GPS GIS Final

What does GPS stand for and what country operates it?

Global Positioning System, operated by the USA

What does GNSS stand for and how is it different from GPS?

Global Navigation Satellite System, runs all satellite systems such as GPS

What is the official name of the United States GPS system?

NAVSTAR

Name the 3 major systems of GPS

Space, control, user

Name the two core concepts that GPS relies on to calculate position

Time difference and satellite position 

How many satellites are in the GPS constellation and how many are operable at a given time?

32 satellites, 24 of which are operational and 8 of which are backups

Explain what trilateration is

Trilateration is similar to triangulation in radio telemetry except here you will find 4 points instead of 3. You take the areas that four satellites survey and where they all meet up shows you where you are in space. Time and position are used to calculate distance between a satellite and receiver. Distance = Velocity x Time

Name two broad categories of GPS use

Navigation and data collection

Why is GPS important for people or industries today?

Money, war, emergency workers, health care, insurance, homeland security, maps, wildlife, farmers, etc

What are two other GNSS systems used around the world (besides the U.S. system)?

Russia- Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS)

Japan – Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
(QZSS)

What kind of data specifically does GIS process?

Spatial - refers to any space

Definition of Geographic Information System

A mapping system that visualizes geographic information about features by explicitly referencing them to locations on Earth's surface

Definition of Geographic Information Science

The science underlying the practice of GIS software design and use

Typical Functions of GIS software includes

• Data entry

• Editing

• Data management

• Analysis

• Output

Geographic Information Systems are used to answer questions about the following:

• Locations

• Conditions

• Spatial patterns

• Spatiotemporal trends and changes

• Inference

Please list three of five uses of GIS

• Mapping

• Measurements 

• Monitoring

• Modeling

• Management

GIS can stand for Geographic Information _ and _?

System and science

Define a system

A group of entities of activities that interact for a common purpose.

Name the 3 primary functions of GIS

Geovisulazation, geoprocessing, geodata

Describe the basic steps for recording a waypoint on a handheld GPS unit

First find the satellites. When you get to a spot that you’d like to mark select mark waypoint and then fill in the different areas such as name, description, etc. then save the waypoint once done

What are the two Google Earth Softwares?

Google Earth Web and Google Earth Pro

Explain what a placemark, path, and polygon are used for in Google Earth.

Placemarks are used to mark a specific location such as a coordinate, bench, your house, etc.

Paths used for identifying roads, trails or boundaries

Polygons identifying areas or
parcels of land

What is ArcGIS Field Maps and what company owns it?

A program which allows you to create maps in the field with its streaming services which can track were you are and create borders. You can also make forms. It is owned by ESRSI

What platform must you access first when using field maps?

ArcGIS online

What is the filing convention for a Google Earth file? 

KML

What are the two types of data?

Quantitative and qualitative

NOIR

Nominal

Ordinal 

Interval

Ratio

Variable categories

Continuous vs discrete and Independent vs dependent 

Data considerations 

Validity

Reliability

Bias

Variability

Natural variability 

Validity 

A valid measure is one that measures what it claims to measure. Accuracy 

Reliability 

A reliable measure is one that will give you or anyone else approximately the same result time-after-time, when taken on the same object. AKA Consistency

Bias

A biased measurement is one that is systematically off the mark in the same or in one direction. AKA Inconsistency

Variability

Unpredictable errors or discrepancies that are not easily explained.

Natural variability

Variability is inherent in nature. We need to know how much variability to expect due to natural causes.

What is the difference between vector data and raster data?

Vector data represents the world through lines, points, and polygons. Closely associated with entry-based modeling and assumes discrete entities and defined boundaries.

Raster data is made up of a matrix of grids which may be occupied by pixels. Consists of a matrix of cells organized into rows and columns, with each cell containing imagery.

Give an example of each: point, line & polygon

Point: pairs of x,y,z coordinates. Show a location such as the college flag pole

Line: connects two points, represents linear objects, such as roads.

Polygon: represents an area, such as a park.

What are the two data models in GIS?

Vector and Raster

What do features and objects represent?

