COURSE CODE & TITLE: LTDR3109 Geography, Geopolitics and GIS in

Transportation

The course is subdivided into 2 parts which are :

Section 1 : Geography and Geopolitics will be taught by Dr NFOR Delphine

Section 2 : Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Transportation will be taught by Prof

YEMELONG Nadine

Section 2: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Transportation by Prof

Yemelong Nadine
Plan
Introduction
1- Definition of GIS and related key terms
2- Components of GIS
2-1-Definition of Data Models and distinction of the types of Data Models
2-2- Comparison of Raster to Vector Model (do it as an assignment)
Assignment 1: Compare the Vector Model and the Raster Model
3- Data acquisition and processing (introduction to GPS)
3-1- Spatial Data Formats
3-2- Data Processing
3-3- Geo-referencing
4- Geographical analysis
4-1- Data query
4-2- Measurement and routing
4-3- Statistical analysis
5- Questions GIS can answer
5-1- Mapping where things are
5-2- Mapping densities
5-3- Mapping quantities
5-4- Finding what is inside
5-5- Finding what is nearby
5-6- Mapping change
6- Geographical Data
6-1- Characteristics of Geographical Features
6-2- Types of Geographical Features
7-Applications of GIS
7-1- Socio-economic applications
7-2- Environmental and natural resources management
8- GIS in Transportation
8-1- Geographic Information Systems and Transportation
8-2- GIS-T Data Representations
8-3- GIS-T applications
Assignment 2: Choose any GIS software programme (commercial or open source),
describe his environment and present his main functions in line with Transportation

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Introduction
Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, is a rapidly growing field that incorporates
knowledge from a number of disciplines. The technology is employed in natural resource
management, demographic studies, health issues, emergency applications, and other areas requiring
spatial problem solving or research. Performing GIS is a nonlinear process that involves acquiring,
processing, analysing and displaying spatial data through the integration of computer software,
hardware, and people.
Cartography and GIS have become increasingly intertwined in recent years? Today it is likely
that a cartographer will be working with GIS, or at least alongside a GIS analyst in some capacity.
Therefore it is important that a geographer who is doing cartography be introduced to the
fundamental concepts of a GIS.
1- Definition of the term GIS
The definition of the term GIS, has been the subject of debate for some time. GIS has a wide
range of applications and therefore GIS operators use the technology differently depending on the
requirements of their own particular area of study. Some would simply define geographic
information systems as the use GIS software package. Others more broadly define GIS as the
integration of specialized software, hardware, and people, designed to analyze geographically
referenced or spatial data. Still others stress the importance of viewing GIS as a process. The
process, in which spatial data are entered, stored, analyzed, and displayed is specific to the
requirements of each project. The GIS process is, therefore, unique to each project. Considering
these viewpoints, a GIS is defined as a computer assisted process designed to acquire, store,
analyze and display spatial data and their attributes. The key component in this definition is the
ability of a GIS to analyze spatial data. A GIS (geographic information system) enables you to
envision the geographic aspects of a body of data. Basically, it lets you query or analyze a database
and receive the results in the form of some kind of map.
Any study that involves a spatial component may benefit from GIS, so there is a wide range of
potential applications. GIS technology may be applied to natural resource management, land
management, demographic studies, health issues, facilities management, street network
applications, emergency applications and many other fields. GIS is truly interdisciplinary in nature.
2- Components of GIS
A typical geographic information system is comprised of spatial and attribute databases,
hardware and software for data input, a geographical analysis system, and a map display
system. The components of a GIS suggest the process oriented nature of the discipline. Data are
input, manipulated, analyzed, and displayed in some fashion.
A spatial database is a set of digital base maps that describes the “geography” of the earth’s
surface. In this context, the term geography refers to both physical and human made features on the
earth as well as imaginary boundaries, such as census tracts. The maps in the spatial database cover
the same geographic extent and are layered on top of one another to determine relationships
between the layers. An individual layer in a spatial database is sometimes referred to as a theme or
coverage. An attribute database describes the characteristics or qualities of the features or images
portrayed on the base maps.
Geographical analysis is what separates GIS from desktop mapping. For instance, a GIS with
the appropriate spatial and attribute databases can find all areas of urban land use associated with
earthquake faults. Another typical GIS analysis task is the ability to find features in one layer that
are located within a specified distance of features in another layer. Fundamental categories of
analysis in GIS include data query; measurement; statistics, operations on single layers, including
classification, and operations on multiple layers, including overlay procedures.

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 Map display and output: as emphasized previously, the analysis of spatial data is the focus of
geographic information systems. Analysis is the key component in the process of GIS. During the
analysis of spatial data, a number of temporary displays, not intended for presentation, are produced
on the computer screen. The ability to explore data is facilitated by the development of powerful,
user-friendly GIS software.
The software available today enables an analyst to produce different types of maps, including
both static and animated displays, much more quickly than manual mapping methods of the past.
2-1-Definition of Data Models and distinction of the types of Data Models
The manner in which the spatial and attribute databases are associated depends upon the data
model. A data model is an abstraction of the real world which incorporates only those properties
thought to be relevant to an application. In GIS, two major data models are used: the vector data
model and the raster data model.
The vector data model (figure 1) is based on points (or nodes), lines (or arcs) and
polygons. Point features in a spatial database may represent convenience stores, line
features may represent roads, and polygons may represent counties. Generally, point, line
and polygon features are stored as separate layers. In addition, different types of point, line
and polygon features are usually stored separate layers. For example, counties and census
tracts are both polygon features, but they are stored as different GIS layers. In a vector-
based GIS, the attributes of each feature in a layer are stored in a spreadsheet linked to the
spatial database as presented in figure 2.

