GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) are now very much part of everyday life. GIS is a system (usually computer software) that captures data, stores and organises that data, and then can present the data, usually by combining maps and graphs, to give information. When we think of GIS we often associate this with satellite information used in cars (satnav). However, there is a wide range of other uses of GIS, from emergency services to watches and mobile phones (Figure 1). This article examines how GIS works and explores a number of practical ways in which it is used in everyday circumstances.

How does GIS work?For map information to be shown on a computer, it has of course to be digitised – that is, turned into a form that can be easily processed. Different features on a map can be shown in different ways.• Points can be used to identify traffic

lights, crime locations and park benches – these are examples of point features. Points on a GIS map therefore represent objects that have discrete locations and are too small to be shown as areas.

• Lines are also useful, to show features such as motorways, streets, pipelines and waterways. Lines represent objects that have length but are too narrow to be depicted as areas.

• Areas such as parks, fields, census districts, wards (smaller council areas) and council area boundaries are examples of polygon (or area) features. Polygons represent objects that are too large to be depicted as points or lines.

• Maps can also be shown as a series of dots, like pixels on a computer. The smaller the size of the dots, the more detailed the map can be. If the dots are large, the map may appear blocky or jagged, like a computer graphic when you zoom into it.

Once we have geographical features, we can assign numbers to them, for example the number of people who live in a particular area, and these numbers can be shown as graphs on the map.

Data that has some form of location built into it is known as spatial data. Think about the basic data about you, and then look at how much of it has a location built into it. Figure 2 is an example of data that a school may have on the school computer network.

Eighty per cent of this data has a spatial element – which is why geographical information is used

Series 23 Autumn issue Unit 463 Uses of Geographical Systems (GIS) © 2011 Nelson Thornes GeoActive OnlineThis page may be photocopied for use within the purchasing institution only. Page 1 of 4

by Patrick Cookeuses of geographical information systems (gis)

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463

Figure 1: Some devices that depend on GISSource: Wikimedia Commons

Pupil name David Langstaffe

Form 10 AB

Form room N4

Pupil address 23 Richmond Road, Bishop Auckland, County Durham

Postcode DL23 4AA

Telephone number

01000 444444

Emergency contact

Mr and Mrs Davies

Relationship Grandparents

Contact address

43 London Bridge Road, Shildon, County Durham

Postcode DL55 2ZZ

Telephone number

01000 222222

Figure 2: Data on a school computer network

by so many people, even if they don’t realise it.

The final ingredient, of course, is to link such information to a ‘location’ satellite so that direction and guidance on appropriate routes can be offered.

Examples of using or providing spatial data

Buying products onlineWhen buying online products, the customer needs to provide spatial data so that the goods are delivered to the right place. For example, when buying a railway ticket, the customer must name the stations between which he or she is travelling. The train company also needs to know the customer’s address so that the tickets can be mailed to them.

Supermarkets and GIS dataSupermarket location is a key factor in the success of a new store. Some companies see it as important as brand loyalty and the products they sell. This section gives you an opportunity to use GIS data to help decide where best to locate a superstore in Darlington.

There are four main factors in the location of a supermarket:• road access for customers and

delivery lorries

• flat land for building and for car parks

• cheap land (usually found on the edge of a town or city)

• people nearby who will use the supermarket.

A supermarket company has to make a decision about the best location for a new supermarket in a particular town or city. To make this decision it will need as much data as possible. It can use GIS to gather and organise this data. Figure 3 shows the road network of Darlington, with the supermarket at the eastern boundary. Figure 4 shows

the average income in different areas of the town. GIS lets you combine maps to help reach decisions.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, work in groups to identify those areas of Darlington that would and would not be good for a new superstore.

You will probably find that you do not have enough information to accurately locate a new superstore. What other information could be useful and added to the GIS?1 Questionnaires Local people (and

people from further away) could be interviewed, asking them how far they would be prepared to travel to the supermarket, and what forms

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Skerne

Harrowgate Hill

Albert Hill

Faverdale

Branksome

Cockerton

Rise Carr

Pierremont

Bank Top

A66(M)

A66

A68

A66

A66

A67

A67

A1150

Whinfield

Rise Carr

Hopetown

Faverdale

Branksome

Cockerton

Pierremont

Red Hall

Towncentre

Haughton le Skerne

Skerne Park

Bank Top

Firthmoor

Eastbourne

SUPERMARKET

Albert Hill

Harrowgate Hill

A1(M)

