Essay on GIS

Instructions: Choose four of the following questions, and write a brief essay, in true essay format, i.e. using grammatically complete sentences and paragraphs that are logically connected to one another. Please specify which questions you are answering by providing the question, along with your answer to that question. Worth 15 points apiece.

1. Briefly discuss each of the following aspects of GIS project management:

a. Important questions to ask before beginning a GIS project.

b. The importance of developing a well-designed GIS.

c. Choosing a methodology or model

d. Data collection phase

e. Analysis phase

f. Presentation of results

2. Provide at least five examples of graphic elements that can appear on a map, and briefly

describe each type of graphic element, including its purpose.

3. Describe each of the following broad categories of map type:

Helpful Link: http://geography.about.com/od/understandmaps/a/map-types.htm

a. Reference Maps (provide several examples of map types that fall within this category,

and briefly describe each)

Useful Link: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/The_definition_of_reference_map#page2

b. Thematic Maps (provide several examples of map types that fall within this category,

and briefly describe each)

Useful Link: http://geography.about.com/od/understandmaps/a/thematicmaps.htm

c. Navigation Maps (provide several examples of map types that fall within this

category, and briefly describe each)

Useful Links:

http://www.and.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_chart

d. Persuasive Maps (provide at least 3 examples of map types that fall within this category,

and briefly describe each)

Useful Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartographic_propaganda

http://geography.about.com/od/understandmaps/a/Propaganda-Maps.htm

http://geocurrents.info/geonotes/maps-as-an-instrument-of-propaganda-part-1

4. Briefly describe each of the following generalization operations, using diagrams to illustrate your points.

a. Selection

b. Simplification

c. Displacement

d. Smoothing and enhancement

5. When you add data to an ArcGIS map document, are you actually adding the data to the document? If not,

why might this be an advantage, according to Dr. Price? What is a potential drawback of storing data

separately from the map document?

6. Briefly discuss each of the following projection classes, and subclasses, including what properties each preferentially preserves, and which properties tend to be the most distorted, by each:

a. Cylindrical projections

1) Transverse variant

2) Oblique variant

b. Conic projections

1) Standard parallel

2) Secant variant

c. Azimuthal projections

7. Briefly describe, and discuss, each of the following concepts associated with raster coordinate systems

a. Georeferenced raster

b. World file

c. Ground control points

d. Affine transformation

e. Rubbersheeting

f. Root mean square error (RMSE)

g. Rectify

8. Briefly discuss each of the following topics associated with the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem , or MAUP:

a. What the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem refers to

b. What normalizing the data refers to it, how it is used to address MAUP for some cases, and why not all attributes need normalization (provide examples of attribute data for which normalization would not be needed)

c. What a dot density map is, and how it can be used to address the visual MAUP issue

9. Briefly how each of the following methods of classification is derived, and under what conditions it is most appropriate to use each method:

a. Jenks , or Natural Breaks , Method

b. Equal Interval Method

c. Defined Interval Method

d. Quantile Method

d. Geometric Interval Method

e. Standard Deviation Method