Figure 1: Example of a
vector model

Figure 2: Spatial data and theirs attributes

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 The raster data model (figure 3) is based upon cells, or pixels, each cell containing a
single attribute value or z-value. GIS rasters are usually comprised of square cells, but may
consist of any tessellation scheme. A tessellation is any regular shape, such as a square,
rectangle, triangle, or hexagon, that covers a plane surface without any gaps.

Figure 3: Example of a raster model

The type of application defines the data model employed. Raster-based GISs are often
used for environmental applications involving continuous data, such as classifying land use-
types from satellite imagery or calculating slope from elevation data. A special type of
vector file called a triangulated irregular network, or TIN, also models surfaces. A TIN
consists of irregularly shaped triangles. Each vertex for every triangle is encoded with an
elevation value. In locations where the elevation is fairly constant, the triangles are large. In
locations of rapid elevation change, the triangles are smaller. Vector GISs are more suited
than raster GISs for tasks when precise location is important, such as tax mapping, route
finding, or location points. The vector model is also more suitable when consistent
enumeration units, such as census tracts, are used because of the efficiency of storing the
numerous attributes in a linked spreadsheets as opposed to much larger individual raster
images.
Raster GISs, on the other hand, are more efficient than vector-based packages for
certain overlay procedures, which be discussed in the section on analysis. When various
types of spatial analysis are required, it is sometimes advantageous to perform some
processing with a vector-based GIS and some with a raster-based GIS, translating data
between the two GISs as necessary. Although individual GIS software packages are still
primarily either vector or raster-based, some vector packages now offer simple raster
processing capabilities and some raster packages offer simple vector processing capabilities.
2-2- Comparison of Raster to Vector Model (do it as an assignment)
3- Data acquisition and processing
Building a GIS database is the most time-consuming portion of any GIS project.
Obtaining and processing data so that they are viable for geographical analysis usually
requires considerable thought and effort. In most commercial GIS projects, up to 80 percent
of the cost, in time and labor, is related to building the database. Data input achieved in a
variety of ways. In some cases the GIS operator creates his or her digital database from
analog, or nondigital, sources. Map digitising is the process of converting hard copy maps
to digital format. Hard copy maps may be digilised using a digitising board or a scanner.
The use of either a digitising board or a scanner is dependent on the requirements of the
project and the GIS data model used, vector or raster. Digitising boards produce vector files,

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whereas scanners produce raster files. Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers are
often used to input location and elevation data.
For the attribute database, tabular data may be entered into a spreadsheet or other type of
file through keyboard entry. Address matching or address geocoding, employs existing
tabular and spatial data to produce new spatial data a point coverage. Address matching is
the process of assigning a pair of geographic coordinates to a location based on an address
in a table. Address matching requires a table of addresses to be geocoded, or the GIS
operator must interactively key in the addresses to be geocoded. In addition, address
matching requires a reference coverage for use in matching. A linear street-base coverage
that includes street address ranges linked to each street segment may be used for reference
in address matching. If a lower level of geographic precision is acceptable, a polygon layer
such as a ZIP code coverage may be used for reference. A point-of-event table that contains
x and y coordinates representing the locations of discrete “events”, such as the origin of a
lightning-caused fire or th location of a school, is important into most GISs. The software
reads the geographic coordinates in the table and creates a new point coverage.
3-1- Spatial Data Formats
Most GIS software packages have proprietary data formats, but allow for the import and
export of data in a number of tabular and spatial formats. Common tabular formats include
simple text files or database files such as those in .dbf format. Common tabular formats
include AutoCAD .dxf; ARC/INFO .e00, DLG, DOQ, and a host of others. Although most
GIS packages offer import and export capabilities, it is often confusing, difficult, and time-
consuming to translate data from one format to another. In addition, valuable information
can be lost in the translation.
3-2- Data Processing
After data are imported into a software package, they usually must be processed further.
Attribute data must often be edited in some way. Records, for example, may need to be
added to or deleted from a table; tables may need to be joined, or units of measure may need
to be changed.
3-3- Geo-referencing
Geo-referencing (also known as geo-rectification, geolocating, geocoding or
registering) is the process of assigning spatial location identity to pieces of information. In
other words, it is the process of giving a cartographic material such as a digital satellite
imagery, aerial photograph, map, or statistical data to a real world coordinate system and
map projection. Or, as Kasianchuk and Taggart (2004) simply put it, “Geo-referencing is the
process of establishing a relation between the data displayed in your GIS software and its
real- world location.”
Geo-referencing enables us to know exactly where things are positioned on or in
relation to the earth’s surface. The geo-referencing process is normally used to relate or link
cartographic data to the specific portions on the earth’s surface that they represent or pertain
to. Besides, geo-referencing enables one to accurately measure distances, directions, sizes
(areas) and shapes of features on cartographic base material. In a GIS environment, unless a
piece of data is geo-referenced, it would be impossible to undertake certain spatial analysis
operations using the data. Geo-referencing is commonly achieved by using a coordinate
system.

