Types of gis software. Geographic Information Systems Software and Technologies: Textbook

Software geographic information systems

1. General characteristics

GIS software is a set of more or less integrated software modules that provide the implementation of the main functions of GIS. In general, six basic modules can be distinguished:

1) data entry and verification,

2) storage and manipulation of data,

3) transformation of coordinate systems and transformation of cartographic projections,

4) analysis and modeling,

5) output and presentation of data,

6) user interaction.

Considering wide range and very specific features of the functions implemented, the software of geoinformation systems is currently part of the world software market. A fairly large number of commercial GIS software packages are known that allow the development of geographic information systems with certain functionality for specific territories. The number of such GIS packages is measured in dozens. However, if we talk about the most famous and widely used commercial GIS packages, then their number can be limited to ten or fifteen.

According to the results of research by PC GIS Company Datatech (USA), which analyzes the global GIS market, the first place in the rating of software GIS products in recent years is occupied by the MAPINFO package, developed by Mapping Information Systems Corporation (USA) and having about 150,000 users around the world. The most popular are also the GIS package ARC / INFO, developed by the California Institute for Environmental Research (ESRI), and the geographic analysis and image processing package IDRISI, created at Clark University (USA). ATLAS * GIS packages from Strategic Mapping Inc. are widely known. (USA) MGE by INTERGRAPH (USA), SPANS MAP / SPANS GIS Firms Tydac Technologies Corp. (USA), ILWIS, developed at the International Institute of Aerial Photography and Geosciences (Netherlands) SMALLWORLD GIS by Smallworld Mapping Inc. (Great Britain) SYSTEM 9 from Prime Computer-Wild Leitz (USA), SICAD from Siemens Nixdorf (Germany). It seems necessary to mention also the GIS package GEOGRAPH / GEODRAW, developed at the Center for Geographic Information Research of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which, according to the results of studies carried out in 1994 in Russia, ranked third in the ranking of software GIS products, as well as WINGIS by the Austrian company PROGIS, which took fifth position in this ranking. The GIS package PC-RASTER, developed at the Faculty of Geography of the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) and having developed analytical capabilities, is of undoubted interest for environmental research.

2. GIS user interface

Depending on the type and purpose of the GIS, the control environment (user interface) usually has several levels. GIS produces "information products" - lists, maps - which are later used to make decisions by various categories of users. End user in most cases it may not interact directly with the system. For example, a municipal reporting system produces inventories that are used by committees to make decisions about various economic activities. The committee leaders do not know anything about the organization of the municipal system, having only a conceptual understanding of what information is in the GIS and its functional capabilities. However, the system manager must have a detailed understanding of what information is in the database and what functions the GIS can perform. A systems analyst or programmer should have an even more detailed understanding of the functional capabilities of a particular applied GIS. The end user, on the other hand, interacts with the system, usually through a special operator, who issues information on both standard and individual requests.

The degree of complexity of communication between the user and the GIS is primarily determined by the degree of elaboration of the structure of the database, the correct identification of the objects in the database and the presence of cross-references between various groups of objects. Obtaining any information from the database is carried out in most cases with the help of special requests, generated explicitly and implicitly. Implicit requests are usually already implemented in software and embedded in various functional blocks of the system by the software manufacturer. For example, clicking with the mouse cursor on a feature displayed on the screen initiates a search algorithm "by location" of the attribute information associated with this feature. An explicit query is written by the user (GIS system programmer) using special language programming (usually SQL, sometimes a language specially designed for a given system) into text editor, but in recent years, dialog boxes for generating queries have become widespread. Such queries can be stored in a special library and run as needed.

Queries can differ significantly in their purpose and the algorithms executed during their implementation. A simple request for data is carried out by specifying specific object identifiers or exact location and is often accompanied by an indication

Specific values ​​of the refinement parameters. Other queries search for objects that satisfy more complex requirements. There are several different types of search terms:

1. "Where is object X?" Here, both the exact attributive characteristics of the desired object and a certain range of these characteristics can be set. In some cases, the radius and sector of the search can be set relative to center point, sometimes the buffer zone of another object.

2. "What is this object?" The object is identified ("selected") using a dialog device - mouse or cursor. The system returns the attributes of the object, such as street address, owner name, oil well productivity, altitude, and

3. "Summarize features of objects within the distance X or inside / outside a certain area." Combining the two previous queries and aggregates. "What's the best route?" Determination of the optimal route according to various criteria (minimum cost, minimum outside influence, maximum speed) between these two or more points.

