GIS Technology and Reference Books

As GIS technology has evolved and grown, so has the language of this powerful tool. Written, developed, and reviewed by more than 150 subject-matter experts, A to Z GIS is packed with more than 1,800 terms, nearly 400 full-color illustrations, and seven encyclopedia-style appendix articles about annotation and labels, features, geometry, layers in ArcGIS, map projections and coordinate systems, remote sensing, and topology. A to Z GIS is a must-have resource for managers, programmers, users, writers, editors, and students discovering the interdisciplinary nature of GIS.

The innovative Capacity Planning Tool included with Building a GIS increases the likelihood of successful GIS implementation by establishing a framework of setting performance targets and validating that targets are met throughout deployment. This book challenges the way in which IT operations are managed, and provides a better understanding of the performance scalability of software products. Building a GIS is an essential companion piece to Roger Tomlinson?s Thinking About GIS, Third Edition. Together, these books aim to help organisations implement, integrate, and scale up a GIS at a lesser cost.

Building European Spatial Data Infrastructures explores the efforts of the European Union (EU) to create a framework for a multinational infrastructure for spatial information in Europe (INSPIRE). This framework will enable the EU to exploit the myriad opportunities created by modern GIS technologies. In its second edition, this book presents an overview of the innovative activities being performed by both the public and private sector to comply with the INSPIRE Directive, and explains the rationale and the processes involved in SDI development and implementation. Designed as a reference for GIS professionals and decision makers, this book promotes a general understanding of SDI concepts and provides examples of practical applications.

Charting the Unknown presents a history of GIS technology that takes readers back more than four decades to the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis, where a variety of professionals converged to rethink thematic mapping, spatial analysis, and what we now call GIS. Lavishly illustrated, this book explores some of the themes addressed by this fertile interdisciplinary collaboration.

This companion to the highly successful Designing Better Maps offers a graphics-intensive presentation of published maps, providing cartographic examples that GIS users can adapt for their own needs. Each chapter of Designed Maps: A Sourcebook for GIS Users characterises a common design decision and includes a demonstration map annotated with specific information needed to reproduce the design such as text fonts; sizes and styles; line weights, colors, and patterns; marker symbol fonts, sizes, and colors; and fill colors and patterns. Visual hierarchies and the purpose of each map are considered with the audience in mind, drawing a clear connection between intent and design. Designed Maps also includes a valuable task index that explains what ArcGIS® 9 tools to use for desired cartographic effects. From experienced cartographers to those who make GIS maps only occasionally, all GIS users will find this book to be an indispensable resource.

Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users demystifies the basics of good cartography, walking readers through layout design, scales, north arrows, projections, colour selection, font choices, and symbol placement. Recognizing the need for integration with other publishing and design programs, the text also covers various export options, all of which lead to the creation of publication-worthy maps. Designing Better Maps includes an appendix describing the author's popular ColorBrewer application, an online color selection tool.

This highly visual guide to creating a dynamic geographic data model helps ArcGIS users design schemas that have comprehensive and descriptive query definitions, user-friendly cartographic displays, and increased performance standards

Designing Geodatabases for Transportation addresses the construction of a GIS to manage data describing the transportation facilities and services commonly organised around various modes of travel. Although details of each mode can be quite different, this book demonstrates how all modes of travel follow a basic conceptual structure consisting of an origin, a destination, a path between the two, and a conveyance that provides the ability to move along the path. Designing Geodatabases for Transportation explains best practices for building and implementing geodatabases for transportation in a manner that enables flexibility and use by multiple parties, and provides solutions for existing problems created by unsystematic design.

Millions of people love their global positioning system (GPS) devices but do not know how they can use this amazing technology to do much more than simply calculate a location. The dozens of illustrated examples in Fun with GPS show how GPS devices can be attached to just about anything or anyone. Each example includes maps and photographs that will inspire hobbyists, airline passengers, athletes, animal lovers, drivers, teachers, and students to track and map their activities. This book also discusses ways to incorporate GPS technology in the classroom to reinforce science, math, and geography curricula, and provide groundwork for project-based learning.

Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) are defined as the technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data. GIS Worlds: Creating Spatial Data Infrastructures discusses the diffusion and evolution of SDIs around the world, shows where SDIs are advancing, and describes where more work is needed. More significantly, it details the implementation of SDIs from a practical perspective and outlines a method of institution building for regional, continental, and global SDIs. This timely and important text promises to illuminate even further the need for intelligent governance and strong leadership in the GIS and spatial data communities.