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4- Geographical analysis
Although most desktop mapping packages offer a spatial and an attribute database, the
ability to analyse data based on spatial characteristics is required for a true GIS.
Geographical analysis is what separates GIS from desktop mapping. For instance, a GIS
with the appropriate spatial and attribute databases can find all areas of urban land use (one
layer) associated with earthquake faults (a second layer). Another typical GIS analysis task
is the ability to find features in one layer that are located within a specified distance of
features in another layer. For example, if a map displays house locations (one layer), a GIS
operator can determine the number of day care centers (a second layer) and attributes
associated with the day care centers, within a 5-mile radius of each house.
Fundamental categories of analysis in GIS include data query, measurement,
statistics, operations on single layers, including classification, and operations on
multiple layers, including overlay procedures.
4-1- Data query
With GIS, an analyst can determine what is at a particular location or, conversely, can query,
or question, the GIS database regarding locations that satisfy a certain condition. With have
two types of query: query by location and query by attribute (figure 4). Query by location (a
on figure 6): here the operator “points” to a feature to obtain attribute information far that
feature. Query by attribute (b on figure 4): here the operator queries the attribute database to
determine which features satisfy a condition. In this example the query reads ‘Which states
have a 1996 population of greater than 10 000 000 persons?’

Figure 4: Query in GIS

4-2- Measurement and routing
Measurement of data and/or perimeter of map features is a common GIS task. A real
estate analyst, for example may be required to determine the area of a land parcel. Distance
measurements are also a common GIS task. A furniture delivery scheduler may want to find

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the distance between two houses. With any GIS, a straight-line distance measurement is
possible. Some vector GISs also allow the scheduler to use the connectivity of a network to
identify the shortest route between the two houses and to measure the distance along that
route (see figure 5).

Figure 5: Distance measurement and routing

4-3- Statistical analysis

Most GISs offer simple statistical analysis of attribute data, such as calculation of means
and standard deviations. Some GIS software packages also offer advanced statistical
analysis of spatial data, including operations such as multiple regression analysis between
layers, analysis of spatial trends, and examination of spatial autocorrelation, which is a
significant nonrandom arrangement of features.
5- Questions GIS can answer
Any study that involves a spatial component may benefit from GIS, so there is a wide
range of potential applications. GIS technology may be applied to natural resource
management, land management, street network applications, emergency applications, and
many other fields. GIS is truly interdisciplinary in nature.
In natural resource management, for example, GIS has been used to aid in the
development of a predictive model for the location of old-growth forests in norhtwest of
USA. Scientists determined that unaltered ancient forest remnants (remained) can still be
found on sites with poor soils and steep. With GIS technology, they ere able to query a
spatial database containing information on potential sites of old-growth forest.
GIS technology is also being used to study retail trade and market structures. Applying
GIS to the study of consumer demographics, retail-gravity models, and central place
tendencies allows the identification of market potentials and the development of new
methods of predicting business survival.
GIS can be used as tool in both problem solving and decision making processes, as well
as for visualization of data in a spatial environment. Geospatial data can be analyzed to
determine (5.1) the location of features and relationships to other features, (5.2) where the
most and/or least of some feature exists, (5.3) the density of features in a given space, (5.4)

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what is happening inside an area of interest (AOI), (5.5) what is happening nearby some
feature or phenomenon, and (5.6) and how a specific area has changed over time (and in
what way).
5-1- Mapping where things
We can map the spatial location of real-world features and visualize the spatial
relationships among them. Example: below we see a map of frac sand mine locations and
sandstone areas in Wisconsin. We can see visual patterns in the data by determining that
frac sand mining activity occurs in a region with a specific type of geology.

5-2- Mapping quantities.

People map quantities, such as where the most and least are, to find places that meet
their criteria or to see the relationships between places.
Example: below is a map of cemetery locations in Wisconsin. The map shows the cemetery
locations as dots (dot density) and each county is color coded to show where the most and
least are (lighter blue means fewer cemeteries).

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 5-3- Mapping densities
Sometimes it is more important to map concentrations, or a quantity normalized by area
or total number. Example: Below we have mapped the population density of Manhattan
(total population counts normalized by the area in sq. miles of census tracts.)

5-4- Finding what is inside

We can use GIS to determine what is happening or what features are located inside a
specific area/region. We can determine the characteristics of "inside" by creating specific
criteria to define an area of interest (AOI). Example: below is a map showing a flood event
and the tax parcels and buildings in the floodway. We can use tools like CLIP to determine
which parcels fall inside the flood event. Further, we can use attributes of the parcels to
determine potential costs of property damage.

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 5-5-Finding what is nearby
We can find out what is happening within a set distance of a feature or event by mapping
what is nearby using geoprocessing tools like BUFFER. Example: below we see a map of
drive times from a central location in the City of Madison, WI. We can use streets as a
network and add specific criteria like speed limit and intersection controls to determine how
far a driver can typically get in 5, 10, or 15 minutes. (Map courtesy of UW Extension).

