The Course of the Evaluation - Case Study Example

Analysing vector data with the ArcView GIS This paper encompasses an evaluation based on analysing vector data with the ArcView GIS. During the course of the evaluation the two best possible locations for a particular kind of business centre within the defined study area inn south-east London will be identified. The first location will maximise developer profits, the second location will minimise negative environmental and social impacts. The proposed business is a super retail store. Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise, from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.[1] Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. Shops may be on residential streets, or in shopping streets with few or no houses, or in a shopping center or mall, but mostly found in the central business district. Shopping streets may or may not be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Retailers often provided boardwalks in front of their stores to protect customers from the mud. Online retailing, also known as e-commerce is the latest form of non-shop retailing (cf. mail order). Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase. Most retailers have employees learn facing; a hyperreal tool used to create the look of a perfectly-stocked store (even when its not). The superstore was designed to serve the community exclusively and accompany a website and catalog. Customers are sure to find thigh quality, brand-named dancewear discounted up to 30 percent. The superstore will offer wonderful customer service, Other features include computer kiosks where shoppers can browse the website, place orders, or post reviews and ratings for their favorite products. Working geographically reveals relationships among the forces that drive your organization. It helps you see patterns you could not see before, gain new insights, and make significantly better decisions. ArcView GIS makes it easy to create maps using your own data. With ArcView GIS software you can access records from many types of existing databases and see them on a map. Spreadsheets list numbers in columns and summarize data in charts. With ArcView GIS software you can visualize categories of information on a map. If you are looking at consumer buying habits in your region, for example, in an instant you can see clusters or groups based on criteria that matter to you. Each category is represented by its own color. You can even add to or change the criteria to see how the big picture changes. This is the power of eographybased analysis. AISLUS (1991). “Using ArcView GIS, we profile and visualize the trade areas of our branches based on point data about custom determine the degree of overlap between neighboring branches, which we’ve used in the planning of over 100 branch consolidations following our merger. We also develop maps that pinpoint the census tracts, offering the most opportunity (as defined by something we call financial buying power) for each of our branches.”Craig Zarider Vice President Chase Manhattan Bank As far as general software functionality ArcView has the ability to do geographic searches (e.g. gazetteer text, point-in-polygon, etc), dynamic links across windows and between map and database tables, raster to vector conversion, and raster and vector display. ArcView supports the following vector operations: dynamic editing, polygon overlay, buffering and/or proximity analysis, network analysis, COGO operations and TIN or surface modelling ((Mapping Awareness, 1997). Raster data is supported for display only. The package also supports 3D analysis, display and surface draping. In terms of a systems usefulness one of the first considerations should be its ease of use, this permits the user to not only learn quickly and maintain familiarity with a system, but also helps to ensure accuracy in data handling. Consistency is the most important design element of a GUI (graphical user interface) that is easy to use. ArcViews GUI design is based on that of Windows 9x/NT with menu, button, tool and status bars, making the system immediately recognisable and comfortable to the majority of PC users: 0 System longevity is equally important and is obtained through the avoidance of unreliable software and adoption of a modular software design structure. In this respect ArcView is very much a modular system with an increasing variety of application specific extensions (see below) that, in addition to ERSIs placement at the top of the market (see GeoMarkets International rankings), should ensure excellent software longevity. (Smith C., R. Thwaites and G. McDonald 1999) Flexibility in software design is also critical and is fulfilled in ArcView through the use of its object oriented customisation language, Avenue. Avenue can be used to customise the standard GUI (e.g. adding/removing control choices, creating new functions, etc) or develop complete applications. The format of Avenue is easily recognisable to any one that has programmed in languages such as C++ and Java. These are a few examples of Avenue source codes: ArcView scripts and extensions. As mentioned above, the variety, quantity and complexity of demographic data is increasing greatly and therefore requires not only good database management and functionality, but also good data fluidity between systems/networks. The fact that ArcView runs on the vast majority of operating systems, including Macintosh, immediately reduces problems of