INTRODUCTION TO

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)

AND MAPPING AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM
Hands-On Workshop

Department of Agriculture and Livestock

Port Moresby, PNG
2023
 Agenda for workshop
• Principles of GIS

• Data formats and GIS

• Projections and GPS data

• Spatial data integration

• Population

• Agricultural system
The Principles of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS)
 Definition and importance of GIS

• GIS stands for Geographic Information System

• GIS is a computer-based system that captures, stores,

manages, analyzes, and visualizes spatial data,
including maps, satellite imagery, and other geospatial
information

• GIS allows for the integration and analysis of data from

multiple sources, helping to understand patterns,
relationships, and trends in geographic data
 Components of GIS
• Data: The foundation of GIS is data, including
• spatial data (e.g., geographic features, locations) and
• attribute data (e.g., characteristics, and attributes
associated with spatial data)

• Software: GIS software enables the creation,

management, analysis, and visualization of spatial data.
e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS, and Google Earth

• Hardware: GIS requires hardware, such as computers,

servers, and GPS devices, to process and store data

• People: Skilled GIS professionals are needed to operate

and analyze GIS data, interpret results, and make
informed decisions
 What kind of questions can GIS
address?
• Location

• Quantity (Measurement)

• Patterns

• Trends (Temporal Aspect)

• Surrounding Conditions & Relationships

• Implications (Planning for the future)

 Importance of GIS
• Improved Decision Making:
• by providing visualizations, analysis, and insights from spatial
data.
• Spatial Analysis and Modeling:
• overlay analysis, proximity analysis, and network analysis.
• Data Integration and Management:
• satellite imagery, aerial photography, GPS data, and other
spatial datasets.
• Visualization and Communication:
• maps, charts, and other graphical representations of spatial
data.
• Cost and Time Savings:
• GIS helps in optimizing resources, reducing costs
• Environmental and Social Impact Assessment:
• infrastructure development, land use planning, and natural
resource management.
 Geospatial Analysis

• It involves using GIS tools and techniques to

analyze and interpret spatial data

• Include tasks such as overlay analysis, buffer

analysis, spatial query, spatial statistics, and
network analysis

• Helps in understanding spatial patterns,

relationships, and trends, and supports decision-
making in various fields
 Cartography

• Cartography is the science and art of creating

maps using GIS

• designing and creating visually appealing

maps that convey spatial information
effectively

• includes elements such as map layout,

symbology, scale, projection, and map design
principles
Location
Implications- Network analysis
Quality - Trends

https://www.healthdata.org/papua-new-guinea
Patterns - Density
Trends - Spread
Implications- West Nile
 Basic concepts: Spatial data
• Spatial data refers to data that has a geographic
or spatial component, such as location, shape,
and attributes associated with geographic
features

• Spatial data can be represented as points, lines,

polygons, or raster images, and can be stored in
various formats, such as vector and raster

• Spatial data is the foundation of GIS, and it can be

collected, created, and analyzed using GIS tools
and techniques
 GIS Data Types and Sources
• GIS data can be categorized into two main types:
• vector data
• raster data
• Vector data represents geographic features as
points, lines, or polygons, and is used to represent
discrete and well-defined features such as roads,
buildings, and land parcels

• Raster data represents geographic features as a grid

of cells, where each cell contains a value that
represents an attribute or characteristic and is used
to represent continuous data such as elevation,
temperature, and precipitation
 Vector Data
• Points represent a single location, such as a well or a
city center

• Lines represent linear features, such as roads, rivers,

or pipelines

• Polygons represent enclosed areas, such as land

parcels, administrative boundaries, or vegetation
cover
Vector data

Polygon

Vector data
are also
Line called
Shapefiles

Point
 Raster Data

• Each cell in a raster represents a location and

contains a value that represents a specific attribute,
such as elevation, temperature, or land cover

• Raster data is used for continuous data analysis,

modeling, and visualization
Raster data

Higher Elevation

Lower Elevation
 Basic concepts: Layers
• Layers are the building blocks of GIS, and they
represent different thematic information that can
be stacked on top of each other to create a map