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 5-6-Mapping change
We can map the change in a specific geographic area to anticipate future conditions,
decide on a course of action, or to evaluate the results of an action or policy. Example:
below we see land use maps of Barnstable, MA showing changes in residential development
from 1951 to 1999. The dark green shows forest, while bright yellow shows residential
development. Applications like this can help inform community planning processes and
policies.

*Examples of Non-spatial Questions

"What's the average number of people working as Estate Surveyors and Agents in each
location?" is a non-spatial question - the answer to which does not require the stored value
of latitude and longitude; nor does it describe where the places are in relation with each
other.
*Examples of Spatial Questions
"How many people work with estate firms in the major urban centers of Douala town?"
OR "Which centre lie within 10 Km of each other?", OR "What is the shortest route passing
through all these centers". These are spatial questions that can only be answered using
latitude and longitude data and other information such as the radius of earth.
Geographic Information Systems can answer such questions.

6- Geographical Data
Geographical data (also known as spatial data) can be defined as any data that has
location or positional identity with respect to the surface of the earth. In other words,
geographical data gives us some information about a geographical object or event. Simply
put, a geographical object or feature is anything, anywhere. Anything that exists on or in
relation to the Earth’s surface is a geographical object; similarly, any event that takes place
on or in relation to the Earth’s surface is a geographical event. So, facts and figures that help
us to identify the location and other spatial dimensions of any geographical phenomenon are
geographical data.
6-1- Characteristics of Geographical Features
Geographical features have some characteristics which the GIS technology uses to
manipulate geographical data. The major characteristics are:

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 - Location: Every geographical phenomenon has a location or positional identity which
can be used to know exactly where it is on or in relation to the surface of the earth. The
relative location of an object can be defined using geographical coordinates (latitude and
longitude) or some other form of position identification.
- Size: There is a great variety in the magnitude of geographical phenomena. Some are
comparably small in size e.g. trees, boreholes, etc., while some are quite gigantic e.g.
mountains, oceans, settlements, etc.
- Dimensions: Every geographical feature has some geometric dimension(s). Hence
each feature can be identified as a point, linear, areal, or volumetric feature. (See the sub-
section on types/classes of geographical objects).
- Shape: Geographical objects have shape. Natural features commonly have irregular
shapes while most of the man-made features have regular shapes.
- Distributed: Geographical phenomena are distributed over space. Some features are
highly dispersed while some are clustered together. Similarly, while some features,
especially natural
features, are more randomly distributed, some others, especially man-made features, tend to
be more evenly or regularly distributed. Some geographical objects are considered to be
discrete in their distribution; they are not found everywhere, instead they exist at distinct
locations e.g. bus stops, boreholes, lakes, etc. On the other hand, some other geographical
features are ubiquitous in their distribution; they cover a vast area at varying degrees, e.g.
population, temperature, rainfall, soil, etc.
- Relationship: No geographical feature exists in isolation; in various ways and
degrees, they relate and interact with one another. A geographical feature can be located
close to or far away from another feature. Also a feature can be located to the north, east,
south, or west of another; just as it could be on the left or right side of another feature.
Features could be adjacent to each other; they could also be contiguous to one another in
which case they share common boundaries; they can also be widely separated. Similar
features could intersect, just as one feature could lie completely inside another feature. The
spatial relationships mentioned above are the key to all GIS-based analysis.
6-2-Types of Geographical Features
There is a wide range of geographical features in existence. Traditionally, however, all
geographical features are grouped into four namely, point, linear, areal (polygon), and
volumetric features. This grouping is done based on the geometric dimensions of the
features:
- Point features: These are features that exist at a single spot without appreciable length
and breadth. Hence, point features are considered to be zero dimensional (0-dimensional or
0-D) in
nature. Examples include boreholes, bus stops, electrical transformers, etc.
- Line or linear features: They are considered to be one dimensional (1-dimensional or
1-D) in nature; it is the length of such features that is usually taken into account. Examples
are
roads, rivers, railways, etc.

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 - Areal or polygonal features: These are features that occupy a considerably large
expanse of space. Both the length and breadth dimensions of such features are usually
considered in their
measurement; hence they are treated as two dimensional (2- dimensional or 2-D) features.
Examples are lakes, farmlands, local government areas, etc.
- Volumetric features: these are three dimensional (3-dimensional or 3-D) features.
Their length, breadth and height (depth, or quantity as the case may be) are usually
measured. Examples
include mountains, population, vehicular traffic, and air mass.
6-3-The Value of Geographical Data
About 80% or more of the data man uses on a daily basis is geographical in nature. In other
words, the decisions and actions we take daily are largely based on information that has
geographical content. This should not really be quite surprising, especially when we realise
that virtually every activity of man takes place in geographical space. Geographical data or
information helps us to understand our environment and, hence, to exploit the available
resources in the most productive, sustainable and beneficial manner. More so, geographical
information enables us to navigate our environment in an intelligent way. Questions relating
to the spatial location, distribution, relationship and accessibility of various phenomena are
best answered using geographical information. In other words, geographical knowledge
helps us erase location ignorance by affording us the opportunity of identifying events and
features within a spatial frame. Geographical features and data describing them are part of
our everyday lives. Most of our daily decisions are influenced by some aspect of geography.
Any study that involves a spatial component may benefit from GIS, so there is a
wide range of potential applications. GIS technology may be applied to natural
resource management, land management, street network applications, emergency
applications, and many other fields. GIS is truly interdisciplinary in nature.

