GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

The advent of cheap and powerful computers over the last few decades has allowed for the development of innovative software applications for the storage, analysis, and display of geographic data. Many of these applications belong to a group of software known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Many definitions have been proposed for what constitutes a GIS. Each of these definitions conforms to the particular task that is being performed. Instead of repeating each of these definitions, I would like to broadly define GIS according to what it does. Thus, the activities normally carried out on a GIS include:

• The measurement of natural and human made phenomena and processes from a spatial perspective. These measurements emphasize three types of properties commonly associated with these types of systems: elements, attributes, and relationships.
• The storage of measurements in digital form in a computer database. These measurements are often linked to features on a digital map. The features can be of three types: points, lines, or areas (polygons).
• The analysis of collected measurements to produce more data and to discover new relationships by numerically manipulating and modeling different pieces of data.
• The depiction of the measured or analyzed data in some type of display - maps, graphs, lists, or summary statistics.

REMOTE SENSING

Remote sensing can be defined as the collection of data about an object from a distance. Humans and many other types of animals accomplish this task with aid of eyes or by the sense of smell or hearing. Geographers use the technique of remote sensing to monitor or measure phenomena found in the Earth's lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Remote sensing of the environment by geographers is usually done with the help of mechanical devices known as remote sensors. These gadgets have a greatly improved ability to receive and record information about an object without any physical contact. Often, these sensors are positioned away from the object of interest by using helicopters, planes, and satellites. Most sensing devices record information about an object by measuring an object's transmission of electromagnetic energy from reflecting and radiating surfaces.

Remote sensing imagery has many applications in mapping land-use and cover, agriculture, soils mapping, forestry, city planning, archaeological investigations, military observation, and geomorphological surveying, among other uses. For example, foresters use aerial photographs for preparing forest cover maps, locating possible access roads, and measuring quantities of trees harvested. Specialized photography using color infrared film has also been used to detect disease and insect damage in forest trees.

LOCATION, DISTANCE, AND DIRECTION ON MAP

Location on Maps

Most maps allow us to specify the location of points on the Earth's surface using a coordinate system. For a two-dimensional map, this coordinate system can use simple geometric relationships between the perpendicular axes on a grid system to define spatial location. Figure 1 illustrates how the location of a point can be defined on a coordinate system.

Figure 1: A grid coordinate system defines the location of points from the distance traveled along two perpendicular axes from some stated origin. In the example above, the two axes are labeled X and Y. The origin is located in the lower left hand corner. Unit distance traveled along each axis from the origin is shown. In this coordinate system, the value associated with the X-axis is given first, following by the value assigned from the Y-axis. The location represented by the star has the coordinates 7 (X-axis), 4 (Y-axis). 

MAP

A map can be simply defined as a graphic representation of the real world. This representation is always an abstraction of reality. Because of the infinite nature of our Universe it is impossible to capture all of the complexity found in the real world. For example, topographic maps abstract the three-dimensional real world at a reduced scale on a two-dimensional plane of paper.

Maps are used to display both cultural and physical features of the environment. Standard topographic maps show a variety of information including roads, land-use classification, elevation, rivers and other water bodies, political boundaries, and the identification of houses and other types of buildings. Some maps are created with very specific goals in mind.

The art of map construction is called cartography. People who work in this field of knowledge are called cartographers. The construction and use of maps has a long history. Some academics believe that the earliest maps date back to the fifth or sixth century BC. Even in these early maps, the main goal of this tool was to communicate information. 

EARTH - SUN GEOMETRY

Earth Rotation and Revolution

The term Earth rotation refers to the spinning of our planet on its axis. Because of rotation, the Earth's surface moves at the equator at a speed of about 467 m per second or slightly over 1675 km per hour. If you could look down at the Earth's North Pole from space you would notice that the direction of rotation is counter-clockwise (Figure 6h-1). The opposite is true if the Earth is viewed from the South Pole. One rotation takes exactly twenty-four hours and is called a mean solar day. The Earth’s rotation is responsible for the daily cycles of day and night. At any one moment in time, one half of the Earth is in sunlight, while the other half is in darkness. The edge dividing the daylight from night is called the circle of illumination. The Earth’s rotation also creates the apparent movement of the Sun across the horizon.

