GIS
A Computing Perspective, Second Edition
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Book Description
GIS: A Computing Perspective, Second Edition, provides a full, up-to-date overview of GIS, both Geographic Information Systems and the study of Geographic Information Science. Analyzing the subject from a computing perspective, the second edition explores conceptual and formal models needed to understand spatial information, and examines the representations and data structures needed to support adequate system performance. This volume also covers the special-purpose interfaces and architectures required to interact with and share spatial information, and explains the importance of uncertainty and time. The material on GIS architectures and interfaces as well as spatiotemporal information systems is almost entirely new.
The second edition contains substantial new information, and has been completely reformatted to improve accessibility. Changes include:
- A new chapter on spatial uncertainty
- Complete revisions of the bibliography, index, and supporting diagrams
- Supplemental material is offset at the top of the page, as are references and links for further study
- Definitions of new terms are in the margins of pages where they appear, with corresponding entries in the index
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
What is a GIS?
GIS Functionality
Data and Databases
Hardware Support
FUNDAMENTAL DATABASE CONCEPTS
Introduction to Databases
Relational Databases
Database Development
Object-Orientation
FUNDAMENTAL SPATIAL CONCEPTS
Euclidean Space
Set-Based Geometry of Space
Topology of Space
Network Spaces
Metric Spaces
Endnote on Fractal Geometry
MODELS OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION
Modeling and Ontology
The Modeling Process
Field-Based Models
Object-Based Models
REPRESENTATION AND ALGORITHMS
Computing with Geospatial Data
The Discrete Euclidean Plane
The Spatial Object Domain
Representations of Field-Based Models
Fundamental Geometric Algorithms
Vectorization and Rasterization
Network Representation and Algorithms
STRUCTURES AND ACCESS METHODS
General Database Structures and Access Methods
From One to Two Dimensions
Raster Structures
Point Object Structures
Linear Objects
Collections of Objects
Spherical Data Structures
ARCHITECTURES
Hybrid, Integrated, and Composable Architectures
Syntactic and Semantic Heterogeneity
Distributed Systems
Distributed Databases
Location-Aware Computing
INTERFACES
Human-Computer Interaction
Cartographic Interfaces
Geovisualization
Developing GIS Interfaces
SPATIAL REASONING AND UNCERTAINTY
Formal Aspects of Spatial Reasoning
Information and Uncertainty
Qualitative Approaches to Uncertainty
Quantitative Approaches to Uncertainty
Applications of Uncertainty in GIS
TIME
Introduction: A Brief History of Time
Temporal Information Systems
Spatiotemporal Information Systems
Indexes and Queries
Appendices