• Layers can include features such as roads,

buildings, rivers, and land parcels, each
represented as a separate layer with its own
attributes and properties

• Layers can be added, removed, and manipulated

in GIS software to create complex spatial analyses
and visualizations
 GIS map components
• A Map is made up of Layers or Shapefiles

• Layers contain Features

• Features can take the form of Points, Lines and

Polygons, and are known collectively as Vector
Data

• Layers contain Features, and each Feature is linked

to a row of information in the Attribute table
Layers contain features
 Each map is a system of layers

Each layer will have either Vector Data or Raster Data

 Basic concepts: Attribute Data
• Refers to the non-spatial information associated
with spatial features, such as attributes or
characteristics of geographic features

e.g., name, population, elevation, land use,

and other relevant information

• Stored in tabular format and linked to spatial data

using unique identifiers, allowing for analysis and
querying of spatial and attribute data together
Attribute table
 Data sources
• GIS data can be obtained from various sources,
including:
• Publicly available data, such as government agencies,
academic institutions, and NGO

• Commercial data providers that offer specialized GIS

datasets for specific industries or applications

• Crowdsourced data collected by individuals or

communities, such as OpenStreetMap

• Field-collected data using GPS or other data collection

devices

• Remote sensing data, such as satellite imagery, aerial

photographs, and LiDAR data
 Data Consideration
• Data quality refers to the accuracy, precision, and
completeness of the data

• Data accuracy refers to how closely the data

represents the real-world features

• Data scale refers to the level of detail or resolution of

the data

• Data relevance refers to how well the data meets the

needs of the specific GIS application
 The steps taken from feature data to Map Analysis

GEOGRAPHICAL
ENVORONMENT
Census
Ground Survey
Remote Sensing
Compilation
RECOGNIZED
GEOGRAPHICAL
Selection INFORMATION
Classification
Simplification
Exaggeration
Symbolization
MAP
Reading
Analysis
Interpretation
MAP IMAGE
 The map design process

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Consider Determine Collect Design Determine

what the the data and whether
real world purpose of appropriate Construct users find
distribution the map for the the map the map
of the and it’s map’s useful and
phenomena intended purpose informative
might look audience
like
 GIS Software and Tools
• GIS software refers to the applications and tools used
for creating, managing, analyzing, and visualizing
geographic data

• Popular GIS software includes ArcGIS by Esri, QGIS,

MapInfo, and Google Earth Pro

• These software provide a wide range of

functionalities, such as data visualization, spatial
analysis, data editing, and map production
 GIS Tools
• GIS tools are specialized software or plugins that
extend the capabilities of GIS software

E.g., spatial analysis tools, data management

tools, geocoding tools, and remote sensing tools

• These tools enhance the functionality of GIS software

and enable users to perform specific tasks or analysis
on geographic data
How to get started
 ArcGIS interface
Tools used to query and zoom data frame

Data
Frame

Table of
Contents
 Basic mapping toolbar

Identify tool
Pan tool

Zoom tools View tools Select Tools Normal Arrow Cursor

 LAB 01
Overview:
Create a basic overview map of PNG.

▪ Introduce the ArcMap Interface & Toolbars

▪ Basic Symbology & Symbol hierarchies
▪ Basic Querying
▪ Labeling
▪ Layout
▪ Final Output will be exported to PowerPoint
Questions?
Let’s open up an ArcGIS session right now, and you can
begin working on the first exercise
Advanced Symbology- Lab02
Hands - On Workshop
Lab01 –Questions?
 Lab 02: Advanced Symbology

In Lab 01, we mapped the data, now we will begin to classify it and
choose hierarchies to better understand spatial elements of the country!
 Lab 02: Advanced Symbology

Instead of displaying single feature of town and road, we can map large
vs. small cities, or primary, secondary, tertiary roads.
The layer properties; table links to the
attribute table that you worked with in
lab01
The manner in which you are able to
classify your data depends on the data
type (text vs. numerical)
 Within the layer properties there is
a classification window
• Allows you to
decide how to
classify your data
(Quintiles, Natural
Breaks, Standard
Deviation, Manual,
etc.

