Desktop GIS : mapping the planet with open source tools

Desktop GIS explores the world of Open Source GIS software and provides a guide to navigate the many options available. Discover what kind of GIS user you are and lay the foundation to evaluate the options and decide what software is best for you. Desktop GIS examines the challenges associated with assembling and using an OSGIS toolkit. You'll find strategies for choosing a platform, selecting the right tools, integration, managing change, and getting support. The survey of OSGIS desktop applications provides you with a quick introduction to the many packages available. You'll see examples of both GUI (Graphical User Interface) and command line interfaces to give you a feel for what is available. This book will give you an understanding of the Open Source GIS landscape, along with a detailed look at the major desktop applications, including GRASS, Quantum GIS, uDig, spatial databases, GMT, and other command line tools. Finally, the book exposes you to scripting in the OSGIS world, using Python, shell, and other languages to visualize, digitize, and analyze your data. Contents......Page 5 How to Use This Book......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 What Is Desktop Mapping?......Page 13 Desktop vs. Server Mapping......Page 20 Assembling a Toolkit......Page 21 What's Ahead?......Page 22 The Three User Classes......Page 23 Which Are You?......Page 24 Choosing a Platform......Page 25 Selecting the Right Toolkit......Page 26 Acquiring and Installing Software......Page 27 Integration of Tools......Page 29 Managing Software Change......Page 30 Getting Support......Page 31 Where to Find Data......Page 34 Next Step......Page 36 Viewing Data......Page 37 Rendering a Story......Page 42 Looking at Attribute Data......Page 44 Advanced Viewing and Rendering......Page 45 Making Attribute Data Work for You......Page 56 Viewing Raster Data......Page 67 Improving Rendering with Pyramids......Page 73 Intelligent Rasters......Page 76 Simple Digitizing......Page 81 Editing Attribute Data......Page 89 More Digitizing and Editing......Page 90 Common Formats......Page 91 Choosing a Standard Format......Page 93 Conversion Options......Page 96 Introduction......Page 98 Open Source Spatial Databases......Page 99 Getting Started with PostGIS......Page 101 Using PostGIS and Quantum GIS......Page 110 Using PostGIS and uDig......Page 118 Summing It Up......Page 119 Digitizing......Page 120 Importing Data......Page 122 Converting Data......Page 128 Using GPS Data with QGIS......Page 130 Georeferencing an Image......Page 135 Projections and Coordinate Systems......Page 138 Projection Flavors......Page 139 Working with Projections......Page 140 The PROJ.4 Projections Library......Page 145 More Resources......Page 148 Geoprocessing......Page 149 Projecting Data......Page 150 Line-of-Sight Analysis......Page 153 Hydrologic Modeling......Page 156 Creating Hillshades......Page 159 Merging Digital Elevation Models......Page 164 Clipping Features......Page 166 GMT......Page 174 Using GDAL and OGR......Page 186 Creating a Spatial Index for Shapefiles......Page 201 PostGIS......Page 203 Getting the Most Out of QGIS and GRASS Integration......Page 208 Loading and Viewing Data......Page 209 Editing GRASS Data with QGIS......Page 211 Using Analysis and Conversion Tools......Page 218 Summing It Up......Page 233 GRASS......Page 235 QGIS......Page 236 GDAL and OGR......Page 248 PostGIS......Page 255 Options for Writing Your Application......Page 263 Examples of Custom Applications......Page 265 How to Approach Your Own Project......Page 267 Survey of Desktop Mapping Software......Page 269 GUI Applications......Page 270 Command-Line Applications......Page 283 Other Tools......Page 289 GRASS......Page 290 Quantum GIS......Page 292 GMT......Page 293 FWTools......Page 295 Location, Location, Location......Page 296 Getting Some Data......Page 306 Working with Data......Page 315 Getting to Know the GUI......Page 319 Digitizing and Editing......Page 322 Vector Properties and Symbology Options......Page 330 Map Navigation and Bookmarks......Page 336 Plugins......Page 339 D......Page 343 G......Page 344 P......Page 346 S......Page 347 V......Page 348 Z......Page 349 Explores the world of Open Source GIS software. This book delves into a look at the major desktop applications, including GRASS, Quantum GIS, uDig, spatial databases, GMT, and other command line tools. It exposes you to scripting in the OSGIS world, using Python, and shell to perform GIS operations and create output A guide on how to assemble and use an Open source GIS toolkit explains how to select a platform and the right tools, integrate them within a system, and navigate through available options. Gary E. Sherman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.