ISBN-13: 9780415246507 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 240 str.
Geographical information systems (GIS) are computer systems for storing, displaying and analyzing spatial data. Since 1980 there has been a rapid growth in their use in government, commerce and academia, and they can be used for managing a network of utilities, from handling census data through to planning the location of a new supermarket. But how do they work?"
Stephen Wise has been a regular contributor to GeoEurope and his 'Back to Basics' articles have provided a clear and simple introduction to the inner workings of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for a non-specialist audience. He now presents the original articles with new material and provides a new coverage of both major types of GIS: vector and raster systems. Undergraduates and professionals should get a better understanding of how GIS operates, how spatial data is stored on a computer, how the different methods affect the capabilities of the GIS, how basic operations performed and how the choice of algorithm affects the speed of the system.