Chapter 1
Chapter one provides a well-thought-out breakdown of the process one may need to go through when using GIS, which gives me a better understanding of what kind of steps I, myself, may use when taking this class. Additionally, the different steps prompted me to start thinking about what kind of method I would like to use when coming up with my subject or question for my GIS project. The primary definition of GIS as a whole is: a tool for understanding patterns in a geographic context. I found it interesting to read that there were certain tasks I should do in preparation for my usage of GIS, in order to have a smoother experience when using the application, such as familiarizing myself with different geographic structures that may appear in the mapping system. I definitely find it useful to know that there are different types of mapping, which will help me to better visually demonstrate my topic of choice. It is important to note that discrete maps measure specific, pinpointed locations, continuous maps measure data that can be found in any location, and summarized maps measure a quantifiable number of a specific phenomenon occurring within a boundary. One question that this chapter made me think about was what kind of variables I will have to consider when choosing my topic. The reading also let me know that there is much more to this mapping platform than I previously expected, as there are various different mapping options available, such as the vector and raster models. The vector model depicts data in a rigid, bordered representation, while the raster model is more flexible, with the data in a continuous area. It seems to me that the choice between vector and raster models comes down to personal preference; there is a typical pattern that categories and numeric values usually follow. GIS is much more tied to data analysis than I recognized in the past, as it provides various options to create tables, charts, and other representations to help the viewer understand the data from the map. The chapter provides definitions for important concepts such as categories, which are a collection of similar groups, and ranks, which order different features.
Chapter 2
It seems very important to note that GIS can map multiple different variables at the same time, which can be very useful for the interpretation of correlations between different factors. It seems that a lot goes into the organization of data before information can be implemented into a map format, such as categorizing the type of feature you are mapping, ensuring that you have proper geographic coordinates, and brainstorming what kind of audience the map is designed for. Coordinates for specific geographic features are characterized by free-standing symbols, while linear structures are visualized with lines and borders. GIS allows the user to toggle different map subsets, which are layers commonly featuring different individual locations, to help present the bigger picture when it comes to the interpretation of data. The platform goes further by allowing users to further categorize the individual symbols in the case that one would want to display differences within a singular category. One question I thought of while reading was: what is the extent of the specificity with which you can subcategorize things? While GIS is an intensive digital mapping platform, I found it interesting that it discouraged the overuse of its categorization subsets, as too many different groups can make the data difficult to read. However, the author highlights the balance of the number of categories, as too few categories can leave the data feeling vague. There are multiple ways to group different categories together in order to strengthen the representation of the given information, which I assume is a very helpful feature. It was helpful to learn more about the importance of categorization, as the author made it clear that just using shapes or colors alone is ineffective at conveying differences, but when both are used together, it makes the viewing accessibility much stronger.
Chapter 3
In order to perform quantitative mapping, one must have an idea of what it means for their factor to be abundant or not, and to know what exactly it is they are looking for. There are multiple ways to display numeric information through GIS, such as: discrete mapping, which is mainly for individual and linear data; continuous mapping is for unbordered areas of data; and data summarized mapping to use shading to indicate differing values, rather than a more linear approach. I find it helpful that GIS offers so many different types of numeric presentations for the map key; however, I am still wondering if there is a certain method to choosing the key types rather than preference? One method of numerical grouping is through ranks, which is a method of ordering features from high to low. Another important feature is classes, which further group categories together based on their similarities. I personally find the subject of numeric data in mapping helpful, as I intend to map different insect populations, which are heavily dependent on numeric values. I appreciate that GIS can automatically run numeric trends with the data, which will help tremendously in the ease with which I create my map’s data charts. There are various types of classification schemes to choose from, with one of them, natural breaks, which identifies gaps between clusters, which I believe may be useful for my future GIS map creation. A very cool feature of this chapter is that it provides a guide for picking a scheme, which I may have to reference back to if my predetermined plan of utilizing natural breaks does not prove useful to me. It was a good idea for GIS to provide ways to deal with outliers, as it helps create more reliable maps to be born from it. The author does well in emphasizing the many options when making a map, but discourages making the map too complex.