GIS MANUAL

Table Of Contents
1. Introduction To GIS
1.1 What is GIS
1.2 Understanding GIS data
1.2.1 Data layers
1.2.2 Attribute data capturing
1.2.3 Data storage
1.3 Spatial Referencing
1.3.1 Spatial Referencing – Geodetic Datum
1.3.2 Type of Geodetic Datum
1.3.3 Datum Conversions
1.3.4 Elevation and heights
1.3.5 Geographic Coordinates system
1.4 Performing spatial analysis and result sharing
1.4.1 Common analysis tasks
1.4.2 The importance of sharing results
1.4.3 Common ways to share results

1. GIS Applications & Uses – How GIS Is Changing the World

1.1 Introduction of different types of GIS application and its uses

2. Hardware and Software Requirements for GIS

2.1 Hardware requirement
2.2 Software requirement

3. Manpower Requirement
3.1 Skill Set
3.2 Experience
3.3 Education

4. Overview of GIS Project RFP

5. Appendixes
1.Introduction To GIS
1.1 What is GIS

A “geographic information system” (GIS) is a computer-based tool that allows the

user to create, manipulate, analyze, store and display information based on its
location.

GIS makes it possible to integrate different kinds of geographic information, such as

digital maps, aerial photographs, satellite images and global positioning system data
(GPS), along with associated tabular database information (e.g., ‘attributes' or
characteristics about geographic features).Using GIS, user can incorporate all of this
information into a single system and execute common database operations. For
example, GIS allows the user to perform statistical analysis or spatial queries, to
explore ‘what-if' scenarios, and to create predictive models. For example, GIS can
help answer questions such as:

What exists at a given location?

Where does something occur?
What has changed since a specific point in time?
What spatial patterns exist?
What happens if…?

GIS allows user to examine and analyze geographic information at different levels of
detail or from different perspectives.
1.2 Understanding GIS data

Geographic information is defined as spatial information combined with attribute

information. GIS data is the representation of geographic information as digital files
in a GIS database. Data is generally gathered by observing and recording information
through a variety of devices, methods and behaviors.

Data model in geographic information systems is a mathematical construct for

representing geographic objects or surfaces as data. The two most common data
models are

 Vector data model

 Raster data model

Vector data model: Vector data is data that has a spatial component, or X,Y
coordinates assigned to it . Vector files can contain sets of points, lines, or polygons
that are referenced in a geographic space. Vector models are useful for storing data
that has discrete boundaries, such as country borders, land parcels, and streets.

Raster data model: A representation of the world as a surface divided into a regular
grid of cells called as pixels. Raster models are useful for storing data that varies
continuously, as in an aerial photograph, a satellite image, a surface of chemical
concentrations, or an elevation surface.
1.2.1 Data layers

Maps are composed of a series of map layers drawn in a particular order. A map
layer defines how a GIS dataset is symbolized and labeled (that is, portrayed) in the
map views. A layer represents geographic data as a particular theme of data.
Examples of map layers include streams and lakes, terrain, roads, political
boundaries, parcels, building footprints, utility lines, and orthophoto imagery.

1.2.2 Attribute data capturing

Attribute data are mainly classified into the following main groups:

 Environmental and natural resources data,

 Socio-economic data,

 Infrastructure data.
In the main groups there several parts of attribute data. From practical point of view
it means, it is necessary the cooperation of experts of various fields by the
acquisition of attribute data. The group of Environmental and natural resource
attribute data has the following components

 Geological (Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Minerals, Soils, Petroleum

and Natural Gas, Surficial Geology, Sand and Gravel, Oil, Sands, Seismic Data,
Coal, Geomorphology, Physical Land Classification)

 Hydrological ( Surface Water, Ground Water, Hydrology, Water Quality,

Water Supply, Water use)

 Climatological ( Climate, Precipitation, Hail, Temperature, Wind Speed,

Humidity, Air quality)

 Biological (Ecological Land Classification, Environmental Forage inventory,

Forest Inventory, Wildlife, Fisheries, Wilderness, Habitat, Forest Site Class,
Land Capability, Resource Protection, Agriculture)

Primary methods of data acquisition of this kind of attribute data are the following:

 measurements (e.g. Geophysics, Water Quality),

 observations (e.g. Geology, Wildlife),

 Remote Sensing (e.g. Ecological Land Classification), etc.

Secondary methods of data acquisition are as follow:

 Digitizing of thematic maps (e.g. Geology),

 Sketches, schematic diagrams (e.g. Geophysics),

 Using files (e.g. Temperature), etc.

