A Gentle Introduction to GIS

Brought to you with Quantum GIS, a Free and Open Source

Software GIS Application for everyone.

T. Sutton, O. Dassau, M. Sutton

sponsored by:

Chief Directorate: Spatial Planning & Information, Department of

Land Affairs, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

in partnership with:

Spatial Information Management Unit, Office of the Premier,

Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Copyright (c) 2009 Chief Directorate: Spatial Planning
& Information, Department of Land
Affairs, Eastern Cape.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document

under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License".

The above copyright notice excludes the QGIS User Manual which may be
appended to this document. Consult the QGIS Manuals for further
copyright and licensing information.
A word from the editor:

This project was sponsored by the Chief Directorate: Spatial Planning &
Information, Department of Land Affairs (DLA), Eastern Cape, in conjunction
with the Spatial Information Management Unit, Office of the Premier, Eastern
Cape, South Africa.

GIS is becoming an increasingly important tool in environmental management,

retail, military, police, tourism and many other spheres of our daily lives. If you
use a computer or a cell phone, you have probably already used a GIS in some
form without even realising it. Maybe it was a map on a web site, Google
Earth, an information booth or your cell phone telling you where you are.
Proprietary GIS software (software that cannot be freely shared or modified) is
available that will let you do everything we describe in these worksheets and a
lot more. However this software is usually very expensive or otherwise limits
your freedom to copy, share and modify the software. GIS vendors sometimes
make an exception for educational activities, providing cheaper or free copies
of their software. They do this knowing that if teachers and learners get to
know their software, they will be reluctant to learn other packages. When
learners leave school they will go into the workplace and buy the commercial
software, never knowing that there are free alternatives that they could be
using.

With Quantum GIS, we offer an alternative - software that is free of cost and
free in a social sense. You can make as many copies as you like. When learners
leave school one day they can use this software to build their skills, solve
problems at work and make the world a better place.

When you buy commercial software, you limit your options for the future. By
learning, using and sharing Free and Open Source Software, you are building
your own skills, freeing money to be spent on important things like food and
shelter and boosting our own economy.

By sponsoring the creation of this resource, the DLA has created a foundation
to which young minds can be exposed. Exciting possibilities lie ahead when
principles of free sharing of knowledge and data are embraced. For this we
give our heartfelt thanks to the DLA!

We hope you enjoy using and learning QGIS in the spirit of Ubuntu!

Tim Sutton, April 2009

Table of Contents
Topic 1: Introducing GIS..........................................................................2
Topic 2: Vector Data..............................................................................10
Topic 3: Vector Attribute Data.................................................................21
Topic 4: Data Capture............................................................................34
Topic 5: Raster Data..............................................................................46
Topic 6: Topology..................................................................................55
Topic 7: Coordinate Reference Systems....................................................60
Topic 8: Map Production.........................................................................72
Topic 9: Vector Spatial Analysis (Buffers).................................................80
Topic 10: Spatial Analysis (Interpolation).................................................87
About the authors & contributors:...........................................................93
GNU Free Documentation License............................................................95
QGIS User Manual...............................................................................102

1
 GIS for Educators Topic 1: Introducing GIS
Objectives: Understanding what GIS
is and what it can be
used for.
Keywords: GIS, Computer, Maps,
Data, Information
System, Spatial, Analysis

Overview:

Just as we use a word processor to write documents and deal with words on a
computer, we can use a GIS application to deal with spatial information on
a computer. GIS stands for 'Geographical Information System'. A GIS
consists of:

● Digital Data – the geographical information that you will view and
analyse using computer hardware and software.
● Computer Hardware – computers used for storing data, displaying
graphics and processing data.
● Computer Software – computer programs that run on the computer
hardware and allow you to work with digital data. A software program
that forms part of the GIS is called a GIS Application.

With a GIS application you can open digital maps on your computer, create
new spatial information to add to a map, create printed maps customised to
your needs and perform spatial analysis.

Let's look at a little example of how GIS can be useful. Imagine you are a
health worker and you make a note of the date and place of residence of every
patient you treat.

Longitude Latitude Disease Date

26.870436 -31.909519 Mumps 13/12/2008
26.868682 -31.909259 Mumps 24/12/2008
26.867707 -31.910494 Mumps 22/01/2009
26.854908 -31.920759 Measles 11/01/2009
26.855817 -31.921929 Measles 26/01/2009
26.852764 -31.921929 Measles 10/02/2009
26.854778 -31.925112 Measles 22/02/2009
26.869072 -31.911988 Mumps 02/02/2009

2
 26.863354 -31.916406 Chicken Pox 26/02/2009

If you look at the table above you will quickly see that there were a lot of
measles cases in January and February. Our health worker recorded the
location of each patient's house by noting its latitude and longitude in the
table. Using this data in a GIS Application, we can quickly understand a lot
more about the patterns of illness:

Illustration 1: Example showing disease records in a GIS application. It is easy

to see that the mumps patients all live close to each other.

More about GIS:

GIS is a relatively new field - it started in the 1970's. It used to be that

computerised GIS was only available to companies and universities that had
expensive computer equipment. These days, anyone with a personal computer
or laptop can use GIS software. Over time GIS Applications have also become
easier to use – it used to require a lot of training to use a GIS Application, but
now it is much easier to get started in GIS even for amateurs and casual users.
As we described above, GIS is more than just software, it refers to all aspects
of managing and using digital geographical data. In the tutorials that follow we

3
will be focusing on GIS Software.

What is GIS Software / a GIS Application?:

You can see an example of what a GIS Application looks like in Illustration 1
above. GIS Applications are normally programs with a graphical user interface
that can be manipulated using the mouse and keyboard. The application
provides menus near to the top of the window (File, Edit etc.) which, when
clicked using the mouse, show a panel of actions. These actions provide a way
for you to tell the GIS Application what you want to do. For example you may
use the menus to tell the GIS Application to add a new layer to the display
output.

Illustration 2: Application menus, when clicked with the mouse, expand to

show a list of actions that can be carried out.

Toolbars (rows of small pictures that can be clicked with the mouse) normally
sit just below the menus and provide a quicker way to use frequently needed
actions.

Illustration 3: Toolbars provide quick access to commonly used functions.

Holding your mouse over a picture will usually tell you what will happen
when you click on it.

A common function of GIS Applications is to display map layers. Map layers

are stored as files on a disk or as records in a database. Normally each map
layer will represent something in the real world – a roads layer for example will
have data about the street network.

When you open a layer in the GIS Application it will appear in the map view.

4
The map view shows a graphic representing your layer. When you add more
than one layer to a map view, the layers are overlaid on top of each other.
Illustrations 4 to 7 below show a map view that has several layers being
added to it. An important function of the map view is to allow you to zoom in
to magnify, zoom out to see a greater area and move around (panning) in the
map.

Illustration 4: A towns layer Illustration 5: A schools layer

added to the map view. added to the map view.

Illustration 6: A railways Illustration 7: A rivers layer

layer added to the map view. added to the map view.

Unlike paper maps, the maps displayed in GIS Applications can be changed
after they have been created. You can change the symbology of the map
layers to make them appear in different colours or symbols. For example, if we
take the map in Illustration 7 and change the symbology, we can completely
change how it looks – as shown in Illustration 8 below. Symbology plays an
important role in how we interpret maps, and GIS Applications are very good
at letting you change symbology quickly and easily.

Illustration 8: GIS Software let you easily change symbology - the way
information is displayed.
5
Another common feature of GIS Applications is the map legend. The map
legend provides a list of layers that have been loaded in the GIS Application.
Unlike a paper map legend, the map legend or 'layers list' in the GIS
Application provides a way to re-order, hide, show and group layers. Changing
the layer order is done by clicking on a layer in the legend, holding the mouse
button down and then dragging the layer to a new position. In Illustrations 9
and 10 below, the map legend is shown as the area to the left of the GIS
Application window. By changing the layer order, the way that layers are drawn
can be adjusted – in this case so that rivers are drawn over the roads instead
of below them.

Illustration 9: Before changing the Illustration 10: After changing the

layer order, rivers are drawn layer order, rivers are drawn on top
underneath roads. of roads.

Getting a GIS Application for your own computer(s):

There are many different GIS Applications available. Some have many
sophisticated features and cost tens of thousands of Rands for each copy. In
other cases, you can obtain a GIS Application for free. Deciding which GIS
Application to use is a question of how much money you can afford and
personal preference. For these tutorials, we will be using the Quantum GIS
Application, also known as QGIS. Quantum GIS is completely free and you can
copy it and share it with your friends as much as you like. If you received this
tutorial in printed form, you should have received a copy of QGIS with it. If
not, you can always visit http://qgis.org to download your free copy if you
have access to the internet.

GIS Data:

Now that we know what a GIS is and what a GIS Application can do, let's talk
about GIS data. Data is another word for information. The information we

6
use in a GIS normally has a geographical aspect to it. Think of our example
above, about the health care worker. She created a table to record diseases
that looked like this:

Longitude Latitude Disease Date

26.870436 -31.909519 Mumps 13/12/2008

The longitude and latitude columns hold geographical data. The disease and
date columns hold non-geographical data. A common feature of GIS is that
they allow you to associate information (non-geographical data) with places
(geographical data). In fact, the GIS Application can store many pieces of
information which are associated with each place – something that paper maps
are not very good at. For example, our health care worker could store the
person's age and gender on her table. When the GIS Application draws the
layer, you can tell it to draw the layer based on gender, or based on disease
type, and so on. So, with a GIS Application we have a way to easily change the
appearance of the maps we created based on the non-geographical data
associated with places.

GIS Systems work with many different types of data. Vector data is stored as
a series of X,Y coordinate pairs inside the computer's memory. Vector data is
used to represent points, lines and areas. Illustration 11 below shows different
types of vector data being viewed in a GIS application. In the tutorials that
follow we will be exploring vector data in more detail.

Illustration 11: Vector data is used to represent points (e.g. towns),

lines (e.g. rivers) and polygons (e.g. municipal boundaries).

Raster data are stored as a grid of values. There are many satellites circling

7
the earth and the photographs they take are a kind of raster data that can be
viewed in a GIS. One important difference between raster and vector data is
that if you zoom in too much on a raster image, it will start to appear 'blocky'
(see illustrations 12 and 13 below). In fact these blocks are the individual cells
of the data grid that makes up the raster image. We will be looking at raster
data in greater detail in later tutorials.

Illustration 12: Raster data are Illustration 13: The same raster
often images taken by data, but this time zoomed in.
satellites. Here we can see The grid nature of the data can
mountains in the Eastern Cape. be seen.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● A GIS is a system of computer hardware, computer software and
geographical data.
● A GIS Application allows you to view geographical data and is an
important part of the GIS.
● A GIS Application normally consists of a menu bar, toolbars, a map
view and a legend.
● Vector and raster data are geographical data used in a GIS application.
● Geographical data can have associated non-geographical data.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Geography: Describe the concept of GIS to your learners as outlined in

this tutorial. Ask them to try to think of 3 reasons why it might be handy
to use a GIS instead of paper maps. Here are some that we could think
of:
○ GIS Applications allow you to create many different types of maps
from the same data.
○ GIS is a great visualisation tool that can show you things about your
data and how they are related in space (e.g. those disease outbreaks

8
 we saw earlier).
○ Paper maps need to be filed and are time consuming to view. The GIS
can hold a very large amount of map data and make it quick and easy
to find a place you are interested in.

● Geography: Can you and your learners think of how raster data from
satellites could be useful? Here are some ideas we had:
○ During natural disasters, raster data can be useful to show where the
impacted areas are. For example a recent satellite image taken during
a flood can help to show where people may need rescuing.
○ Sometimes people do bad things to the the environment, like
dumping dangerous chemicals that kill plants and animals. Using
raster data from satellites can help us to monitor for these type of
problems.
○ Town planners can use raster data from satellites to see where
informal settlements are and to help in planning infrastructure.

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, many of the topics we cover in this
tutorial can be reproduced using an overhead and transparency as it uses the
same technique of layering information. However, to properly understand GIS
it is always better to learn it using a computer.

Further reading:

Book: Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools. Author:
Gary Sherman. ISBN: 9781934356067

Website: http://www.gisdevelopment.net/tutorials/tuman006.htm

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on working with
QGIS.

What's next?

In the sections that follow we are going to go into more detail, showing you
how to use a GIS Application. All of the tutorials will be done using QGIS. Next
up, let's look at vectors!

9
 GIS for Educators Topic 2: Vector Data
Objectives: Understanding of vector data
models as used in GIS.
Keywords: Vector, Point, Polyline, Polygon,
Vertex, Geometry, Scale, Data
Quality, Symbology, Data
Sources

Overview:

Vector data provide a way to represent real world features within the GIS
environment. A feature is anything you can see on the landscape. Imagine you
are standing on the top of a hill. Looking down you can see houses, roads,
trees, rivers, and so on (see Illustration 14 below). Each one of these things
would be a feature when we represent them in a GIS Application. Vector
features have attributes, which consist of text or numerical information that
describe the features.

Illustration 14: Looking over a landscape you can see the main features, such
as roads, houses and trees.

A vector feature has its shape represented using geometry. The geometry is
made up of one or more interconnected vertices. A vertex describes a position
in space using an x, y and optionally z axis. Geometries which have vertices
with a z axis are often referred to as 2.5D since they describe height or depth
at each vertex, but not both.

10
When a feature's geometry consists of only a single vertex, it is referred to as
a point feature (see Illustration 15 below). Where the geometry consists of
two or more vertices and the first and last vertex are not equal, a polyline
feature is formed (see Illustration 16 below). Where four or more vertices are
present, and the last vertex is equal to the first, an enclosed polygon feature
is formed (see Illustration 17 below).

Illustration 15: A point Illustration 16: A Illustration 17: A

feature is described by polyline is a sequence of polygon, like a polyline,
its X, Y and optionally Z joined vertices. Each is a sequence of
coordinate. The point vertex has an X, Y (and vertices. However in a
attributes describe the optionally Z) coordinate. polygon, the first and
point e.g. if it is a tree Attributes describe the last vertices are always
or a lamp post. polyline. at the same position.

Looking back at the picture of a landscape we showed you further up, you
should be able to see the different types of features in the way that a GIS
represents them now (see Illustration 18 below).

Point features in detail:

The first thing we need to realise when talking about point features is that
what we describe as a point in GIS is a matter of opinion, and often
dependent on scale. let's look at cities for example. If you have a small scale
map (which covers a large area), it may make sense to represent a city using
a point feature. However as you zoom in to the map, moving towards a larger
scale, it makes more sense to show the city limits as a polygon.

