ESRI Ch. 1-3
The first chapter begins with a basic introduction to the advancements in GIS technology and how it’s used for world problems. GIS allows for analysis of data as a tool to answer questions, learn new information, and most likely raise a few new questions too. It’s pretty clear right off the bat how many applications the program has for everything from fighting for equity, to social control, to environmental restoration. I understand the basic aspects of discrete features from just kind of being around maps my whole life. The rest of the chapter introduces the more statistical concepts, which I may need a refresher on.
Chapter 2 goes into more of the visual aspects of map making and begins to truly explain how much math the program does once you do the more “choosing” of what you want to present, how you’re going to present it, and what symbols to use. I found it interesting that there’s both art and psychology around making a palatable, comprehensible map for your intended audience. It was surprising to learn how much of GIS and making maps is just regular graphic design.
Chapter 3 discusses more of the statistical parts of making a map. While the program seems to do the calculations, you have to decide what calculations to make based on what you want to explore or present. As for the applications of different ratios I’m probably going to have to figure that out by messing with it as I go along. The chapter then discusses charts and how data in them can be grouped and I found that genuinely a little scary, because changing the way the data was grouped made the income maps look completely different which could used be all sorts of harm. Finally, I don’t really understand the 3d perspective view or how that could be better than any other map, because I feel like I couldn’t get much information from the examples.
Key Concepts:Â
-Chapter 1-
Analysis
Features
Attributes
-Chapter 2-
Categories
Grouping
Patterns
-Chapter 3-
Quantities
Ranks
Ratios