Intro to GIS & Mapping

ECON 212 - Fall 2017

Ryan Clement - go/ryan

What we're talking about today

  • What is GIS? Is it just maps?
  • Some important mapping concepts
  • Tools
    • OpenStreetMap
    • Social Explorer
    • ArcGIS Online

First, some expectations...

  • Stop me if you have any questions!
  • Help your neighbors, and ask for help!
  • You can (and should) call me Ryan!

First...what is GIS?

  • GIS stands for Geographic Information System
  • GIS is a tool used to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present geographic data
  • The data used with GIS is spatial data (data that is referenced to points on the Earth)
  • GIS is not a map!

Map Ingredients

(1) A reference system

(2) A datum

https://www.grossmont.edu/people/judd-curran/images/datum.jpg

(3) A projection

Projections can have accurate sizes or accurate shapes

Accurate Size

Accurate Shape

Mercator - conformal projection Tissot's indicatrix © Eric Gaba – Wikimedia Commons user: Sting
Equirectangular (equidistant cylindrical) projection Tissot's indicatrix © Eric Gaba – Wikimedia Commons user: Sting

Or neither!

Robinson projection © Eric Gaba – Wikimedia Commons user: Sting

Dymaxion or Fuller map

Dymaxion or Fuller map

(4) A way to measure the Earth

What are some things you can do with GIS and spatial data?

Land Cover Analysis

Urban Planning

Analyzing Spatial Distributions

Analyzing Spatial Distributions

Combining Multiple Datasets

Geographically Weighted Regression

Calculating Distances/Areas

Time to try it out!

Thanks!

for more, see Ryan @ go/ryan

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