(Ebook) Desktop GIS: mapping the planet with open source tools by Gary E Sherman ISBN 9781934356067, 1934356069 pdf download
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What readers are saying about Desktop GIS
Gary E. Sherman
Every precaution was taken in the preparation of this book. However, the publisher
assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages that may result from
the use of information (including program listings) contained herein.
Our Pragmatic courses, workshops, and other products can help you and your team
create better software and have more fun. For more information, as well as the latest
Pragmatic titles, please visit us at
http://www.pragprog.com
Printed in China.
ISBN-10: 1-934356-06-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-934356-06-7
Contents
Preface 9
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1 Introduction 12
1.1 What Is Desktop Mapping? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 Desktop vs. Server Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.3 Assembling a Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4 Other Mapping Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.5 What’s Ahead? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2 Getting Started 23
2.1 The Three User Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Which Are You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3 Choosing a Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.4 Selecting the Right Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.5 Acquiring and Installing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.6 Integration of Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.7 Managing Software Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.8 Getting Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.9 Where to Find Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.10 Next Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6 Data Formats 91
6.1 Common Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.2 Choosing a Standard Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.3 Conversion Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
7 Spatial Databases 98
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
7.2 Open Source Spatial Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.3 Getting Started with PostGIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.4 Using PostGIS and Quantum GIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
7.5 Using PostGIS and uDig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.6 Summing It Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
10 Geoprocessing 149
10.1 Projecting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
10.2 Line-of-Sight Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
10.3 Hydrologic Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
10.4 Creating Hillshades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10.5 Merging Digital Elevation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
10.6 Clipping Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
CONTENTS 7
Index 343
Preface
Open source GIS is a rich and rapidly expanding field of endeavor. Take
a look at the FreeGIS Project website,1 and you’ll see an impressive list
of more than 300 applications. With such a wide array of software avail-
able, it’s impossible for any one book to cover everything. In Desktop
GIS, the goal is to introduce you to some of the major open source GIS
applications that are in active development today. It’s a tough propo-
sition to cover each of these to the extent they deserve. Instead, the
approach is to introduce you to tools that will get you started with open
source GIS and enable you to reach out and expand on your own.
You might think this book is a beginner’s book. Although it’s true that
it starts out that way, we move quickly into areas that intermediate
and advanced users can profit from. Starting from a simple problem
and moving through the concepts of using open source, we’ll advance
to examples of real GIS analysis.
1. http://freegis.org
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS 10
Since this book is not a tutorial, we won’t go into all the nuances of each
application mentioned. We will show you how to accomplish common
tasks using the software, and in those cases you’ll find a fair bit of
guidance.
The appendixes contain information on installing and using some of
the applications mentioned in the book. If you need further assistance
getting started, refer to websites for the respective projects where you’ll
find a wealth of information.
Versions
The dynamic nature of the open source GIS community was readily
apparent during the writing of this book with several projects releasing
major versions. Fortunately, the differences between the versions don’t
significantly impact our illustrations and examples. Where there is a
difference, it is noted in the text. For software used in the examples,
the following versions were used:
GRASS
For most of the examples, version 6.2.x was used. Where the ver-
sion 6.3 release candidate was used, it is noted in the text.
Quantum GIS
Most of the examples use version 0.8.1. In later chapters where
the Python bindings are discussed, version 0.9.x is used. There
are some minor differences in the user interface between 0.8.1
and 0.9.x, but you should be able to use the later version without
much difficulty.
uDig
For the uDig examples, you can use either the stable (1.0.6) ver-
sion or the current version 1.1 release candidate.
For GDAL, GMT, PROJ.4, and PostGIS, you can use the latest versions
to work through the examples in the book.
Acknowledgments
I want to express my thanks to those who have reviewed all or parts
of the book and provided input and encouragement: Markus Neteler,
Matthew Perry, Barry Rowlingson, Tyler Mitchell, Frank Warmerdam,
Aaron Racicot, Jason Jorgenson, Brent Wood, Dylan Beaudette, Roger
Pearson, Martin Dobias, Patti Giuseppe, and Landon Blake.
