Geography 291: Geospatial Analysis with Desktop GIS

Hi Everyone! My name is Eliza Richardson, and I am a senior majoring in Environmental Science and International Studies, from Lakewood, Ohio. I love to cook, workout, and spend time outdoors doing anything from hiking to sand volleyball to laying on the beach 🙂 I am excited for this class because I have always wanted to grow my GIS skills, and I think it would be very beneficial for me moving forward in my career after graduation. After graduation I plan on taking a gap year before attending a masters program for environmental policy and sustainable development! 

Schuurmans Chapter 1- Introduction to GIS exemplified how versatile and important GIS can be in the academic, research, and professional world. One of the great things about GIS is that it can be used for such a wide array of topics, that it can serve almost any field of study. Schuurman points out that a significant distinction of GIS is that it is more about “spatial analysis” as opposed to simply “mapping”. Categorizing this kind of work as spatial analysis allows us to think more externally about how we want to be expressing certain kinds of information and data, and how to most effectively. However, Schuurman explains how GIS wasn’t always so interdisciplinary. At the beginning of its development, many people argued about what was the proper use of the technology – should it be used by those who are looking to analyze spatial data, or should it be used by those who are looking to print physical maps? I also thought it was interesting how Schuurman talks about how the development of GIS is important for both social and technological developments. With all of these varying views on the implication of GIS in the world, I think that this is one of the reasons why I am interested in learning more about GIS; it is so versatile in every field, and can be used in more ways than one would ever picture. 

The concept of GIScience is really interesting to me. Often times, when I have struggled with creating material in GIS before, I feel as though the reason why I had struggled was because I didnt completely understand the concept of what each step was doing with my data, therefore I didnt comprehend how to connect it all together, and know what step to take next. I think that if GIScience was briefly touched on when learning about this system and the projects we will be doing, I think it would help people to better understand why they are performing the functions they are in GIS, and will help them apply their knowledge to future projects.

In looking at GIS applications, I looked at the correlation of giant panda populations and the amount of deforestation and human impact in areas of giant panda habitat in Central and Western China. I found that GIS can be used to map anything from the density of mammal populations, to the suitability of habitat for giant pandas, to the areas of the region that are experiencing the greatest effects of human activity such as the building of roads through dense forests. Figure 6 from GIS application in evaluating the potential habitat of giant pandas in Guanyinshan Nature Reserve, Shaanxi Province, shows the level of human impact from residence, to roads on a nature reserve for giant pandas in the Shaanxi Province. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37447-0#Fig1

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241124153_GIS_application_in_evaluating_the_potential_habitat_of_giant_pandas_in_Guanyinshan_Nature_Reserve_Shaanxi_Province

I’m Lauren and I’m from Canton, Ohio! I’m a freshman majoring in Data Analytics (and thinking about adding geography as my second major!) I love to ski, kayak, hike, camp, and play tennis in my free time.g

I thought the Schuurman Ch. 1 reading was very interesting, especially because of all the applications of GIS it described. I especially thought the applications of water reservoirs and natural gas fuel lines were interesting. I was recently at ODNR, and I got to talk to them about how they use GIS and data for the Canalway and other water sources in Ohio as we are a part of both the Lake Erie and Ohio River watersheds. So, that portion of the reading really helped me tie that experience and the course together. On top of that, the reading also references some applications I never would have considered at the beginning – like its use in Starbucks stores! I also thought the history portion of the chapter was engaging. Learning about the history of using tracing paper and a light table was insightful into the very beginnings of GIS. I also found the part about the original resistance to GISystems and how it eventually became accepted without a second thought over time in the “black box” portion of the chapter. I also was surprised by the distinction between GISystems and GIScience. I did not know that there were two terms, but I appreciate the explanation of how both are important and work together. In this regard, I thought the notion that GIScientists constantly question the efficiency of the GISystems algorithms was super important. Algorithms can be so flawed when we make them even if we don’t notice them at first. In, high school I wrote a report on racism in the medical field and found that with organ donation algorithms, they favored white individuals over half the time. This always makes me think about how important it is to constantly keep an eye on and reevaluate the algorithms we make because often they include our own underlying biases, and we implement them anyways. Thus, I appreciate the aptitude of the book to explore this same notion and its truth for GIS algorithms.

