Global Positioning System - Coursework Example

G.I.S Information retrieval has always been a difficult task since it requires accuracy .With the current standings of modern era and advancements in all disciplines of life that are achieved through science and technology, different procedures and instruments have been introduced in the field of tracking as well. These features enable hunting down any entity in the universe through a centralized monitoring system that is known as G.I.S. G.I.S is acronym for Global Positioning system used for locating, tracking and mapping service. The need for such a system arose when mankind was confronted with difficult and unforeseen situations. In natural disasters like earth quakes and tsunamis where all other means of contact are disrupted and hundreds of people are stranded, the global information system can contribute in this case and save many lives. In simple words ,it is combination of several softwares, and hard wares that work together on the principle of geography and through the use of advanced techniques and computer, enables the position identification across the universe .The working principle is based on connecting dots and matching them with the maps, the rows and columns are taken into account. The mapping system adds value to the entire concept and it serves as the identification mark, for example in sensitive areas, dots can be put in form of maps, and can be highlighted for monitoring and surveillance .Similarly mapping the places based on the temperatures can help the farmers, along with the miners in a broader way and allow for exploration and drilling the right areas based on the given information (Wise 2002). Though, its use is not limited to emergency situations only. Rather a person sitting in one continent can check any place across the ocean without moving out of his premises. An investor desiring to find out the feasibility of any place and the presence of its competitors can get to know this through this gift of modern times. It has reduced and eliminated the physical labor of going physically to a place and even made it possible to check the places that were once not accessible or could not be travelled. Brief History: Going back into history, the first use of geographical concept for a location marking can be traced back to mid 19th century when Dr.Jhon Snow was conducting a research on the Cholera break out in the London city, he plotted the location of the affected areas (Grinderud -2009), the modern G.I.S application initiation can be traced back to mid 20th century and various definitions were given to it back then. Though traces of location identification through points and hints can be traced back to mid 19th century, however solid evidence and work can be found in history in the 20th century. In 1960 breakthrough was achieved and first fully integrated G.I.S was operated from Canada by the Federal Department of Forestry and Rural Development ,back then it was termed as Canadian Geographical Information System (C.G.I.S),efforts continued in other corners of the world too , all of them had one thing in common and that was spatial data retrieval .in the last decade of previous century with digitization on verge, this field found some advancements and became more effective .CAD and DBMS contribute to the entire system ,one helping in digital cartography in process of converting the hard form information into the digital medium while the other in entertaining and storing the queries (George Christakos 2001). It finds applications in almost all spheres of life and has made life easy in recent years. An important dimension of G.I.S is its survey ability, for example a bank might want to establish its A.T.M machines, for this purpose survey of a respective area is vital, the G.I.S technology allows information about it without the need of going into the field .From forestry to military to business enterprises, G.I.S finds its applications. Google Map is a prime example of G.I.S, famous all over the world for its accuracy and extensive searching abilities. Geo tagging is another concept associated with it .which is mostly available in the latest digital cameras and social networking websites these days. G.I.S application enables viewing of geographical data in form of graphical interface and the application usually contains the menu bar, maps and legends. The vector data allows interpretation of real world information on to the G.I.S application software .The vectors constitute the geometry and consists of x-axis and y-axis plane. Vector data consists of nodes, dots and lines. G.I.S establishes connections between activities that are based on spatial proximity. Role of O.G.C: O.G.C is acronym for Open Geospatial Consortium that has over 300 companies, universities and other different related agencies under its umbrella that strive for commercializing and making the technology affordable and make the entire technology and concept user friendly and more useful towards its implementation in every field of life .Compliment product and Implementing product are two sub categories of the O.G.C body (Alias Abdul-Rahman 2008). Few of the salient features of G.I.S: Calculation of area, Route planning Vehicle tracking Traffic Management Disaster Relief Efforts Incident Monitoring The diagram shows the entire architecture and working of G.I.S ,any input or query is entertained by the centralized data base management system which then co relates the points and maps them to the desired output .It can