Geographical Information Systems (GIS): An Essential Tool for Research, Planning, and Archival of Data for Most Governmental Agencies Mohammad A. Rob University of Houston-Clear Lake

Introduction Understanding GIS Applications of GIS: Examples Use and Applications of GIS in Bangladesh Conclusion

Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used to make strategic decisions whenever data have spatial (geographical) distribution Government agencies use it for assessment and planning in areas such as housing, healthcare, land use, transportation, and environmental monitoring Businesses use it to locate optimum retail location and delivery route And of course, we use it everyday in Yahoo! and Google Maps

What is GIS? GIS is a computerized system for input, storage, management, display, and analysis of data that can be precisely linked to a geographical location (longitude and latitude) GIS datasets come as layers: a layer for roads a layer for rivers a layer for zip code boundary all within a particular geographical boundary

A GIS layer data comes in two types: Raster or Vector Raster data types are digital images stored in pixels with reference to earth’s coordinates U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) regularly maps the whole World using satellites

Vector data types are defined by points, lines and polygons (boundary): Points: hospitals and fire hydrants Lines: Roads, highways, and rivers Polygons: Zip code, county, state, and country A layer can have more than one features Vector data are used in address coding

Each GIS layer has two views: map and data Additional statistical data Zip Code

Most commonly used GIS tool is ArcView from ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) It uses a geodatabase to store all features Can be used as a desktop or multi-user database Many federal, state, and local government agencies publish GIS data in the ArcView’s shapefile format These files can be downloaded from the Web

GIS Database

In addition to Raster and Vector data for mapping, a shapefile may contain location- based important data such as population, income, voting record, etc. The data view can be used to: to create a smaller dataset or map to combine with user data to create a new layer (as long as there is a common attribute between the GIS data and the user data)

Asthma is a public health concern, especially among children in the U.S. About 17.3 million Americans have asthma More than 5000 people die from asthma per year African Americans suffer more than Caucasians Females suffer more than males These statistics do not show any geographical distribution of asthmatic people

Most of the asthma data comes from hospitalization records or surveying a population These data do not contain any spatial coordinate, but has zip code information They can be joined with a spatial dataset such as a zip code layer - to create an asthma layer Zip code from the two datasets can be used as a join parameter

Zip CodeTotal Number Surveyed Number Of Asthmatics Percent Asthmatics Important GIS Parameter

The Asthma data is joined with this zip code data

There are missing Asthma data for some Zip codes

HighLowMissing Data

Asthma Poverty

2008 mid-term Democratic primary results

In addition to querying addresses in the web, GIS has multiple governmental applications In Houston, it is used to display real-time traffic and air pollution data on the web Air pollution monitoring stations in the Harris county area - surrounding the City of Houston

GIS can be used for mapping, data storage, querying, analyzing, and planning for many government and non-government projects: Recording much-disputed lands Controlling population, poverty & disease Mapping election zones and natural resources Assessing river erosion; flood and cyclone damage Distribution of food, gas, power, and water Improvement of roads, highways and urban areas Optimization of education, healthcare, & sanitary Optimization of fisheries, dairies, cultivation, forestry, and tourism Law enforcement, public safety, environment, etc.

Since1970s various government agencies of have been using Raster/image data provided by LANDSAT & other program of U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) Petrobangla Most activities have been focused on mapping geological and geophysical resources (topography, minerals, petroleum, gas, etc.) Since 1990s, UNDP has been trying to educate and train GIS personnel in some governmental agencies, especially for the engineering & planning activities in Dhaka & Chittagong cities; however, the progress is slow

Currently, the vector data to display layers for roads, highways, rivers, lakes, forests, and land boundaries in Bangladesh are not available or incomplete Main data that are available are digitized versions of existing maps of various districts and sub- districts, and they are used by many organizations There are GIS programs in Geography and Geology departments in few educational institutions; however, true output is yet to be seen There are some software companies, at least in name, available as well

A central location such as cartography department of GSB should be responsible to develop vector data and make them available to all governmental agencies Almost all government agencies should have a GIS department with appropriate analysts and technicians Need to provide appropriate Software, train personnel, have long-term plans and coordination between various agencies

GIS uses various data/map layers to create a map A layer has two views: data and map, and the user-defined data can be combined with map data to understand and query spatial distribution of data In developed countries, most data layers are available through various government agencies GIS can be used in almost all government programs in Bangladesh; however basic vector data needs to developed and people need to be trained

US Geological Survey: ESRI: Houston-Galveston Area Council GIS: gac.com/rds/gis/clearinghouse/default.aspx Texas Commission on Environmental Quality GIS: UT-Austin Map Library: Bangladesh Government Maps: Technical Assistance to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for Preparing the Dhaka Water Supply Project: ADB Report 2005 GIS Implementation in Developing Countries-A United Nations Perspective: