GIS

Question 1

What does GIS stand for?

Answer 1

Geographic Information Systems

Question 2

What is hardware?

Answer 2

CPU, screen, keyboard, mouse etc.

Question 3

What are the components of GIS?

Answer 3

Hardware, software, data, methods, and people

Question 4

Concept of remote sensing? 💚

Answer 4

The process of capturing data using modern technology to obtain spatial information about the earth’s surface where there is no physical contact between sensor and object.
For example, the use of satellites and the viewing of the earth’s surface from an aircraft (as an aerial photo).

Question 5

What is a low oblique aerial photograph?

Answer 5

Only ground surface visible. Camera axis about 30° from vertical.

Question 6

What is a high oblique aerial photograph?

Answer 6

Surface features and her Rison visible. Camera axis about 60° from vertical.

Question 7

Note

Answer 7

Page 13 in mapwork booklet:
Read about vertical aerial photographs, orthophotos and satellite images. Know descriptions, advantages and disadvantages.
(I can’t find it in the department notes)

Question 8

What is the difference between high resolution and low resolution?

Answer 8

High resolution: many pixels. small pixels. Objects easily recognised

Low resolution: Fewer pixels. Large pixels. Objects not easily recognised.

Question 9

💚Concept of raster data?

Answer 9

Objects on the surface of the Earth are represented by rows and columns of evenly sized blocks, called pixels. Pixels are the smallest unit of data storage.

Question 10

💚Concept of vector data?

Answer 10

Objects on the surface of the Earth are represented by using points, nodes, lines or areas (polygons).

Question 11

What are the 2 types of resolution?

Answer 11

Spectral resolution

Spatial resolution

Question 12

What is spectral resolution? (Not in guidelines)

Answer 12

The ability of the sensor to detect information over several spectral bands (red, green, and blue, infrared, ultraviolet, etc.)

Question 13

Concept of spatial resolution?

Answer 13

Refers to the quantity of detail that can be detected.

Question 14

What is buffering?

Answer 14

A zone drawn around a mapped feature measured in units of distance or time.

Question 15

How can G I S be used in agriculture, crime prevention, traffic congestion, financial, mining and personal use?

Answer 15

Agriculture: rainfall patterns, predicting climate, soil type, suitability of crop

Crime prevention: crime statistics in spatial patterns

Traffic congestion: controlling traffic lights based on information collected

Financial: fines monitoring customer patterns of behaviour

Mining: exploring for mineral deposits
Personal use: finding out the shortest route to school. Find a house which is the safest place etc.

Question 16

Concept of spatial data? 💚

Answer 16

Data that shows location, which is mainly in the form of a map. The specific location can be geo-referenced according to longitude and latitude.

Question 17

Concept of attribute data?💚

Answer 17

Data set information describing geographical characteristics of features or information that can be linked to spatial data.

Question 18

What are the two types of layers?💚

Answer 18

Static (same colour, distance etc.)

Thematic (different colours to differentiate areas, rivers shown with thicker lines than actual width, etc.)

Question 19

What is a buffer zone?

Answer 19

An area between 2 zones that either segregates them or conjoins them

Question 20

What is layering?

Answer 20

Maps showing different types of information are placed on top of one another.

Question 21

What are the 2 types of raster data?

Answer 21

Discrete (has a fixed shape/ end point, e.g. population density(?), lake, building)
Continuous (gradual change in degree, e.g. temperature and elevation)

Question 22

Creating zones of pre-determined width around a point, line or polygon

Answer 22

Buffering

Question 23

Know how to do buffering for a line, point or polygon.

Look in the Geography Mapwork notes Gr.10-12

Answer 23

🌺

Question 24

Data manipulation 💚

Answer 24

The process used to organise data for your specific needs. Changes that one makes to the data during analysis. It involves converting, rearranging and analysing data to get answers.

Question 25

Concept of resolution 💚

Answer 25

Amount of detail with which a map depicts the location and shape of geographical features. The larger the map scale, the higher the possible spatial resolution. The area shown is smaller; hence more detail will be shown.