5. Using relationships between features, such as finding underlying elements or determining the steepness of a digital elevation model.

For most GIS applications, the system must work in real time: the maximum time allowed for a response is a few seconds. With fairly frequent calls to the system, purely ergonomic requirements for the user interface come to the fore - menus and icons should be preferred to text commands that are tedious to type. There are several types of user interfaces:

1. Command, which the user types in the command line, for example, C>. The user must follow the system-defined command syntax using accurate notation and punctuation rules. However, in some GIS there may be more than 1000 such commands, which is very inconvenient for inexperienced users. Online help can reduce the need for knowledge of all rules and syntax, especially for infrequently used commands.

2... Menu... The user selects a menu item responsible for carrying out a certain function. The menu item represents the only choice available at this time. The consequences of the choice can be displayed in a special list next to each item. However, complex menu systems are tedious with constant use and do not provide command flexibility.

3. Pictographic menus. This form of menu uses symbolic images to make commands meaningful and easier to navigate. The user operates the system using icons for the most common functions and the usual menu for the rest. Many users have a better understanding of symbolic systems and more quickly become familiar with GIS.

4. Window. The GIS interface must take advantage of the nature of the spatial data. There are two natural ways to access spatial data — through features and through features. Modern complex systems use multiple display windows to display text and graphics data separately. Windows allow you to display several views of the same map at the same time, for example, in full coverage and in an enlarged image.

5. National interface language. The obvious benefits of using the national language in the menu systems and online help are immediate. Both the speed of mastering the system and the completeness of using its functional capabilities increase dramatically. Most GIS software manufacturers are currently promoting "adapted" versions of their products to foreign language national markets (the standard is English).

Many GIS shells combine several approaches to organizing the system management environment, creating a combined interface with both a conventional drop-down menu and a set of iconic menu blocks. Sometimes the command line is additionally used, and many commands are recognized by their abbreviated form (the first two or three characters).

The development of hardware determines the development of other types of interfaces. Touchscreen displays allow the user to select an object or issue commands by simply touching a finger or a dedicated pointer to a specific area of ​​the screen. For some types of applied GIS, working with large-scale terrain models, it is possible to introduce "virtual reality" technologies when modeling the earth's surface and spatial objects located on it: buildings, trees, etc.

GIS software - 4.5 out of 5 based on 2 votes

S.S. Smirnov(Southern Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography)

When creating a geographic information system (GIS), the problem of choosing software is inevitable.

Notable software products The world's leading GIS software development companies, with all their advantages, have one significant drawback - high cost, amounting to thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. Currently, more and more inexpensive or free, but high-quality developments appear on the geoinformatics market.

This is largely due to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC, http://www.opengeospatial.org), which unites 339 companies, government and scientific institutions. The main objectives of the OGC are the development of publicly available standards, data formats and specifications used in geoinformation technologies, as well as the widespread adoption of these technologies in various industries.

Geographic Information Database Server
In the event that in the created GIS it is planned to use not only a set of files (for example, Shape-files and bitmaps), but also to use the information stored in the database, then, most likely, you cannot do without a geodatabase server, which, moreover, can provide simultaneous work for a group of users in the "client-server" mode.

In this case, you can recommend MySQL Server(http://www.mysql.com). MySQL is not inferior in key indicators to such recognized DBMS as Oracle and Microsoft SQL, while this DBMS belongs to the category of systems with open source and is free for non-commercial use, which certainly compares favorably with the aforementioned expensive software. Starting with version 4.1, MySQL introduced support for Spatial extensions.

Software server MySQL DBMS operates in Windows environment, the process is controlled using commands entered from the console (Fig. 1). DBMS administration becomes more convenient when using software with graphical interface(Figure 2), which can be downloaded for free from the MySQL website.

Geoinformation database servers also include a DBMS
PostgreSQL(http://www.postgresql.org). Like MySQL, it supports spatial data types (PostGIS extension) and is free.