Show the basic shapes of points lines and areas, the relationships between them and the rules that describe their qualities

What are the two kinds of tables in GIS?

Attribute and standalone

What is an attribute?

Any non-spatial information about a feature. (name, length, sediment load, etc)

In an attribute table, what is a field, record, and OID

Field- column in a table that stores values for a single attribute

Record- row in a table

OID- Object ID, system managed value that uniquely id’s a record or feature

What kind of data does raster data contain?

Object based data

Give an example of a query you would use on a real-life map, this is super broad pick whatever you’d like.

Choose your own adventure but this is what I put on the quiz:

Query number of sheep in an area by going to the query and typing in sheep for the what field and choosing “greater than and then imputing the number of sheep you’d like to look at to see where the sheep population exceeds that number. You can also choose “less than” or “equal too” or a few other variations of those options depending on what you’d like to know regrading those numbers.

What kind of file would raster data be?

TIFF

What are the 3 data models within vector data?

Hierarchical, spaghetti, and topological

List the three main types of geodatabases.

File geodatabases

Personal Geodatabase

Enterprise Geodatabase

Name two functions of using a geodatabase for GIS data storage

Store spatial data in a central location

Allow multiple user access

What does .CSV mean?

Comma Separated Values

What does .TIFF mean?

Tagged Image File Format

What are some good practices for organizing GIS data on your computer or network?

Creating a separate folder for created data, keep file names intuitive and descriptive, and don’t use spaces in folders or file names

Define metadata

Data, or information, about data.

Gives context to data content.

Enables users to search for data by, location, publisher, theme, time period, and attributes

What does a .TIFF file contain?

Raster data information

Spatial Data + Data Repository =

Geodatabase

What filing format is used for vector data typically?

KML/KMZ, shapefile

What filing format is used for a geodatabase?

GDB

What is a coordinate system?

A reference framework that defines the location of features on Earth

What is the difference between projected and unprojected coordinate systems?

Unprojected is based on the Earths curved surface, measured in degrees

Projected is based on a flattened representation, measured in meters or feet

What are the 3 commonly used coordinate systems?

Geographic Coordinate system

Universal Transverse Mercantor

State Plane

What does latitude measure?

The angle from the horizon. Represents north – south distance from the equator

What does longitude measure?

Around the circle of the equatorial plane.

Represents east – west distance from the Prime Meridian

X & Y values represent latitude and longitude. Which is which?

X – longitude

Y- latitude

What are the 3 main kinds of projections?

Cylindrical, conic, and azimuthal

What two things are added together to make a datum?

Ellipsoid + geoid

What are projected coordinate systems measured in?

Meters or feet

What is extent?

Indicates the range of x – y values in the data

Define remote sensing in your own words.

Collecting data about features of the earth’s surface without being in physical contact, from a distance, above

Explain the difference between passive and active sensors.

Passive detects natural energy, collection of reflected EMR

Active sends and receives its own signal, collects backscatter information from terrain

List at least three types of platforms used for remote sensing data collection.

Planes, cranes, drones, satellites, balloons and once, a kite

What does in situ mean?

At the field, ground truth, physical contact

What is the difference between remote sensing and aerial photography?

Remote sensing has a variety of sensors and platforms in multiple parts of EMR spectrum. Aerial photography uses ultraviolet light and near-infrared and thermal infrared

Aerial photography a subset of remote sensing

Name at least 3 types of data collection sensors used for remote sensing.

Radar, LiDAR, and laser altimeters

Or cameras

What does FOV mean?

Field Of View

What is Electromagnetic Radiation?

Energy that travels as waves

What are the four types of imagery resolution?

Spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal

What is a spectral signature?

Every object has a unique spectral reflectance curve. Separates and identifies objects. Backscatter gives different signals to tell you what the object is

What is relief displacement?

Apparent outward leaning or stretching of tall objects in aerial photos due to perspective

What does DEM stand for?

Digital Elevation Models

Imagery on Google Earth

Satellite imagery

Aerial imagery

3D imagery

Street view imagery

What does imagery on Google Earth depend on?

Population and demand