You have already experienced some aspects of geographic information systems (GIS) through your work with ArcView in previous exercises. This exercise extends your familiarity with GIS. Here the focus is on the information that a GIS uses. In particular you will see how a GIS organizes data about locations in order for those data to be useful. You will see that GIS uses both map (geographic) data as well as information about places that may not be found on maps at all (attribute data). You will also see that the geographic data come in two varieties, called vector and raster. Finally, you will see how these data are turned from paper maps into computer format, and from data for one GIS program to another. These are vital tasks for GIS and often occupy a large portion of a GIS project's time and money.
After completing this exercise, you will be able to:
If you're working at home or elsewhere outside the GIS Lab, you will need some data for ArcView in the exercise. See the download page to obtain these data if necessary.
Remember that if you get stuck doing an assignment and would like some suggestions from class members you can send an e-mail to others in the class and/or your instructor. Use the e-mail system in the course Web site.
Part of this exercise consists of questions in these Web pages. As you work, record your answers to the questions, either in a Mail message, or separately and then transfer them to a Mail message. You will also create a graphics files by exporting from ArcView, and attach the file to your message. As usual, you can refer to separate instructions on turning in assignments if you need tips.
Bryan Baker, Sonoma State
University, bryan.baker@sonoma.edu
Updated 17 February 1999