How is GIS being utilized in some real-world, on-the-job applications in fields of interest to you?

Geographic Information System is software that is designed to capture geographic data. The geographic data is used for various purposes such as creation of maps, urban planning, and analysis of environment and planning of transportation. The fields such as environment protection are using the GIS technology to evaluate the areas which are more vulnerable to climate change and need environment protection initiatives. The fields such as urban planning & transportation also use this technology. The GIS technology has revolutionized the world and has provided various benefits to the world. In future it is estimated that this technology will be used in abundance and provide tone of opportunities to the world (Shellito, 2016).

Who  in  these  fields  is  using  GIS  with  what  kinds  of  applications  and  why  are  they  using  GIS? 

            In the fields such as environment protection, transportation and urban planning GIS is used in abundance. In transport engineering the engineers use GIS for making transportation plan. In urban planning and creating new localities the developers use GIS to understand the area and how the locality should be designed. The discussed fields use GIS technology to get information about the geographic location. It is important to understand the region before starting any project otherwise various faults can immerge in the future. Through analysis of the geography one can provide a more suitable plan that benefits the society as a whole (Shellito, 2016).

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

From  examining  some  of  the  historical  maps  in  both  the  Web  interface  and  on  Google  Earth,  how  do  the  areas  represented  match  up  with  their  modern-day  counterparts?

The older maps does not provide that much detail as the new maps provide therefore the older maps are different than the latest maps (Longley, Goodchild, Maguire, & Rhind, 2005).

Examine the “Chicago 1857” map.  How  does  this  historic  map  match  up  with  modern  day  Chicago?  You  can  use  Google  Earth  to  adjust  the  transparency  of  the  map  by  using  the  tools  in  the  Places  Box  (select  the  slider  bar  and  move  it  about  half  way  over  )  -  this  will  enable  you  to  see  current  imagery  of  Chicago  beneath the geo referenced  layer.  Are  there  any  areas  that  have  changed  significantly  between  then  and  now?

Source: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1570~190004

The analysis of the Chicago map of 1857 indicates that there have been a lot of changes our over the period of time. The today’s maps are more vivid and colorful than the old maps. Through analysis of previous and today’s map it can be seen that the positions of the road does not change much. The today’s map shows various natural features of the area as well such as river lakes and mountains. At that time the bus lines were also represented on the map but today they are not included on the map. The old Chicago map was made prior to the city was burned in the year 1871 (Map Of Chicago, 2018).

 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chicago,+IL,+USA/@41.8904756,-87.6574954,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000!8m2!3d41.8781136!4d-87.6297982

Examine  the  "United  States  1833"  map  (the  'Eagle'  map  with  its  icon  located  in  Ohio),  and  make  the  layer  semi-transparent.  How  does  this  map  of  the  United  States  match  up  with  current  boundaries  and  coastlines?

Source: https://media.davidrumsey.com/rumsey/Size4/D0005/00054111.jpg

The eagle map of United States has resemblance with today’s map of United States of America. In the old map eastern coast line has a lot of similarities with the current coast line however in the eagle map there were fewer cities were mentioned as compared to today’s map. The today’s map shows more detailed coast line and boundaries along with the more cities (Map Of Chicago, 2018).

Examining Google Street View

How  would  the  imagery  from  Street  View  be  helpful  if  you  were  traveling  to  Rock  Hall  as  a  destination  (and  had  never  been  there  before)?  There  are no  parking  areas  available  immediately  adjacent  to  the  Rock  Hall  -  how  could  Google  Street  View  be  more  helpful  to  you  than  a  road  map  or  an  overhead  view  in  finding  somewhere  to  park?

The Google street view provides 3D image of the street. The street views provides actual image of the specific region and one can understand the area more efficiently than the landsat imagery. For example if any wants to reach to the Rock Hall as destination the street view imagery can help the drivers to reach the location easily because all the major roads that leads toward the Rock Hall provides Street view (Shellito, 2016).

Examine  some  local  areas  near  you  using  Street  View.  Which  roads  are  available  with  Street  View  imagery  and  which  are  not  (for  instance,  is  Street  View  imagery  of  residential  areas  available  or  is  it  available  only  on  main  roads)?

All the major roads usually have street imagery however the streets which are smaller and away from the city centers does not provide street view. The residential areas does provide street imagery however as discussed earlier the miner roads does not provide street imagery (Shellito, 2016).

Live Landsat Imagery

What  kinds  of  features  in  the  San  Diego  region  can  you  easily  identify  even  with  the Landsat  30m  resolution? 

In the city of San Diego California USA the Land sat 30 m resolution provides brief futures regarding the area.  The above pictures shows a locality located in San Diego and it can be seen that the buildings, roads and other features are clearly visible (Longley, Goodchild, Maguire, & Rhind, 2005).

In  the  most  recent  available  Land sat  imagery,  is  the  Suffolk  Campus  clear  or  clouded  in?  What  types  of  local  features  can  you  identify  with  30m  imagery?

The above figure shows the Suffolk Campus and it can be seen that the Suffolk campus is clearly visible and not clouded. The roads, buildings and natural features are clearly visible in 30m imagery (Shellito, 2016).

 References

Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D. J., & Rhind, D. W. (2005). Geographic Information Systems and Science. John Wiley & Sons.

Map Of Chicago. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1570~190004

Shellito, B. A. (2016). Introduction to Geospatial Technologies. W. H. Freeman.