The first GIS application I looked at was food deserts. Canton is a food desert, so I have always been interested in how to effectively view the impacted areas. Last year, a researcher from Ohio State came into one of my classes and showed us the maps he had compiled on Canton as a food desert. Thus, after I read this chapter and thought back to that class GIS came to mind. USC’s spacial science institute had a whole website on how they use GIS to study food desserts. They have mapped everything from the availability of produce and distance and rigor of the path it takes to get to a store. They cross-apply this with maps of income levels and people who own vehicles or other means of transportation. In one study done in Chicago, their researchers found that low-income neighborhoods had significantly less access to food and more poor-quality food compared to upper-class neighborhoods.

Another application I came across was for ski resorts. The application is called Snow Mappy and it was created when the founder decided she wanted a better way to view ski resorts than just a paper map or a sign at the top of the hill. Mappy uses GIS to map things like velocity, and skier speed on certain trails by level, density, and concentration of skiers on certain trails. The application can be used by skiers to track their location and different resources on the mountain as well as the resort itself to track its staff and decide if certain trails need to be added or changed based on where people ski. The map below is the map that displays skier density on trails based on skill level:

https://gis.usc.edu/blog/overcoming-urban-food-deserts/

https://www.esri.com/en-us/lg/product/stories/mappy-develops-mobile-application-for-ski-resorts-with-arcgis-velocity

Hello, I am Connor Skidmore from Bellefontaine Ohio. I am an Environmental Studies major and a member of the Cross Country and Track teams.

In Schuurman Ch.1 the author begins by discussing the wide range of modern uses of GIS. They describe GIS as a system used by many but not understood for what it is to the public. The history of GIS seems very confusing because it started as a standard practice done by cartographers that quickly became a digitized field. All around the same time, people from different parts of the world started to make similar systems that today are the foundations of the modern GIS system. The author states that GIS would have been inevitable without interest from Geography but I do not see how that is true because the base field of understanding the information is needed. Even the definition of GIS is very convoluted based on the person and their needs with the system.

This chapter as a whole gave me the ability to understand that GIS is more of a broad net that covers a ton of information rather than one stable thing. GIS is shown in the chapter as a broad and sweeping term that is applied to certain things that by themselves are convoluted. Two people can both use GIS but come up with two very different understandings of the software and its use cases. To me, the history of GIS seems to be a known yet unknown variable based on the chapter because if so many different fields and researchers were doing the same things at the same time how did they finally decide to make the broad sweeping net? This is in my opinion why GIS can have so many different definitions and use cases because the history of it comes from many different people who at the time were doing very different things.

I enjoyed reading this chapter though because it provided a unique into GIS. The chapter also showed how GIS itself is confusing to understand as a whole.

Since I have an interest in City Management I used the keyword City in my search for GIS applications. In my first article, I found that GIS was being used to find if rooftop wind turbines were feasible in Bari, Italy. Since Europe and the Bari have had increasing discussions in “Smart Cities” and energy the study was born to find if rooftop wind turbines were feasible.

In my second article, it discusses how GIS would be used inside of “Smart Cities” which are described as cities that are on the cutting edge of technology and developing new technologies. These cities would use GIS to optimize planning throughout all sectors of the cities while the businesses that innovate in these cities would use GIS to create new technologies.

Sources:

1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.12.005.
2. https://doi.org/10.1080/10095020.2013.774108

My name is Ellie, I am a sophomore environmental science major. I am from Louisiana but was born in Columbus. I love nature and being outside so it was easy for me to decide what to study.  I decided that GIS would fit well with my major. I am so considering adding a geography minor. I don’t have many photos but this is one of me from marching band this year!