Question 26

What does GPS stand for? 💚

Answer 26

Global Position Systems

Question 27

Data standardisation

Answer 27

Process of transforming data onto a common scale of measurement in order to ensure comparability

Question 28

Data sharing

Answer 28

The practice of making data used for research available to other users to prevent duplication

Question 29

Data security

Answer 29

Keeping data from being accessed by unauthorised users and from being corrupted

Question 30

Statistical analysis (not def.)

Answer 30

A wide range of mathematical techniques and methods used to describe, explore, understand, prove and predict overall trends from large data sets

Question 31

The combination of two or more data layers in order to create a new layer that can be used for further integration, manipulation and analyses

Answer 31

Data integration

Question 32

How can GIS be applied by the government?

Answer 32

Management of water resources and wetlands Land information can be used for taxation Land information can be used for land-use zoning Detecting urban heat islands using an infrared band at night with clear skies Electricity network and water works

Question 33

How can GIS be applied by the private sector?

Answer 33

Farmers optimise fertiliser placement Retail companies find locations for new sites Transport fleet managers can track truck locations Meteorologists can forecast weather

Question 34

What are the 4 types of scale? (p.10)

Answer 34

Word scale Representative fraction Ratio scale Line scale (or linear/ graphic scale)

Question 35

Name two types of photographs

Answer 35

Vertical aerial photographs | Orthophoto maps

Question 36

Give 2 advantages of vertical aerial photographs

Answer 36

Show objects as they appear in reality Easier to read than maps Show a vast amount of detail Enable us to see object changes over time

Question 37

Give 2 advantages of orthophoto maps

Answer 37

Has been rectified (is true to scale) Large scale - easier to identify features Includes scale, names of places and features, contour lines, spot heights etc.

Question 38

Concept of GIS 💚

Answer 38

A system of hardware, data, people, organisations and institutional arrangements for storing, analysing and disseminating spatially-linked information.

Question 38

Querying 💚 (not def.)

Answer 38

Asking a GIS database a question

Question 39

Any organised assembly of resources and procedures united and regulated by interaction or interdependence to complete a set of specific functions

Answer 39

System

Question 40

A system, whether automated or manual, that comprises of people, machines and/or methods organised to collect, process, transmit and disseminate data that represent user information.

Answer 40

Information system

Question 41

A collection of information about spatial locations and shapes of geographical features recorded, stored and organised in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data.

Answer 41

Geographical database | A database can be thought of as an electronic filing system.

Question 42

The process of linking phenomena such as points, lines and areas to their location on the earth's surface. It involves converting a place to X and Y coordinates so that it can be accurately plotted on a map.

Answer 42

Geo referencing

Question 43

Concept of points

Answer 43

Zero-dimensional representations of features with locations and attributes

Question 44

Concept of lines

Answer 44

One-dimensional representations of features with a start and end point

Question 45

Concept of nodes

Answer 45

Points that are found at the start and end of a line or where two or more lines meet, in which case they represent junctions or intersections

Question 46

Points found along a line

Answer 46

Vertices

Question 48

Concept of polygons

Answer 48

Two-dimensional representations of features made up of a series of lines where the starting point is the same as the ending point

Question 49

A process of identifying and collecting specific information to solve a particular problem

Answer 49

Data acquisition

Question 50

An area represented by each cell or grid in a raster. The detail of the raster data depends on the size of the grid cells.

Answer 50

Pixel resolution (high if there's lots of detail).

Question 51

The ability of a sensing system such as a satellite to differentiate between electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths. It also refers to the range of wavelengths seen by a particular sensor.

Answer 51

Spectral resolution

Question 52

The process of correcting errors in the data and removing irrelevant information

Answer 52

Pre-processing

Question 54

The degree to which spatial information which has been captured satisfies the stated needs

Answer 54

Data quality

Question 55

The process of extracting or creating new information about a set of geographic features and examining the relationships between them. The process by which we turn raw data into useful information.

Answer 55

Spatial analysis

Question 56

Pixels

Answer 56

Pixels are the smallest unit of data storage.

Question 57

Layering of information

Answer 57

Maps showing different types of information are projected onto one another

Question 58

Systematic and logical organisation of data so that it is usable. Data is stored in folders and files on a computer. It's makes it possible to protect data, allows for data sharing and for the maintenance of data quality as well as having a backup system

Answer 58

Data-management