0 1 km

N

Figure 3: Map of Darlington

Sabberge andWhessoe

Faverdale

Pierremont PierremontPierremont

Pierremont NorthgateNorthgate

Northgate

Haughton West

Park West

Park West Park East

Park East

Park East

Park East

LingfieldLingfield

Eastbourne

EastbourneEastbourne

Hurworth

Bank Top

Bank Top

Bank Top

Lasoelles Lasoelles

Haughton West

Haughton West

Haughton West

Haughton NorthHaughton North

Haughton EastHaughton East

Haughton East

Harrowgate Hill

Harrowgate Hill

Central

CentralCollegeCollege

Mowden

Mowden

Hummersknot

Hummersknot

Cockerton EastCockerton East

Cockerton East

Cockerton West

Cockerton West

Cockerton West

North RoadNorth Road

NorthRoad

NorthRoad

HarrowgateHill

HarrowgateHill

Heighingtonand

Coniscliffe

0 1 km

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Sabberge andWhessoe

Faverdale

Pierremont PierremontPierremont

Pierremont NorthgateNorthgate

Northgate

Haughton West

Park West

Park West Park East

Park East

Park East

Park East

LingfieldLingfield

Eastbourne

EastbourneEastbourne

Hurworth

Bank Top

Bank Top

Bank Top

Lasoelles Lasoelles

Haughton West

Haughton West

Haughton West

Haughton NorthHaughton North

Haughton EastHaughton East

Haughton East

Harrowgate Hill

Harrowgate Hill

Central

CentralCollegeCollege

Mowden

Mowden

Hummersknot

Hummersknot

Cockerton EastCockerton East

Cockerton East

Cockerton West

Cockerton West

Cockerton West

North RoadNorth Road

NorthRoad

NorthRoad

HarrowgateHill

HarrowgateHill

Heighingtonand

Coniscliffe

24,421–32,448

17,144–24,420

Key

10,549–17,143

4929–10,548

8–4,928

Supermarket

Figure 4: Average income in DarlingtonSource: Census Data 2001

Series 23 Autumn issue Unit 463 Uses of Geographical Systems (GIS) © 2011 Nelson Thornes GeoActive OnlineThis page may be photocopied for use within the purchasing institution only. Page 3 of 4

of transport they would use. If local people were strongly against it and there were not going to be enough customers, the supermarket development might not go ahead.

2 Traffic surveys The company could see which roads were busiest and quietest, and whether there were any areas of persistent traffic congestion that could make it more difficult for customers to reach the supermarket or delivery lorries to leave goods there. This would help in the design of the layout of car parks and delivery areas, and how they connect to the existing road network.

Are there any other facts you would need to know?

How the police use GISImagine that you are a senior officer in a large police force in a big city in the UK. It is part of your job to make the following important decisions:1 I have 40 police cars. Where do I

send them?

2 I have to decide how many police officers I want on the beat, walking the streets. Whereabouts in the city should I send them?

3 I have one district that suffers a lot from car crime, and another district that has had a lot of anti-social behaviour incidents, with gangs of youths hanging around making local residents nervous. Sometimes there have been fights between the gangs. These types of crime need a combination of police officers in cars and others on the street. Where do I send them, and how many?

To help the police make decisions like these, GIS can be used to locate hotspots for particular types of crime, and then the police can work out the best places to send their officers and cars.

Other ways the police use GIS1 Burglary prediction: GIS studies

have shown that once a house has been burgled, houses on the same side of the street are more likely to be burgled within the next week. This information can be used to plan CCTV coverage and organise patrols.

2 Mapping the addresses of known offenders, e.g. burglars and muggers, can help the search for suspects. Most offenders commit crimes close to where they live.

3 Police in London discovered that high levels of muggings and theft occurred along the 96 bus route in London. Offenders used the bus to travel to the place where they committed the crime, then used the bus to get away. People who committed these crimes were also more likely to try to get on the bus without paying! Police found that putting officers on the top deck of the bus was a very effective way to deal with it, both by identifying suspects on the bus from radio reports, and observing incidents through the window. Sometimes, the simple ways are best!

4 Identifying car crime patterns in Cardiff, South Wales: an analysis of car thefts from different car parks in Cardiff was carried out by South Wales police. They found that more cars were stolen from some car parks than others. This information can be used to plan the location of CCTV cameras, and to organise extra car and foot patrols in certain areas.