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7- Applications of GIS
In natural resource management, for example, GIS has been used to aid in the development of a
predictive model for the location of old-growth forests in norhtwest of USA. Scientists determined
that unaltered ancient forest remnants (remained) can still be found on sites with poor soils and
steep. With GIS technology, they ere able to query a spatial database containing information on
potential sites of old-growth forest.
GIS technology is also being used to study retail trade and market structures. Applying GIS to
the study of consumer demographics, retail-gravity models, and central place tendencies allows the
identification of market potentials and the development of new methods of predicting business
survival.
7-1- Socio-economic applications
All socio-economic activities of man take place over geographical space. In other
words, every socio-economic activity of man requires the use of some form of geographical
data. This explains why GIS easily finds application in every conceivable socio-economic
endeavour. Some examples are used in this unit to illustrate the utility of GIS in socio-
economic activities.
7-1-1- Transportation
A list of application areas of GIS to transport management may include the following items:
- Naming streets
- House numbering
- Street network analysis
- Managing mailing lists
- Vehicle routing and scheduling
- Traffic congestion analysis and control
- Development of evacuation plans
- Address matching
- Highway and other routes planning and design
- Monitoring highway condition
- Road maintenance
- Road mapping
- Accident analysis
- Transport facilities inventory and management
- Assessment of environmental impact of transportation
- Air traffic control

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 - Airport facilities mapping, monitoring and maintenance
- Production of navigational and bathymetric charts
- Planning and management of inland waterways
- Monitoring rail systems
- Siting of terminals (e.g. bus stops, motor parks, railway stations,
etc.).
7-1-2- Agriculture
The following are some of the specific agricultural projects for which the powerful GIS
technology could be efficiently and economically used.
- Inventory, mapping and management of agricultural land parcels (field units) and
records.
- Mapping and management of agricultural biodiversity.
- Provision of field-specific condition information for precision agriculture (farming).
- Mapping of crop patterns.
- Crop area identification and delineating crop-soil relation.
- Estimating crop yield.
- Provision of accurate, relevant and timely information for effective agro extension
services.
- Monitoring of crop health and growth conditions.
- Identifying the presence of pests and diseases.
- Monitoring effects of pesticides and herbicides.
- Agro-risk assessment and management (for Insurance companies, agro managers and
agribusiness entrepreneurs).
- Planning and implementation of mitigation measures.
- Inventory of crops and livestock.
- Agricultural land evaluation and classification.
- Management of grazing fields.
- Assessment of environmental impacts of existing agro projects, or the likely impacts of
proposed ones.
- Monitoring crop and livestock production.
- Measuring crop hectare age.
- Determining harvesting system options.

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 - Mapping soil characteristics.
- Site selection for locating agricultural projects and infrastructural facilities.
- Assessment of the impacts of changes in crop and livestock management practices.
- Delineation of agro-climatic/ecological zones.
- Valuation of agricultural land.
- Soil suitability analysis.
- Effective and efficient maintenance of crop calendar.
- Assessment of the environmental impact of various cropping techniques and other
agricultural activities.
7-1-3- Health
Some of the areas of GIS application in health management are:
- Mapping of disease locations and spread.
- Location of health facilities.
- Public health planning.
- Health services delivery.
- Planning/monitoring sanitary inspection.
- Street cleaning.
- Hazardous (toxic) facility siting.
- Solid waste management and preparation of waste disposal routes.
- Selection of solid waste disposal sites.
- Monitoring atmospheric pollution.
- Mapping water pollution.
- Air pollution monitoring/control.
- Wastewater management and disposal.
- Water quality monitoring and management.
- Sewage network design and tracking.
- Analysis of access to health care providers and facilities.
- Spatial analysis of environmental, economic, political and socio-cultural causes of
health problems.
- Assessment of spatial and temporal distribution of epidemiology.
- Mapping and management of healthcare facilities.

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 7-1-4- Mining and Mineral Production
Some of the key roles GIS plays in mineral production are:
- Geological mapping.
- Geological survey and analysis.
- Mine planning and development.
- Planning for mineral resources exploration.
- Map integration of geophysical and geochemical surveys.
- Analysis of seismic data.
- Locating oil wells (identifying suitable sites for drilling oil wells).
- Inventory/Monitor oil wells/facilities.
- Simulation and analysis of exploitation scenarios in view of environmental
acceptability and economic viability.
- Interpretation of subsurface data from boreholes.
- Designing cost-effective and stable routes for oil and gas pipelines.
- Siting a refinery.
- Siting fuel/gas stations.
- Managing leases, wells, pipelines, facilities, retail outlets, etc.
- Mapping and management of health, safety and environmental concerns.
- Mapping the distribution of oil, gas and solid mineral resources.
7-1-5- Business Management
The GIS technology can be used to accomplish the following activities in business
management:
- investment analysis
- locating businesses (e.g. shops and supermarkets) close to customers
- siting of industries
- selection of shortest path (i.e. the best route for the quick delivery of goods and
services)
- traveling salesman scheduling/routing
- inventory/monitoring business outlets
- market survey and business investment analysis
- spatial analysis/simulation of consumer behaviour
- analysis of customer population and distribution