Software GIS
Moving on to the consideration of software for GIS clients interacting with the aforementioned DBMSs, two new and very promising programs can be proposed: Viewport and KOSMO, which are currently available for download from the developer sites with the status of "Beta version" and "Release candidate", respectively. The official release of the first version of these programs is planned in the next 2-3 months. cartoons

Viewport(developed by Texel corporation, http://www.viewportimaging.com/) multifunctional spatial data management software supporting 37 file formats (ESRI Shape, MapInfo Vector File, ARC / INFO ASCII Grid, USGS DEM, EOSAT Fast Format, ERDAS Imagine, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, etc.) and 9 data sources (ArcSDE, Informix Datablade, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle Spatial, ODBC RDBMS, Web Mapping Service, etc.).

Simple and convenient interface, choice of cartographic projection, the ability to create SQL queries with the subsequent display of their results on the map, a lot of changeable parameters graphic objects(variable transparency, many types of hatching / filling, specifying the thickness and type of line, etc.), export to various formats all this makes the program very attractive to use.


Rice. 3. Screen copy of Viewport

The cost of a single license is $ 99.95, but it is possible that licenses for non-profit (non-profit) institutions will be provided free of charge. Currently, you can download a free beta version of the program from the developer's site, but with a number of limitations.

KOSMO(developed by SAIG, http://www.saig.es/en) is a complete GIS provided completely free of charge. This program is the result of combining SAIG's own developments and a number of open source projects (JUMP, JTS, GeoTools, etc.).

KOSMO allows you to connect to geoinformation databases (Oracle Spatial, MySQL, PostgreSQL-PostGIS), has a large set of tools for working with vector data, supports the most common raster data formats (TIFF, GeoTIFF, ECW, MrSid, etc.), has a good editor stylesheet and query designer, has the ability to expand functionality by connecting additional modules, and all this is only a small part of the program's capabilities.


Rice. 4. Screen copy of KOSMO

In addition, the choice of the interface language is possible. In addition to English, Spanish and Portuguese, Russian will soon be available, as the author of this article is currently working on translating the program interface into Russian.

GIS KOSMO is developed in the Java environment, therefore it is recommended to download the distribution kit, which already includes the JRE and JAI modules.

In a situation where you do not need to develop a complex GIS, but you only need to display the available cartographic data, you can recommend free GIS viewers: Christine GIS Viewer (

With the development of Internet technologies, geographic information systems are becoming increasingly important both for personal use and for large-scale enterprises. At the same time, GIS is now provided with modern software tools. Technical support is provided from different points - from programs for drawing and designing circuits, ending with images from satellite dishes.

GIS - what is it

The acronym stands for Geographic Information Systems. The goal of these projects is a series of actions with spatial data:

  • collecting them through photographs from various sources;
  • storage on different media, accumulation and subsequent transfer;
  • analysis, clarification, correction of changes;
  • 2D and 3D visualization.

The development of technologies is ensured by the science of geoinformatics - a symbiosis of geography and informatics.

Main features of GIS:

  • work with a database that is constantly replenished and updated;
  • spatial 3D-map, its overview.

Also join this additional features, for example:

  • navigation (with location determination);
  • route path;
  • analysis of land plots;
  • DB for cadastral engineers and surveyors.

The work is constantly carried out with both raster and vector sources, and all information goes in layers according to georeferencing.

Benefits of creating geographic information systems using software

Here are the pros of using GIS:

  • large analytical resource;
  • many tools for processing and using information;
  • easy perception of user data (visual clarity);
  • automated summaries and reports on selected parameters;
  • decoding of information obtained from aerial and satellite imagery;
  • significant savings in time, money and labor resources due to free access;
  • the ability to remotely and quickly create a 3D model of any object;
  • automatic input data;
  • assembly of reports in the form of tables or diagrams;
  • determination of the presence or absence of buildings within the specified coordinates;
  • study of geospatial information - population density, the number of industrial buildings per percentage of residential premises, etc.

Geographic information systems are used by a wide range of people, using computer programs or gadget apps.

Users:

  • Cadastral engineers. Their field of activity is a survey of land plots, their analysis, cadastre, land surveying, location of borders, intersections, resolving controversial issues, drawing up acts, entering into Rosreestr.
  • Entrepreneurs who own networks of objects - shops, gas stations, factories or any other points with a connection between them. This simplifies planning, management, and plans for expanding or decreasing the system.
  • Engineering surveys: geological, geographical, environmental and others. Specialists get the opportunity through GIS programs to create a list of areas and their features in the relief, landscape.
  • Developers and designers of buildings from the beginning or renovations of buildings.
  • Architects.
  • Cartographers. GIS helps to create maps of any format for any part of the terrain with more or less detail on various topics - routers, landscapes, etc.
  • Navigators and drivers of any transport - land, air, water.
  • Private users - more and more often ordinary citizens use electronic resources to find their way.