•Allows you to
create your own
“Break Values”

•Provides a
histogram of the
specific variable

•Gives
Classification
Statistics
At the beginning of Lab 02 exercise the road network had the same line
symbol regardless of their level of importance.
This is sufficient for a basic informational map, but most GIS maps are used
as a visual interpretation of tabular data, therefore we will learn how to
visualize such data in this lab.
Questions?
Data formats and ArcCatalog
 ArcCatalog
organizes your geographic data

Toolbox

Data
Folders
and
Files

Preview
and
Metadata
 Several files comprise one
shapefile

In Windows Explorer,
you will see several
files for each shapefile.
You need all of these
files in order for the
shapefile to work
properly and map
within GIS.
 In ArcCatalog, these files are
packaged and presented as one file in order
to facilitate copying from / to other folders.
 Lab 03: Choropleth Mapping
Understanding the spatial layout-dispersion and clustering
of specific indicators

Population Density Population Count

Lab 03: Choropleth Mapping
Questions?
GIS PART II
Questions from Lab 01?
Questions from Lab 02?
 Questions from Lab 03?

Population Density Population Count

 Moving Forward …

• Using Google Earth:convert layer(shapefile)/map to

KML

• Projections

• GPS data from the field

 Convert map layer to KML (in ArcMap)
❑ The Map to KML tool allows multiple layers in an ArcMap map
document data frame to be simultaneously exported to a KML file.
❑ Each layer will be maintained as a distinct folder in the KML, unless
the option is used to convert all layers to a single flattened image

• Create or open a saved map document

• Open ArcMap’s Toolbox
• Navigate to Conversion Tools: Map to KML
• Double-click ‘Map to KML’
• Locate the saved map document
• Define the output file (KML)
• Click ‘OK’
• Locate the saved KMZ file and double click
 Convert Shapefile to KML (in ArcMap)
• Open and Review Shapefile via ArcMap

• Define that Shapefile’s symbology as desired

• Open ArcMap’s Toolbox

• Navigate to Conversion Tools: Layer to KML
• Double-click ‘Layer to KML’

• Select the symbolized ‘layer’

• Define the output file (KML)

• Click ‘OK’

• Open Google Earth

• Open KML in Google Earth

Questions?
Geographic Projections
Cold War Cartography

Was the
USSR really
that
massive!?

Mercator
Projection
 The USSR was
big, but maybe
not as big as we
thought.

Time Magazine (1951): Rand

Orthographic Projection McNally ad lambasting
Mercator as the man who
made USSR look so big.
 The creation of a flat map creates
Distortion – How do we identify it?
A. B.

Orthographic projection Mercator Projection

Figure 8.15 – Slocum, Chapter 8

Transformation to the plane
 Map Projection Techniques
Step 1
Reduce the Earth’s size to that of an imaginary globe
Reference Globe
A model of the earth at a reduced scale, that is used to
project the landmasses and graticule onto a flat map

Figure 8.1 – Slocum, Chapter 8

 Map projection techniques
Step 2
Project the graticule
from the reference Cylinder
globe onto the
developable surface

Cone
Developable Surface
A mathematically
definable surface onto Plane
which the land masses
and graticule are
projected from the
reference globe

Figure 8.2 – Slocum, Chapter 8

 Case

The Case of a projection relates to how

the developable surface is positioned
with respect to the reference globe

Case can be described as

• Tangent or
• Secant
 Tangency

In a tangent case of
a map projection, the
reference globe only
touches the
developable surface
along one line, or at
one point in the case
of the planar
projection.