When you choose to use points to represent a feature is mostly a matter of

scale (how far away are you from the feature), convenience (it takes less time
and effort to create point features than polygon features), and the type of

11
feature (some things like telephone poles just don't make sense to be stored
as polygons).

Illustration 18: Landscape features as we would represent them in a GIS.

Rivers (blue) and roads (green) can be represented as lines, trees as points
(red) and houses as polygons (white).

As we show in Illustration 15, a point feature has an X,Y and optionally, Z

value. The X and Y values will depend on the Coordinate Reference System
(CRS) being used. We are going to go into more detail about Coordinate
Reference Systems in a later tutorial. For now let's simply say that a CRS is a
way to accurately describe where a particular place is on the earth's surface.
One of the most common reference systems is Longitude and Latitude.
Lines of Longitude run from the North Pole to the South Pole. Lines of Latitude
run from the East to West. You can describe precisely where you are at any
place on the earth by giving someone your Longitude (X) and Latitude (Y). If
you make a similar measurement for a tree or a telephone pole and marked it
on a map, you will have created a point feature.

Since we know the earth is not flat, it is often useful to add a Z value to a point
feature. This describes how high above sea level you are.

Polyline features in detail:

Where a point feature is a single vertex, a polyline has two or more

vertices. The polyline is a continuous path drawn through each vertex, as
shown in Illustration 16 above). When two vertices are joined, a line is created.
When more than two are joined, they form a 'line of lines', or polyline.

12
A polyline is used to show the geometry of linear features such as roads,
rivers, contours, footpaths, flight paths and so on. Sometimes we have special
rules for polylines in addition to their basic geometry. For example contour
lines may touch (e.g. at a cliff face) but should never cross over each other.
Similarly, polylines used to store a road network should be connected at
intersections. In some GIS applications you can set these special rules for a
feature type (e.g. roads) and the GIS will ensure that these polylines always
comply to these rules.

If a curved polyline has very large distances between vertices, it may appear
angular or jagged, depending on the scale at which it is viewed (see
Illustration 19 below). Because of this it is important that polylines are
digitised (captured into the computer) with distances between vertices that are
small enough for the scale at which you want to use the data.

The attributes of a polyline decribe its properties or characteristics. For

example a road polyline may have attributes that describe whether it is
surfaced with gravel or tar, how many lanes it has, whether it is a one way
street, and so on. The GIS can use these attributes to symbolise the polyline
feature with a suitable colour or line style.

Illustration 19: Polylines viewed at a smaller scale (1:20 000 to the left) may
appear smooth and curved. When zoomed in to a larger scale (1:500 to the
right) polylines may look very angular.

Polygon features in detail:

Polygon features are enclosed areas like dams, islands, country boundaries
and so on. Like polyline features, polygons are created from a series of vertices
that are connected with a continuous line. However because a polygon always
describes an enclosed area, the first and last vertices should always be at the
same place! Polygons often have shared geometry – boundaries that are in
common with a neighbouring polygon. Many GIS applications have the
capability to ensure that the boundaries of neighbouring polygons exactly

13
coincide. We will explore this in the topology topic later in this tutorial.

As with points and polylines, polygons have attributes. The attributes

describe each polygon. For example a dam may have attributes for depth and
water quality.

Vector data in layers:

Now that we have described what vector data is, let's look at how vector data
is managed and used in a GIS environment. Most GIS applications group
vector features into layers. Features in a layer have the the same geometry
type (e.g. they will all be points) and the same kinds of attributes (e.g.
information about what species a tree is for a trees layer). For example if you
have recorded the positions of all the footpaths in your school, they will usually
be stored together on the computer hard disk and shown in the GIS as a single
layer. This is convenient because it allows you to hide or show all of the
features for that layer in your GIS application with a single mouse click.

Editing vector data:

The GIS application will allow you to create and modify the geometry data in a
layer – a process called digitising – which we will look at more closely in a
later tutorial. If a layer contains polygons (e.g. farm dams), the GIS
application will only allow you to create new polygons in that layer. Similarly if
you want to change the shape of a feature, the application will only allow you
to do it if the changed shape is correct. For example it won't allow you to edit a
line in such a way that it has only one vertex – remember in our discussion of
lines above that all lines must have at least two vertices.

Creating and editing vector data is an important function of a GIS since it is

one of the main ways in which you can create personal data for things you are
interested in. Say for example you are monitoring pollution in a river. You could
use the GIS to digitise all outfalls for storm water drains (as point features).
You could also digitise the river itself (as a polyline feature). Finally you could
take readings of pH levels along the course of the river and digitise the places
where you made these readings (as a point layer).

As well as creating your own data, there is a lot of free vector data that you
can obtain and use. For example, you can obtain vector data that appears on
the 1:50 000 map sheets from the Chief Directorate : Surveys and Mapping.

Scale and vector data:

Map scale is an important issue to consider when working with vector data in
a GIS. When data is captured, it is usually digitised from existing maps, or by
taking information from surveyor records and global positioning system
devices. Maps have different scales, so if you import vector data from a map

14
into a GIS environment (for example by digitising paper maps), the digital
vector data will have the same scale issues as the original map. This effect can
be seen in Illustrations 20 and 21 below. Many issues can arise from making a
poor choice of map scale. For example using the vector data in Illustration
Illustration 20 below) to plan a wetland conservation area could result in
important parts of the wetland being left out of the reserve! On the other hand
if you are trying to create a regional map, using data captured at 1:1000 000
might be just fine and will save you a lot of time and effort capturing the data.

Illustration 20: Vector data (red Illustration 21: Vector data (green
lines) that was digitised from a small lines) that was digitised from a large
scale (1:1000 000) map. scale (1:50 000) map.
Symbology:

When you add vector layers to the map view in a GIS application, they will be
drawn with random colours and basic symbols. One of the great advantages of
using a GIS is that you can create personalised maps very easily. The GIS
program will let you choose colours to suite the feature type (e.g. you can tell
it to draw a water bodies vector layer in blue). The GIS will also let you adjust
the symbol used. So if you have a trees point layer, you can show each tree
position with a small picture of a tree, rather than the basic circle marker that
the GIS uses when you first load the layer (see Illustrations 22,23 & 24 below).

15
 Illustration 22: When a layer (for example the
trees layer above) is first loaded, a GIS
application will give it a generic symbol.

Illustration 23: In the GIS, you can use a panel

(like the one above) to adjust how features in
your layer should be drawn.

16
 Illustration 24: After making our adjustments it is
much easier to see that our points represent trees.

Symbology is a powerful feature, making maps come to life and the data in
your GIS easier to understand. In the topic that follows (working with attribute
data) we will explore more deeply how symbology can help the user to
understand vector data.

What can we do with vector data in a GIS?:

At the simplest level we can use vector data in a GIS Application in much the
same way you would use a normal topographic map. The real power of GIS
starts to show itself when you start to ask questions like 'which houses are
within the 100 year flood level of a river?'; 'where is the best place to put a
hospital so that it is easily accessible to as many people as possible?'; 'which
learners live in a particular suburb?'. A GIS is a great tool for answering these
types of questions with the help of vector data. Generally we refer to the
process of answering these types of questions as spatial analysis. In later
topics of this tutorial we will look at spatial analysis in more detail.

Common problems with vector data:

Working with vector data does have some problems. We already mentioned the
issues that can arise with vectors captured at different scales. Vector data also
needs a lot of work and maintenance to ensure that it is accurate and reliable.
Inaccurate vector data can occur when the instruments used to capture the
data are not properly set up, when the people capturing the data aren't being
careful, when time or money don't allow for enough detail in the collection
process, and so on. If you have poor quality vector data, you can often detect

17
this when viewing the data in a GIS. For example slivers can occur when the
edges of two polygon areas don't meet properly (see Illustration 25 below).
Overshoots can occur when a line feature such as a road does not meet
another road exactly at an intersection. Undershoots can occur when a line
feature (e.g. a river) does not exactly meet another feature to which it should
be connected. Illustration 26 below demonstrates what undershoots and
overshoots look like. Because of these types of errors, it is very important to
digitise data carefully and accurately. In the upcoming topic on topology, we
will examine some of these types of errors in more detail.

Illustration 25: Slivers occur when the vertices of two polygons do not match
up on their borders. At a small scale (e.g. 1 on left) you may not be able to
see these errors. At a large scale they are visible as thin strips between two
polygons (2 on right).

18
 Illustration 26: Undershoots (1) occur when digitised vector lines that
should connect to each other don't quite touch. Overshoots (2) happen if a
line ends beyond the line it should connect to.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Vector data is used to represent real world features in a GIS.
● A vector feature can have a geometry type of point, line or a polygon.
● Each vector feature has attribute data that describes it.
● Feature geometry is described in terms of vertices.
● Point geometries are made up of a single vertex (X,Y and optionally Z).
● Polyline geometries are made up of two or more vertices forming a
connected line.
● Polygon geometries are made up of at least four vertices forming an
enclosed area. The first and last vertices are always in the same place.
● Choosing which geometry type to use depends on scale, convenience and
what you want to do with the data in the GIS.
● Most GIS applications do not allow you to mix more than one geometry
type in a single layer.
● Digitising is the process of creating digital vector data by drawing it in a
GIS application.
● Vector data can have quality issues such as undershoots, overshoots
and slivers which you need to be aware of.

19
 ● Vector data can be used for spatial analysis in a GIS application, for
example to find the nearest hospital to a school.
● We have summarised the GIS Vector Data concept in Illustration 27
below.

Illustration 27: This diagram shows how GIS applications deal with vector
data.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Using a copy of a toposheet map for your local area (like the one shown
in Illustration 28 below), see if your learners can identify examples of the
different types of vector data by highlighting them on the map.
● Think of how you would create vector features in a GIS to represent real
world features on your school grounds. Create a table of different
features in and around your school and then task your learners to decide

20
 whether they would be best represented in the GIS as a point, line or
polygon. See Table 1 below for an example.

Illustration 28: Can you identify two point features, four

line features and one polygon feature on this map?

Real world feature Suitable Geometry Type

The school flagpole
The soccer field
The footpaths in and around the
school
Places where taps are located
Etc.
Table 1: Create a table like this (leaving the geometry type column empty)
and ask your learners to decide on suitable geometry types.

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can use a toposheet and
transparency sheets to show your learners about vector data.

Further reading:

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on working with
vector data in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at attribute data to see

21
how it can be used to describe vector features.

22
 GIS for Educators Topic 3: Vector Attribute Data
Objectives: In this topic we describe how
attribute data are associated
with vector features and can be
used to symbolise data.
Keywords: Attribute, database, fields, data,
vector, symbology

Overview:

If every line on a map was the same colour, width, thickness, and had the
same label, it would be very hard to make out what was going on. The map
would also give us very little information. Take a look at Illustration 29 below
for example.

Illustration 29: Maps come to life when colour and different symbols are used
to help you to tell one type of feature from the next. Can you tell the
difference between rivers, roads and contours using the map on the left? Using
the map on the right it is much easier to see the different features.

In this topic we will look at how attribute data can help us to make interesting
and informative maps. In the previous topic on vector data, we briefly
explained that attribute data are used to describe vector features. Take a
look at the house pictures in Illustration 30 below.

The geometry of these house features is a polygon (based on the floor plan of
the house), the attributes we have recorded are roof colour, whether there is a
balcony, and the year the house was built. Note that attributes don't have to
be visible things – they can describe things we know about the feature such as
the year it was built. In a GIS Application, we can represent this feature type
in a houses polygon layer, and the attributes in an attribute table (see
Illustration 31 below).

23
Illustration 30: Every feature has characteristics that we can describe. These
can be visible things, or things we know about the feature (e.g. year built).

24
 Illustration 31: A houses layer. House features have
attributes that describe the houses' roof colour and other
properties. The attribute table (lower image) lists the
attributes for the house areas shown on the map. When a
feature is highlighted in the table, it will appear as a yellow
polygon on the map.

The fact that features have attributes as well geometry in a GIS Application
opens up many possibilities. For example we can use the attribute values to
tell the GIS what colours and style to use when drawing features (see
Illustration 32 below). The process of setting colours and drawing styles is
often referred to as setting feature symbology.

Attribute data can also be useful when creating map labels. Most GIS
Applications will have a facility to select an attribute that should be used to
label each feature.

25
Illustration 32: In a GIS Application, we can draw features differently
depending on their attributes. On the left we have drawn house polygons with
the same colour as the roof attribute. On the right we colour coded houses
according to whether they have a balcony or not.

If you have ever searched a map for a place name or a specific feature, you
will know how time consuming it can be. Having attribute data can make
searching for a specific feature quick and easy. In Illustration 33 below you can
see an example of an attribute search in a GIS.

Finally, attribute data can be very useful in carrying out spatial analysis.
Spatial analysis combines the spatial information stored in the geometry of
features with their attribute information. This allows us to study features and
how they relate to each other. There are many types of spatial analysis that
can be carried out, for example, you could use GIS to find out how many red
roofed houses occur in a particular area. If you have tree features, you could
use GIS to try to find out which species might be affected if a piece of land is
developed. We can use the attributes stored for water samples along a river
course to understand where pollution is entering into the stream. The
possibilities are endless! In a later topic we will be exploring spatial analysis in
more detail.

Before we move on to attribute data in more detail, let's take a quick recap:

Features are real world things such as roads, property boundaries, electrical
substation sites and so on. A feature has a geometry (which determines if it
is a point, polyline or polygon) and attributes (which describe the feature).
This is shown in Illustration 34 below.

26
Illustration 33: In a GIS Application, we can also search for features
based on their attributes. Here we see a search for houses with black
roofs. Results are shown in yellow in the map, turquoise on the table.

Illustration 34: Vector features at a glance.

27
Attributes in detail:

Attributes for a vector feature are stored in a table. A table is like a

spreadsheet. Each column in the table is called a field. Each row in the table is
a record. Table 2 below Shows a simple example of how an attribute table
looks in a GIS. The records in the attribute table in a GIS each correspond to
one feature. Usually the information in the attribute table is stored in some
kind of database. The GIS application links the attribute records with the
feature geometry so that you can find records in the table by selecting features
on the map, and find features on the map by selecting features in the table.

Attribute Table Field 1 : YearBuilt Field 2: Field 3: Balcony

RoofColour
Record 1 1998 Red Yes
Record 2 2000 Black No
Record 3 2001 Silver Yes
Table 2: An attribute table has fields (columns) and records (in rows).

Each field in the attribute table contains contains a specific type of data – text,
numeric or date. Deciding what attributes to use for a feature requires some
thought and planning. In our house example earlier on in this topic, we chose
roof colour, presence of a balcony and month of construction as attributes of
interest. We could just as easily have chosen other aspects of a house such as:

● number of levels
● number of rooms
● number of occupants
● type of dwelling (RDP House, block of flats, shack, brick house etc)
● year the house was built
● area of floor space in the house
● and so on....

