Geographic Information Systems
Geographic Information Systems
Geographic Information Systems
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Applications –
Many disciplines can benefit from GIS technology. An active GIS market has resulted in
lower costs and continual improvements in the hardware and software components of
GIS. These developments will, in turn, result in a much wider use of the technology
throughout science, government, business, and industry, with applications including real
estate, public health, crime mapping, national defense, sustainable
development, natural resources, landscape architecture, archaeology, regional and
community planning, transportation and logistics. GIS is also diverging into location-
based services (LBS). LBS allows GPS enabled mobile devices to display their location
in relation to fixed assets (nearest restaurant, gas station, fire hydrant), mobile assets
(friends, children, police car) or to relay their position back to a central server for display
or other processing. These services continue to develop with the increased integration
of GPS functionality with increasingly powerful mobile electronics (cell phones, PDAs,
laptops).
OGC standards
GIS products are broken down by the OGC into two categories, based on how
completely and accurately the software follows the OGC specifications.
OGC standards help GIS tools communicate.
Web mapping
In recent years there has been an explosion of mapping applications on the web such
as Google Maps and Bing Maps. These websites give the public access to huge
amounts of geographic data.
Some of them, like Google Maps and OpenLayers, expose an API that enable users to
create custom applications. These toolkits commonly offer street maps, aerial/satellite
imagery, geocoding, searches, and routing functionality.
In recent years web mapping services have begun to adopt features more common in
GIS. Services such as Google Maps and Bing Maps allow users to access and annotate
maps and share the maps with others.
Maps have traditionally been used to explore the Earth and to exploit its resources. GIS
technology, as an expansion of cartographic science, has enhanced the efficiency and
analytic power of traditional mapping. Now, as the scientific community recognizes the
environmental consequences of anthropogenic activities influencing climate change,
GIS technology is becoming an essential tool to understand the impacts of this change
over time. GIS enables the combination of various sources of data with existing maps
and up-to-date information from earth observation satellites along with the outputs of
climate change models. This can help in understanding the effects of climate change on
complex natural systems. One of the classic examples of this is the study of Arctic Ice
Melting.
The outputs from a GIS in the form of maps combined with satellite imagery allow
researchers to view their subjects in ways that literally never have been seen before.
The images are also invaluable for conveying the effects of climate change to non-
scientists.
The condition of the Earth's surface, atmosphere, and subsurface can be examined by
feeding satellite data into a GIS. GIS technology gives researchers the ability to
examine the variations in Earth processes over days, months, and years.
GIS technology and the availability of digital data on regional and global scales enable
such analyses. The satellite sensor output used to generate a vegetation graphic is
produced for example by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).
This sensor system detects the amounts of energy reflected from the Earth's surface
across various bands of the spectrum for surface areas of about 1 square kilometer.
The satellite sensor produces images of a particular location on the Earth twice a day.
AVHRR and more recently the Moderate-Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are only two of many sensor systems used for Earth
surface analysis. More sensors will follow, generating ever greater amounts of data.
GIS and related technology will help greatly in the management and analysis of these
large volumes of data, allowing for better understanding of terrestrial processes and
better management of human activities to maintain world economic vitality and
environmental quality.
In addition to the integration of time in environmental studies, GIS is also being explored
for its ability to track and model the progress of humans throughout their daily routines.
A concrete example of progress in this area is the recent release of time-specific
population data by the US Census. In this data set, the populations of cities are shown
for daytime and evening hours highlighting the pattern of concentration and dispersion
generated by North American commuting patterns. The manipulation and generation of
data required to produce this data would not have been possible without GIS.
Using models to project the data held by a GIS forward in time have enabled planners
to test policy decisions. These systems are known as Spatial Decision Support
Systems.
Importance of GIS:
Geographic information is the key to better decision-making; just about everything a
community, business, or public agency does, whether in day-to-day operations or long-
term planning, is related to its geography.
In fact, many routine operations of business and government are tied to a location and
rely on the use of geographic information to accomplish their goals. Some examples
are:
1- Land-use planning (Where is growth happening?)
2- Marketing (Where are our customers?)
3 -Subdivision review (Where is the wetland?)
4- Permit tracking (Whose property is the permit attached to?)
5- Parcel/tax mapping (Who are Jane Doe’s abutters?)
6- Engineering design (What is the topography of the building site?)
7- Road and utility maintenance (Where is the downed power line blocking the road?)
8- Event (crime, fires, accidents) reporting (Where do the most accidents takes place?)
9- Emergency dispatching (Where is the E-9-1-1 call originating from?)
For many years, personnel involved in these routine operations have had to rely on
reams of printed material,hand-drawn maps and their own imaginations to consider
alternatives and make choices.GIS stands for geographic information system, a
method of managing, analyzing, and displaying geographic information on easily
understood,computer-generated maps.The strength of GIS is its ability to create distinct
map layers for different types of information, and then to combine them in any way
desired or needed. Each layer consists of geographic, or spatial, data linked to
descriptive, or tabular, information. In combining layers, GIS uses known earth
coordinates (like latitude and longitude) to make sure each layer lines up correctly with
the others. For instance, a community involved in municipal planning might want to
know how suitable different areas of the town are for development. GIS can be
used to generate maps showing where various conditions exist: prime agricultural land,
surface water, high flood frequency, and highly erodible land.