My knowledge of GIS is limited so I really enjoyed the breakdown provided in Schuurman chapter 1. The first thing that stood out was the wide success that GIS has had on our society compared to the lack of knowledge the typical person has on GIS as a whole. It has been integrated into a vast range of disciplines such as: disease tracking, archeology, and consumer based markets such as coffee shops like Starbucks.  We discussed the use of maps as a form of influence in Human Geography and I did not realize exactly how much influence GIS could have at the time.

I had no idea there was controversy regarding GIS. The chapter gave a very inclusive and blunt overview of GIS and the  positives and negative. I enjoyed the point of view the author provides as someone within the geography community. I learned GIS is viewed differently by people within the community. Some view it as just an application and others view it as a science. The common ground between GIsystems and Giscience is the practices that defines them. GIsystems is often stated to be the data input, special analysis and mapping side of GIS. GIscience was more defined as the theories behind the system. I will be curious how I feel about this distinction after I take more geography classes.

The technical  history was my least favorite section to read but it is important to know. The fact that GIS got its beginnings prior the the rise of computers was something I had not considered as a possibility. It does make sense in hindsight though. I would enjoy learning more about the evolution of GIS as computers evolved in the early 2000’s.

I searched “GIS application honey bee” and found an article published in 2019 “High-resolution maps of Swiss apiaries and their applicability to study spatial distribution of bacterial honey bee brood diseases” This article describes the lack of GIS application to study honey bee diseases and gives the first step towards standardizing the use of GIS in Europe by providing high-resolution maps of the apiaries. This article was also highly cited in recent years.

 

Cite

on Büren RS, Oehen B, Kuhn NJ, Erler S. 2019. High-resolution maps of Swiss apiaries and their applicability to study spatial distribution of bacterial honey bee brood diseases. PeerJ 7:e6393 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6393

I also decided to search “GIS application East African Rift Systems”. I did a research project on the EARS for physical geography and I knew there would be some overlap.  I found the article “Impacts of Mau Forest Catchment on the Great Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya” . This  discusses the deforestation and its relation to the reduction of water in the lakes  in the area.

 

Cite

Boitt, M. (2016) Impacts of Mau Forest Catchment on the Great Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 4, 137-145. doi: 10.4236/gep.2016.45014.

Hi! My name is Ben Buroker and I am a junior at OWU. I am an environmental studies and geography double major with a minor in Spanish. I love being outside hiking, surfing, running, swimming, and skiing and am on the lacrosse team. 

The first thing that strikes me about the PDF was the multifaceted applications of GIS. I hadn’t made the very obvious connection that the police or car navigation systems would be using GIS. I am slightly confused about the section in the beginning of the reading where they talk about who the reading is made for. The use of the phrase “catholic encompassing interested physical and social geographer” is throwing me off because I don’t see how this connects to the framing of this reading. It also strikes me how important and useful GIS is for state/local governments or municipalities. I thought that the explanation of how ‘layers’ first started was really interesting. I actually feel like it makes me understand the layers that I’ve put into GIS more than before. I don’t even want to think about the level of intelligence and thought and design that went into developing a GIS system. The section about ESRI solidified for me how beyond my scope of interest the computer science side of GIS is. I appreciated the section on visualization and the amount of importance they give to visualization when working with GIS. In my experience, being able to properly convey information through your maps is the most important piece of the puzzle. It doesn’t matter how well you know the program, or how fancy you can make your map, if people don’t understand it or are unable to contextualize or get any meaning from it. The field of GIScience is interesting to me. Are we in this class doing GIScience? When, if ever, is working with GIS not GIScience? I am interested in the section on B2B and B2C portals and the role of GIS in them. I’ve never heard of GIS’s effect on businesses in this manner and would be interested to know what GIS specifically allows businesses to do nowadays versus 100 years ago. I’m almost positive the power of GIS and what businesses have access to is intimidating.