5 To check if policing strategies are working, police may notice that there is an increase in crime in a particular area (that is, it becomes a crime hotspot). They decide to develop different ways to reduce crime, for example by increasing the number of foot patrols in the area, introducing more CCTV cameras, and starting Neighbourhood Watch schemes. Later, they can use GIS to check whether these strategies have been successful, by seeing how many crimes have been committed in that area.

How do health services use GIS?Health authorities can use GIS in different ways.1 The 2009 swine flu outbreak in

the UK: this caused a number of fatalities and worried a lot of people. One strategy used in south-west England was to identify pharmacies and chemists as collection points for the Tamiflu antiviral drug. GIS was used to

locate pharmacies that could deal with 10,000 potential patients, and route-finding software meant that no one would have to drive for more than 20 minutes to reach a collection point. This would help improve road safety, as the people driving may not feel very well, so it is important to reduce driving time to a minimum.

2 Reducing smoking in Nottingham: health authorities in Nottingham noticed a high percentage of smokers living in the city – above the national average. They mapped the number of smokers in different parts of the city, and then used this information to plan the location of ‘Stop Smoking’ drop-in centres. The results were compared with the location of GP surgeries, and the GPs were told how many people in their area were smokers, and how many wanted to stop. This information was gathered by questionnaire and by information from doctors. Nottingham city centre was shown to need more of these drop-in centres. The information was also used to place ‘Stop Smoking’ counsellors in GP surgeries in different parts of the city, where high smoking levels were identified. Clinic times and dates were organised to accommodate the highest number of people.

3 Planning immunisations: from the time when children are very young, they are given vaccinations to stop them catching certain diseases. This is done because it is more efficient to stop people becoming ill in the first place, than to treat them once they have fallen ill. It takes time for the doctors and nurses to look after people, and the drugs used for treatment are more expensive than the vaccinations. In Luton, the local health authority used GIS to identify areas where children had not received the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination. The doctors were then able to talk to the parents of these children when they visited the doctors’ surgery, or health visitors would go out and visit them at home, to encourage them to have their children vaccinated. After a year, many more children had been vaccinated.

For most of these Activities you will need access to a computer, and to the internet.

1 Study David Langstaffe’s school record (Figure 2). Write down all the information relating to location.

2 Using Figures 3 and 4 and other information in this unit, summarise what information is important in planning the location of a supermarket. Think of a supermarket that you know in your area and explain why you think it was built in that location.

3 Study Figures 3 and 4. Using specific evidence from Figure 3, give detailed reasons why a supermarket was built in that location.

4 Summarise the different ways the police can use GIS in their work.

5 Study Figure 5.(a) Name three countries with confirmed cases of swine flu.(b) Name three countries with unconfirmed cases of swine flu.

(c) Name three countries with no cases of swine flu.(d) Describe the pattern of swine flu dispersal in Europe in May 2009. Mention individual countries but look for larger-scale patterns as well.(e) Try to explain (give reasons for) the pattern.

6 Study Figure 6.(a) Name two countries with confirmed deaths from swine flu.(b) Name three countries with confirmed cases of swine flu in July that had no cases in May.(c) Name three countries that still have no confirmed cases in July.(d) Compare the patterns of swine flu dispersal in May (Figure 5) and July (Figure 6).(e) Write down as many reasons as you can explaining the dispersal pattern in July.• Clue 1: Some countries are rich,

others are poor (you may be able to find data about this in your atlas).

• Clue 2: Swine flu originated in Mexico, a Spanish-speaking country.

7 Find the map at: http://maps.met.police.uk/Instructions: At the top of the map you will you see a pop-down menu labelled ‘Crime types’. Click on the down arrow and it will give you the total number of reported crimes in each area of London, and then a breakdown of the different types of crime. If you click on any particular borough, it will give you the name of that borough and the exact number of crimes. It will also let you compare boroughs. Use this map to answer the following questions:(a) Name two boroughs with above average or high overall crime rates.(b) Name a borough with a below average overall crime rate.(c) Name three boroughs with above average residential burglary rates.(d) Name three boroughs with below average residential burglary rates.(e) Zoom the map out so that you can see the whole of the London area, and then click on each type of crime. Compare the patterns in the whole London area.(f) Write down reasons explaining the crime patterns in London.

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Activities

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N

0 500 km

N

0 500 km

No cases

Unconfirmed

Key

Confirmed cases

Confirmed deaths

Figure 5: The incidence of swine flu across Europe, May 2009

Figure 6: The incidence of swine flu across Europe, July 2009