With so many options, how do we make a good choice as to what attributes

are needed for a feature? It usually boils down to what you plan to do with the
data. If you want to produce a colour coded map showing houses by age, it will
make sense to have a 'Year Built' attribute for your feature. If you know for
sure you will never use this type of map, it is better to not store the
information. Collecting and storing unneeded information is a bad idea because
of the cost and time required to research and capture the information. Very
often we obtain vector data from companies, friends or the government. In
these cases it is usually not possible to request specific attributes and we have
to make do with what we get.

Single Symbols:

28
If a feature is symbolised without using any attribute table data, it can only be
drawn in a simple way. For example with point features you can set the colour
and marker (circle, square, star etc.) but that is all. You cannot tell the GIS to
draw the features based on one of its properties in the attribute table. In order
to do that, you need to use either a graduated, continuous or unique value
symbol. These are described in detail in the sections that follow.

A GIS application will normally allow you to set the symbology of a layer using
a dialog box such as the one shown in in Illustration 35 below. In this dialog
box you can choose colours and symbol styles. Depending on the geometry
type of a layer, different options may be shown. For example with point layers
you can choose a marker style. With line and polygon layers there is no
marker style option, but instead you can select a line style and colour such
as dashed orange for gravel roads, solid orange for minor roads, and so on (as
shown in Illustration 36 below). With polygon layers you also have the option
of setting a fill style and colour.

Illustration 35: When using simple Illustration 36: There are different
symbols, the feature is drawn options when defining simple
without using an attribute to control symbols for polyline and polygon
how it looks. This is the dialog for features.
point features.
Graduated Symbols:

Sometimes vector features represent things with a changing numerical value.

Contour lines are a good example of this. Each contour usually has an attribute
value called 'height' that contains information about what height that contour
represents. In Illustration 33 earlier in this topic we showed contours all drawn
with the same colour. Adding colour to the contours can help us to interpret the
meanings of contours. For example we can draw low lying areas with one
colour, mid-altitude areas with another and high-altitude areas with a third.

29
Illustration 37: The height attribute of contours can be used to separate the
contours into 3 classes. Contours between 980m and 1120m will be drawn in
brown, those between 1120m and 1240m in green and those between 1240m
and 1500m in purple.

Illustration 38: Our map after setting graduated colours for our contours.

Setting colours based on discrete groups of attribute values is called Graduated

Symbology in QGIS. The process is shown in Illustrations 37 and 38 above.
Graduated symbols are most useful when you want to show clear
differences between features with attribute values in different value
ranges. The GIS Application will analyse the attribute data (e.g. height) and,
based on the number of classes you request, create groupings for you. This
process is illustrated in Table 3 below.

30
Attribute Value Class and Colour
1 Class 1
2 Class 1
3 Class 1
4 Class 2
5 Class 2
6 Class 2
7 Class 3
8 Class 3
9 Class 3
Table 3: Graduated colour breaks up the attribute value ranges into the
number of classes you select. Each class is represented by a different colour.
Continuous Colour Symbols:

In the previous section on Graduated Colour symbols we saw that we can draw
features in discrete groups or classes. Sometimes it is useful to draw features
in a colour range from one colour to another. The GIS Application will use a
numerical attribute value from a feature (e.g. contour heights or pollution
levels in a stream) to decide which colour to use. Table 4 below shows how the
attribute value is used to define a continuous range of colours.

Attribute Value Colour (no classes or grouping)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Table 4: Continuous colour symbology uses a start colour (e.g. light orange
shown here) and an end colour (e.g. dark brown shown here) and creates a
series of shades between those colours.
Using the same contours example we used in the previous section, let's see
how a map with continuous colour symbology is defined and looks. The process
starts by setting the layers properties to continuous colour using a dialog like
the one shown in Illustration 39 below.

31
Illustration 39: Setting up continuous colour symbology. The contour height
attribute is used to determine colour values. Colours are defined for the
minimum and maximum values. The GIS Application will then create a
gradient of colours for drawing the features based on their heights.

After defining the minimum and maximum colours in the colour range, the
colour features are drawn in will depend on where the attribute lies in the
range between minimum and maximum. For example if you have contour
features with values starting at 1000m and ending at 1400m, the value range
is 1000 to 1400. If the colour set for the minimum value is set to orange and
the colour for the maximum value is black, contours with a value of close to
1400m will be drawn close to black. On the other hand contours with a value
near to 1000m will be drawn close to orange. See Illustration 40 below

Illustration 40: A contour map drawn using continuous

colour symbology.

32
Unique Value Symbols:

Sometimes the attributes of features are not numeric, but instead strings are
used. 'String' is a computer term meaning a group of letters, numbers and
other writing symbols. Strings attributes are often used to classify things by
name. We can tell the GIS Application to give each unique string or number its
own colour and symbol. Road features may have different classes (e.g. 'street',
'secondary road', 'main road' etc.), each drawn in the map view of the GIS
with different colours or symbols. This is illustrated in Table 5 below.

Attribute Value Colour class and symbol

Arterial route
Main road
Secondary road
Street
Table 5: Unique attribute values for a feature type (e.g. roads) can each have
their own symbol.
Within the GIS Application we can open /choose to use Unique Value
symbology for a layer. The GIS will scan through all the different string values
in the attribute field and build a list of unique strings or numbers. Each unique
value can then be assigned a colour and style. This is shown in Illustration 41
below.

Illustration 41: Defining unique value symbology for

roads based on the road type.

33
When the GIS draws the layer, it will look at the attributes of each feature
before drawing it to the screen. Based on the value in the chosen field in the
attribute table, the road line will be drawn with suitable colour and line style
(and fill style if its a polygon feature). This is shown in Illustration 42 below.

Illustration 42: A roads vector layer symbolised using a

unique value per road type.

Things to be aware of:

Deciding which attributes and symbology to use requires some planning.

Before you start collecting any GeoSpatial data, you should ensure you know
what attributes are needed and how it will be symbolised. It is very difficult to
go back and re-collect data if you plan poorly the first time around. Remember
also that the goal of collecting attribute data is to allow you to analyse and
interpret spatial information. How you do this depends on the questions you
are trying to answer. Symbology is a visual language that allows people to see
and understand your attribute data based on the colours and symbols you use.
Because of this you should put a lot of thought into how you symbolise your
maps in order to make them easy to understand.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Vector features have attributes
● Attributes describe the properties of the feature
● The attributes are stored in a table
● Rows in the table are called records
● There is one record per feature in the vector layer
● Columns in the table are called fields

34
 ● Fields represent properties of the feature e.g. height, roof colour etc.
● Fields can contain numerical, string (any text) and date information
● The attribute data for a feature can be used to determine how it is
symbolised
● Graduated colour symbology groups the data into discrete classes
● Continuous colour symbology assigns colours from a colour range to
the features based on their attributes
● Unique value symbology associates each different value in the chosen
attribute column with a different symbol (colour and style)
● If the attribute of a vector layer is not used to determine its symbology,
it is drawn using a single symbol only

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Using the table that you created in the last topic, add a new column for
the symbology type you would use for each feature type and have the
learners identify which symbology type they would use (see Table 6
below for an example).
● Try to identify which symbology types you would use for the following
types of vector features:
○ points showing pH level of soil samples taken around your school
○ lines showing a road network in a city
○ polygons for houses with an attribute that shows whether it is made
of brick, wood or 'other' material.

35
Real world feature Geometry Symbology Type
Type
The school flagpole Point Single Symbol
The soccer field Polygon Single Symbol
The footpaths in Polyline Have your learners count the number of
and around the learners using each footpath in the hour before
school school and then use graduated symbols to
show the popularity of each footpath
Places where taps Point Single symbol
are located
Classrooms Polygon Unique value based on the grade of the
learners in the classroom
Fence Polyline Have your learners rate the condition of the
fence around your school by separating it into
sections and grading each section on a scale
of 1-9 based on its condition. Use graduated
symbols to classify the condition attribute.
Classrooms Polygon Count the number of learners in each
classroom and use a continuous colour
symbol to define a range of colours from red
to blue.
Table 6: An example of a table that defines the feature types and the kind of
symbology you would use for each.
Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can use transparency sheets and a
1:50 000 map sheet to experiment with different symbology types. For
example place a transparency sheet over the map and using different coloured
koki pens, draw in red all contour lines below 900m (or similar) and in green
all lines above or equal to 900m. Can you think of how to reproduce other
symbology types using the same technique?

Further reading:

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartography#Map_symbology

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on working with
attribute data and symbology in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at data capture. We will
put the things we have learned about vector data and attributes into practice

36
by creating new data.

37
 GIS for Educators Topic 4: Data Capture
Objectives: Learn how to create and edit
vector and attribute data.
Keywords: Editing, data capture, heads-up,
table, database.

Overview:

In the previous two topics we looked at vector data. We saw that there are two
key concepts to vector data, namely: geometry and attributes. The
geometry of a vector feature describes its shape and position, while the
attributes of a vector feature describe its properties (colour, size, age etc.).

In this section we will look more closely at the process of creating and editing
vector data – both the geometry and attributes of vector features.

How does GIS digital data get stored?:

Word processors, spreadsheets and graphics packages are all programs that let
you create and edit digital data. Each type of application saves its data into a
particular file format. For example, a graphics program will let you save your
drawing as a '.jpg' JPEG image, word processors let you save your document
as an '.odt' OpenDocument or '.doc' Word Document, and so on.

Just like these other applications, GIS Applications can store their data in files
on the computer hard disk. There are a number of different file formats for GIS
data, but the most common one is probably the 'shape file'. The name is a
little odd in that although we call it a shape file (singular), it actually consists
of at least three different files that work together to store your digital vector
data, as shown in Table 7 below.

Extension Description
.shp The geometry of vector features are stored in this file
.dbf The attributes of vector features are stored in this file
.shx This file is an index that helps the GIS Application to find
features more quickly.
Table 7: The basic files that together make up a 'shapefile'.

When you look at the files that make up a shapefile on the computer hard disk,
you will see something like Illustration 43 below. If you want to share vector
data stored in shapefiles with another person, it is important to give them all of
the files for that layer. So in the case of the trees layer shown in Illustration 43

38
below, you would need to give the person trees.shp, trees.shx, trees.dbf,
trees.prj and trees.qml.

Illustration 43: The files that make up a 'trees' shapefile as seen in the
computer's file manager.

Many GIS Applications are also able to store digital data inside a database. In
general storing GIS data in a database is a good solution because the database
can store large amounts of data efficiently and can provide data to the GIS
Application quickly. Using a database also allows many people to work with the
same vector data layers at the same time. Setting up a database to store GIS
data is more complicated than using shapefiles, so for this topic we will focus
on creating and editing shapefiles.

Planning before you begin:

Before you can create a new vector layer (which will be stored in a shapefile),
you need know what the geometry of that layer will be (point, polyline or
polygon), and you need to know what the attributes of that layer will be. Let's
look at a few examples and it will become clearer how to go about doing this.

Example 1: Creating a tourism map

Imagine that you want to create a nice tourism map for your local area. Your
vision of the final map is a 1:50 000 toposheet with markers overlaid for sites
of interest to tourists. First, let's think about the geometry. We know that we
can represent a vector layer using point, polyline or polygon features. Which

39
one makes the most sense for our tourism map? We could use points if we
wanted to mark specific locations such as look out points, memorials, battle
sites and so on. If we wanted to take tourists along a route, such as a scenic
route through a mountain pass, it might make sense to use polylines. If we
have whole areas that are of tourism interest, such as a nature reserve or a
cultural village, polygons might make a good choice.

As you can see it's often not easy to know what type of geometry you will
need. One common approach to this problem is to make one layer for each
geometry type you need. So, for example, if you look at digital data provided
by the Chief Directorate : Surveys and Mapping, South Africa, they provide a
river areas (polygons) layer and a rivers polyline layer. They use the river
areas (polygons) to represent river stretches that are wide, and they use river
polylines to represent narrow stretches of river. In Illustration 44 below we can
see how our tourism layers might look on a map if we used all three geometry
types.

Illustration 44: A map with tourism layers. We have used three different
geometry types for tourism data so that we can properly represent the
different kinds of features needed for our visitors, giving them all the
information they need.

Example 2: Creating a map of pollution levels along a river

40
If you wanted to measure pollution levels along the course of a river you would
typically travel along the river in a boat or walk along its banks. At regular
intervals you would stop and take various measurements such as Dissolved
Oxygen (DO) levels, Coliform Bacteria (CB) counts, Turbidity levels and pH.
You would also need to make a map reading of your position or obtain your
position using a GPS receiver.

To store the data collected from an exercise like this in a GIS Application, you
would probably create a GIS layer with a point geometry. Using point geometry
makes sense here because each sample taken represents the conditions at a
very specific place.

For the attributes we would want a field for each thing that describes the
sample site. So we may end up with an attribute table that looks something
like Table 8 below.

SampleNo pH DO CB Turbidity Collector Date

1 7 6 N Low Patience 12/01/2009
2 6.8 5 Y Medium Thabo 12/01/2009
3 6.9 6 Y High Victor 12/01/2009
Table 8: Drawing a table like this before you create your vector layer will let
you decide what attribute fields (columns) you will need. Note that the
geometry (positions where samples were taken) is not shown in the attribute
table – the GIS Application stores it separately!
Creating an empty shapefile:

Once you have planned what features you want to capture into the GIS, and
the geometry type and attributes that each feature should have, you can move
on to the next step of creating an empty shapefile.

The process usually starts with choosing the 'new vector layer' option in your
GIS Application and then selecting a geometry type (see Illustration 45
below). As we covered in an earlier topic, this means choosing either point,
polyline or polygon for the geometry.

41
Illustration 45: Creating a new vector layer is as simple as filling in a few
details in a form. First you choose the geometry type, and then you add
the attribute fields.
Next you will add fields to the attribute table. Normally we give field names
that are short, have no spaces and indicate what type of information is being
stored in that field. Example field names may be 'pH', 'RoofColour', 'RoadType'
and so on. As well as choosing a name for each field, you need to indicate how
the information should be stored in that field – i.e. is it a number, a word or a
sentence, or a date?

Computer programs usually call information that is made up of words or

sentences 'strings', so if you need to store something like a street name or
the name of a river, you should use string for the field type.

The shapefile format allows you to store the numeric field information as either
a whole number (integer) or a decimal number (floating point) – so you
need to think before hand whether the numeric data you are going to capture
will have decimal places or not.