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 - customer services
- managing mailing lists (addresses of customers)
- defining service boundary or sales territory
- advertising.
7-1-6- Education
The application areas of GIS in education include, but not limited to, the following:
- research and training
- teaching and learning
- career outlet for graduates
- geographical analysis and simulation modelling
- mapping and management of school facilities
- library management
- mapping and analysis of the distribution of the categories and
- population of teachers and students
- illustrating/reporting results of research works
- consultancy services.
7-1-7- Population and Housing Census
Some of the possible areas of GIS application to pre- and post-census activities and
census data handling include:
- assessment of total workload
- estimation of the amount of human and material resources needed for a survey
- Delineation of Enumeration Areas (EAs)
- distribution of enumerators’ and supervisors’ workload
- census database management
- spatial and aspatial census data querying and retrieval
- spatial aggregation and cross-area referencing of census data
- integration or spatial overlay of census data with some other
- relevant geo-referenced data layers
- geostatistical analysis of demographic variables
- three-dimensional modeling of census results
- production of thematic maps of census variables

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 - publication of population atlas
- updating of census data
- inter-censal population estimation.
7-1-8- Electoral Administration
Some of the more specific tasks that could be accomplished using the GIS technology
before, during and after an election include the following:
- locating polling places
- tracking voter turnout, voting methods, as well as analysing election results
- assigning polling staff to polling places
- thematic mapping of real-time election results
- voter education (GIS allows registered voters to access information such as their
assigned district, polling location, and election results from a computer linked to the
internet).
- delimiting boundaries of electoral districts as well as redistricting and re-zoning
- maintaining voter registration files
- mapping voters' locations
- relaying of information on the collection, distribution and verification of ballot boxes
and other voting materials.
- post-election creation of an electoral atlas
- updating voter registration files.
7-1-9- Tourism
The GIS can be very useful in the following broad thematic areas of tourism
development and management. These areas include:
- conservation of endangered species
- wild and scenic rivers preservation
- park and recreation planning/management
- wildlife habitat and migration route management
- monitoring and forecasting natural disasters
- assessment of tourism-induced environmental problems
- management of tourist site records
- production of tourist Guide maps
- mapping tourism facilities

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 - tourism land allocation/zoning
- modelling the capacity of individual tourism sites to attract
tourists.
7-2- Environmental and natural resources management
Issues relating to environmental challenges and natural resources analysis and
management are increasingly being put on the front burner. The power of GIS as a veritable
tool for environmental and natural resources management has long been recognised. Hence,
many agencies involved with environmental management, emergency and disaster
management as well as those engaged in natural resources planning, development and
management are turning to GIS for assistance.
7-2-1- Emergency Response Planning
In particular, GIS can assist emergency handlers in:
- planning emergency evacuation routes
- determining possible areas of influence of an anticipated imminent natural disaster
- provision of Early Warning information about an impending disaster
- selecting suitable site for relocating evacuees
- search and rescue operations
- design and development of emergency and safety plans
- prompt and effective allocation and distribution of resources (relief materials)
- estimating emergency response times
- fire prevention systems
- natural hazard monitoring
- estimation of damages.
7-2-2- Natural Resource-Based Application
One of the major areas of application of GIS is natural resources management and
environmental impact analysis in relation to:
- wildlife habitat
- wild and scenic rivers
- recreation resources
- floodplains
- aquifers
- wetlands preservation

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 - natural resources inventory/monitoring
- desert encroachment control
- erosion and flood control
- conservation of endangered species.
Today, biologists use collar transmitters and satellite receivers to track the migration
routes of caribou and polar bears to help design programs to protect the animals. In a GIS,
the migration routes were indicated by different colors for each month for 21 months.
Researchers then used the GIS to superimpose the migration routes on maps of oil
development plans to determine the potential for interference with the animals.
7-2-3- Environmental Management
Some of the areas of GIS application in environmental management include:
- mapping ecological disasters (e.g. soil erosion, flooding, desertification, landslide,
bush fire, etc.)
- hazardous (toxic) facility siting
- solid waste management and preparation of waste disposal routes
- selection of solid waste disposal sites
- monitoring atmospheric pollution
- mapping water pollution
- air pollution monitoring/control
- wastewater management and disposal
- water quality monitoring and management
- sewage network design and tracking
- identifying deforestation and its effects
- mapping the distribution of Greenhouse gases
- assessment of environmental quality
- environmental modelling
- environmental impact assessment (EIA)
- formulation of environmental regulations
- environmental auditing.

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8- GIS in Transportation (GIS-T)
In a broad sense a Geographic Information System (GIS) is an information system specializing
in the input, management, analysis and reporting of geographical (spatially related) information.
They have transformed and expanded geography by their ability to store large amounts of data,
analyze it and particularly by depicting customized cartographic outputs. Among the wide range of
potential applications GIS can be used for, transportation issues have received a lot of attention. A
specific branch of GIS applied to transportation issues, commonly labeled as GIS-T, is one of the
pioneer GIS application areas.

