GIS methodology

This page described a number of projects which I have worked on in this past, which can be collectively grouped together as developments in GIS-based methodologies.

Spatial Analysis in a GIS Environment

In the past standard GIS software packages provided a wide range of tools for spatial analysis using cartographic modelling, but very few for statistical spatial analysis. In the Sheffield Centre for Geographic Information and Spatial Analysis, we wrote a package called SAGE, which provided a range of tools for the visualization and analysis of area-based data held in the ARC/INFO GIS. Some of the tools provided in SAGE, such as the ability to calculate a number of measures of spatial autocorrelation, are now provided in GIS packages.

Data capture from scanned maps

Data input continues to be a bottleneck for many GIS projects. Scanning offers a potentially rapid and automatic method of data capture, but techniques are required to convert the scanned image into useful data. I have written a program called CLEAN, which could be used with the IDRISI GIS, to assist in this process. I have also described how standard graphics editing software on the PC can aid in this process.