The final step (as shown in Illustration 46 below) for creating a shapefile is to
give it a name and a place on the computer hard disk where it should be
created. Once again it is a good idea to give the shapefile a short and
meaningful name. Good examples are 'rivers', 'watersamples' and so on.

Illustration 46: After defining our new layer's geometry and attributes, we
need to save it to disk. It is important to give a short but meaningful name
to your shapefile.

42
Let's recap the process again quickly. To create a shapefile you first say what
kind of geometry it will hold, then you create one or more fields for the
attribute table, and then you save the shapefile to the hard disk using an easy
to recognise name. Easy as 1-2-3!

Adding data to your shapefile

So far we have only created an empty shapefile. Now we need to enable

editing in the shapefile using the 'enable editing' menu option or tool bar icon
in the GIS Application. Shapefiles are not enabled for editing by default to
prevent accidentally changing or deleting the data they contain. Next we need
to start adding data. There are two steps we need to complete for each record
we add to the shapefile:

1.Capturing geometry
2.Entering attributes

The process of capturing geometry is different for points, polylines and

polygons.

To capture a point, you first use the map pan and zoom tools to get to the
correct geographical area that you are going to be recording data for. Next you
will need to enable the point capture tool. Having done that, the next place you
click with the left mouse button in the map view, is where you want your
new point geometry to appear. After you click on the map, a window will
appear and you can enter all of the attribute data for that point (see
Illustration 47 below). If you are unsure of the data for a given field you can
usually leave it blank, but be aware that if you leave a lot of fields blank it will
be hard to make a useful map from your data!

43
 Illustration 47: After you have captured the point geometry, you will be
asked to describe its attributes. The attribute form is based on the fields
you specified when you created the vector layer.

To capture a polyline the process is similar to that of a point, in that you

need to first use the pan and zoom tools to move the map in the map view to
the correct geographical area. You should be zoomed in enough so that your

44
Illustration 48: Capturing lines for a tourism map. When editing a line layer,
the vertices are shown with circular markers which you can move about with
the mouse to adjust the line's geometry. When adding a new line (shown in
red), each click of the mouse will add a new vertex.
new vector polyline feature will have an appropriate scale (see Topic 2:
Working with Vector Data for more details on scale issues). When you are
ready, you can click the polyline capture icon in the tool bar and then start
drawing your line by clicking on the map. After you make your first click, you
will notice that the line stretches like an elastic band to follow the mouse
cursor around as you move it. Each time you click with the left mouse
button, a new vertex will be added to the map. This process is shown in
Illustration 48 above.

When you have finished defining your line, use the right mouse button to tell
the GIS Application that you have completed your edits. As with the procedure
for capturing a point feature, you will then be asked to enter in the attribute
data for your new polyline feature.

The process for capturing a polygon is almost the same as capturing a

polyline except that you need to use the polygon capture tool in the tool bar.
Also, you will notice that when you draw your geometry on the screen, the GIS
Application always creates an enclosed area.

To add a new feature after you have created your first one, you can simply
click again on the map with the point, polyline or polygon capture tool active
and start to draw your next feature.

When you have no more features to add, always be sure to click the 'allow
editing' icon to toggle it off. The GIS Application will then save your newly
created layer to the hard disk.

Heads-up digitising

As you have probably discovered by now if you followed the steps above, it is
pretty hard to draw the features so that they are spatially correct if you do
not have other features that you can use as a point of reference. One common
solution to this problem is to use a raster layer (such as an aerial photograph
or a satellite image) as a backdrop layer. You can then use this layer as a
reference map, or even trace the features off the raster layer into your vector
layer if they are visible. This process is known as 'heads-up digitising' and is
shown in Illustration 49 below.

45
Illustration 49: Heads-up digitising using a satellite image as a backdrop. The
image is used as a reference for capturing polyline features by tracing over
them.

Digitising using a digitising table

Another method of capturing vector data is to use a digitising table. This

approach is less commonly used except by GIS professionals, and it requires
expensive equipment. The process of using a digitising table, is to place a
paper map on the table. The paper map is held securely in place using clips.
Then a special device called a 'puck' is used to trace features from the map.
Tiny cross-hairs in the puck are used to ensure that lines and points are drawn
accurately. The puck is connected to a computer and each feature that is
captured using the puck gets stored in the computer's memory. You can see
what a digitising puck looks like in Illustration 50 below.

46
Illustration 50: A digitising table and puck are used by GIS professionals when
they want to digitise features from existing maps.

After your features are digitised...:

Once your features are digitised, you can use the techniques you learned in the
previous Topic to set the symbology for your layer. Choosing an appropriate
symbology will allow you to better understand the data you have captured
when you look at the map.

Common problems / things to be aware of:

If you are digitising using a backdrop raster layer such as an aerial photograph
or satellite image, it is very important that the raster layer is properly
georeferenced. A layer that is georeferenced properly displays in the correct
position in the map view based on the GIS Application's internal model of the
earth. We can see the effect of a poorly georeferenced image in Illustration 51
below.

47
Illustration 51: The importance of using properly georeferenced raster images
for heads-up digitising. On the left we can see the image is properly
georegistered and the road features (in orange) overlap perfectly. If the image
is poorly georeferenced (as shown on the right) the features will not be well
aligned. Worse still, if the image on the right is used as a reference when
capturing new features, the newly captured data will be inaccurate!

Also remember that it is important that you are zoomed in to an appropriate

scale so that the vector features you create are useful. As we saw in the
previous topic on vector geometry, it is a bad idea to digitise your data when
you are zoomed out to a scale of 1:1000 000 if you intend to use the data you
capture at a scale of 1:50 000 later.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Digitising is the process of capturing knowledge of a feature's
geometry and attributes into a digital format stored on the
computer's disk.
● GIS Data can be stored in a database or as files.
● One commonly used file format is the shapefile which is actually a
group of three or more files (.shp, .dbf and .shx).
● Before you create a new vector layer you need to plan both what
geometry type and attribute fields it will contain.
● Geometry can be point, polyline or polygon.
● Attributes can be integers (whole numbers), floating points (decimal
numbers), strings (words) or dates.
● The digitising process consists of drawing the geometry in the map view
and then entering its attributes. This is repeated for each feature.
● Heads-up digitising is often used to provide orientation during
digitising by using a raster image in the background.
● Professional GIS users sometimes use a digitising table to capture
information from paper maps.

Now you try!

48
Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Draw up a list of features in and around your school that you think would
be interesting to capture. For example: the school boundary, the position
of fire assembly points, the layout of each class room, and so on. Try to
use a mix of different geometry types. Now split your learners into
groups and assign each group a few features to capture. Have them
symbolise their layers so that they are more meaningful to look at.
Combine the layers from all the groups to create a nice map of your
school and its surroundings!
● Find a local river and take water samples along its length. Make a careful
note of the position of each sample using a GPS or by marking it on a
toposheet. For each sample take measurements such as pH, dissolved
oxygen etc. Capture the data using the GIS application and make maps
that show the samples with a suitable symbology. Could you identify any
areas of concern? Was the GIS Application able to help you to identify
these areas?

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can follow the same process by
using transparency sheets and a notebook. Use an aerial photo, orthosheet or
satellite image printout as your background layer. Draw columns down the
page in your notebook and write in the column headings for each attribute field
you want to store information about. Now trace the geometry of features onto
the transparency sheet, writing a number next to each feature so that it can be
identified. Now write the same number in the first column in your table in your
notebook, and then fill in all the additional information you want to record.

Further reading:

Website:

http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/waterproj/S00project/miami2000/miam
iriverfinal.html – A school project to assess water quality in their local river.

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on digitising vector
data in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at raster data to learn all
about how image data can be used in a GIS.

49
 GIS for Educators Topic 5: Raster Data
Objectives: Understand what raster data is
and how it can be used in a GIS.
Keywords: Raster, Pixel, Remote Sensing,
Satellite, Image, Georeference

Overview:

In the previous topics we have taken a closer look at vector data. While vector
features use geometry (points, polylines and polygons) to represent the real
world, raster data takes a different approach. Rasters are made up of a matrix
of pixels (also called cells), each containing a value that represents the
conditions for the area covered by that cell (see Illustration 52 below). In this
topic we are going to take a closer look at raster data, when it is useful and
when it makes more sense to use vector data.

Illustration 52: A raster dataset is composed of rows (running across) and

columns (running down) of pixels (also know as cells). Each pixel represents a
geographical region, and the value in that pixel represents some characteristic
of that region.

Raster data in detail:

Raster data is used in a GIS application when we want to display information

that is continuous across an area and cannot easily be divided into vector
features. When we introduced you to vector data we showed you the image in
Illustration 53 below. Point, polyline and polygon features work well for
representing some features on this landscape, such as trees, roads and
building footprints. Other features on a landscape can be more difficult to
represent using vector features. For example the grasslands shown have many

50
variations in colour and density of cover. It would be easy enough to make a
single polygon around each grassland area, but a lot of the information about
the grassland would be lost in the process of simplifying the features to a
single polygon. This is because when you give a vector feature attribute
values, they apply to the whole feature, so vectors aren't very good at
representing features that are not homogeneous (entirely the same) all over.
Another approach you could take is to digitise every small variation of grass
colour and cover as a separate polygon. The problem with that approach is that
it will take a huge amount of work in order to create a good vector dataset.

Illustration 53: Some features on a landscape are easy to represent as points,

polylines and polygons (e.g. trees, roads, houses). In other cases it can be
difficult. For example how would you represent the grasslands? As polygons?
What about the variations in colour you can see in the grass? When you are
trying to represent large areas with continuously changing values, raster data
can be a better choice.

Using raster data is a solution to these problems. Many people use raster data
as a backdrop to be used behind vector layers in order to provide more
meaning to the vector information. The human eye is very good at interpreting
images and so using an image behind vector layers, results in maps with a lot
more meaning. Raster data is not only good for images that depict the real
world surface (e.g. satellite images and aerial photographs), they are also
good for representing more abstract ideas. For example, rasters can be used to
show rainfall trends over an area, or to depict the fire risk on a landscape. In
these kinds of applications, each cell in the raster represents a different value.
e.g. risk of fire on a scale of one to ten.

An example that shows the difference between an image obtained from a

51
satellite and one that shows calculated values can be seen in Illustration 54
below.

Illustration 54: True colour raster images (left) are useful as they provide a lot
of detail that is hard to capture as vector features but easy to see when
looking at the raster image. Raster data can also be non-photographic data
such as the raster layer shown on the right which shows the calculated
average minimum temperature in the Western Cape for the month of March.

Georeferencing:

Georeferencing is the process of defining exactly where on the earth's surface

an image or raster dataset was created. This positional information is stored
with the digital version of the aerial photo. When the GIS application opens the
photo, it uses the positional information to ensure that the photo appears in
the correct place on the map. Normally this positional information consists of a
coordinate for the top left pixel in the image, the size of each pixel in the X
direction, the size of each pixel in the Y direction, and the amount (if any) by
which the image is rotated. With these few pieces of information, the GIS
application can ensure that raster data are displayed in the correct place. The
georeferencing information for a raster is often provided in a small text file
accompanying the raster.

Sources of raster data:

Raster data can be obtained in a number of ways. Two of the most common
ways are aerial photography and satellite imagery. In aerial photography, an
aeroplane flies over an area with a camera mounted underneath it. The
photographs are then imported into a computer and georeferenced. Satellite
imagery is created when satellites orbiting the earth point special digital
cameras towards the earth and then take an image of the area on earth they
are passing over. Once the image has been taken it is sent back to earth using
radio signals to special receiving stations such as the one shown in Illustration
55 below. The process of capturing raster data from an aeroplane or satellite is
called remote sensing.

52
Illustration 55: The CSIR Satellite Applications Center at Hartebeeshoek near
Johannesburg. Special antennae track satellites as they pass overhead and
download images using radio waves.

In other cases, raster data can be computed. For example an insurance

company may take police crime incident reports and create a country wide
raster map showing how high the incidence of crime is likely to be in each
area. Meteorologists (people who study weather patterns) might generate a
province level raster showing average temperature, rainfall and wind direction
using data collected from weather stations (see Illustration 54 above). In these
cases, they will often use raster analysis techniques such as interpolation
(which we describe in Topic 10).

Sometimes raster data are created from vector data because the data owners
want to share the data in an easy to use format. For example, a company with
road, rail, cadastral and other vector datasets may choose to generate a raster
version of these datasets so that employees can view these datasets in a web
browser. This is normally only useful if the attributes, that users need to be
aware of, can be represented on the map with labels or symbology. If the user
needs to look at the attribute table for the data, providing it in raster format
could be a bad choice because raster layers do not usually have any attribute
data associated with them.

Spatial Resolution:

Every raster layer in a GIS has pixels (cells) of a fixed size that determine its
spatial resolution. This becomes apparent when you look at an image at a
small scale (see Illustration 56 below) and then zoom in to a large scale (see
Illustration 57 below).

53
 Illustration 56: This satellite image looks good when using a small scale...

Illustration 57: ...but when viewed at a large scale you can see the
individual pixels that the image is composed of.

Several factors determine the spatial resolution of an image. For remote

sensing data, spatial resolution is usually determined by the capabilities of the
sensor used to take an image. For example SPOT5 satellites can take images
where each pixel is 10m x 10m. Other satellites, for example MODIS take
images only at 500m x 500m per pixel. In aerial photography, pixel sizes of
50cm x 50cm are not uncommon. Images with a pixel size covering a small
area are called 'high resolution' images because it is possible to make out a
high degree of detail in the image. Images with a pixel size covering a large
area are called 'low resolution' images because the amount of detail the
images show is low.

In raster data that is computed by spatial analysis (such as the rainfall map we
mentioned earlier), the spatial density of information used to create the raster
will usually determine the spatial resolution. For example if you want to create
a high resolution average rainfall map, you would ideally need many weather
stations in close proximity to each other.

One of the main things to be aware of with rasters captured at a high spatial
resolution is storage requirements. Think of a raster that is 3x3 pixels, each of
which contains a number representing average rainfall. To store all the
information contained in the raster, you will need to store 9 numbers in the
computer's memory. Now imagine you want to have a raster layer for the

54
whole of South Africa with pixels of 1km x 1km. South Africa is around
1,219,090 km2. Which means your computer would need to store over a million
numbers on its hard disk in order to hold all of the information. Making the
pixel size smaller would greatly increase the amount of storage needed.

Sometimes using a low spatial resolution is useful when you want to work with
a large area and are not interested in looking at any one area in a lot of detail.
The cloud maps you see on the weather report, are an example of this – it's
useful to see the clouds across the whole country. Zooming in to one particular
cloud in high resolution will not tell you very much about the upcoming
weather!

On the other hand, using low resolution raster data can be problematic if you
are interested in a small region because you probably won't be able to make
out any individual features from the image.