The group of attribute of Socio-economic data has the following components :

 Economic (Agricultural Production, Forestry Production, Petroleum and

Natural Gas Production, Mineral Production, Coal Production)

 Financial (Land Assessment, Land Use, Land Taxation, Royalties, Subsidies

and Grants, Licenses and Permits, Dispositions, Agreements)

 Socio-Demographic (Census and Population, Labour, Health, Housing,

Recreation, Historic Sites and, Culture)

Primary methods of data acquisition of this kind of attribute data are the following:
  Measurements (e.g. Agriculture Production),

 Observations (e.g. Health),

 Remote Sensing (e.g. Land Use)

 Interviews (e.g. Census), etc.

Secondary methods of data acquisition of this kind of attribute data are the
following:

 Conventional documents in registers and files (e.g. Land Taxation)

 Compilation in scientific reports (e.g. Health),

 Yearbooks of National Statistic Offices (e.g. Population),

 Newspapers (e.g. Mineral Production), etc.

Likely The Infrastructure attributes have the following components

 Transportation (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Road Systems, Railroads,

Airports, Rivers, Access)

 Utilities (Utilities Location and Description, Pipeline Locations and Capacity,

Cable Locations and Capacity, Communications)

 Facilities (Public Service, Industrial, Recreational)

Primary methods of data acquisition of this kind of attribute data are the following:

 Measurements (e.g. Diameters of Pipelines),

 Observations (e.g. Communications),

 Remote Sensing (e.g. Pipelines), etc.

Whereas secondary methods of data acquisition of this kind of attribute data are the
following:

 Conventional documents in registers and files (e.g. Cable Capacity)

 Thematic maps (e.g. Utilities)

 sketches, schematic diagrams (e.g. Railroads), etc.

1.2.3 Data storage

Data are collected into the database which is a collection of information about
entities and the relations between them. Graphic and alphanumeric data maybe
collected into a unique database, two separated databases, or a database for
alphanumeric information, and files for graphic information. The database is
managed by the Database Management System (DBMS) which is a collection of
softwares allowing the manipulation and the updating of data. It is also the
intermediate between the database and the applications built around it, so, the
applications do not need to (know) the physical structure with which data are stored.

The DBMS offers a central control of the database to guarantee a large part of the
quality such as Selective Access, Integrity and Data sharing.

Four data models are used for structuring the information into the database such as
the hierarchical model, the Network model, the Relational model, and the Object
model. The most suitable model for geographic data storage is the object one which
is built over the notions of class, object, attribute and heritage.

1.3 Spatial Referencing

Geographic data for any particular area is stored in separate layers. For example,
roads are stored in one layer, parcels in another, and buildings in a third. To enable
the data in each layer to integrate when displayed and queried, each layer must
reference locations on the earth's surface in a common way.

A spatial reference describes where features are located in the real world. We need
to define a spatial reference when creating a geodatabase feature dataset or stand-
alone feature class. The spatial reference includes a coordinate system for x-, y-, and
z-values as well as tolerance and resolution values for x-, y-, z-, and m-values.

1.3.1 Spatial Referencing – Geodetic Datum

Geodetic datums define the size and shape of the earth and the origin and
orientation of the coordinate systems used to map the earth. The shape of the earth
is quite complicated. The study of its shape, size and gravity field is an entire field of
study (Geodesy). We know that the easiest way to represent the shape of the earth
mathematically is by using an ellipsoid.

An ellipsoid is simply an ellipse rotated about its minor axis. If we locate the centre
of our ellipsoid to coincide with the centre of our 3D Cartesian coordinate system
(also the centre of the mass of the earth) we have now defined what's referred to as
a 'geodetic datum'. Using a 'geodetic datum', any point on the earth's surface has an
x, y, z coordinate value, and that coordinate value can be translated into a Latitude
(φ), Longitude (λ) and a Height (H) above, on or even below the surface of the
mathematical model.

Geodetic datums are used for horizontal positioning only. The vertical component is
traditionally referred to mean sea level.

1.3.2 Type of Geodetic Datum

Geodetic datums are usually classified into two categories. These are known as local
geodetic datums and geocentric datums.

A Local Geodetic Datum is a datum which best approximates the size and shape of a
particular part of the earth's sea-level surface. Invariably, the centre of its spheroid
will not coincide with the Earth's centre of mass. Until very recently, most country's
spatial information systems were based on local geodetic datums.
An example of a local datum. Its spheroid is a good approximation to the size and shape of the sea-level surface in the one
region of the Earth but a poor approximation in other parts of the world.

A Geocentric Datum is one which best approximates the size and shape of the Earth
as a whole. The centre of its spheroid coincides with the Earth's centre of mass.
Geocentric datums do not seek to be a good approximation to any particular part of
the Earth. Rather, their application lies in projects or undertakings which have global
application.

