook mentions how transformations within the digital environment have huge impacts on the accuracy of GIS. In order to limit large fluctuations in the data causing inaccuracy, GIScientist must account for the impact of transformations. This insight provides a strong basis for an understanding of how much data and layers are compiled within the geospatial tool that even small alterations can have a domino effect through the various layers of the mapping system.

 

The GIS system is used in countless aspects of life for numerous fields. I chose to look into GIS’s impact on an interest of mine in identifying invasive plant species and analyzing the factors contributing to their spread. After researching this topic and GIS’s application on this I learned that the system compiles soil types, rainfall patterns, and terrain of a location that plays a large role in the spread of these species. Scientists may analyze the current data of the region and compile a visualization for future vegetation prediction scenarios, such as this image of Yosemite that the National Park Service utilizes:

“Geographic Information System” Yosemite National Park, National Park Service, Aug. 22, 2023 (Projected Future Vegetation).

 

An additional application of GIS can be inverse to predicting and limiting the spread of invasive species by mapping and protecting ‌native species. This application of GIS is also widely utilized by National Park services and conservation groups to analyze the data behind why these species are thriving or struggling and how to adapt their approach to maximize conservation.

 

Sources:

• “Geographic Information System” Yosemite National Park, National Park Service, Aug. 22, 2023 (Projected Future Vegetation).https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/gis.htm