Figure 6h-1: The movement of the Earth about its axis is known as rotation. The direction of this movement varies with the viewer’s position. From the North Pole the rotation appears to move in a counter-clockwise fashion. Looking down at the South Pole the Earth’s rotation appears clockwise. 

THE SOLAR SOURCE OF THE EARTH'S ENERGY

Almost all of the energy that drives the various systems (climate systems, ecosystems, hydrologic systems, etc.) found on the Earth originates from the Sun. Solar energy is created at the core of the Sun when hydrogen atoms are fused into helium by nuclear fusion. For each second of this nuclear process, 700 million tons of hydrogen are converted into 695 million tons of helium. The remaining 5 million tons are turned into electromagnetic energy that radiates from the Sun's surface out into space.

The radiative surface of the Sun, or photosphere, has an average temperature of about 5800 Kelvins. Most of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the Sun's surface lies in the visible band centered at 0.5 µm. The total quantity of energy emitted from the Sun's surface is approximately 63,000,000 Watts per square meter (W/m2 or Wm-2).

Figure 6g-1: The Sun observed by SUMER instrument on the SOHO satellite on March 2-4, 1996. (Source: SOHO - SUMER Instrument). 

THE NATURE OF RADIATION

All objects above the temperature of absolute zero (-273.15° Celsius) radiate energy to their surrounding environment. This energy, or radiation, is emitted as electromagnetic waves that travel at the speed of light. Many different types of radiation have been identified. Each of these types is defined by its wavelength. The wavelength of electromagnetic radiation can vary from being infinitely short to infinitely long (Figure 6f-1).

Figure 6f-1: Some of the various types of electromagnetic radiation as defined by wavelength. Visible light has a spectrum that ranges from 0.40 to 0.71 micrometers (µm). 

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS

The field of thermodynamics studies the behavior of energy flow in natural systems. From this study, a number of physical laws have been established. The laws of thermodynamics describe some of the fundamental truths of thermodynamics observed in our Universe. Understanding these laws is important to students of Physical Geography because many of the processes studied involve the flow of energy.

First Law of Thermodynamics

The first law of thermodynamics is often called the Law of Conservation of Energy. This law suggests that energy can be transferred from one system to another in many forms. Also, it can not be created or destroyed. Thus, the total amount of energy available in the Universe is constant. Einstein's famous equation (written below) describes the relationship between energy and matter:

E = mc2

In the equation above, energy (E) is equal to matter (m) times the square of a constant (c). Einstein suggested that energy and matter are interchangeable. His equation also suggests that the quantity of energy and matter in the Universe is fixed.

ENERGY AND LIFE

The capture and use of energy in living systems is dominated by two processes: photosynthesis and respiration. Through these two processes living organisms are able to capture and use all of the energy they require for their activities.

Photosynthesis

Plants can capture the electromagnetic energy from the Sun by a chemical process called photosynthesis. This chemical reaction can be described by the following simple equation:

6CO2 + 6H2O + light energy >>> C6H12O6 + 6O2

The product of photosynthesis is the carbohydrate glucose and oxygen which is released into the atmosphere. All of the sugar glucose is produced in the specialized photosynthetic cells of plants and some other organisms. Glucose is produced by chemically combining carbon dioxide and water with sunlight. This chemical reaction is catalyzed by chlorophyll acting in concert with other pigment, lipid, sugars, protein, and nucleic acid molecules. 

ENERGY, TEMPERATURE, AND HEAT

We have learned that energy can take on many forms. One important form of energy, relative to life on Earth, is kinetic energy. Simply defined, kinetic energy is the energy of motion. The amount of kinetic energy that a body possesses is dependent on the speed of its motion and its mass. At the atomic scale, the kinetic energy of atoms and molecules is sometimes referred to as heat energy.

Kinetic energy is also related to the concept of temperature. Temperature is defined as the measure of the average speed of atoms and molecules. The higher the temperature, the faster these particles of matter move. At a temperature of -273.15° Celsius (absolute zero) all atomic motion stops. Heat is often defined as energy in the process of being transferred from one object to another because of difference in temperature between them. Heat is commonly transferred around our planet by the processes of conduction, convection, advection, and radiation.

