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Introduction to GIS and formats
GIS
In order to work effectively with large quantities of data the use of geographic information systems (GIS) is necessary.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a computer programs that organize, display, and analyze spatially distributed data. At its simplest, GIS is "mapping", providing a geographic arrangement of extremely diverse information. GIS has been applied in geology, biology, psychology, anthropology etc., and has been around in Crop Forecasting for a long time.
General purpose GIS programs are designed to capture and analyze any kind of geographical data. The most common commercial GIS software packages worldwide are:
Raster formatHowever the open-source community has created a wide range of free tools (to be downloaded from the internet). A nice start page can be found here: http://www.mapcruzin.com/free_gis.htm
Data
GIS data is commonly in one of two forms:
- Raster or image format. A grid of rows and columns of cells. These might represent photographic or scanned images. Within agrometeorology satellite images are usually represented in this way. Each cell represents a value. This value can be assigned a thematic colour in order to visualize the data. Raster data come in a large number of file types. A good overview of raster file types can be found here: http://data.geocomm.com/helpdesk/formats.html#raster-formats
Vector format
- Vector format. Geometric shapes, including points, lines, and polygons. These might represent buildings, roads, and counties. This link gives sums up the most commonly used general purpose vector formats: http://data.geocomm.com/helpdesk/formats.html#vector-formats
Either of these can have tables of data associated with them, e.g. elevation, population, financial values, etc. Such associated data can be used to color a map so that it conveys information with visual impact.