Spectral resolution:

If you take a colour photograph with a digital camera or camera on a

cellphone, the camera uses electronic sensors to detect red, green and blue
light. When the picture is displayed on a screen or printed out, the red, green
and blue (RGB) information is combined to show you an image that your eyes
can interpret. While the information is still in digital format though, this RGB
information is stored in separate colour bands.

Whilst our eyes can only see RGB wavelengths, the electronic sensors in
cameras are able to detect wavelengths that our eyes cannot. Of course in a
hand held camera it probably doesn't make sense to record information from
the non-visible parts of the spectrum since most people just want to look at
pictures of their dog or what have you. Raster images that include data for
non-visible parts of the light spectrum are often referred to as multi-spectral
images. In GIS recording the non-visible parts of the spectrum can be very
useful. For example, measuring infra-red light can be useful in identifying
water bodies.

Because having images containing multiple bands of light is so useful in GIS,

raster data are often provided as multi-band images. Each band in the image is
like a separate layer. The GIS will combine three of the bands and show them
as red, green and blue so that the human eye can see them. The number of
bands in a raster image is referred to as its spectral resolution.

If an image consists of only one band, it is often called a grayscale image.

With grayscale images, you can apply false colouring to make the differences
in values in the pixels more obvious. Images with false colouring applied are
often referred to as pseudocolour images.

55
Raster to vector conversion:

In our discussion of vector data, we explained that often raster data are used
as a backdrop layer, which is then used as a base from which vector features
can be digitised.

Another approach is to use advanced computer programs to automatically

extract vector features from images. Some features such as roads show in an
image as a sudden change of colour from neighbouring pixels. The computer
program looks for such colour changes and creates vector features as a result.
This kind of functionality is normally only available in very specialised (and
often expensive) GIS software.

Vector to raster conversion:

Sometimes it is useful to convert vector data into raster data. One side effect
of this is that attribute data (that is attributes associated with the original
vector data) will be lost when the conversion takes place. Having vectors
converted to raster format can be useful though when you want to give GIS
data to non GIS users. With the simpler raster formats, the person you give
the raster image to can simply view it as an image on their computer without
needing any special GIS software.

Raster analysis:

There are a great many analytical tools that can be run on raster data which
cannot be used with vector data. For example, rasters can be used to model
water flow over the land surface. This information can be used to calculate
where watersheds and stream networks exist, based on the terrain.

Raster data are also often used in agriculture and forestry to manage crop
production. For example with a satellite image of a farmer's lands, you can
identify areas where the plants are growing poorly and then use that
information to apply more fertilizer on the affected areas only. Foresters use
raster data to estimate how much timber can be harvested from an area.

Raster data is also very important for disaster management. Analysis of Digital
Elevation Models (a kind of raster where each pixel contains the height above
sea level) can then be used to identify areas that are likely to be flooded. This
can then be used to target rescue and relief efforts to areas where it is needed
the most.

Common problems / things to be aware of:

As we have already mentioned, high resolution raster data can require large
amounts of computer storage.

56
What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Raster data are a grid of regularly sized pixels.
● Raster data are good for showing continually varying information.
● The size of pixels in a raster determines its spatial resolution.
● Raster images can contain one or more bands, each covering the same
spatial area, but containing different information.
● When raster data contains bands from different parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum, they are called multi-spectral images.
● Three of the bands of a multi-spectral image can be shown in the colours
Red, Green and Blue so that we can see them.
● Images with a single band are called grayscale images.
● Single band, grayscale images can be shown in pseudocolour by the GIS.
● Raster images can consume a large amount of storage space.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Discuss with your learners in which situations you would use raster data
and in which you would use vector data.
● Get your learners to create a raster map of your school by using A4
transparency sheets with grid lines drawn on them. Overlay the
transparencies onto a toposheet or aerial photograph of your school. Now
let each learner or group of learners colour in cells that represent a
certain type of feature. e.g. building, playground, sports field, trees,
footpaths etc. When they are all finished, overlay all the sheets together
and see if it makes a good raster map representation of your school.
Which types of features worked well when represented as rasters? How
did your choice in cell size affect your ability to represent different
feature types?

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can understand raster data using
pen and paper. Draw a grid of squares onto a sheet of paper to represent your
soccer field. Fill the grid in with numbers representing values for grass cover
on your soccer field. If a patch is bare give the cell a value of 0. If the patch is
mixed bare and covered, give it a value of 1. If an area is completely covered
with grass, give it a value of 2. Now use pencil crayons to colour the cells
based on their values. Colour cells with value 2 dark green. Value 1 should get
coloured light green, and value 0 coloured in brown. When you finish, you
should have a raster map of your soccer field!

57
Further reading:

Book:

● Chang, Kang-Tsung (2006): Introduction to Geographic Information

Systems. 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0070658986)
● DeMers, Michael N. (2005): Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. Wiley. (ISBN 9814126195)

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIS#Raster

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on working with
raster data in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at topology to see how
the relationship between vector features can be used to ensure the best data
quality.

58
 GIS for Educators Topic 6: Topology
Objectives: Understanding topology in vector
data
Keywords: Vector, topology, topology rules,
topology errors, search radius,
snapping distance, simple
feature

Overview:

Topology expresses the spatial relationships between connecting or adjacent

vector features (points, polylines and polygons) in a GIS. Topological or
topology-based data are useful for detecting and correcting digitising errors
(e.g. two lines in a roads vector layer that do not meet perfectly at an
intersection). Topology is necessary for carrying out some types of spatial
analysis, such as network analysis.
Imagine you travel to London. On a sightseeing tour you plan to visit St. Paul's
Cathedral first and in the afternoon Covent Garden Market for some souvenirs.
Looking at the Underground map of London (see Illustration 58 below) you
have to find connecting trains to get from Covent Garden to St. Paul's. This
requires topological information (data) about where it is possible to change
trains. Looking at a map of the underground, the topological relationships are
illustrated by circles that show connectivity. Changing trains at stations allows
you to move from one connected part of the network to another.

Illustration 58: Topology of London Underground Network.

59
Topology errors

There are different types of topological errors and they can be grouped
according to whether the vector feature types are polygons or polylines.
Topological errors with polygon features can include unclosed polygons, gaps
between polygon borders or overlapping polygon borders. A common
topological error with polyline features is that they do not meet perfectly at a
point (node). This type of error is called an undershoot if a gap exists
between the lines, and an overshoot if a line ends beyond the line it should
connect to (see Illustration 59 below).

Illustration 59: Undershoots (1) occur when digitised vector lines that should
connect to each other don't quite touch. Overshoots (2) happen if a line ends
beyond the line it should connect to. Slivers (3) occur when the vertices of
two polygons do not match up on their borders.

The result of overshoot and undershoot errors are so-called 'dangling nodes' at
the end of the lines. Dangling nodes are acceptable in special cases, for
example if they are attached to dead-end streets.
Topological errors break the relationship between features. These errors need
to be fixed in order to be able to analyse vector data with procedures like
network analysis (e.g. finding the best route across a road network) or
measurement (e.g. finding out the length of a river). In addition to topology
being useful for network analysis and measurement, there are other reasons
why it is important and useful to create or have vector data with correct
topology. Just imagine you digitise a municipal boundaries map for your
province and the polygons overlap or show slivers. If such errors were present,
you would be able to use the measurement tools, but the results you get will
be incorrect. You will not know the correct area for any municipality and you
will not be able to define exactly, where the borders between the municipalities
are.
It is not only important for your own analysis to create and have topologically
correct data, but also for people who you pass data on to. They will be
expecting your data and analysis results to be correct!

60
Topology rules

Fortunately, many common errors that can occur when digitising vector
features can be prevented by topology rules that are implemented in many GIS
applications.
Except for some special GIS data formats, topology is usually not enforced by
default. Many common GIS, like QGIS, define topology as relationship rules
and let the user choose the rules, if any, to be implemented in a vector layer.
The following list shows some examples of where topology rules can be defined
for real world features in a vector map.
● Area edges of a municipality map must not overlap.
● Area edges of a municipality map must not have gaps (slivers).
● Polygons showing property boundaries must be closed. Undershoots or
overshoots of the border lines are not allowed.
● Contour lines in a vector line layer must not intersect (cross each other).

Topological tools

Many GIS applications provide tools for topological editing. For example in
QGIS you can enable topological editing to improve editing and maintaining
common boundaries in polygon layers. A GIS such as QGIS 'detects' a shared
boundary in a polygon map so you only have to move the edge vertex of one
polygon boundary and QGIS will ensure the updating of the other polygon
boundaries as shown in Illustration 60(1) below.
Another topological option allows you to prevent polygon overlaps during
digitising (see Illustration 60(2) below). If you already have one polygon, it is
possible with this option to digitise a second adjacent polygon so that both
polygons overlap and QGIS then clips the second polygon to the common
boundary.

Illustration 60: (1)Topological editing to detect shared boundaries, when

moving vertices. When moving a vertex, all features that share that vertex
are updated. (2) To avoid polygon overlaps, when a new polygon is
digitised (shown in red) it is clipped to avoid overlapping neighbouring
areas.

61
Snapping distance
Snapping distance is the distance a GIS uses to search for the closest vertex
and / or segment you are trying to connect when you digitise. A segment is a
straight line formed between two vertices in a polygon or polyline geometry. If
you aren't within the snapping distance, a GIS such as QGIS will leave the
vertex where you release the mouse button, instead of snapping it to an
existing vertex and / or segment (see Illustration 61 below).

Illustration 61: The snapping distance (black circle) is defined in map units
(e.g. decimal degrees) for snapping to either vertices or segments.

Search Radius
Search radius is the distance a GIS uses to search for the closest vertex you
are trying to move when you click on the map. If you aren't within the search
radius, the GIS won't find and select any vertex of a feature for editing. In
principle, it is quite similar to the snapping distance functionality.
Snapping distance and search radius are both set in map units so you may
need to experiment to get the distance value set right. If you specify a value
that is too big, the GIS may snap to a wrong vertex, especially if you are
dealing with a large number of vertices close together. If you specify the
search radius too small the GIS application won't find any feature or vertex to
move or edit.

Common problems / things to be aware of

Topology is a complex representation of vector data. True topological vector

datasets are stored in special file formats that record all the relationships
between features. Most commonly used vector data formats use something
called 'Simple Features' which also consists of point, line and polygon features.
Simple feature datasets are mainly designed for simplicity and for fast
rendering but not for data analysis that require topology (such as finding
routes across a network). Many GIS applications are able to show topological
and simple feature data together and some can also create, edit and analyse
both.

62
What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Topology shows the spatial relation of neighbouring vector features.

● Topology in GIS is provided by topological tools.
● Topology can be used to detect and correct digitizing errors.
● For some tools, such as network analysis, topological data is essential.
● Snapping distance and search radius help us to digitise topologically
correct vector data.
● Simple feature data is not a true topological data format but it is
commonly used by GIS applications.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Mark your local bus stops on a toposheet map and then task your
learners to find the shortest route between two stops.
● Think of how you would create vector features in a GIS to represent a
topological road network of your town. What topological rules are
important and what tools can your learners use in QGIS to make sure
that the new road layer is topologically correct?

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can use a map of a bus or railway
network and discuss the spatial relationships and topology with your learners.

Further reading:

Books:

● Chang, Kang-Tsung (2006): Introduction to Geographic Information

Systems. 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0070658986)
● DeMers, Michael N. (2005): Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. Wiley. (ISBN 9814126195)

Websites:

● http://www.innovativegis.com/basis/primer/concepts.html
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geospatial_topology

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on topological editing
provided in QGIS.

What's next?

63
In the section that follows we will take a closer look at Coordinate Reference
Systems to understand how we relate data from our spherical earth onto flat
maps!

64
 GIS for Educators Topic 7: Coordinate Reference Systems
Objectives: Understanding of Coordinate
Reference Systems.
Keywords: Coordinate Reference System
(CRS), Map Projection, On the
Fly Projection, Latitude,
Longitude, Northing, Easting

Overview:

Map projections try to portray the surface of the earth or a portion of the
earth on a flat piece of paper or computer screen. A coordinate reference
system (CRS) then defines, with the help of coordinates, how the two-
dimensional, projected map in your GIS is related to real places on the earth.
The decision as to which map projection and coordinate reference system to
use, depends on the regional extent of the area you want to work in, on the
analysis you want to do and often on the availability of data.

Map Projection in detail

A traditional method of representing the earth's shape is the use of globes.

There is, however, a problem with this approach. Although globes preserve the
majority of the earth's shape and illustrate the spatial configuration of
continent-sized features, they are very difficult to carry in one's pocket. They
are also only convenient to use at extremely small scales (e.g. 1 : 100 million).

Most of the thematic map data commonly used in GIS applications are of
considerably larger scale. Typical GIS datasets have scales of 1:250 000 or
greater, depending on the level of detail. A globe of this size would be difficult
and expensive to produce and even more difficult to carry around. As a result,
cartographers have developed a set of techniques called map projections
designed to show, with reasonable accuracy, the spherical earth in two-
dimensions.

When viewed at close range the earth appears to be relatively flat. However
when viewed from space, we can see that the earth is relatively spherical.
Maps, as we will see in the upcoming map production topic, are
representations of reality. They are designed to not only represent features,
but also their shape and spatial arrangement. Each map projection has
advantages and disadvantages. The best projection for a map depends on
the scale of the map, and on the purposes for which it will be used. For
example, a projection may have unacceptable distortions if used to map the
entire African continent, but may be an excellent choice for a large-scale
(detailed) map of your country. The properties of a map projection may also
influence some of the design features of the map. Some projections are good
for small areas, some are good for mapping areas with a large East-West

65
extent, and some are better for mapping areas with a large North-South
extent.

The three families of map projections

The process of creating map projections can be visualised by positioning a light

source inside a transparent globe on which opaque earth features are placed.
Then project the feature outlines onto a two-dimensional flat piece of paper.
Different ways of projecting can be produced by surrounding the globe in a
cylindrical fashion, as a cone, or even as a flat surface. Each of these
methods produces what is called a map projection family. Therefore, there is
a family of planar projections, a family of cylindrical projections, and
another called conical projections (see Illustration 62)

Illustration 62: The three families of map projections. They can be represented
by a) cylindrical projections, b) conical projections or c) planar projections.

Today, of course, the process of projecting the spherical earth onto a flat piece
of paper is done using the mathematical principles of geometry and
trigonometry. This recreates the physical projection of light through the globe.