I read an article about the myriad effects that GIS can have on agriculture, specifically about agricultural and natural resource management. Things that GIS and remote sensing (drones) can help with are crop inventory, crop yield analysis, nutrient and water stress, and land use and land cover.

Source: Marshet Nigatu Gebeyehu, 2019. “Remote Sensing and GIS Application in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management,” International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 19(2), pages 45-49, May.

My second article is about applying GIS for solar power plant site selection in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The article discusses the current demand for electricity in Saudi Arabia and the unique geography that allows solar to be such a worthwhile investment and option for this specific area. It also discusses how GIS was used to generate a number of maps that were relevant to the study. They were looking at different locations to build test sites, and needed to know about ground elevation, the roads, and the electric grid in the surrounding area.

Source: https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=115795

Hey everyone, I’m Aninditha Nair(I know it is hard to pronounce so “Anin” works just fine) I am a freshman, majoring in Computer Science and Data Analytics and minoring in Environmental Science and Dance. I’m from a small town near Mumbai, India. Currently, I’m involved in the Campus Programming Board and Horizons International. I want to learn GIS because I really want to understand new facets of environmental science and technology.

Reading Schuurman’s chapter one gave me an insight into GIS and helped me connect it to my specific interests. I found it interesting that GIS is used so extensively around the world, especially for organ donations and epidemiology, which I had no idea of. It is also amazing how different people in different countries implemented GIS in one form or another and how it is called an inevitable development. I liked the mention of spatial data analysis because, during ENVS110, my TPG proposal project made use of spatial data to analyze marginalized communities for flood risk and management.

I had a misconception that GIS was all about geography and cartography, and even though those constitute a lot of it, it was nice to see so much computation and technology being involved in the process. I also think it is interesting to notice that GIS now often refers to Geographic Information Science and not Geographic Information Systems. I didn’t know that GIS had two different types of identities. The black box identity seemed intriguing to me, and how researchers were more curious about what underlies the technology than the application of existing technology.

Reading the chapter also made me realize the similarities between GIS and my data analytics class. GIS allows the visualization of spatial data and also provides a means of utilizing fuzzy data. Similarly, for Data Analytics, we accumulate data and visualize it to analyze further and find better solutions. I’m also amazed to find out that India is at the forefront of e-governance technologies and implementation using GIS(I swear I’ve lived in India all along, I’m just dumb). In the end, the chapter summarized every single chapter in the book in a succinct manner. I feel more comfortable and prepared with the course now that I have a small gist of what the entire book is going to be about.

For the GIS applications, I looked at the application for Racial Equity. I specifically looked at ESRI GIS HUB and their ways of addressing racial inequalities. They go through a four-level-process: Engage communities →Map and analyze inequities →Operationalize best practices →Manage performance. They use maps and spatial analysis to reveal and understand inequities in experiences and outcomes within communities. Another application I found interesting was the application for Climate Models. I was unaware of the fact that GIS and Climate Modelling could be so intertwined. A GIS-based analysis of the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 shows how combining weather and climate information can be useful when it comes to answering questions like, “How many miles of roadways were in the tornado path?”, and “Which roads likely need to have signs replaced or debris cleared?” 

Sources:

https://gis-for-racialequity.hub.arcgis.com/

https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcuser/mapping-and-modeling-weather-and-climate-with-gis/

Hello! My name is Lydia Luna. I am a sophomore Zoology/Environmental Science double major from Mount Vernon Ohio. On our campus, I am involved in Greek Life, Panhellenic Council, Campus Programming Board, and the Admissions Office.