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS 11
My family put up with me being “present yet absent” for months on end.
I want to thank them for their support, encouragement, and patience
during the entire process.
Lastly, I want to dedicate this book to the memory of my father, who
passed away during its development. While from another era, he in-
stilled in me the curiosity of how things work and what to do when they
don’t. He taught me much, and for that I am forever grateful.
Gary Sherman
March 2008
gsherman@mrcc.com
Where there is no vision, the people perish. . .
Proverbs
Chapter 1
Introduction
Interest in mapping is on the rise, as witnessed by services such as
Google Earth, Virtual Earth, MapQuest, and any number of other web
mapping mashups. These are all exciting developments, yet there is
another realm you should consider—the world of desktop mapping with
open source GIS (OSGIS). You may be thinking “Why do I need OSGIS?
I have all the web mapping sites and tools I could ever need.”
To answer that question, let’s consider our friend Harrison. He’s coming
from the same place as many of us, having played around with the web
mapping tools and is now ready to start adding his own data. Harrison
quickly discovers he can’t add the GPS tracks from his last hike to any
of the “conventional” web maps—all he can do is view the data they
provide. Next he fires up Google Earth1 to see whether that will do the
trick. He soon finds that with a little digging around on the Internet, he
is able to get the tracks off his GPS and import them into Google Earth.2
With a bit of work, Harrison is now able to display his GPS tracks.
Fresh from his victory in Google Earth, Harrison now embarks on his
next project, which is the real reason he is interested in mapping. It
turns out that Harrison is an avid bird watcher. Not only did he record
his trek, but he also logged waypoints at each bird sighting. With each
waypoint, he made a few notes about the species of bird, the number of
birds observed, and the weather conditions. Harrison has just moved
from simply displaying where he walked to wanting to display his bird
sightings and “analyze” his observations. In doing so, he has hit upon
the basis of a Geographic Information System (GIS)—linking geographic
locations to information.
Harrison ponders his next move—how to get all that good bird informa-
tion that’s on his trail-weary notebook sheets into a form where he can
not only visualize it but even ask some questions (in other words, do
analysis). Harrison wants to be able to do the following:
• View the locations where he observed birds
• View only the locations where he saw the yellow-bellied Wonky
Finch
• Scale his locations (dots) based on the number of birds seen at
each location (more birds = bigger dot)
• See whether there is any relationship to the weather and the num-
ber or types of birds he observed
Harrison needs not only a good visualization tool but something he can
do analysis with. Harrison needs some GIS tools, and of course we offer
up open source desktop GIS as the solution to his mapping needs.
how far up you want to climb. You’ll notice that our GIS progression is
like scaling the outside of an inverted cone. Imagine yourself as a rock
climber doing a free climb up the outside of that cone. The higher you
go, the more of a workout you’re going to get. Learning OSGIS is a bit
like climbing that cone. Fortunately, you decide how far to go based on
what you want to do. Getting on board is pretty easy. Let’s visualize.
Visualize
The dictionary (well, one of them anyway) defines visualize as “make
(something) visible to the eye.” That definition fits pretty well with what
we want to do. We want to see our data. This is the entry-level activity
in GIS. We get some data, whether from our GPS or by downloading it
from the Internet, and we look at it. Remember, that’s the first thing
Harrison was interested in—looking at his data. That sounds good, but
you’ll quickly find that just looking at a bunch of black lines on a white
background isn’t all that exciting. We need a context for our data. Let’s
return to Harrison for a moment.
W HAT I S D ESKTOP M APPING ? 15
3. At the moment, we’re talking in generalities; we’ll get to some specific OSGIS applica-
tions shortly.