perform pattern analysis, query analysis, query related to a position, as well as condition Working: The information about different parts of the universe are stored in form of layers, these layers may be derived on the boundaries of a country, continent, city trade routes or the rivers and oceans. All these can be mainly divided into three sections that are hydrology related to oceans and waters, the second one is topography, related to the land elevation and the third one deals with the dry lands in form of roads and mountains. The data pattern is stacked and each layer represents a separate segment. All these layers are geo-referenced Stacked layer hierarchy Components: .Hardware: The hardware consists of the input systems at the receiver end, satellites being installed in the sky, (which comes under the umbrella of Global Information technologies and sensor networks), and other digital equipment useful in the entire process. The end terminal device could be in form of a single processor or a server that distributes the information to clients Softwares: Set of softwares are used in the entire process. Some are for data gathering data base relate, others are image processing that includes the Graphic oriented data , Data Base Management System (D.B.M.S) is part of the software package that completes the family .The most common in practice that are widely renown include ARC/INFO. Data formats: An important component of the entire G.I.S process is the data availability. The data helps reaching to the desired points on the map .Data serves as a dictionary that tells us about the locations on the map. Various types of data include geographical data, which is in form of the images, other being the tabular data which is accessed through the coordinates and longitude and latitude determination. Any data that is desired to be searched out must be put into the data base in a proper format, a format that is acceptable to the database. This may even involve digitizing which is the process of converting the old maps or the Ariel shots conversation into digital database readable files. Implicit geographical data vs. Explicit Geographical data: The implicit geographical data is dealt in terms of the physical addresses given by the people while the explicit reference is based on the geo physical positioning in terms of the latitude and longitude . Visualization: This is the stage when input has been provided; the softwares have performed the run process, and visuals are extracted based on the demand. The visuals are usually maps, three dimensional, graphs and blocks. G.I.S combines the databases with visualization features of a map and enables tracing positions. With the advent of still images and moving ones at the same time, at the same time travel becoming a fast and easy means of approach, the G.I.S concept held ground. G.I.S has brought about revolution in the field of science and technology and has made the once impossible possible .Through use of its databases and query systems it can locate any part of the world through a normal search. Challenges: with every day advancements and access of entire G.I.S to the ordinary citizens questions are being raised on limiting the access ability over this system. Similarly in case of governments, violation of privacy can be an argument and needs certain reforms .based on the data bases employees enjoy large number of privileges that allows them access into information of any citizen. Certain regulations need to be brought into it in order to nullify this fear. G.I.S at times are not possible on local and domestic scale due to its expensive nature, for this purpose G.I.S hosting is performed where G.I.S services are being provided on commercial scale. With ever increasing demand for G.I.S services the trend is rising and the hosting agencies are flourishing in this field. Multimedia Mapping: Futuristic Approach: This approach is termed as the future prospect of G.I.S operations .It is termed as one of the technologies of new millennium along with Nano Technology and few others .This approach will bring about improvement in the entire concept and structure and improve the output by large proportions .With Multimedia approach it is expected to be available even on small scales in personal digital assistants and home computers. This enables the custom view and increased flexibility in form of interoperability .This process would integrate both G.P.S and Sensors networks .The multimedia approach would allow a view beyond 2D.it would open the doors for 3D spatial dimensions which will allow hyperlink access to real life images and, videos, texts and audio(William Cartwright 2007). 4D geographical information system is another step ahead in the coming days which would allow further advancements. Equipped with more efficient data structures and would introduce complete new concept of navigation and spatial dimensions determination. Bibliography: 1-Wise, S 2002, GIS basics, Taylor & Francis. Wise 2002 2-Grinderud, K May-2009 , GIS: the geographic language of our age, Tapir Academic Press. 3-George Christakos, PBMLS 2001, Temporal GIS: advanced functions for field-based applications, Springer. 4-Alias Abdul-Rahman, MP 2008, Spatial data modelling for 3D GIS, Springer. 5-William Cartwright, MPPGFG 2007, Multimedia cartography, Springer. 6-Vernon Singhroy, DNAIJ 1996, Remote sensing and GIS for site characterization: applications and standards, ASTM International. Xiong, H 2008, Encyclopedia of GIS, Springer. Xiong 2008 Read More