8.1- Geographic Information Systems and Transportation

The four major components of a GIS, encoding, management, analysis and reporting (figure 9
below), have specific considerations for transportation:

Figure 9: GIS and transportation

Encoding. Deals with issues concerning the representation of a transport system and its spatial
components. To be of use in a GIS, a transport network must be correctly encoded, implying
a functional topology composed of nodes and links. Other elements relevant to
transportation, namely qualitative and quantitative data, must also be encoded and associated
with their respective spatial elements. For instance, an encoded road segment can have data
related to its width, number of lanes, direction, peak hour traffic, etc.

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 Management. The encoded information is often stored in a database and can be organized
along spatial (by region, country, census units, etc.), thematic (for highway, transit, railway,
terminals, etc.) or temporal (by year, month, week, etc.) considerations. It is important to
design a GIS database that organizes a large amount of heterogeneous data in an integrated
and seamless environment such that the data can be easily accessed to support various
transportation application needs.
Analysis. Considers the wide array of methodologies and tools available for transport issues.
They can range from a simple query over an element of a transport system (e.g., what is the
peak hour traffic of a road segment?) to a complex model investigating the relationships
between its elements (e.g., if a new road segment was added, what would be the impacts on
traffic and future land use developments?).
Reporting. A GIS would not be complete without its visualization and data reporting
capabilities for both spatial and non-spatial data. This component is particularly important as
it offers interactive tools to convey complex information in a visual format (displayed or
printed). A GIS-T thus becomes a useful tool to inform people who otherwise may not be
able to visualize the hidden patterns and relationships embedded in the datasets (e.g.
potential relationships among traffic accidents, highway geometry, pavement condition, and
terrain).

Information in a GIS is often stored and represented as layers, which are a set of geographical
features linked with their attributes. On the above figure a transport system is represented as three
layers related to land use, flows (spatial interactions) and the network. Each has its own features,
related data and can be used independently or in combination with other layers.

GIS-T research can be approached from two different, but complementary, directions. While
some GIS-T research focuses on issues of how GIS can be further developed and enhanced in order
to meet the needs of transportation applications, other GIS-T research investigates the questions of
how GIS can be used to facilitate and improve transportation studies. In general, topics related to
GIS-T studies can be grouped into three categories:

 Data representations. How can various components of transport systems be represented in

a GIS-T?
 Analysis and modeling. How can transport methodologies be used in a GIS-T?
 Applications. What types of applications are particularly suitable for GIS-T?

8.2- GIS-T Data Representations

Data representation is a core research topic of GIS. Before a GIS can be used to tackle real
world problems, data must be properly represented in a digital computing environment. One
unique characteristic of GIS is the capability of integrating spatial and non-spatial data in order to

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support both display and analysis needs. There have been various data models developed for GIS.
The two basic approaches are object-based data models and field-based data models:

 An object-based data model treats geographic space as populated by discrete and

identifiable objects. Features are often represented as points, lines, and/or polygons.
 On the other hand, a field-based data model treats geographic space as populated by real-
world features that vary continuously over space. Features can be represented as regular
tessellations (e.g., a raster grid) or irregular tessellations (e.g., triangulated irregular network
– TIN).

GIS-T studies have employed both object-based and field-based data models to represent the
relevant geographic data. Some transportation problems tend to fit better with one type of GIS data
model than the other. For example, network analysis based on the graph theory typically represents
a network as a set of nodes interconnected with a set of links. The object-based GIS data model
therefore is a better candidate for such transportation applications. Other types of transportation data
exist which require extensions to the general GIS data models. One well-known example is linear
referencing data (e.g. highway mileposts). Transportation agencies often measure locations of
features or events along transportation network links (e.g. a traffic accident occurred at the 52.3
milepost on a specific highway). Such a one-dimensional linear referencing system (i.e. linear
measurements along a highway segment with respect to a pre-specified starting point of the
highway segment) cannot be properly handled by the two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system
used in most GIS data models. Consequently, the dynamic segmentation data model was developed
to address the specific need of the GIS-T community.

Origin-destination (O-D) flow data are another type of data that are frequently used in
transportation studies. Such data have been traditionally represented in matrix forms, a two-
dimensional array, for analysis. Unfortunately, the relational data model widely adopted in most
commercial GIS software does not provide adequate support for handling matrix data. Some GIS-T
software have developed additional file formats and functions for users to work with matrix data in
a GIS environment. Conventional GIS approaches can thus be further extended and enhanced to
meet the needs of transportation applications. The creation and expansion of add-ons for GIS
software represents a way that specific methods and models can be implemented in existing
packages.

Developments of enterprise and multidimensional GIS-T data models also have received
significant attention. Successful GIS deployments at the enterprise level (e.g., within a state
department of transportation) demand additional considerations to embrace the diversity of
application and data requirements. An enterprise GIS-T data model is designed to allow “each
application group to meet the established needs while enabling the enterprise to integrate and share

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data”. The needs of integrating 1-D, 2-D, 3-D, and temporal data in support of various
transportation applications also have called for the implementation of multidimensional (including
spatio-temporal) data representations.

