Geography for GIS
Written by Robert Slobodian
Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, British Columbia
Geography for GIS Table of Contents
(The material in this unit is maintained by Bob Slobodian. His personal version, which may be more regularly maintained can be found at www.mala.bc.ca/~slobodian/concepts.html)
Context
The operations in GIS appear to be largely technical in nature. It is important for the GIS operator and the consumer of GIS products to be aware of the geographical concepts that underpin GIS operations.
Geography is the study of the spatial patterns planet and the processes that contribute to those patterns. Two statements about the study of geography that give a quick introduction to the discipline. William Pattison's 1964 Journal of Geography article on "The Four Traditions of Geography" suggested the spatial tradition, area studies tradition, man-land tradition, and the earth-science tradition as the cornerstones of the discipline. A 1986 AAG-NCGE publication favors five themes; location, place, human/environmental interaction, movement, and regions as a more useable framework. The differences between the two schemes are not significant to most students.
What is significant, however, is that the student should understand that the jargon of a discipline is designed to be enabling—to facilitate communication. Concepts are abstractions that enable the organization of knowledge. The geographical concepts are inherently spatial in nature, that is, they relate to places, spaces, and interactions.
Learning Outcomes
The following list describes the expected skills which students should master for each level of training, i.e. Awareness/Competency/Mastery.
Awareness
is demonstrated by being able to define each concept.