GIS – EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD (Part – 1)

Introduction

1.            Since the beginning of civilization on the planet earth, military forces have played a dominating role. Mankind has since time immemorial has a fetish for warfare and this continues till today. Only methods have changed with tech, which is changing rapidly with tech revolution, which has not only changed the way wars are fought but has become a key factor in attaining dominance in military power. The battle victory is complete only after ground forces occupy the enemy land and take control of the area. To hold and maintain the control of the occupied land, armed forces need to know the spatial extent upon which they have the control.

2.            Spatial data is of crucial important to the military command in the battle as it is used by a decision maker in planning and developing of military operations. The regional conflicts, rapid deployment and flexible response imposes heavy burden on military commands, their staff and support system to keep up-to-date situation on the ground about enemy activities. Visualizing raw tabular data within a spatial framework has many benefits. Therefore digital mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) occupy center stage in activities as diverse as battled field simulation, mission briefing and command planning, logistical management and command & control.

What is GIS

3.            GIS can briefly be defined as “a sys of computer hardware, software, and procedures designed to support the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, modularity and display of spatially referenced data for solving complex planning and management problems”. In a more detailed definition, a GIS is described as any information management sys which can:-

a.                Collect, store and retrieve info based on its spatial loc.

b.        Identify loc within a targeted environment which meet specific criteria.

            c.        Explore relationships among data sets within that environment.

d.    Analyze the related data spatially as an aid to making decisions about that environment.

e.     Facilitate selecting and passing data to application specific analytical models capable of assessing the impact of alternatives on the chosen environment.

f.      Display the environment both graphically and numerically either before or after analysis.

4.         GIS as a Database View.  A GIS is a unique kind of database of the world i.e. geographic database. Fundamentally, a GIS is based on a structured database that describes the world in geographic terms.

5.         GIS as a Map View.            A GIS is a set of intelligent maps and other views that show features and feature relationships on the earth's surface. Maps of the underlying geographic info can be constructed and used as "windows into the database" to support queries, analysis, and editing of the infomation.

6.         Why to use GIS.      Many organizations have data stored in a variety of formats at many different loc. We need a way to integrate data so that we can analyze it as a whole and use it to make critical decisions. GIS can integrate and relate any data with a spatial component, regardless of the source of the data. For example, we can combine the location of an accident, located in real-time by GPS devices, in relation to emergency response unit, located by address. GIS maps this data and give a visual tool to plan the best route for accident location or send the closest emergency response unit, thus saving tremendous time and money.

GIS Inputs

7.         Surveyor Maps.      The term map refers to a data set which contains accurate information about features on the surface of the earth. Manual digitizing and scanning of maps form part of a data type used as input for GIS.

8.       Remote Sensing Data.      Remote Sensing data converted to a suitable GIS format is another type of data used in a GIS. Digitized data from satellite/aerial imagery is main type of data used as input in a GIS.

  

9.       Field Sampling Data.         Attribute data is also incl in a GIS based study/project to make it more int surveyors. GPS is most widely used for collection of field data. Conventional svy data can also be incorporated in a GIS database like soil surveyor data.

10.       Stat Data.      GIS analytical capabilities can also be used to analyze statistical data like demographic data, hydrological data, education and health, census record etc.