ABSTRACT

A concise text presenting the fundamental concepts in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), emphasising an understanding of techniques in management, analysis and graphic display of spatial information.

Divided into five parts - the first part reviews the development and application of GIS, followed by a summary of the characteristics and representation of geographical information. It concludes with an overview of the functions provided by typical GIS systems. Part Two introduces co-ordinate systems and map projections, describes methods for digitising map data and gives an overview of remote sensing. Part Three deals with data storage and database management, as well as specialised techniques for accessing spatial data. Spatial modelling and analytical techniques for decision making form the subject of Part Four, while the final part is concerned with graphical representation, emphasising issues of graphics technology, cartographic design and map generalisation.

part 1|58 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|15 pages

Origins and applications

chapter 3|20 pages

GIS functionality: an overview

part 2|87 pages

Acquisition and Preprocessing of Geo-referenced Data

part 3|47 pages

Data Storage and Retrieval

chapter 9|12 pages

Computer data storage

chapter 10|16 pages

Database management systems

part 4|36 pages

Spatial Data Modelling and Analysis

chapter 12|17 pages

Surface modelling and spatial interpolation

chapter 13|17 pages

Techniques in spatial decision support

part 5|59 pages

Graphics and Cartography

chapter 15|19 pages

Cartographic communication and visualisation

chapter 16|19 pages

Map generalisation