Geocentric Datum

Reference Ellipsoids

Reference ellipsoids are usually defined by semi-major (equatorial radius) and

flattening (the relationship between equatorial and polar radii).
Other reference ellipsoid parameters such as semi-minor axis (polar radius) and
eccentricity can computed from these terms. Many reference ellipsoids are in use by
different nations and agencies. Hundreds of geodetic datums are in use around the
world.

The Global Positioning system is based on the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS-84).

1.3.3 Datum Conversions

Datum conversion is the process of converting the coordinates of a point from one
datum system to another. Datum conversion may frequently be accompanied by a
change of grid projection.

Coordinates can be converted from one datum to another if the relationship

between the two is known. The relationship is described by two components, being:

 A set of formulae which describe the mathematics of the transformation

process,

 A set of parameters, referred to as transformation parameters.

The transformation parameters, which are substituted into the formulae, identify the
relationship between the particular datums in question. They are calculated by
comparing coordinate sets from the two datums.

Complete datum conversion is based on seven parameter transformations that

include three translation parameters, three rotation parameters and a scale
parameter.

Seven Parameter Transformation Formulae (Bursa-Wolf Model)

The Burša-Wolf type parametrization method (called after the Czech Milan Burša and
the German Helmut Wolf) handles not only the difference of the positions of the
geometric centers of the datum ellipsoids, but also the orientation differences and
the small scale variations as one or both datum’s size differs indeed from the ideal
size of the selected ellipsoid. The transformation is expressed for the geocentric
Cartesian coordinates as input and out data, as follows:

where

X1, Y1, Z1 = Cartesian Coordinates of Datum 1

X2, Y2, Z2 = Cartesian Coordinates of Datum 2

ΔX, ΔY, ΔZ = The difference between the centers of the two spheroids

εx, εy, εz = The rotations around the three coordinate axes

k = The scale factor between the coordinate systems

Rotations are positive anticlockwise about the axes of Datum 2 coordinate system
when viewing the origin from the positive axes.

Simple three parameter conversion between latitude, longitude, and height in

different datums can be accomplished by conversion through Earth-Centered, Earth
Fixed XYZ Cartesian coordinates in one reference datum and three origin offsets that
approximate differences in rotation, translation and scale.

Three-Parameter Transformation Formulae

The easiest way to define the connection between two datums is to define the
vector connecting their geometric centers. This vector should be given by the
components in the geocentric Cartesian coordinate system.

The three parameters of the abridging Molodesky datum description are the metric
distances of ΔX, ΔY and ΔZ, describing the spatial locations of the geometric centers
of the datum locations from each other. If one of these datums is the WGS84, these
ΔX, ΔY and ΔZ parameters give the location of the local datum with respect to the
mass center of the Earth. If the coordinates of a basepoint are known on a Datum
’1’, the geocentric coordinates on the Datum ’2’ are the following:

X1 = X2 + ΔX, Y1 = Y2 + ΔY, Z1 = Z2 + ΔZ

where

X1, Y1, Z1 = Cartesian Coordinates of Datum 1

X2, Y2, Z2 = Cartesian Coordinates of Datum 2

ΔX, ΔY, ΔZ = The difference between the centers of the two spheroids
The Standard Molodensky formulas can be used to convert latitude, longitude, and
ellipsoid height in one datum to another datum if the Delta XYZ constants for that
conversion are available.

Comparison of the Abridging Molodensky and Burša-Wolf parametrization

The most important differences between the abridging Molodensky (AM) and the
Burša-Wolf (BW) methods are shown in Table:

AM parametrization BW parametrization
Easier More complex
Usually less accurate Usually more accurate
The parameters can be easily
The parameter estimation is difficult
computed
There are two conventions at the rotation
The parameters are unambiguous
parameters
Known by most (but not all) GIS software
Known by all GIS software packages
packages

1.3.4 Elevation and heights

GEODETIC DATUMS are reference surfaces of zero elevation to which heights are
referred to over a large geographic extent. These datums are used to measure height
(altitude) and depth (depression) above and below mean sea level.

Types of Reference Heights

There are different types of heights to be aware of when referring to a vertical

datum. These are the 3 primary types of heights, although other types of heights
exist:

ORTHOMETRIC represents the height distance between the Earth surface and geoid
at a specific point. Surveyors usually refer to orthometric heights. When we take the
height at the peak of a mountain. It’s an orthometric height measured as a distance
between the surface and the geoid.
GEOID coincides with mean sea level as if we are imagining it as an extension under
(or over) land areas. The geoid is an equipotential surface at which gravity is normal
– closely approximating mean sea level. This is because of the varying densities that
are present in the Earth at different places. There are gravity anomalies with
undulations differing from place-to-place.
Land and mountains prevent us from the seeing the geoid surface on the Earth. The
Earth’s interior differs in density everywhere. This means that gravity varies
everywhere on the Earth. This is why we measure gravity or the gravitational
equipotential surface. We can then infer that this is how water would settle and
model it mathematically. The geoid then gives a true zero surface for measuring
elevations.
REFERENCE ELLIPSOID is the reference ellipsoid is a mathematical model of the
shape of the Earth with the major axis along the equatorial radius. It approximates
the geoid, but mostly coincides with geodetic network computations which point
coordinates (latitude and longitude) are referred to.