As I read Schuurman Chapter 1, I initially found it very exciting (or as exciting as a book like this can be) that the author of this text is directly aiming to instruct not only technically-skilled individuals but also those (like myself) that may not be overly familiar with this kind of program. I also found it interesting that the author explicitly talked about all of the different roles that GIS can play in society, which furthers the idea that GIS and this text specifically are not only for the people that you would automatically think about. I also really enjoy when someone that is teaching a topic can not only see why their work is important, but also the flaws in it. Reading the author addressing the flaws in these programs makes it seem like when I inevitably get frustrated in the process of learning how to use them, I’m not alone, which is an oddly comforting feeling. The explanation of the two components of GIS was new to me, with there being a “systems” side of things and a “science” side of things. It was very interesting to learn about how GIS can mean different things to different people, even outside of the different core uses. On top of that though, the authors also discuss the overlap in the two, which revolves around the concept of space. Once the space is officially called data, then it goes into the two components, whether to be collected or classified. It shows that while all of this kind of stuff can be very different and can be used for many different purposes, it all comes from the same core data. As a whole, this chapter just made GIS seem much more approachable and useful, no matter what career field I choose to go into.

One of the applications of GIS that I looked into was in the realm of conservation, as I am interested in the use of environmental science in the zoology world. In the article I found, GIS was used to observe the changes in the environment in Northern Africa in order to explain the changes in biodiversity there. I also looked into the applications of GIS in water resources, which gave me an article about how the program can be used to model the way that water management would work in different locations before actually installing different methods.

Sources:

1. Brito, J.C., Biogeography and conservation of taxa from remote regions: An application of ecological-niche based models and GIS to North-American canids. Biological Conservation 142, 3020-3029 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.08.001
2. Tsihrintzis, V.A., Hamid, R. & Fuentes, H.R. Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in water resources: A review. Water Resour Manage 10, 251–277 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00508896

Hello everyone!

My name is Graham Steed. Yes, that baby is me (I still wonder what made me so happy; maybe grass, trees, and sustainability, but most likely my mom). Anyways, as I was saying, I am a 2023 senior majoring in Environmental Studies. I am from Marion, Ohio, and I currently live in the Service Engagement and Leadership (SEAL) SLU. I am excited to take this class because I think ArcGIS is an important application that has so many real world uses, so why not learn more about it.

In regards to Nadine Schuurman’s GIS: A Short Introduction, Chapter 1, I found this reading to be both informative and interesting. Although I had previously heard of the debate between GISystems and GIScience, I now understand why making a decision is quite confusing. Personally, I find the theoretical aspects of spatial divisions found in GIScience to be the most fascinating because this is something that historically has been neglected, even in the early days of GISystems. Additionally, in my opinion, I believe GIScience attempts to clarify what the author says is “fuzzy” phenomena, which we have a hard time demarcating, if at all. 

Also, Schuurman discusses the technical history of GIS. What I found to be the most intriguing portion of this section was the author’s description of Ian McHarg’s methods for analyzing a particular space. To me, it is interesting that we still utilize McHarg’s “layers” approach in a digital environment. Furthermore, I was surprised that McHarg was able to get the results he was looking for by just using paper shaped into different forms. 

Finally, Schuurman explained the different uses among different organizations, such as municipalities, governments, and companies. I think it is awesome that you can map and analyze concrete data like waterways, public transportation systems, bicycle paths, public buildings, et cetera, but also abstract data like religion, income, and race. It is also extremely neat how geographers can utilize GIS data to predict future events like natural disasters.

In looking into GIS applications, I researched two topics of interest: food safety and income inequality. I found out that GIS can be used to plot human epidemiology and public health, agriculture, plant and animal health, and environmental factors that can determine overall food quality and safety in a given space, which helps companies and health professionals better protect consumers. In addition, I discovered that you can utilize GIS to plot income levels, which assists a wide range of researchers in answering questions in public health, economics, and government.

Sources:

https://hub.arcgis.com/maps/UrbanObservatory::income-inequality-in-u-s-counties/about

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2741249913?pq-origsite=summon

Hi everyone! My name is Hannah Cox and I am a Junior environmental science major and zoology minor here at OWU. I am from Orange County, California. Some of my hobbies include lacrosse, reading, and anything related to sea turtles!

Shuurman Ch.1 Thoughts:

When I initially began reading this chapter by Shuurman, it was clear that GIS is a multidimensional software with many different uses for many individuals. That is the beauty (and sometimes faults) of having a program like GIS because it can be used so broadly depending on what it is needed for.

