Over the last decade, GIS (geographical information systems) has established itself as a collaborative information processing system. The vast domain of information it can process is ever increasing and so is its popularity. Yet this interdisciplinary field is not available to the vast community of students and academicians as a subject of study.This book addresses the GIS user domain encompassing students, users and engineers. Important aspects of geographical information science (GISc), which is the basis of GIS, are explained. The book aims to capture the basics of GIS from the point of view of a student. The requirements of GIS have been explained keeping in mind the general user’s level of knowledge. The processing capability of GIS along with the mathematics and formulae involved in arriving at a solution are explained for students and cartographers. The work flow of the whole system, its output and applications are illustrated from an engineer’s point of view.
Narayan Panigrahi obtained his B.Sc. (Physics Hons.) from Khallikote College, Orissa, M.Sc. (Computer Science) from J.K. Institute of Applied Physics and Technology, University of Allahabad and M.Tech. (Computer Science and Data Processing) from IIT Kharagpur. His areas of interest include design, analysis and optimization of algorithms concerning computational geometry, geographical information science and image processing. Currently he is a scientist at the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), a DRDO laboratory in Bangalore, India.
Foreword / Preface and Acknowledgements / Introduction / Input Domain of GIS / Spatial Data Modeling / Processing Tools of GIS / 3D Processing and Analysis / Coordinate Systems and Referencing Earth Objects / Map Projection / Output Range of GIS / Computational Geometry Used in GIS / Spatial Interpolation / Spatial Data Accuracy / Evolution of Geographical Information Science / Application Domain of GIS / Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) / GIS: A Developer’s Perspective / Appendix A Analysis of GIS Aspects / Appendix B Glossary of Definitions & Terms / Appendix C Geo-Spatial Meta-data / Appendix D Frequently Asked Questions in GIS / Appendix E Expansion of Acronyms / Index