4. http://libremap.org
5. A DRG is a scanned USGS topographic map, typically available in TIFF format.
6. The astute observer is asking, what about the projection difference between the GPS
data and the DRG? We’ll pretend that doesn’t exist for the moment.
W HAT I S D ESKTOP M APPING ? 16
Figure 1.2: Bird sightings: The bigger the dot, the more birds
Digitize
Let’s define what it means to digitize. Breaking out our handy dictio-
nary gives us a definition along the lines of “convert pictures or sound
into digital form for processing in a computer.” There’s nothing myste-
rious about that definition. See, you may have already done some dig-
itizing when scanning your old photographs or playing with the sound
recorder and a microphone on your computer.
When it comes to GIS, digitizing usually means capturing and storing
points, lines, or polygons from paper maps. But for the purposes of our
general discussion, we’ll just equate digitizing with creating data and
hope the purists don’t catch up with us before we’re done.
Harrison has a digitizing project in mind. Looking at the DRG he down-
loaded to use as a base for his bird visualization project, he finds it
shows roads, trails, lakes, contour lines, and other physical features.
Unfortunately for Harrison, many of the small lakes on his map are not
labeled with their name. In order to make a better-looking display (and
W HAT I S D ESKTOP M APPING ? 17
Analyze
This is where GIS really shines. Being able to use our data we worked
so hard on collecting to answer some what-if questions is what makes
GIS exciting. This is also what separates GIS software from being just
a “viewer.”
Using GIS we can answer all types of questions. Let’s get Harrison to
help us out with an example. He has a theory that most of his bird
sightings are within 200 feet of a lakeshore. With all his hard work,
Harrison can view both his bird sightings and the lakes, but he can’t
W HAT I S D ESKTOP M APPING ? 19
really tell how far apart they are. He could use the fine tools provided by
his software to measure the distance from each sighting to the nearest
lake or lakes. But this is time-consuming and tedious, and the end
result can’t be visualized. Fortunately, Harrison can use a common GIS
operation known as buffering.
Harrison proceeds to create a 200-foot buffer around his lakes (see
Figure 1.3). This is pretty much a one-stop operation. You indicate what
layer you want to buffer (lakes) and enter the distance. The software
then calculates the buffer around each lake and creates a new layer
containing the result. Harrison now proceeds to set up his display. He
adds the new buffer layer to the map, then the lakes, and finally the
bird sightings. Any bird sighting falling on the buffer layer is within
200 feet of a lake (or lakes). Harrison can quickly visualize his results
and see whether his theory is right. OK, so it turns out he was wrong.
It looks like the bird sightings don’t necessarily fall within 200 feet of
a lake. Harrison decides he can still be right and goes off to create a
500-foot buffer.
D ESKTOP VS . S ERVER M APPING 20
This is a simple example of the type of analysis you can do with open
source GIS applications available today. You may be thinking that Har-
rison’s analysis is a bit contrived and really not all that significant—and
you are probably right. Let’s list a few more situations where a buffer
analysis might provide meaningful insight:
• Restrict development to a distance at least 500 meters from an
active eagle nest.
• Determine where to allow a drinking establishment such that it’s
at least a quarter mile from any school.
• Develop emergency action plans by identifying all public facilities
within a given distance of a hazardous storage site.
• Establish a setback around a creek or stream.
And the list goes on. As you can see, the simple operation of creating
a buffer can answer a lot of questions. It’s a valuable tool and just
one of many that we’ll take a look at as we get deeper into specific
applications. Of course, there are a lot of other types of analysis we can
do with desktop GIS. We’ll explore some of these later.
We’ve now taken a look at three aspects of GIS: visualization, digitizing,
and analysis. With that under our belt, we are ready to get into some
more specifics. Oh, and about Harrison—he finally proved his point by
creating a 5,000-foot buffer around all the lakes. As usual, the tools
alone can’t provide a meaningful analysis. Before we move on too far,
let’s take a quick look at the server side of things.