Modern information and communication technologies (ICT) such as the Internet and cellular
phones have changed the ways that people and businesses conduct their activities. These changing
activity and interaction patterns in turn lead to changing spatio-temporal traffic patterns. The world
has become more mobile and dynamic due to modern ICT. With the advancements of location-
aware technologies (e.g., Global Positioning System, cellular phone tracking system, and Wi-Fi
positioning system), it is now feasible and affordable to collect large volumes of tracking data at the
individual level. Consequently, how to best represent and manage dynamic data of moving objects
(people, vehicles, or shipments) in a GIS environment presents new research challenges to GIS-T,
especially when we have to deal with the Big Data issues.

In short, one critical component of GIS-T is how transportation-related data in a GIS

environment can be best represented in order to facilitate and integrate the needs of various
transportation applications. Existing GIS data models provide a good foundation of supporting
many GIS-T applications. However, due to some unique characteristics of transportation data and
application needs, many challenges still exist to develop better GIS data models that will improve
rather than limit what we can do with different types of transportation studies.

8.3- GIS-T Analysis and Modeling

GIS-T applications have benefited from many of the standard GIS functions (query, geocoding,
buffer, overlay, etc.) to support data management, analysis, and visualization needs. Like many
other fields, transportation has developed its own unique analysis methods and models. Examples
include shortest path and routing algorithms (e.g. traveling salesman problems, vehicle routing
problem), spatial interaction models (e.g. gravity model), network flow problems (e.g. minimum
cost flow problem, maximum flow problem, network flow equilibrium models), facility location
problems (e.g. p-median problem, set covering problem, maximal covering problem, p-centers
problem), travel demand models (e.g. the four-step trip generation, trip distribution, modal split,
traffic assignment models, and more recent activity-based travel demand models), and land use-
transportation interaction models.

While the basic transportation analysis procedures (e.g. shortest path finding) can be found in
most commercial GIS software, other transportation analysis procedures and models (e.g. travel
demand models) are available only selectively in some commercial software packages. Fortunately,
the component GIS design approach adopted by GIS software companies provides a better
environment for experienced GIS-T users to develop their own custom analysis procedures and
models.

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 It is essential for both GIS-T practitioners and researchers to have a thorough understanding of
transportation analysis methods and models. For GIS-T practitioners, such knowledge can help
them evaluate different GIS software products and choose the one that best meets their needs. It
also can help them select appropriate analysis functions available in a GIS package and properly
interpret the analysis results. GIS-T researchers, on the other hand, can apply their knowledge to
help improve the design and analysis capabilities of GIS-T. Due to the increasing availability of
tracking data that include both spatial and temporal elements, development of spatio-temporal GIS
analysis functions to help better understand the dynamic movement patterns has attracted significant
research attention in recent years.

8.4- GIS-T applications

GIS-T is one of the leading GIS application fields. Many GIS-T applications have been
implemented at various transportation agencies and private firms. They cover much of the broad
scope of transportation and logistics, such as infrastructure planning and management,
transportation safety analysis, travel demand analysis, traffic monitoring and control, public transit
planning and operations, environmental impacts assessment, intelligent transportation systems
(ITS), routing and scheduling, vehicle tracking and dispatching, fleet management, site selection
and service area analysis, and supply chain management. Each of these applications tends to have
its specific data and analysis requirements. For example, representing a street network as centerlines
may be sufficient for transportation planning and vehicle routing applications. A traffic engineering
application, on the other hand, may require a detailed representation of individual traffic lanes. Turn
movements at intersections also could be critical to a traffic engineering study, but not to a regional
travel demand study.

These different application needs are directly relevant to the GIS-T data representation and the
GIS-T analysis and modeling issues. When a need arises to represent transportation networks of a
study area at different scales, what would be an appropriate GIS-T design that could support the
analysis and modeling needs of various applications? In this case, it is desirable to have a GIS-T
data model that allows multiple geometric representations of the same transportation network.
Research on enterprise and multidimensional GIS-T data models aims at addressing these important
issues of better data representations in support of various transportation applications.

With the rapid growth of the Internet and wireless communications, a growing number of
Internet-based and wireless GIS-T applications can be found, particularly for driving directions
which is the most common commercial use. Global positioning system (GPS) navigation systems
are available as built-in devices in vehicles, as portable devices, and dominantly as built in
applications in smartphones. Coupled with wireless communications, these devices can offer real-
time traffic information and provide helpful location-based services (LBS). Another trend observed

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in recent years is the growing number of GIS-T applications in the private sector, particularly for
logistics applications. Since many businesses involve operations at geographically dispersed
locations (e.g., supplier sites, distribution centers, retail stores, and customer location), GIS-T can
be a useful tool for a variety of logistics applications. Many of these logistics applications are based
on the GIS-T analysis and modeling procedures such as the routing and facility location problems.

GIS-T is interdisciplinary in nature and has many possible applications. Transportation

geographers, who have appropriate backgrounds in both geography and transportation, are well
positioned to pursue GIS-T studies and assist in GIS-T implementations addressing real-world
problems.

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