Additional areas:

  • Environmental activities - environmental monitoring, resource management, all areas of nature.
  • Geology and mining of mountain ore - development of deposits.
  • Analytics of possible emergencies.
  • Wars and Security Agencies - Developing a strategy with electronic resources becomes easier.
  • Agriculture.

gregory_k writes:

And I would recommend looking at the geosearch. For 1 million there licenses 3 or 4 you can buy. Their support is great. The interface is really "not for everybody" there, and the names of the menu items are just ugly. But the multi-well processing in geo-search is of high quality. It seems there is everything that you described in the requirements. About the limitation on the size of the base - it is true: 32000 curves per base. An open trunk works in geo-search for us, people seem to be happy. I also want to say well about prime. Our bosses wanted to transfer the fishers to geo-search, so they raised such a howl that, probably, the prime is very good program... And I would not recommend Tehlog, tk. customers love seam processing. Techlog for her, like any foreign software, is poorly adapted.

gregory_k, from your comment it is not entirely clear what you are using. Or is this feedback from an outside observer? He worked at Geopoisk about 4 years ago. Since I worked for a long time, I dare to comment on this software. 1. The license is really very cheap - 397 thousand, which is indicated on the off. site. For a million you can buy 3 pieces. 2. Low price due to the fact that the team of creators is very small. The Tulchinsky brothers rule everything. As a result of such a small team for 7 !!! years in the program, almost NOTHING has changed! Do you believe that if you need to change or add something in the program, this will happen? And there are many people who support this moment not satisfied, although I am sure that Tulchin's scripts do not write clean scripts correctly and quickly. We must pay tribute, well done. 3. The theoretical size of the database is impressive, BUT ask REAL users how they are doing. Most of the users try to split the base into 50-100 wells. Otherwise, stability problems begin! If this thread is viewed by Geopoisk users, I hope they will comment on this fact. Maybe someone will give an example of a really working project with the number of wells, let's say more than 1000. It would be interesting. 4. The people are happy with everything they are used to. In one wonderful office, people work on DOS software for interpretation, in which the mouse is not even supported and claim that there is nothing better ... The question is in the habit and efficiency of work. Someone has the task of making 2 wells a day at random, while someone does 20 each with an analysis of the quality of the input and output data. 5. Once again - do not confuse multi-well calculation in the calculator and multi-well treatment. The first one in Geopoisk is implemented coolly, but the same can be done even directly in any database. But processing and analysis in multi-well mode is implemented very primitively. A simple question - how long does it take in Geopoisk to make a correlation of 5 wells with all curves, rigs, lithology, saturation, interlayers, and is it possible to quickly go over all this correlate and correct readings, lithology, breakdowns, etc., looking at neighbors? I think that it is not even theoretically possible, or at least it is so difficult and time-consuming that no one does that))) PRIME is a fishing industry, for which it was originally created. There are interesting moments, but I recommend to work in it and do standard things - loading, visualization, calculations, unloading. Everything will fall into place. Just try it. Regarding the Techlog and the posting, I am ready to argue with examples. Compared the results of automatic breakdown made in Solver, Geopoisk and Techlog. The smallest adjustments are required for the Techlog results. And lastly. And why are we again focusing only on the interpretation of standard logs? It's no secret that almost every field now has at least a single record of NMR, broadband acoustics, microscanners, and imported standard logging. What will you do with this in Geopoisk-Prime? But the price of carrying out ONE research with the same microscanner is quite comparable to the cost of a good software license. Why do we still not think about the fact that the petrophysical model can be done based on all the data, and not only on the standard complex. .. I'm not even talking about the complex of Bakers, Halov, slum or someone else ... There are already Russian almost similar devices. Maybe it's time to think about how to take a step further? But no, we are still standing on the assertion that petrophysics is Excel. And you need to interpret everything one by one, as a result, in the geological model, getting a bunch of data inconsistent with each other ... Sorry, it's boiling)))