1.3.5 Coordinates system

Coordinate systems enable geographic datasets to use common locations for

integration, Or in other word In order to represent spatially varied data everything
needs to be placed on a common coordinate system.

Types of coordinate systems

The following are two common types of coordinate systems used in a geographic
information system (GIS):

Geographic coordinate systems: A geographic coordinate system (GCS) uses a three-

dimensional spherical surface to define locations on the earth. A point is referenced
by its longitude and latitude values. Longitude and latitude are angles measured
from the earth's center to a point on the earth's surface. Latitude and longitude
values are traditionally measured either in decimal degrees or in degrees, minutes,
and seconds (DMS). Latitude values are measured relative to the equator and range
from -90° at the South Pole to +90° at the North Pole. Longitude values are
measured relative to the prime meridian. They range from -180° when traveling west
to 180° when traveling east. 

Projected coordinate system : A projected coordinate system (PCS) is defined on a

flat, two-dimensional surface. Unlike a GCS (Geographic coordinate systems), a PCS
has constant lengths, angles, and areas across the two dimensions. A PCS is always
based on a GCS that is based on a sphere or spheroid.
1.4 Performing spatial analysis and result sharing

The process of examining the locations, attributes, and relationships of features in

spatial data through overlay and other analytical techniques in order to address a
question or gain useful knowledge. Spatial analysis extracts or creates new
information from spatial data.

1.4.1 Common analysis tasks

In GIS , the terms geoprocessing and spatial analysis are often used interchangeably.
However these two terms , while related to one another, are actually different.

The part of the geographic approach that involves manipulating data (e.g., running
tools) to create or extract information is called geoprocessing. Geoprocessing tools
used for analysis typically fall into three categories: Data extraction, Overlay, and
proximity.

Data Extraction:

The process of creating a new subset of features in one feature class based on the
geographic extent of another feature class is named data extraction. For example,
suppose we want to assess street condition of a particular city, we have a feature
class representing the streets for the entire country. We also have a feature class
representing the city boundary.

Now with an operation named clip, we can use the boundary dataset to extract (or
clip out) the street feature that fall within the city limits into new data set. This allow
us to isolate the feature of interest for our analysis. Doing so reduces the size of the
dataset we are using, which reduces processing time future geoprocessing
operation.

Overlay:

If the data we need to answer a specific question is contained in different layers, we

can combine (or Overlay) the layer to create a new layer that contain the data from
both the input layers. For example, suppose we have layers of vegetation and soils.
To determine which vegetation types are common with particular oil type , we could
overlay the two layers using an operation named union. The dataset created by the
union operation would contain all the features and attributes from both layers. We
can easily query the new layer to determine the relationship between them.

Proximity:

A common type of GIS analysis, named Proximity analysis, involves finding what is
near or within a certain distance of one or more features. Buffer is a common
geoprocessing operation used for proximity analysis. For example, if we need to find
out hospital within the certain distance of our location, we can use a buffer
operation to find all the hospital within that distance .

A buffer create a zone of a specified distance around one or more features.

1.4.2 The Importance Of Sharing Results:

Once we have created a map or performed an analysis to solve a problem. We need
to share the results so they can be properly distributed, interpreted, and applied. In
fact, communicating and sharing our work is often the most rewarding part of GIS.

Although people use GIS for many reasons, one useful way to think of GIS is as a
powerful communication tools. Whether our audience is the public at large,
planners, business executives, government agencies, customers, or our colleagues at
work, we ultimately want to ensure that the map or analysis result that we produces
are provided in a usable format.

1.4.3 Common ways to share results

There are many way to share results and the option to choose depends upon the
target audience and the desired delivery method.

SHARE RESULT AS W HEN /WHY USE ?

Map Package(MPK) To share complete map document
Layer Package(LPK) To share a dataset and its layer properties
Web map To share a map to be accessed on the web
Exported map(e.g. PDF) To share a map as an Image
Report, chart, or graph To share feature attributes and relationship
Presentation To share map content as annotated slides

Map packages and layer packages:

Each layer in the map document references data on disk and is symbolized with a
default symbol or with a symbol we specify.