Shown above is a compilation of several maps showing how the noise from a proposed airport expansion could potentially affect the surrounding areas. To create these maps, I utilized ESRI's geographic information system software, ArcGIS. GIS is a database that allows users to input, manage, view, edit, analyze, and display geospatial data in the form of maps. Used correctly, GIS is a very powerful and highly informative tool that can help with planning or presenting ideas, but as I learned from my experience with ArcGIS, there are detriments as well as benefits.
Much like neogeography, one of GIS's major strengths is its accessibility. Anyone, non-experts included, can create a map as long as they have access to data that is compatible with their GIS software of choice. This accessibility increases geographical awareness for both map creators and map viewers. Of course, the maps that come out of GIS wouldn't be very interesting or informative were it not for the system's ability to effectively handle large quantities of data. In this week's lab, I followed an ArcGIS tutorial which helped me get started on organizing and manipulating data sets related to school locations, land use, and population densities. Being able to visualize these data layers together makes it much clearer how these regional features relate to one another.
Another pro of GIS is its ease of customization. Not only is it incredibly simple to change colors, alter the arrangement of data layers, or add symbols, GIS software can automatically generate map features (e.g., legends, scale bars, and tables) that would otherwise be very time-consuming to create. From my ArcGIS experience, I also found the ease of manipulation to be very helpful as well. The ability to switch between views (i.e., data view and layout view) and to enable/disable data layer visibility made it possible to analyze the data in many different ways.
However, some of the features that make GIS such a useful and important tool are the very things that contribute to its pitfalls. For example, although customizing and manipulating maps with GIS is very easy, it takes a while to get the hang of it. ArcGIS in particular has a steep learning curve because the system's capabilities are seemingly endless, and the program isn't the most user-friendly one. Even though I've gone through the ArcGIS tutorial a couple of times, I still don't feel 100% comfortable with it.
GIS's accessibility is a double-edged sword as well. Regardless of their geography education and training, anyone can create maps using GIS, which means that these maps may not be completely trustworthy. Users of GIS can also be motivated by their own biases, intentionally misrepresenting the data in their maps by either hiding or selectively presenting certain information. Moreover, the technical nature of GIS output can make results seem more reliable than they really are, which may lead to map viewers passively trusting and accepting the professional-looking information in front of them.
Despite its pitfalls, GIS's strengths make it a great and powerful tool for managing, analyzing, and presenting geospatial data, and I look forward to continuing to work with ArcGIS over the course of this quarter.
No comments:
Post a Comment