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| Subject: | [gislist] But what the hell can a GIS really DO? |
| Date: |
05/13/2005 09:00:05 AM |
| From: |
Jeremy Stocks |
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I have been in the field of GIS nearly 14 years. I have seen every new craz=
e come and go. But something exciting is slowly happening , thanks to the f=
ollowing factors. I shall list them:
a.. The web for GIS is starting to come of age. Applications which are ab=
le to serve large quantities of data necessary for GIS are now here. =
b.. The rise of free web GIS such as Mapserver which allows people to pub=
lish their own maps on the internet as long as they have a connection. =
c.. The removal of selective availability on GPS receivers is allowing or=
dinary users access to precision they other wsie would never have had.
These changes, particularly the web and GPS are giving ordinary users power=
to create maps they were previously never able to do. Now I am told the lo=
cation-based industry according to the Guardian article http://www.guardian=
.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1453293,00.html is going to be worth a lot of mo=
ney in the future. =
The apps I am seeing are impressive but are only the tip of the iceberg. Ev=
eryone is serving out datasets based on exisiting features such as roads, r=
ailways and contours.
But what would be very exciting would be what I call "conceptual" maps, whe=
re the GIS actually does what many of us in the industry have dreamed it ca=
n do, namely the ability to create new maps based upon amalgamations of the=
existing data layers into new products which we call GIS models. This I ar=
gue is the very deep heart of GIS and what enticed many of us into the prof=
ession long ago.=B4These can be used to answer questions such as:
1. Tonight there is a frost. Where are the likeliest danger spots for me on=
my local roads given the predicted temperature? Can I upload aGPS location=
back to the map server to confirm or deny the frost location, thus improvi=
ng the model?
2. I am going paragliding. Where would the best thermic areas be for me to =
fly at this moment in time? Can my in-flight GPS tracks be uploaded to the =
server to truth the model it puts out?
3. I am going off piste skiing. Where is it most dangerous given the recent=
heavy snow falls and what conditions will I likely encounter? Can I feedba=
ck my skiing experience back into the map served?
I would appreciate a discussion on this topic. Any takers?
BTW it's Friday. Here in Munich a web map which showed me the location of o=
ne of its nearest famous beergardens would be useful!!!
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