I really appreciated the section discussing spatial analysis, separating it completely from mapping because of the large differences between them. Although spatial analysis and mapping can intersect, spatial analysis generates more knowledge than what can be interpreted from maps or data. The author made it clear that when having GIS, you must understand how to frame questions to implement a successful quantitative model and if it is sufficient in the context of the available data. 

I was intrigued by the terms GISystems and GIScience. GISystems contain components like data input, analysis, mapping, etc., whereas GIScience is simply a theory that underlies GISystems. Having each GIS followed by systems or science represented the interrelatedness as well as how fuzzy the distinction can be between them. 

I enjoyed reading the last section of the chapter discussing the various ways GIS has been used. It is really amazing how GIS can be used to help various businesses, municipalities, and cities/urban areas. GIS is a fantastic example of how the digital world can help organize and fix real-world problems.

Google/Google Scholar GIS Application:
I sought out how GIS can be helpful in sea turtle conservation.

In my search, I found that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission monitoring marine turtle mortality and identifying the mortality factors in Florida since 1980. Between 1980 and 2022, there had been 53,444 strandings consisting of turtles found alive, injured, or deceased. Data was taken around all of Florida with the image showing the bottom south of Florida.  GIS can also be used to visually represent nesting data during nesting season along a known nesting beach.

Sources:

https://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/myfwc::sea-turtle-strandings-florida/explore?location=26.513152%2C-81.516692%2C7.21

https://sjcfl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Viewer/index.html?appid=1d8d52ed9d5744659daacc32912c3eb1

Hi Krygier! You already know who I am from last semester, but my name is Jacob DeMaggio and I am a freshman here from Saint Louis, Missouri. I am an Environmental Science majorr (possibly a double major in Zoology) and additionally a Spanish minor.

When reading Schuurman ch. 1 I thought it was very insightful how at the beginning of the chapter the author addresses the matter that GIS has multiple identities based on who the user is and what questions they’re asking. To me, it not only showed how GIS can have multiple different “identities” but also how there is no exact way to pinpoint a definition of GIS that everyone will agree upon.  Additionally, I found it interesting when there was a brief discussion on what spatial analysis is and how it differs from mapping and GIS, how it extracts more data and information than can be gleaned by map data. I specifically find this interesting because I would always think that spatial analysis would be the same as mapping data. I also find it interesting that there were multiple different people, from multiple different areas (the U.S., Canada, and the UK) and how many people believed that the development of GIS was inevitable. It started to make me think about how our world today would be different if we didn’t have GIS, and it made me realize how much we use it on a daily basis in our cars every day, and for us to not have had that would have made everyone’s lives so much worse, which showed me how grateful I am to be in a time where GIS does exist. On page 7 the author quotes someone that uses an analogy of GIS and a calculator and helped make more sense of GIS. The analogy was that both are fairly straightforward and clear-cut as to what they do, but you have to understand all of their functions and intricacies of them before being able to effectively use them. It also has been shown throughout the reading that it is evident that there is a difference between the quantitative implications of GIS as well as the cartographic implications of GIS and also the relationship between the two of them.

When looking for GIS applications, I looked at the application for members of the LGBTQ community, and it discussed how with GIS we are able to make relationships between sexuality, place, and space. It goes deeper into how “queer space transgresses the normative and challenges (hetero)sexualized space”. Another GIS application I looked at was for crime-related GIS applications and I found that you can us GIS to create a map that can identify where the crimes are occurring and clarify what crimes are or are not related based on your research, which in turn can allow investigators to target their efforts and line officers to patrol and respond to locations while being more fully aware.

Sources:

https://community.esri.com/t5/conservation-gis/why-should-gis-matter-to-queer-people/ba-p/1011618

https://www.esri.com/content/dam/esrisites/sitecore-archive/Files/Pdfs/library/brochures/pdfs/crime-analysis.pdf