Accuracy of map projections

Map projections are never absolutely accurate representations of the spherical

earth. As a result of the map projection process, every map shows distortions
of angular conformity, distance and area. A map projection may combine

66
several of these characteristics, or may be a compromise that distorts all the
properties of area, distance and angular conformity, within some acceptable
limit. Examples of compromise projections are the Winkel Tripel projection
and the Robinson projection (see Illustration 63 below), which are often
used for world maps.

Illustration 63: The Robinson projection is a

compromise where distortions of area, angular
conformity and distance are acceptable.

It is usually impossible to preserve all characteristics at the same time in a

map projection. This means that when you want to carry out accurate
analytical operations, you need to use a map projection that provides the best
characteristics for your analyses. For example, if you need to measure
distances on your map, you should try to use a map projection for your data
that provides high accuracy for distances.

Map projections with angular conformity

When working with a globe, the main directions of the compass rose (North,
East, South and West) will always occur at 90 degrees to one another. In other
words, East will always occur at a 90 degree angle to North. Maintaining
correct angular properties can be preserved on a map projection as well. A
map projection that retains this property of angular conformity is called a
conformal or orthomorphic projection.

67
 Illustration 64: The Mercator projection, for example, is used where angular
relationships are important, but the relationship of areas are distorted.

These projections are used when the preservation of angular relationships

is important. They are commonly used for navigational or meteorological tasks.
It is important to remember that maintaining true angles on a map is difficult
for large areas and should be attempted only for small portions of the earth.
The conformal type of projection results in distortions of areas, meaning that if
area measurements are made on the map, they will be incorrect. The larger
the area the less accurate the area measurements will be. Examples are the
Mercator projection (as shown in Illustration 64 above) and the Lambert
Conformal Conic projection. The U.S. Geological Survey uses a conformal
projection for many of its topographic maps.

Map projections with equal distance

If your goal in projecting a map is to accurately measure distances, you should

select a projection that is designed to preserve distances well. Such
projections, called equidistant projections, require that the scale of the map
is kept constant. A map is equidistant when it correctly represents distances

68

Illustration 65: The United Nations Logo uses the Azimuthal Equidistant
projection.
from the centre of the projection to any other place on the map. Equidistant
projections maintain accurate distances from the centre of the projection or
along given lines. These projections are used for radio and seismic mapping,
and for navigation. The Plate Carree Equidistant Cylindrical (see
Illustration 66 below) and the Equirectangular projection are two good
examples of equidistant projections. The Azimuthal Equidistant projection
is the projection used for the emblem of the United Nations (see Illustration 65
below).

Illustration 66: The Plate Carree Equidistant Cylindrical projection, for

example, is used when accurate distance measurement is important.

Projections with equal areas

When a map portrays areas over the entire map, so that all mapped areas
have the same proportional relationship to the areas on the Earth that they
represent, the map is an equal area map. In practice, general reference and
educational maps most often require the use of equal area projections. As
the name implies, these maps are best used when calculations of area are the
dominant calculations you will perform. If, for example, you are trying to
analyse a particular area in your town to find out whether it is large enough for
a new shopping mall, equal area projections are the best choice. On the one
hand, the larger the area you are analysing, the more precise your area
measures will be, if you use an equal area projection rather than another type.
On the other hand, an equal area projection results in distortions of angular
conformity when dealing with large areas. Small areas will be far less prone
to having their angles distorted when you use an equal area projection.
Alber's equal area, Lambert's equal area and Mollweide Equal Area
Cylindrical projections (shown in Illustration 67 below) are types of equal
area projections that are often encountered in GIS work.

69
Keep in mind that map projection is a very complex topic. There are hundreds
of different projections available world wide each trying to portray a certain
portion of the earth's surface as faithfully as possible on a flat piece of paper.
In reality, the choice of which projection to use, will often be made for you.
Most countries have commonly used projections and when data is exchanged
people will follow the national trend.

Illustration 67: The Mollweide Equal Area Cylindrical projection, for example,
ensures that all mapped areas have the same proportional relationship to
the areas on the Earth.

Coordinate Reference System (CRS) in detail

With the help of coordinate reference systems (CRS) every place on the earth
can be specified by a set of three numbers, called coordinates. In general CRS
can be divided into projected coordinate reference systems (also called
Cartesian or rectangular coordinate reference systems) and geographic
coordinate reference systems.

Geographic Coordinate Systems

The use of Geographic Coordinate Reference Systems is very common. They

use degrees of latitude and longitude and sometimes also a height value to
describe a location on the earth’s surface. The most popular is called WGS 84.

Lines of latitude run parallel to the equator and divide the earth into 180
equally spaced sections from North to South (or South to North). The reference
line for latitude is the equator and each hemisphere is divided into ninety
sections, each representing one degree of latitude. In the northern
hemisphere, degrees of latitude are measured from zero at the equator to
ninety at the north pole. In the southern hemisphere, degrees of latitude are
measured from zero at the equator to ninety degrees at the south pole. To
simplify the digitisation of maps, degrees of latitude in the southern
hemisphere are often assigned negative values (0 to -90°). Wherever you are
on the earth’s surface, the distance between the lines of latitude is the same

70
(60 nautical miles). See Illustration 68 below for a pictorial view.

Illustration 68: Geographic coordinate system with lines of latitude parallel

to the equator and lines of longitude with the prime meridian through
Greenwich.

Lines of longitude, on the other hand, do not stand up so well to the

standard of uniformity. Lines of longitude run perpendicular to the equator and
converge at the poles. The reference line for longitude (the prime meridian)
runs from the North pole to the South pole through Greenwich, England.
Subsequent lines of longitude are measured from zero to 180 degrees East or
West of the prime meridian. Note that values West of the prime meridian are
assigned negative values for use in digital mapping applications. See
Illustration 68 above for a pictorial view.

At the equator, and only at the equator, the distance represented by one line of
longitude is equal to the distance represented by one degree of latitude. As
you move towards the poles, the distance between lines of longitude becomes
progressively less, until, at the exact location of the pole, all 360° of longitude
are represented by a single point that you could put your finger on (you
probably would want to wear gloves though). Using the geographic coordinate
system, we have a grid of lines dividing the earth into squares that cover
approximately 12363.365 square kilometres at the equator…a good start, but
not very useful for determining the location of anything within that square.
To be truly useful, a map grid must be divided into small enough sections so
that they can be used to describe (with an acceptable level of accuracy) the
location of a point on the map. To accomplish this, degrees are divided into
minutes (') and seconds ("). There are sixty minutes in a degree, and sixty
seconds in a minute (3600 seconds in a degree). So, at the equator, one
second of latitude or longitude = 30.87624 meters.

71
72
Projected coordinate reference systems

A two-dimensional coordinate reference system is commonly defined by two

axes. At right angles to each other, they form a so called XY-plane (see
Illustration 69 on the left side). The horizontal axis is normally labelled X, and
the vertical axis is normally labelled Y. In a three-dimensional coordinate
reference system, another axis, normally labelled Z, is added. It is also at right
angles to the X and Y axes. The Z axis provides the third dimension of space
(see Illustration 69 on the right side). Every point that is expressed in
spherical coordinates can be expressed as an X Y Z coordinate.

Illustration 69: Projected coordinate reference systems. Two-dimensional

with X and Y coordinates (left) and three-dimensional with X, Y and Z
coordinates (right).

A projected coordinate reference system in the southern hemisphere (south of

the equator) normally has its origin on the equator at a specific Longitude.
This means that the Y-values increase southwards and the X-values increase to
the West. In the northern hemisphere (north of the equator) the origin is also
the equator at a specific Longitude. However, now the Y-values increase
northwards and the X-values increase to the East. In the following section, we
describe a projected coordinate reference system, called Universal
Transverse Mercator (UTM) often used for South Africa.

Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) CRS in detail:

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate reference system has its
origin on the equator at a specific Longitude. Now the Y-values increase
Southwards and the X-values increase to the West. The UTM CRS is a global
map projection. This means, it is generally used all over the world. But as
already described in the section “accuracy of map projections” above, the
larger the area (for example South Africa) the more distortion of angular
conformity, distance and area occur. To avoid too much distortion, the world is
divided into 60 equal zones that are all 6 degrees wide in longitude from

73
East to West. The UTM zones are numbered 1 to 60, starting at the
international date line (zone 1 at 180 degrees West longitude) and
progressing East back to the international date line (zone 60 at 180
degrees East longitude) as shown in Illustration 70 below.

Illustration 70: The Universal Transverse Mercator zones. For South

Africa UTM zones 33S, 34S, 35S, and 36S are used.

As you can see in Illustration 70 above and Illustration 71 below, South Africa
is covered by four UTM zones to minimize distortion. The zones are called
UTM 33S, UTM 34S, UTM 35S and UTM 36S. The S after the zone means
that the UTM zones are located south of the equator.

74
 Illustration 71: UTM zones 33S, 34S, 35S, and 36S with their
central longitudes (meridians) used to project South Africa with
high accuracy. The red cross shows an Area of Interest (AOI).

Say, for example, that we want to define a two-dimensional coordinate within

the Area of Interest (AOI) marked with a red cross in Illustration 71 above
You can see, that the area is located within the UTM zone 35S. This means, to
minimize distortion and to get accurate analysis results, we should use UTM
zone 35S as the coordinate reference system.

The position of a coordinate in UTM south of the equator must be indicated

with the zone number (35) and with its northing (y) value and easting (x)
value in meters. The northing value is the distance of the position from the
equator in meters. The easting value is the distance from the central
meridian (longitude) of the used UTM zone. For UTM zone 35S it is 27
degrees East as shown in Illustration 71 above. Furthermore, because we are
south of the equator and negative values are not allowed in the UTM
coordinate reference system, we have to add a so called false northing value
of 10,000,000m to the northing (y) value and a false easting value of
500,000m to the easting (x) value.

This sounds difficult, so, we will do an example that shows you how to find the
correct UTM 35S coordinate for the Area of Interest.

The northing (y) value

The place we are looking for is 3,550,000 meters south of the equator, so the
northing (y) value gets a negative sign and is -3,550,000m. According to the
UTM definitions we have to add a false northing value of 10,000,000m. This
means the northing (y) value of our coordinate is 6,450,000m (-3,550,000m +
10,000,000m).

The easting (x) value

75
First we have to find the central meridian (longitude) for the UTM zone 35S.
As we can see in ***71*** it is 27 degrees East. The place we are looking
for is 85,000 meters West from the central meridian. Just like the northing
value, the easting (x) value gets a negative sign, giving a result of -85,000m.
According to the UTM definitions we have to add a false easting value of
500,000m. This means the easting (x) value of our coordinate is 415,000m (-
85,000m + 500,000m). Finally, we have to add the zone number to the
easting value to get the correct value.

As a result, the coordinate for our Point of Interest, projected in UTM zone
35S would be written as: 35 415,000mE / 6,450,000mN. In some GIS,
when the correct UTM zone 35S is defined and the units are set to meters
within the system, the coordinate could also simply appear as 415,000
6,450,000.

On-The-Fly Projection

As you can probably imagine, there might be a situation where the data you
want to use in a GIS are projected in different coordinate reference systems.
For example, you might get a vector layer showing the boundaries of South
Africa projected in UTM 35S and another vector layer with point information
about rainfall provided in the geographic coordinate system WGS 84. In GIS
these two vector layers are placed in totally different areas of the map
window, because they have different projections.

To solve this problem, many GIS include a functionality called On-the-fly

projection. It means, that you can define a certain projection when you start
the GIS and all layers that you then load, no matter what coordinate reference
system they have, will be automatically displayed in the projection you
defined. This functionality allows you to overlay layers within the map window
of your GIS, even though they may be in different reference systems.

Common problems / things to be aware of:

The topic map projection is very complex and even professionals who have
studied geography, geodetics or any other GIS related science, often have
problems with the correct definition of map projections and coordinate
reference systems. Usually when you work with GIS, you already have
projected data to start with. In most cases these data will be projected in a
certain CRS, so you don't have to create a new CRS or even re project the data
from one CRS to another. That said, it is always useful to have an idea about
what map projection and CRS means.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

76
 ● Map projections portray the surface of the earth on a two-dimensional,
flat piece of paper or computer screen.
● There are global map projections, but most map projections are created
and optimized to project smaller areas of the earth's surface.
● Map projections are never absolutely accurate representations of the
spherical earth. They show distortions of angular conformity,
distance and area. It is impossible to preserve all these characteristics
at the same time in a map projection.
● A Coordinate reference system (CRS) defines, with the help of
coordinates, how the two-dimensional, projected map is related to real
locations on the earth.
● There are two different types of coordinate reference systems:
Geographic Coordinate Systems and Projected Coordinate
Systems.
● On the Fly projection is a functionality in GIS that allows us to overlay
layers, even if they are projected in different coordinate reference
systems.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Start QGIS and load two layers of the same area but with different
projections and let your pupils find the coordinates of several places on
the two layers. You can show them that it is not possible to overlay the
two layers. Then define the coordinate reference system as Geographic/
WGS 84 inside the Project Properties Dialog and activate the check box
'enable On-the-fly CRS transformation'. Load the two layers of the same
area again and let your pupils see how On-the-fly projection works.
● You can open the Project Properties Dialog in QGIS and show your pupils
the many different Coordinate Reference Systems so they get an idea of
the complexity of this topic. With 'On-the-fly CRS transformation'
enabled you can select different CRS to display the same layer in
different projections.

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can show your pupils the principles
of the three map projection families. Get a globe and paper and demonstrate
how cylindrical, conical and planar projections work in general. With the help of
a transparency sheet you can draw a two-dimensional coordinate reference
system showing X axes and Y axes. Then, let your pupils define coordinates (x
and y values) for different places.

Further reading:

Books:

77
 ● Chang, Kang-Tsung (2006): Introduction to Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0070658986)
● DeMers, Michael N. (2005): Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. Wiley. (ISBN 9814126195)
● Galati, Stephen R. (2006): Geographic Information Systems Demystified.
Artech House Inc. (ISBN 158053533X)

Websites:

● http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj_f.ht
ml
● http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/topomaps/index.htm

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on working with map
projections in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at Map Production.

78
 GIS for Educators Topic 8: Map Production
Objectives: Understanding of map production
for spatial data
Keywords: Map production, map layout,
scale bar, north arrow, legend,
map body, map unit

Overview:

Map production is the process of arranging map elements on a sheet of paper

in a way that, even without many words, the average person can understand
what it is all about. Maps are usually produced for presentations and reports
where the audience or reader is a politician, citizen or a learner with no
professional background in GIS. Because of this, a map has to be effective in
communicating spatial information. Common elements of a map are the title,
map body, legend, north arrow, scale bar, acknowledgement, and map
border (see Illustration 72 below).

Illustration 72: Common map elements (labelled in red) are the title,
map body, legend, north arrow, scale bar, acknowledgement and
map border.