data transfer between system types. In terms of data input ArcView can be combined with portable tools (e.g. GPS) for mobile data collection for use in supplement to field population survey data areas. ArcView also has an internal digitising extension and can import vector map data using various converters that allow it to read/import directly from various sources and data types. In addition, ArcView can also open image data and use database tables from an equally wide range. Attribute data in ArcView is stored/added as a table, which can access dBase, INFO, SQL or text, files. ArcView can access these tables for standard data management/analysis functions, such as selecting features using logical expressions, chart creation (see image, above), basic statistics, hot linking (allows the linking of a feature to a text file, image, ArcView document or project) and basic spatial queries/analysis. For database management ESRI provide the Spatial Database Engine, which supplies client/server technology for storing, managing and analysing large quantities of spatial, CAD, and image data in a relational database management system. SDE enables spatial data integration and distribution over Intranets and the Internet. ESRI have also recognised the fact that a great deal of social, scientific, and conservation data is stored in tabular form (i.e. population census) and have developed the Conservation Data Manager. The CDM is a union of various tools for desktop spatial and tabular data management into a single integrated tool.   ArcView Spatial Data Analyst is a very important extension for decision-making for planning allowing the creation, manipulation and analysis of much used raster data. It can perform the following functions:  ·        Convert vector themes to raster themes; ·        Create raster buffers based on distance/proximity from vector or raster themes; ·        Create density maps from themes containing point features; ·        Create continuous surfaces from scattered point features; ·        Create contour, slope and aspect maps and hill shades of these surfaces; ·        Carry out raster analysis; ·        Perform Boolean queries and algebraic calculations; ·        Perform raster classification and display; ·        Perform integrated raster-vector theme analysis; ·        Build spatial models (e.g. least cost paths and land suitability models). In addition, ArcView Spatial Analyst also includes a suite of more advanced raster analysis tools that can be accessed through Avenue requests. n n n The negative issues related to ArcView generally relate to the industry as a whole. Scientific inquiry often involves the study of the dynamics of physical systems, which requires an appreciation of time. GIS systems, including ArcView, do not adequately represent the concept of time and at best can store snapshots of the current state of a system, which can then be compared with previous/later snapshots. In addition ArcView has a lack of sophisticated statistical software and other analytical tools that would allow its use as a stand-alone. To conclude, it is apparent that ArcView is a well-designed and supported desktop GIS system featuring powerful tools for map display and query, data analysis, editing and plotting, and customisation. However, in order to be fully useful as the basis of demographic spatial analysis in planning a number of its extension products would be necessary and development new ones and modification of user interface. While pull down menus and buttons are fairly self explanatory, tools are functions that are activated through the use of the cursor in the active window. For instance, there is a built-in zooming tool for the "view" window which allows the user to pick the lower left and upper right corners of a section of the view, and then sets the extent of that view to those points. Figure 1, at right, illustrates custom buttons and tools implemented in this prototype In addition, by use of ArcView GIS Avenue facilities, it is possible to create customized button driven front-end system, which provides an environment for grouping together several actions into one selection procedure. This can be done with Avenue where scripts call each and run other programs, display graphics using links. With the use of Avenue message box (Msgbox) allows to input data by user to be verified before proceeding to the next stage. There is pop up window for displaying of text files, tables, graphics, pictures relating to results of analysis, as pop up windows do not totally obstruct the main view. \ \ \ References AISLUS (1991). Methodology of priority delineation survey. All India Soil and Land Use Survey, Department of Agriculture & Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. New Delhi. Dent D .L. and A. Young 1981 Soil survey and land evaluation. George Allen and Unwin, London. FAO 1976 Framework for land evaluation. Soils Bull. 32, Rome. FAO 1985 Guidelines: land evaluation for irrigated agriculture. Soils Bull. 55,Rome. Smith C., R. Thwaites and G. McDonald 1999 TIM : evaluating the sustainability of agricultural land management at the planning stage. The Land 3,1, 21-38. Venkatachalam P., B.K. Mohan and S. Shekhar 1998 GRAM++ Design Document (version 2.0). UNDP (GIS based Technologies for Local Level Development Planning ) / DST, Govt. of India (Development of GRAM for Windows), CSRE, IIT-Bombay ^ Distribution Services. Foreign Agricultural Service (February 9, 2000). Retrieved on 2006-04-04. Read More