The ESRI Guide to GIS Analysis, Volume 1: Geographic Patterns and Relationships / Edition 1

by Andy Mitchell

Overview

The ESRI Guide to GIS Analysis, Volume 1 shows how geographic analysis with GIS can identify patterns, relationships, and trends that lead to better decision making. Using examples from various industries, this book focuses on six of the most common geographic analysis tasks: mapping where things are, mapping the most and least, mapping density, finding what is inside, finding what is nearby, and mapping what has changed. Written for both new and experienced GIS users, this book builds a foundation of the basic tasks needed to handle a wide range of analysis applications. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781879102064
Publisher:	Esri Press
Publication date:	08/01/1999
Series:	The Esri Guide to GIS Analysis , #1
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Andy Mitchell is a technical writer with more than 30 years’ experience in GIS. He is the author or co-author of several books, including The Esri Guide to GIS Analysis series and Zeroing In: Geographic Information Systems at Work in the Community.

Read an Excerpt

Spatial analysis is where the GIS rubber hits the road, where all the hard work of digitizing, building a database, checking for errors, and dealing with the details of projections and coordinate systems finally pays off in results and better decisions. But spatial analysis has often seemed inaccessible to many users—too mathematical to understand, too difficult to implement, and lacking in good textbooks and guides. Here at last is the ideal book, written by Andy Mitchell and based on ESRI’s vast experience with applications of spatial analysis to a host of real problems. The book covers every area of GIS application, so readers will find examples that relate directly to their own concerns, whether they be in hydrology, transportation, or regional planning. The organization is intuitive, with sections on all of the major forms of simple spatial analysis.

This book will appeal to GIS users in all areas of GIS application. It will be invaluable reading for people encountering GIS for the first time, and wanting to see where its real power lies. It will make an excellent textbook for courses in GIS in high schools, community colleges, and undergraduate programs, and as a supplement for practical work. Although, the best way to learn what GIS Analysis can do for your projects is to use it. So buy this book and begin getting results and making better decisions.

In the next decade, the use of GIS analysis will grow. A new type of user will emerge—the spatial scientist. A significant number of GIS users will emerge as advanced modelers. Our goal is to help you expand your analytical GIS skills and sophistication. To do that, ESRI plans to add another book to this series covering more advanced analysis concepts and methods.

Table of Contents

Introducing GIS analysis
What is GIS analysis?
Understanding geographic features
Understanding geographic attributes
Mapping where things are
Why map where things are?
Deciding what to map
Preparing your data
Making your map
Analyzing geographic patterns
Mapping the most and least
Why map the most and least?
What do you need to map?
Understanding quantities
Creating classes
Making a map
Looking for patterns
Mapping density
Why map density?
Deciding what to map
Two ways of mapping density
Mapping density for defined areas
Creating a density surface
Finding what's inside
Why map what's inside?
Defining your analysis
Three ways of finding what's inside
Drawing areas and features
Selecting features inside an area
Overlaying areas and features
Finding what's nearby
Why map what's nearby?
Defining your analysis
Three ways of finding what's nearby
Using straight-line distance
Measuring distance or cost over a network
Calculating cost over a geographic surface
Mapping change
Why map change?
Defining your analysis
Three ways of mapping change
Creating a time series
Creating a tracking map
Measuring and mapping change
Where to get more information
Index