Other elements that might be added are e.g. a graticule, or name of the

79
map projection (CRS). Together, these elements help the map reader to
interpret the information shown on the map. The map body is, of course, the
most important part of the map because it contains the map information. The
other elements support the communication process and help the map reader to
orientate himself and understand the map topic. For example, the title
describes the subject matter and the legend relates map symbols to the
mapped data.

Title in detail:
The map title is very important because it is usually the first thing a reader will
look at on a map. It can be compared with a title in a newspaper. It should be
short but give the reader a first idea of what the map is about.

Map Border in detail:

The map border is a line that defines exactly the edges of the area shown on
the map. When printing a map with a graticule (which we describe further
down), you often find the coordinate information of the graticule lines along
the border lines, as you can see in Illustration 73 below.

Map Legend in detail:

A map is a simplified representation of the real world and map symbols are
used to represent real objects. Without symbols, we wouldn't understand
maps. To ensure that a person can correctly read a map, a map legend is used
to provide a key to all the symbols used on the map. It is like a dictionary that
allows you to understand the meaning of what the map shows. A map legend
is usually shown as a little box in a corner of the map. It contains icons, each
of which will represent a type of feature. For example, a house icon will show
you how to identify houses on the map (see Illustration 73 below).

Illustration 73: Two maps from the same area, both with a water body in the
background but with different themes, map symbols and colours in the legend.

80
You can also use different symbols and icons in your legend to show different
themes. In Illustration 73 above you can see a map with a lake in light blue
overlaid with contour lines and spot heights to show information about the
terrain in that area. On the right side you see the same area with the lake in
the background but this map is designed to show tourists the location of
houses they can rent for their holidays. It uses brighter colours, a house icon
and more descriptive and inviting words in the legend.
North arrow in detail:
A north arrow (sometimes also called a compass rose) is a figure displaying the
main directions, North, South, East and West. On a map it is used to
indicate the direction of North.
For example, in GIS this means that a house that is located north from a lake
can be found on top of the lake on a map. The road in the east will then be to
the right of the water body on the map, a river in the south will be below the
water body and if you are searching for a train station to the west of the lake
you will find it on the left side on the map.

Scale in detail
The scale of a map, is the value of a single unit of distance on the map,
representing distance in the real world. The values are shown in map units
(meters, feet or degrees). The scale can be expressed in several ways, for
example, in words, as a ratio or as a graphical scale bar (see Illustration 74
below).
Expressing a scale in words is a commonly used method and has the
advantage of being easily understood by most map users. You can see an
example of a word based scale in Illustration 74a below. Another option is the
representative fraction (RF) method, where both the map distance and the
ground distance in the real world are given in the same map units, as a ratio.
For example, a RF value 1:25,000 means that any distance on the map is
1/25,000th of the real distance on the ground (see Illustration 74b below). The
value 25,000 in the ratio is called the scale denominator. More experienced
users often prefer the representative fraction method, because it reduces
confusion.

When a representative fraction expresses a very small ratio, for example

1:1000 000, it is called a small scale map. On the other hand if the ratio is
very large, for example a 1:50 000 map, it is called a large scale map. It is
handy to remember that a small scale map covers a large area, and a large
scale map covers a small area!

A scale expression as a graphic or bar scale is another basic method of

expressing a scale. A bar scale shows measured distances on the map. The

81
equivalent distance in the real world is placed above as you can see in
Illustration 74c below.

Illustration 74: A map scale can be expressed in

words (a), as a ratio (b), or as graphic or bar scale
(c).

Maps are usually produced at standard scales of, for example, 1:10 000, 1:25
000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000, 1:250 000, 1:500 000. What does this mean to the
map reader? It means that if you multiply the distance measured on the map
by the scale denominator, you will know the distance in the real world.
For example, if we want to measure a distance of 100mm on a map with a
scale of 1:25,000 we calculate the real world distance like this:

100mm x 25,000 = 2,500,000 mm

This means that 100mm on the map is equivalent to 2,500,000mm (250m) in

the real word.
Another interesting aspect of a map scale, is that the lower the map scale, the
more detailed the feature information in the map will be. In Illustration 75
below, you can see an example of this. Both maps are the same size but have
a different scale. The image on the left side shows more details, for example
the houses south-west of the water body can be clearly identified as separate
squares. In the image on the right you can only see a black clump of
rectangles and you are not able to see each house clearly.

82
Illustration 75: Maps showing an area in two different scales. The map scale
on the left is 1:25,000. The map scale on the right is 1:50,000.

Acknowledgment in detail:

In the acknowledgment area of a map it is possible to add text with important

information. For example information about the quality of the used data can be
useful to give the reader an idea about details such as how, by whom and
when a map was created. If you look at a topographical map of your town, it
would be useful to know when the map was created and who did it. If the map
is already 50 years old, you will probably find a lot of houses and roads that no
longer exist or maybe never even existed. If you know that the map was
created by an official institution, you could contact them and ask if they have a
more current version of that map with updated information.

Graticule in detail:

A graticule is a network of lines overlain on a map to make spatial orientation

easier for the reader. The lines can be used as a reference. As an example, the
lines of a graticule can represent the earth's parallels of latitude and meridians
of longitude. When you want to refer to a special area on a map during your
presentation or in a report you could say: “the houses close to latitude 26.04 /
longitude -32.11 are often exposed to flooding during January and February”
(see Illustration 76 below).

83
 Illustration 76: Graticules (red lines) representing the Earth's
parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. The latitude
and longitude values on the map border can be used for
better orientation on the map.

Name of the map projection in detail

A map projection tries to represent the 3-dimensional Earth with all its features
like houses, roads or lakes on a flat sheet of paper. This is very difficult as you
can imagine, and even after hundreds of years there is no single projection
that is able to represent the Earth perfectly for any area in the world. Every
projection has advantages and disadvantages.
To be able to create maps as precisely as possible, people have studied,
modified, and produced many different kinds of projections. In the end almost
every country has developed its own map projection with the goal of improving
the map accuracy for their territorial area (see Illustration 77 below).

Illustration 77: The world in different projections. A Mollweide Equal Area

projection left, a Plate Carree Equidistant Cylindrical projection on the
right. 84
With this in mind, we can now understand why it makes sense to add the
name of the projection on a map. It allows the reader to see quickly, if one
map can be compared with another. For example, features on a map in a so-
called Equal Area projection appear very different to features projected in a
Cylindrical Equidistant projection (see Illustration 77 above).
Map projection is a very complex topic and we cannot cover it completely here.
You may want to take a look at our previous topic: Coordinate Reference
Systems if you want to know more about it.

Common problems / things to be aware of:

It is sometimes difficult to create a map that is easy to understand and well
laid out whilst still showing and explaining all the information that the reader
needs to know. To achieve this, you need to create an ideal arrangement and
composition of all the map elements. You should concentrate on what story you
want to tell with your map and how the elements, such as the legend, scale
bar and acknowledgements should be ordered. By doing this, you will have a
well designed and educational map, that people would like to look at and be
able to understand.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Map production means arranging map elements on a sheet of paper.

● Map elements are the title, map body, map border, legend, scale, north
arrow and the acknowledgement.
● Scale represents the ratio of a distance on the map to the actual
distance in the real world.
● Scale is displayed in map units (meters, feet or degrees)
● A legend explains all the symbols on a map.
● A map should explain complex information as simply as possible.
● Maps are usually always displayed 'North up'.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Load some vector layers in your GIS for your local area. See if your
learners can identify examples of different types of legend elements such
as road types or buildings. Create a list of legend elements and define
what the icons should look like, so a reader can most easily figure out

85
 their meaning in the map.
● Create a map layout with your learners on a sheet of paper. Decide on
the title of the map, what GIS layers you want to show and what colours
and icons to have on the map. Use the techniques you learned in Topics
2 and 3 to adjust the symbology accordingly. When you have a template,
open the QGIS Map Composer and try to arrange a map layout as
planned.

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can use any topographical map
and discuss the map design with your learners. Figure out if they understand
what the map wants to tell. What can be improved? How accurately does the
map represent the history of the area? How would a map from 100 years ago
differ from the same map today?

Further reading:

Books:

● Chang, Kang-Tsung (2006): Introduction to Geographic Information

Systems. 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0070658986)
● DeMers, Michael N. (2005): Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. Wiley. (ISBN 9814126195)

Websites:

● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_(map)
● http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj.html

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on map production
provided in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at vector analysis to see
how we can use a GIS for more than just making good looking maps!

86
 GIS for Educators Topic 9: Vector Spatial Analysis (Buffers)
Objectives: Understanding the use of
buffering in vector spatial
analysis.
Keywords: Vector, buffer zone, spatial
analysis, buffer distance,
dissolve boundary, outward and
inward buffer, multiple buffer

Overview:

Spatial analysis uses spatial information to extract new and additional

meaning from GIS data. Usually spatial analysis is carried out using a GIS
Application. GIS Applications normally have spatial analysis tools for feature
statistics (e.g. how many vertices make up this polyline?) or geoprocessing
such as feature buffering. The types of spatial analysis that are used vary
according to subject areas. People working in water management and research
(hydrology) will most likely be interested in analysing terrain and modelling
water as it moves across it. In wildlife management users are interested in
analytical functions that deal with wildlife point locations and their relationship
to the environment. In this topic we will discuss buffering as an example of a
useful spatial analysis that can be carried out with vector data.

Buffering in detail:

Buffering usually creates two areas: one area that is within a specified
distance to selected real world features and the other area that is beyond. The
area that is within the specified distance is called the buffer zone.
A buffer zone is any area that serves the purpose of keeping real world
features distant from one another. Buffer zones are often set up to protect the
environment, protect residential and commercial zones from industrial
accidents or natural disasters, or to prevent violence.

87
 Illustration 78: The border between the United States of America and Mexico
is separated by a buffer zone. (Photo taken by SGT Jim Greenhill 2006).

Common types of buffer zones may be greenbelts between residential and

commercial areas, border zones between countries (see Illustration 78 above),
noise protection zones around airports, or pollution protection zones along
rivers.
In a GIS Application, buffer zones are always represented as vector
polygons enclosing other polygon, line or point features (see Illustrations 79-
81 below).

Illustration 79: A Illustration 80: A Illustration 81: A

buffer zone around buffer zone around buffer zone around
vector points vector polylines. vector polygons

Variations in buffering:

There are several variations in buffering. The buffer distance or buffer size
can vary according to numerical values provided in the vector layer attribute
table for each feature. The numerical values have to be defined in map units
according to the Coordinate Reference System (CRS) used with the data. For
example, the width of a buffer zone along the banks of a river can vary
depending on the intensity of the adjacent land use. For intensive cultivation

88
the buffer distance may be bigger than for organic farming (see Illustration 82
below and Table 9 below).

Illustration 82: Buffering rivers

with different buffer distances.
River Adjacent land use Buffer distance (meters)
Breede River Intensive vegetable cultivation 100
Komati Intensive cotton cultivation 150
Oranje Organic farming 50
Telle river Organic farming 50
Table 9: Attribute table with different buffer distances to rivers based on
information about the adjacent land use.

Buffers around polyline features, such as rivers or roads, do not have to be on

both sides of the lines. They can be on either the left side or the right side of
the line feature. In these cases the left or right side is determined by the
direction from the starting point to the end point of line during digitising.

Multiple buffer zones:

A feature can also have more than one buffer zone. A nuclear power plant may
be buffered with distances of 10, 15, 25 and 30 km, thus forming multiple
rings around the plant as part of an evacuation plan (see Illustration 83
below).

89
 Illustration 83: Buffering a point feature with distances of 10, 15,
25 and 30 km.

Buffering with intact or dissolved boundaries

Buffer zones often have dissolved boundaries so that there are no overlapping
areas between the buffer zones. In some cases though, it may also be useful
for boundaries of buffer zones to remain intact, so that each buffer zone is a
separate polygon and you can identify the overlapping areas (see Illustration
84 below).

Illustration 84: Buffer zones with dissolved (left) and

with intact boundaries (right) showing overlapping
areas.

90
Buffering outward and inward

Buffer zones around polygon features are usually extended outward from a
polygon boundary but it is also possible to create a buffer zone inward from a
polygon boundary. Say, for example, the Department of Tourism wants to plan
a new road around Robben Island and environmental laws require that the
road is at least 200 meters inward from the coast line. They could use an
inward buffer to find the 200m line inland and then plan their road not to go
beyond that line.

Common problems / things to be aware of:

Most GIS Applications offer buffer creation as an analysis tool, but the options
for creating buffers can vary. For example, not all GIS Applications allow you to
buffer on either the left side or the right side of a line feature, to dissolve the
boundaries of buffer zones or to buffer inward from a polygon boundary.

A buffer distance always has to be defined as a whole number (integer) or a

decimal number (floating point value). This value is defined in map units
(meters, feet, decimal degrees) according to the Coordinate Reference System
(CRS) of the vector layer.

More spatial analysis tools

Buffering is a an important and often used spatial analysis tool but there are
many others that can be used in a GIS and explored by the user.

Spatial overlay is a process that allows you to identify the relationships

between two polygon features that share all or part of the same area. The
output vector layer is a combination of the input features information (see
Illustration 85 below ). Typical spatial overlay examples are:

● Intersection: The output layer contains all areas where both layers
overlap (intersect).
● Union: the output layer contains all areas of the two input layers
combined.
● Symmetrical difference: The output layer contains all areas of the
input layers except those areas where the two layers overlap (intersect).
● Difference: The output layer contains all areas of the first input layer
that do not overlap (intersect) with the second input layer.

91
Illustration 85: Spatial overlay with two input vector layers (a_input =
rectangle, b_input = circle). The resulting vector layer is displayed green.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Buffer zones describe areas around real world features.

● Buffer zones are always vector polygons.
● A feature can have multiple buffer zones.
● The size of a buffer zone is defined by a buffer distance.
● A buffer distance has to be an integer or floating point value.
● A buffer distance can be different for each feature within a vector layer.
● Polygons can be buffered inward or outward from the polygon
boundary.
● Buffer zones can be created with intact or dissolved boundaries.
● Besides buffering, a GIS usually provides a variety of vector analysis
tools to solve spatial tasks.

Now you try!

Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● Because of dramatic traffic increase, the town planners want to widen

the main road and add a second lane. Create a buffer around the road to
find properties that fall within the buffer zone (see Illustration 86 below).
● For controlling protesting groups, the police want to establish a neutral
zone to keep protesters at least 100 meters from a building. Create a
buffer around a building and colour it so that event planners can see
where the buffer area is.
● A truck factory plans to expand. The siting criteria stipulate that a
potential site must be within 1 km of a heavy-duty road. Create a buffer
along a main road so that you can see where potential sites are.
● Imagine that the city wants to introduce a law stipulating that no bottle
stores may be within a 1000 meter buffer zone of a school or a church.
Create a 1km buffer around your school and then go and see if there
would be any bottle stores too close to your school.