Some other important definitions related to energy, temperature, and heat are:

• Heat Capacity - is the amount of heat energy absorbed by a substance associated to its corresponding temperature increase.
• Specific Heat - is equivalent to the heat capacity of a unit mass of a substance or the heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram (g) of a substance one degree Celsius. Water requires about 4 to 5 times more heat energy to raise its temperature when compared to an equal mass of most types of solid matter. This explains why water bodies heat more slowly than adjacent land surfaces.
• Sensible Heat - is heat that we can sense. A thermometer can be used to measure this form of heat. Several different scales of measurement exist for measuring sensible heat. The most common are: Celsius scale, Fahrenheit scale, and the Kelvin scale.Latent Heat - is the energy needed to change a substance to a higher state of matter. This same energy is released from the substance when the change of state (or phase) is reversed. The diagram below describes the various exchanges of heat involved with 1 gram of water.

Figure 6c-1: Latent heat exchanges of energy involved with the phase changes of water.

Figures 6c-2 and 6c-3 show the net absorption and release of latent heat energy for the Earth's surface for January and July, respectively. The highest values of flux or flow occur near the subtropical oceans where high temperatures and a plentiful supply of water encourage the evaporation of water. Negative values of latent heat flux indicate a net release of latent energy back into the environment because of the condensation or freezing of water. Values of latent heat flux are generally low over landmasses because of a limited supply of water at the ground surface.

Figure 6c-2: Mean January latent heat flux for the Earth's surface, 1959-1997. (Source of Original Modified Image: Climate Lab Section of the Environmental Change Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Oregon - Global Climate Animations). 

Figure 6c-3: Mean July latent heat flux for the Earth's surface, 1959-1997. (Source of Original Modified Image: Climate Lab Section of the Environmental Change Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Oregon - Global Climate Animations).

CITATION:  Pidwirny, M. (2006). "Energy, Temperature, and Heat". Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 2nd Edition. 29/1/2012.

MEASUREMENT OF ENERGY

In the previous discussion (Characteristics of Energy Matter), we developed the concept of energy. We now must be able to measure and quantify it, using a standard set of units. Worldwide, two systems of units of measurement are commoly used today: the Metric System (Systeme International) and the British System. The units of energy described in these systems are derived from a technical definition of energy used by physicists. This definition suggests that energy can be represented by the following simple equation:

Work = Force x Distance

Similar to the definition given in the previous topic, physicists view energy as the ability to do work. However, they define work as a force applied to some form of matter (object) multiplied by the distance that this object travels. Physicists commonly describe force with a unit of measurement known as a newton (after Sir Isaac Newton). A newton is equal to the force needed to accelerate (move) a mass weighting one kilogram one meter in one second in a vacuum with no friction. The work or energy required to move an object with the force of one newton over a distance of one meter is called a joule.

Some other definitions for the energy measurement units that you may come across in this textbook are as follows:

• Calorie - equals the amount of heat required to raise 1 gram of pure water from 14.5 to 15.5° Celsius at standard atmospheric pressure. 1 calorie is equal to 4.1855 joules. The abreviation for calorie is cal. A kilocalorie, abbreviated kcal, is equal to a 1000 calories. 1 kilocalorie is equal to 4185 joules.
• Btu - also called British thermal unit is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
• Watt (W/m2 or Wm-2) - a metric unit of measurement of the intensity of radiation in watts over a square meter surface. One watt is equal to one joule of work per second. A kilowatt (kW) is the same as 1000 watts.

CITATION: Pidwirny, M. (2006). "Measurement of Energy". Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 2nd Edition. 29/1/2012.

CHARACTERISTIC OF ENERGY MATTER

Energy is defined simply by scientists as the capacity for doing work. Matter is the material (atoms and molecules) that constructs things on the Earth and in the Universe. Albert Einstein suggested early in this century that energy and matter are related to each other at the atomic level. Einstein theorized that it should be possible to convert matter into energy.

 From Einstein's theories, scientists were able to harness the energy of matter beginning in the 1940s through nuclear fission. The most spectacular example of this process is a nuclear explosion from an atomic bomb. A more peaceful example of our use of this fact of nature is the production of electricity from controlled fission reactions in nuclear reactors.Einstein also suggested that it should be possible to transform energy into matter.

Energy and matter are also associated to each other at much larger scales of nature. Later on in this chapter, we will examine how solar radiation provides the energy to create the matter that makes up organisms. Organisms then use some of this matter to power their metabolism.