GIS software is divided into five main classes used. The first most functionally complete class of software is instrumental GIS. They can be designed for a wide variety of tasks: for organizing the input of information (both cartographic and attributive), storing it (including distributed, supporting network operation), processing complex information queries, solving spatial analytical problems (corridors, environments, network tasks, etc.), the construction of derived maps and diagrams (overlay operations) and, finally, to prepare for the output on hard media of the original layouts of cartographic and schematic products. As a rule, instrumental GIS supports work with both raster and vector images, have a built-in database for a digital basis and attribute information, or support one of the common databases for storing attribute information: Paradox, Access, Oracle, etc. The most developed products have run time systems that optimize the necessary functionality for a specific task and reduce the cost of replication created with their help help systems... The second important class is the so-called GIS-viewers, that is, software products that provide the use of databases created with the help of instrumental GIS. As a rule, GIS-viewers provide the user (if at all) with extremely limited opportunities for updating the databases. All GIS-viewers include a toolkit of queries to databases that perform operations of positioning and zooming of cartographic images. Naturally, viewers always enter part of in medium and large projects, allowing you to save the cost of creating a part of jobs that are not endowed with the rights to replenish the database. The third class is reference cartographic systems (SCS). They combine storage and most of the possible types of visualization of spatially distributed information, contain query mechanisms for cartographic and attributive information, but at the same time significantly limit the user's ability to supplement the built-in databases. Their updating (updating) is cyclical and is usually performed by the SCS supplier for an additional fee. The fourth class of software is spatial modeling tools. Their task is to simulate the spatial distribution of various parameters (relief, zones of environmental pollution, flooding areas during the construction of dams, etc.). They rely on tools for working with matrix data and are equipped with advanced visualization tools. It is typical to have a toolkit that allows you to perform a wide variety of calculations on spatial data (addition, multiplication, calculation of derivatives, and other operations).

The fifth class, which is worth focusing on, is the special means for processing and decrypting earth sounding data. This includes image processing packages equipped, depending on the price, with various mathematical apparatus that allow operations with scanned or recorded in digital form pictures of the earth's surface. This is a fairly wide range of operations, starting with all types of corrections (optical, geometric) through geographic referencing of images up to processing stereopairs with the output of the result in the form of an updated topographic plan. In addition to the classes mentioned, there are also various software tools that manipulate spatial information. These are products such as tools for processing field geodetic observations (packages that provide for interaction with GPS receivers, electronic tachometers, levels and other automated geodetic equipment), navigation tools and software for solving even narrower subject tasks (surveys, ecology, hydrogeology, etc. ). Naturally, other principles of software classification are also possible: by areas of application, by cost, support by a certain type (or types) operating systems, by computing platforms (PCs, Unix workstations), etc. The rapid growth in the number of consumers of GIS technologies due to the decentralization of spending budget funds and introducing to them more and more new subject areas of their use. If until the mid-90s, the main market growth was associated only with large projects federal level, then today the main potential is shifting towards the mass market. This is a global trend: according to the research firm Daratech (USA), the global GIS market for personal computers is currently 121.5 times faster than the overall growth of the market for GIS solutions. The massiveness of the market and the emerging competition lead to the fact that an increasingly high-quality product is offered to the consumer for the same or less price. So, for the leading suppliers of instrumental GIS, it has already become a rule to supply, together with the system, a digital cartographic base of the region where the goods are distributed. And the above classification of software itself has become a reality. Just two or three years ago, the functions of automated vectorization and reference systems could only be realized with the help of developed and expensive instrumental GIS (Arc / Info, Intergraph). A progressive trend towards modularity of systems, allowing for cost optimization for a specific project. Today, even packages that serve a certain technological stage, for example, vectorizers, can be purchased in both a complete and a reduced set of modules, symbol libraries, etc. A number of domestic developments have reached the "market" level. Products such as GeoDraw / GeoGraph, Sinteks / Tri, GeoCAD, EasyTrace not only have a significant number of users, but also have all the attributes of market design and support. In Russian geoinformatics there is a certain critical number of working installations - fifty. Once you have reached it, there are only two ways further: either sharply upward, increasing the number of your users, or leaving the market due to the inability to provide the necessary support and development to your product. Interestingly, all the mentioned programs cater to the lower price level; in other words, they found the optimal ratio between the price and the pressure of functionality specifically for the Russian market.