Aggéggia, a moore-hen.
Aggegnáre, to frame any kind of carpenters, ioiners or smiths work or
building, so that it may be taken asunder and set vp againe, to engine
together.
Aggeláre, to freeze.
Aggeráto, the hearb Cotton-weed, Stechado, or Moth-weed.
Aggẻttáre, to abiect, to reiect or cast from.
Aggẻttíuo, a noune adiectiue.
Aggẻtto, abiect, outcast, despised, base.
Agghiacciáre, to freeze, to become frost.
Agghiadáre, idem.
Aggiaccársi, to put on a iacket, or shirt of maile. Also as Aggecchírsi.
Aggiaccáto, with a iacket or shirt of maile on. Also become faint hearted or
a coward.
Aggiacẻnte, adiacent, neere-lying.
Aggiacére, to lie neere vnto, to neighbour.
Aggiacciáre, to freeze or grow to frost or ice. Also to vnderprop, or make
sure.
Aggialláre, to make or become yellow.
Aggieláre, to freeze or grow to frost.
Aggiogáre, to yoke vnto.
Aggióngere, as Aggiúgnere.
Aggiontáre, as Giontáre.
Aggiónta, as Aggiúnta.
Aggiontatóre, as Giontatóre.
Aggiontióne, an adiunct, an addition.
Aggiónto, adioined, annexed, added vnto. Also ouertaken or ouer-reached,
or ouer gone. Also arriued or come to any place. Also an addition or
adiunct.
Aggiornaménto, an adiourning. Also a proroguing to a day. Also a
summoning.
Aggiornáre, to adiorne, to summon. Also to wax day. Also to prorogue to a
day.
Aggiornatóre, an apparitor, a summoner.
Aggiraménti, as Giraménti.
Aggiráre, as Giráre.
Aggirársi in váno, to loose labour, to go about had I wist.
Aggiráta, a winding, a turning or walking about.
Aggiróne, a kind of hat or cap.
Aggiudicáre, to adiudge, to doome.
Aggiúgnere, gióngo, giónsi, giónto or giúnto, to adioine, to annex, to adde
vnto. Also to reach vnto or ouertake. Also to outgo, to ouer-reach, to
ouer-goe. Also to ariue, to come, or reach to any place.
Aggiúngere, as Aggiúgnere.
Aggiúnta, an addition or annexing vnto. Also reaching or ouertaking. Also
an arriuing or comming to a place. Also the vantage that Bakers or any
other man that selleth a thing giueth to the buier in euery dozen or
hundred.
Álica, as Alga.
Alicástro, the wheat called Far.
Alíce, a Pilcher or sprat fish. Also a kind of fish sauce.
Alichíno, the name of a deuill in Dant, that is, inclination to vice and sinne.
Alicórno, an Vnicorne. Also the Vnicornes horne.
Alicúbi, some where, in any place.
Álido, stale, flie-bitten or tainted meat.
Alidáre, to taint, or become stale meat.
Álie, the plurall of Ála, wings.
Aliẻnáre, to alienate, to estrange.
Aliẻnatióne, alienation, estranging.
Aliẻnigenáre, to alien, to estrange.
Aliẻnigéno, an alien, a forrene.
Aliẻno, an aliene, a forraine, a frenne.
Aliéta, a kind of Eagle which alone fixeth her eies against the sunne.
Aliétte, the little wings or finnes of fishes.
A liéua, in lifting or raising manner.
Alieuáre, to lift, heaue, or raise vp.
Áliga, as Alga.
Aligáre, to tie or bind vnto.
Alígero, bearing wings.
Alígi, a blew Lilly flowre.
Aligóso, as Algóso.
Aligósta, a kind of dainty fish.
Alíma, an hearb, which being eaten keeps one a long time from hunger.
Alimáre, to place or shoot leuell or point-blanke.
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