Planners can use this information to make decisions about zoning designations and
building permits.
To compare that information with data showing where development is already occurring,
GIS could generate another map or series of maps showing where permits have been
issued, when, and for what kinds of development. GIS can also help businesses
research retail markets. By entering customer survey data into a GIS database,
marketing research staff can see where customers are coming from, and decide where
their marketing efforts will have the most impact.
The Sandwich Analogy:
Using GIS is a little like making a multidecker sandwich. The person desiring the
“sandwich” can use any type of layer or number of layers required. The toothpick
holding the sandwich together is the coordinate system that guarantees the layers
line up properly.
This case is to show how implementation of GIS has helped in improving efficiency,
better understanding and increased productivity of an international advertising agency.
Also looks into the details of how GIS was customized to fulfill user’s requirement.
Introduction
Information forms the key source in strategic planning in any business. Businesses, be
it retail marketing, consumer services, all require information such as sales, customers,
inventory, demographic profiles, addresses and so on. Relating all these information
geographically allows the user to spatially visualize data revealing relationship, pattern
and trends.
Purpose
An International advertising agency, took decision to move to GIS application as the
information system to improve their work system. Market analysis and route being their
main stream of working required Geo-demographic analysis. The existing system,
allowed to analyze the data but lacked relation with their respective location, which
impede the user to analyze geographically and overlook many hidden spatial factors.
Time consumed in assessing the potential customers and designing of the route plan
was enormous.
Prioritization of district
Function of district prioritization enables the user to rank the districts based on desired
parameters (population, literacy, availability of medical and educational facilities, etc)
and weightage. User can prioritize district considering only the rural areas, or urban
areas or both. All the districts are assigned an Index value based on the weightings
given to each parameter. District priority index becomes the first step towards Below the
Line (BTL) campaign planning.
Performing query
Composite query
Composite query gives user the option to drill into the data by running queries out of
128 parameters stored in the database. The user can have five parameters to run the
query. This query can be invoked from within the buffer query as well as separately.
User can generate 25 reports using varied AND/OR combinations.
Buffer query
Application in this function allows the user to perform spatial query. User can select
places falling within a certain buffer distance from a nodal town by created a buffer of
desired distance.
Reports generation
Application automatically generates reports of all finding along with the wanted
information.
A typical route plan would need a list of villages to be covered on a particular day which
fulfill the desired conditions put in the query, the plan should automatically generate the
list of villages/towns that will serve as night halt for the campaign. The night halt place
has to have minimum criteria for selection. Complexity is added to the plan when
stockist option is to be applied. Following are a few routes, combination of which is
sought for the campaigning depending upon the product to be sold.
For example:
The required route should cover villages of population less than 4000, and each day it
should visit three villages that should have either a haat day or a primary school or
primary health center. The total travel distance should not exceed 60 Km and the
distance between two villages should be less than 15 Km.
Stockist option:
In all mobile unit operations there is a limitation on the amount of Stock, branding
material that it can carry. When covering villages the unit might have to keep coming
back to the feeder market to collect stock. Clicking ‘Select Stockist’ option the ‘Feeder
Town’ function opens for selecting towns to replenish stocks and to specify the stock
replenishing period.
Night-halt selection:
The night halt place can be either the nearest town or the last village of the day or user
specified. User also has the option to select night halt from the places to be covered or
even any other desired halt.
Route plan for covering different states: it allows the user to cover different states in the
one route plan based on the distance factor.
Input data
The application is based on the Census data (maps & tabular data)
Conclusion
Implementation of the application resulted into much easier identification of markets on
the targeted population strata. Number of route plan with desired options could be
worked automatically as well as manually with application within a few minutes. This
resulted into radical cutback in the time between data processing, planning and
implementation.
Prior to development of application, planning marketing campaign took eight to ten days
to produce a single route plan. Which involved tedious scanning of demographic data of
all the rural and urban area in the desired parameters to prioritize the areas. Route was
designed manually on the hard copy maps resulting into consumption of time.
Industry Usage & comments from an industry
expert
Prashant Baxi
WIPRO Consumer Care & Lighting
Wipro Consumer Care (WCC), with its turnover of Rs 300 crore is engaged in the
business of manufacturing and marketing of Hydrogenated Fats, Toilet Soaps, Toiletries
and Baby Care products.
WCC has many firsts to its credit. WCC is being credited even today for being the first
to introduce flexible consumer pack for vanaspati.
In terms of distribution strengths, Wipro products are available in about half a million
directly covered outlets and an estimated equal number through indirect coverage.
These outlets are being serviced through a strong stockist network of over 3000
stockists.
Wipro products are available across population strata ranging from metros to remote
villages with a population of 3000, directly by the company network coverage.
One of the strong points of WCC has been its proactive addressing of coverage
expansion.
Coverage expansion would mean expansion within an identifying newer geographic
areas and consolidating coverage of outlets within the identified geographic area,
popularly referred to as a market.
WCC tried out MarketMap - the GIS based software, for the first time in 1996-97, on an
experimental basis, for TamilNadu and Andhra Pradesh.
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