Figure 8.9 – Slocum, Chapter 8

 Secant case

A secant case of a
map projection occurs
when the developable
surface passes
through the reference
globe, producing two
lines of contact

Figure 8.9 – Slocum, Chapter 8

 Standard line & scale variation

Figure 8.12 – Slocum, Chapter 8

 Back to the USSR:
Choosing tangent or Secant case

Figure 8.13 – Slocum, Chapter 8

Distortion patterns
 Types of Projections

Lambert Cylindrical Projection

Hammer map
centered on Eurasia
 Types of Projections cont.
• Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
• The UTM system is not a single map projection
• The system employs a series of sixty zones, each of
which is based on a specifically defined secant
Transverse Mercator projection.
Image:Utm-zones.jpg
 UTM projection cont.

The Mercator Turning the Mercator The Universal Transverse

projection maps projection's cylinder Mercator system of
the world onto a so that it is tangent projections deals with this
cylinder where to the Earth along a by defining 60 different
the central ring of meridian (longitude standard projections.
tangency is the line) results in what is
Earth's Equator. called a Transverse Each projection has a
Mercator projection. different Transverse
(Remember USSR?)
Mercator projection that is
slightly rotated to use a
different meridian as the
central line of tangency.
So, what is the UTM projection of PNG?
So, what does this have to do with
your analysis?

The first step in problem solving spatial data

is to check the projection.

If the projection is ‘undefined’ or is different

from the other ‘Layers’ in your Data Frame
it will not merge nicely and you will not be
able to do ANY spatial analysis!
 Exercise 5
You will experiment with different projections to
understand what can be preserved and what is
lost due to geographic projection decisions

You have been given detailed surveyed community

point information, which was collected using GPS
units in the field. Unfortunately, it is not displaying
correctly in the data frame. You will need to
project the data correctly and perform any
analysis.
 Surveyed community
location

GPS data from the field, when

projected correctly allows for new
data creation and facilitates data
comprehension when analyzing
across geographic space.
Once you master projections, you can use data from a
variety of sources in order to create more data and
perform more analysis.

What are we looking at?

What can we
question about
population density
and infrastructure?

P’yongyang

Seoul
Questions?
Spatial Joins
 Moving along …

• Spatial Data Integration

• Spatial Join

• Spatial Join with the health centers in PNG

• Tabular Join
 Spatial data integration –Lab 06…

Two Types of Data to be managed in GIS

• Spatial Data (Where things are)

• Tabular data (What things are)

Spatial Joins can
generate interesting
statistics about SSA:

• Compare road density

and surface type by
country, province, district,
etc.

• Compare road kilometer

length and surface type by
country, state/province,
etc.
Spatial join can also calculate population counts
and densities within specified geographic regions
 Lab 06
District Level

• How do the number of Health centers relate to the population

density figures you worked with in Lab03?

• How would we calculate Health center per capita figure for district
level statistics?
Tabular Joins
• Tabular Data
• Merging other datasets to GIS shapefiles
• Census
• HHS
• DHS
• Environmental
Surveys
 Excel to ArcGIS
Formatting Rules:
• No spaces in field names
• Numeric and text fields must be designated as such
• Field names no longer than 11 digits (to permanently
append to the shapefile)
 Linking Tabular Data
Primary Key:
Unique Identifier for EACH
row of information a
particular data file
When tabular data
are successfully
merged with spatial
attributes, we can
evaluate variations
among disaggregated
variables, and trends
over time and
throughout space
 Lab 07
Exercise Overview

• You have received detailed Household Census

information from NSO-PNG. The data is in Microsoft
Excel format, and you need to integrate this
information into ArcMap to create a thematic map.

• To achieve this you must conduct a Table Join. A

table join appends attributes of a non-spatial table,
to the attributes of a map table. (Non-Spatial means
“without geography”, i.e.: without map attached). In
order for this join to be successful there must be a
way to match records in one table with appropriate
records in another.
Tabular Joins cont’d
Agricultural system mapping
QUESTIONS ON
LAB 7?
 In the last lab we merged census tabular data to
display in a more visual map format

Now we will continue with agricultural system map:

• The Papua New Guinea Agricultural Systems Project

produced information on smallholder agriculture at
provincial and national levels.
• Information was collected by field observation, interviews
with villagers and reference to published and
unpublished documents.
• The projected identified 287 discrete agricultural systems.
Questions?