Gis

SPATIAL AWARENESS HISTORY PROJECT

GIS application in the community

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation

A GIS is a computer-based tool that connects geographic data with graphic information for instance what things are like. In essence, the technology is used to display, capture, and study spatial data. In our community Denver, Colorado fire hazards occur every other time, any delay of reacting to the hazard can mean the difference between the rescue of residents or grave harm or large scale demise. Therefore the crucial timespan between fire suppression and flashover can be gauged and contained in just a matter of seconds; inferring speedy access to essential information is paramount. GIS tools that aid firefighter rescue personnel pinpoint the disaster call scene, equally assist in assessing the potential magnitudes of the fire and establish the most effectual plan will abate property damage and protection of residents and fire service personnel. In the past, first fire responders mainly depend on handy gear, experience, communication, and collaboration to realize effective emergency response (Guzzetti, Marchetti & Pasquinelli, 2012). Nonetheless, with all the encounters facing emergency teams in the present day Colorado, effective response therefore necessitates prudent planning, broad training, risk management and intelligent organization by way of early preparation. GIS tools have become powerful and dynamic technologies for refining every aspect of fire service delivery systems in our community. This so because it has the benefit of espousing incident management, proactive planning, mitigation initiatives, and preparedness and fast response; it likewise extends the capability of producing interactive and intelligent maps with access to all sort of spatial data, resource and analysis. Once pertinent data is collected using a geospatial tool it is then organized and displayed in ways that makes analysis and interpretation much simpler, the display types utilized for the firefighting project include computer-generated maps and aerial photos which typically remotely sensed images using an open source technology (Google Earth©). Use of graduated hues symbology helps exhibit a quantitative difference between the geographic features that are mapped therefore operators can differentiate different land forms and features of Colorado including water bodies, roads, hills and ranges among other important things. Scaling can be personalized according to requirements for geospatial information this helps the users get specific representational data.

Geospatial tools and technologies come in different sorts, from analysis applications data to mapping. Utilizing technologies has conventionally required specialists trained in geospatial technology management. Whereas geospatial experts have been the typical operators and creators of geospatial technologies, the milieu has advanced histrionically over the past few decades. The progress of open source geospatial application is an exhilarating part of the novel geospatial niche; open source application contributions cover the range of technologies that includes: spatially cognizance enterprise databanks, command-line data transformation, internet mapping technologies, desktop GIS applications and geo-processing archives among many others. Willing organizations, developers and companies presently are collaborating on the contemporary era of geospatial tools, delivering server-side and desktop technologies, Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and development platforms that are shifting the mode in which communities work and perform business (Vazquez-Prokopec et.al, 2013).

As a teacher of physical geography it’s my understanding that a number of learners have witnessed the GIS tools and technologies’ working, for instance, the local television broadcast meteorological analysis with a simulation of weather patterns on a map. They are equally aware of utility of GPS technology due to the reputation of the technology in handheld and other automated gadgets. Learners might not comprehend, nonetheless, that the tools are similarly utilized to map college attendance areas and their college motor vehicle routes; for teaching there are several technologies that can be utilized for example the Interactive Whiteboard, Online World Atlas, Interactive Map Tool, GeoActivities, Student eEdition of the book, Magazine Maker, and Digital Library. Along with conveying numerous other resources of the National Geographic Society these apparatuses allow the learners to look into the geography information and utilize it to engender their individual exhibitions and develop their own maps (Guzzetti, Marchetti & Pasquinelli, 2012). The open source tool of choice for me was Google Earth, since it contains various user-friendly abilities that can be utilized by both novice and expert operators to obtain spatial information freely.

Courtesy of Google Maps

References

Guzzetti, F., Marchetti, M., & Pasquinelli, A. (2012, June). Development rights management through GIS technology: the case study of Melzo (Milan). In Planning Support Tools: Policy Analysis, Implementation and Evaluation. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Informatics and Urban and Regional Planning INPUT 2012 (p. 262). FrancoAngeli.

Vazquez-Prokopec, G. M., Bisanzio, D., Stoddard, S. T., Paz-Soldan, V., Morrison, A. C., Elder, J. P., … & Kitron, U. (2013). Using GPS technology to quantify human mobility, dynamic contacts and infectious disease dynamics in a resource-poor urban environment. PloS one, 8(4), e58802.