92
 Illustration 86: Buffer zone (green) around a roads map (brown). You can
see which houses fall within the buffer zone, so now you could contact the
owner and talk to him about the situation.

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can use a toposheet and a
compass to create buffer zones around buildings. Make small pencil marks at
equal distance all along your feature using the compass, then connect the
marks using a ruler!

Further reading:

Books:

● Galati, Stephen R. (2006): Geographic Information Systems Demystified.

Artech House Inc. (ISBN 158053533X)
● Chang, Kang-Tsung (2006): Introduction to Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0070658986)
● DeMers, Michael N. (2005): Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. Wiley. (ISBN 9814126195)

Websites:

● http://www.manifold.net/doc/transform_border_buffers.htm

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on analysing vector
data in QGIS.

What's next?

In the section that follows we will take a closer look at interpolation as an

example of spatial analysis you can do with raster data.

93
 GIS for Educators Topic 10: Spatial Analysis (Interpolation)
Objectives: Understanding of interpolation as
part of spatial analysis
Keywords: Point data, interpolation method,
Inverse Distance Weighted,
Triangulated Irregular Network

Overview:

Spatial analysis is the process of manipulating spatial information to extract

new information and meaning from the original data. Usually spatial analysis is
carried out with a Geographic Information System (GIS). A GIS usually
provides spatial analysis tools for calculating feature statistics and carrying out
geoprocessing activities as data interpolation.
In hydrology, users will likely emphasize the importance of terrain analysis and
hydrological modelling (modelling the movement of water over and in the
earth). In wildlife management, users are interested in analytical functions
dealing with wildlife point locations and their relationship to the environment.
Each user will have different things they are interested in depending on the
kind of work they do.

Spatial interpolation in detail:

Illustration 87: Temperature map interpolated from South African

Weather Stations.

Spatial interpolation is the process of using points with known values to

estimate values at other unknown points. For example, to make a precipitation
(rainfall) map for your country, you will not find enough evenly spread weather
stations to cover the entire region. Spatial interpolation can estimate the

94
temperatures at locations without recorded data by using known temperature
readings at nearby weather stations (see Illustration 87 above). This type of
interpolated surface is often called a statistical surface. Elevation data,
precipitation, snow accumulation, water table and population density are other
types of data that can be computed using interpolation.

Because of high cost and limited resources, data collection is usually conducted
only in a limited number of selected point locations. In GIS, spatial
interpolation of these points can be applied to create a raster surface with
estimates made for all raster cells.

In order to generate a continuous map, for example, a digital elevation map

from elevation points measured with a GPS device, a suitable interpolation
method has to be used to optimally estimate the values at those locations
where no samples or measurements were taken. The results of the
interpolation analysis can then be used for analyses that cover the whole area
and for modelling.

There are many interpolation methods. In this introduction we will present two
widely used interpolation methods called Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW)
and Triangulated Irregular Networks (TIN). If you are looking for
additional interpolation methods, please refer to the further reading section at
the end of this topic.

Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW)

In the IDW interpolation method, the sample points are weighted during
interpolation such that the influence of one point relative to another declines
with distance from the unknown point you want to create (see Illustration 88
below).

95
 Illustration 88: Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation based on weighted
sample point distance (left). Interpolated IDW surface from elevation vector
points (right). Image Source: Mitas, L., Mitasova, H. (1999)).

Weighting is assigned to sample points through the use of a weighting

coefficient that controls how the weighting influence will drop off as the
distance from new point increases. The greater the weighting coefficient, the
less the effect points will have if they are far from the unknown point during
the interpolation process. As the coefficient increases, the value of the
unknown point approaches the value of the nearest observational point.

It is important to notice that the IDW interpolation method also has some
disadvantages: The quality of the interpolation result can decrease, if the
distribution of sample data points is uneven. Furthermore, maximum and
minimum values in the interpolated surface can only occur at sample data
points. This often results in small peaks and pits around the sample data points
as shown in Illustration 88 above.

96
In GIS, interpolation results are usually shown as a 2 dimensional raster layer.
In Illustration 89 below, you can see a typical IDW interpolation result, based
on elevation sample points collected in the field with a GPS device.

Illustration 89: IDW interpolation result from irregularly collected elevation

sample points (shown as black crosses).

Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)

TIN interpolation is another popular tool in GIS. A common TIN algorithm is
called Delaunay triangulation. It tries to create a surface formed by triangles
of nearest neighbour points. To do this, circumcircles around selected sample
points are created and their intersections are connected to a network of non
overlapping and as compact as possible triangles (see Illustration 90 below).

97
 Illustration 90: Delaunay triangulation with circumcircles around the red
sample data. The resulting interpolated TIN surface created from elevation
vector points is shown on the right. Image Source: Mitas, L., Mitasova, H.
(1999)).

The main disadvantage of the TIN interpolation is that the surfaces are not
smooth and may give a jagged appearance. This is caused by discontinuous
slopes at the triangle edges and sample data points. In addition, triangulation
is generally not suitable for extrapolation beyond the area with collected
sample data points (see Illustration 91 below).

Illustration 91: Delaunay TIN interpolation result from irregularly collected

rainfall sample points (blue circles).

98
Common problems / things to be aware of:

It is important to remember that there is no single interpolation method that

can be applied to all situations. Some are more exact and useful than others
but take longer to calculate. They all have advantages and disadvantages. In
practice, selection of a particular interpolation method should depend upon the
sample data, the type of surfaces to be generated and tolerance of estimation
errors. Generally, a three step procedure is recommended:
1. Evaluate the sample data. Do this to get an idea on how data are
distributed in the area, as this may provide hints on which interpolation
method to use.
2. Apply an interpolation method which is most suitable to both the sample
data and the study objectives. When you are in doubt, try several
methods, if available.
3. Compare the results and find the best result and the most suitable
method. This may look like a time consuming process at the beginning.
However, as you gain experience and knowledge of different interpolation
methods, the time required for generating the most suitable surface will
be greatly reduced.

Other interpolation methods

Although we concentrated on IDW and TIN interpolation methods in this

worksheet, there are more spatial interpolation methods provided in GIS, such
as Regularized Splines with Tension (RST), Kriging or Trend Surface
interpolation. See the additional reading section below for a web link.

What have we learned?

Let's wrap up what we covered in this worksheet:

● Interpolation uses vector points with known values to estimate values

at unknown locations to create a raster surface covering an entire area.
● The interpolation result is typically a raster layer.
● It is important to find a suitable interpolation method to optimally
estimate values for unknown locations.
● IDW interpolation gives weights to sample points, such that the
influence of one point on another declines with distance from the new
point being estimated.
● TIN interpolation uses sample points to create a surface formed by
triangles based on nearest neighbour point information.

Now you try!

99
Here are some ideas for you to try with your learners:

● The Department of Agriculture plans to cultivate new land in your area

but apart from the character of the soils, they want to know if the rainfall
is sufficient for a good harvest. All the information they have available
comes from a few weather stations around the area. Create an
interpolated surface with your learners that shows which areas are likely
to receive the highest rainfall.
● The tourist office wants to publish information about the weather
conditions in January and February. They have temperature, rainfall and
wind strength data and ask you to interpolate their data to estimate
places where tourists will probably have optimal weather conditions with
mild temperatures, no rainfall and little wind strength. Can you identify
the areas in your region that meet these criteria?

Something to think about:

If you don't have a computer available, you can use a toposheet and a ruler to
estimate elevation values between contour lines or rainfall values between
fictional weather stations. For example, if rainfall at weather station A is 50
mm per month and at weather station B it is 90 mm, you can estimate, that
the rainfall at half the distance between weather station A and B is 70 mm.

Further reading:

Books:

● Chang, Kang-Tsung (2006): Introduction to Geographic Information

Systems. 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0070658986)
● DeMers, Michael N. (2005): Fundamentals of Geographic Information
Systems. 3rd Edition. Wiley. (ISBN 9814126195)
● Mitas, L., Mitasova, H. (1999): Spatial Interpolation. In: P.Longley, M.F.
Goodchild, D.J. Maguire, D.W.Rhind (Eds.), Geographical Information
Systems: Principles, Techniques, Management and Applications, Wiley.

Websites:

● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpolation
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaunay_triangulation
● http://www.agt.bme.hu/public_e/funcint/funcint.html

The QGIS User Guide also has more detailed information on interpolation tools
provided in QGIS.

What's next?

100
This is the final worksheet in this series. We encourage you to explore QGIS
and use the accompanying QGIS manual to discover all the other things you
can do with GIS software!

101
About the authors & contributors:

Tim Sutton - Editor & Lead Author

Tim Sutton is a developer and project steering

committee member of the Quantum GIS
project. He is passionate about seeing GIS
being Freely available to everyone.

Tim is also a founding member of Linfiniti

Consulting CC. - a small business set up with
the goal of helping people to learn and use
open source GIS software.

Web: http://linfiniti.com
Email: [email protected]
Otto Dassau - Assistant Author

Otto Dassau is the documentation maintainer

and project steering committee member of the
Quantum GIS project.

Otto has considerable experience in using and

training people to use Free and Open Source
GIS software.

Web: http://www.nature-consult.de
Email: [email protected]
Marcelle Sutton - Project Manager

Marcelle Sutton studied english and drama and

is a qualified teacher. Marcelle is also a
founding member of Linfiniti Consulting CC. - a
small business set up with the goal of helping
people to learn and use open source GIS
software.

Web: http://linfiniti.com
Email: [email protected]

102
Lerato Nsibande – Video Presenter

Lerato is a grade 12 scholar living in Pretoria.

Lerato learns Geography at school and has
enjoyed learning GIS with us!

Sibongile Mthombeni – Video Presenter

Sibongile lives near Johannesburg with her

young daughter. Her goal is to continue her
studies and become a nurse. Working on this
project was the first time Sibongile used a
computer.

103
 GNU Free Documentation License
Version 1.2, November 2002

Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

0. PREAMBLE

The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional

and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the
effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it,
either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for
the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being
considered responsible for modifications made by others.

This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the
document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU
General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.

We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software,
because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with
manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is
not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless
of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend
this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference.

1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS

This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains a
notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the
terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license,
unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The
"Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public
is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license if you copy,
modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under copyright law.

A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or a
portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated
into another language.

A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the

Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or
authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related
matters) and contains nothing that could fall directly within that overall
subject. (Thus, if the Document is in part a textbook of mathematics, a
Secondary Section may not explain any mathematics.) The relationship could be a
matter of historical connection with the subject or with related matters, or of
legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position regarding
them.

The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are
designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that says that
the Document is released under this License. If a section does not fit the

104
above definition of Secondary then it is not allowed to be designated as
Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document
does not identify any Invariant Sections then there are none.

The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are listed, as Front-
Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that the Document is
released under this License. A Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a
Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.

A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented

in a format whose specification is available to the general public, that is
suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with generic text editors
or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some
widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text
formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for
input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format
whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage
subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. An image format is not
Transparent if used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that is not
"Transparent" is called "Opaque".

Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII without
markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML or XML using a publicly
available DTD, and standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or PDF designed
for human modification. Examples of transparent image formats include PNG, XCF
and JPG. Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be read and edited
only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which the DTD and/or
processing tools are not generally available, and the machine-generated HTML,
PostScript or PDF produced by some word processors for output purposes only.

The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such
following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License
requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have
any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent
appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.

A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title
either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that
translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section
name mentioned below, such as "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements",
or "History".) To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the
Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according to this
definition.

The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states
that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are
considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards
disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers
may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.

2. VERBATIM COPYING

You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or
noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the
license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all
copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this
License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may
accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough

105
number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.

You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may
publicly display copies.

3. COPYING IN QUANTITY

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed
covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license
notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry,
clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front
cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly
and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must
present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and
visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with
changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the
Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in
other respects.

If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you
should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual
cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.

If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than
100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each
Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location
from which the general network-using public has access to download using public-
standard network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of
added material. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent
steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure
that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location
until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy
(directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.

It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document
well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to
provide you with an updated version of the Document.

4. MODIFICATIONS

You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the
conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified
Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role
of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified
Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these
things in the Modified Version:

A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct
from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions
(which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section
of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version
if the original publisher of that version gives permission.
B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities
responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified
Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the
Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five),
unless they release you from this requirement.
C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the

106
 Modified Version, as the publisher.
D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
adjacent to the other copyright notices.
F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice
giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the
terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.
G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections
and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add
to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and
publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If
there is no section Entitled "History" in the Document, create one
stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as
given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified
Version as stated in the previous sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for
public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise
the network locations given in the Document for previous versions
it was based on. These may be placed in the "History" section.
You may omit a network location for a work that was published at
least four years before the Document itself, or if the original
publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.
K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all
the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements
and/or dedications given therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers
or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section
may not be included in the Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled "Endorsements"
or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.
O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.

If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that

qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document,
you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To
do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section
titles.

You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but
endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties--for example,
statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization
as the authoritative definition of a standard.

You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage
of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in
the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-
Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If
the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added
by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of,
you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit permission
from the previous publisher that added the old one.

The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give
permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply

107
endorsement of any Modified Version.

5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License,
under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that
you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the
original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty
Disclaimers.

The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple
identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are
multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the
title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses,
the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a
unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of
Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.

In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the
various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise
combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled
"Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements".

6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents
released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License
in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection,
provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each
of the documents in all other respects.

You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it
individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into
the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding
verbatim copying of that document.

7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and

independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution
medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the compilation
is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the
individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this
License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not
themselves derivative works of the Document.

If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the

Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate,
the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document
within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is
in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket
the whole aggregate.

8. TRANSLATION

Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute

108
translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant
Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright
holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in
addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include
a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and
any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English
version of this License and the original versions of those notices and
disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original
version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will
prevail.

If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or

"History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will
typically require changing the actual title.

9. TERMINATION

You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as
expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify,
sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate
your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or
rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so
long as such parties remain in full compliance.

10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free
Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in
spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems
or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.

Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the

Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any
later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and
conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has
been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the
Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any
version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.

ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents

To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of

the License in the document and put the following copyright and
license notices just after the title page:

Copyright (c) YEAR YOUR NAME.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License".

If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace
the "with...Texts." line with this:

with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the Front-Cover

109
Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.

If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of
the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.

If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend

releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license,
such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.

110
QGIS User Manual

111