Week 4 Lab

Before taking this course, I had only a vague notion of GIS. I knew it had something to do with map making. I also knew what the acronyms stood for too: "Geographic Information Systems," a very high sounding technological name that I stumbled upon while surfing around Wikipedia soaking up bits of random but interesting information. Anyway, putting one and one together, I figured GIS was a very modern and sophisticated form of cartography. I thought GIS was a merging of new technology, likes computers, with the ancient, but ever evolving, discipline of cartography. Looking back, I don't think I was entirely off the mark, but I also wasn't even close to being cognizant of GIS's grand scope and potential.

Now that I've been exposed to a little bit of ArcGIS, the reputedly leading software for the application of GIS, I can more intimately understand and appreciate the practicality of GIS. For example, in the first exercise, I merged field data that included the area of proposed airport expansion, its resultant noise contour, and the location of schools. The resulting output, a multilayered map, could help an urban planner make conscientious decisions, like finding out which schools will be affected most by the increase in noise so that proper soundproofing can be installed promptly. But it might not even be a matter of acclimating the existing area to the airport expansion; it could actually be a matter of adjusting or even canceling the airport expansion to accommodate the existing area. I made a clear chart showing which areas will be most affected by the increase in noise. It turned out to be the residential areas that would be most affected. Unfortunately for the airline industry, residents in need of personal time and sleep are most sensitive to noise. But, fortunately, lawsuits from hordes of angry residents could be avoided if the urban planner and his airline industry employers act responsibly after evaluating the data inputted into, and made more meaningful by, ArcGIS.

In short, ArcGIS makes it convenient for users to store, manipulate, and present, in a new way, a vast array of geographic and non-geographic data. Not surprisingly, people do not master ArcGIS overnight, or in a week, month, year. It takes an iron will and a lot of patience just to get through a step by step tutorial in one sitting. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at staring at computer screens for long stretches thanks to my days of slaying orcs and dragons with my warrior avatar. I had no problems with endurance, but I did have problems with understanding what the heck I was doing. My first attempt at the tutorial, I swooped through it in an hour and a half. In other words, I followed the lovely graphics and mindlessly mashed buttons just so that I can break in a little the complicated and intimidating program. The second time through, I read the instructions meticulously. The third time, I did the same. Despite the effort, I still have no clue how I made such fine maps. I mean I know the instructions were very detailed and basically did all the thinking for me, but I would probably not be able to make anything as detailed on my own with something as complicated as ArcGIS. I'm still a novice learning to use the daunting program that is ArcGIS, but I think more practice will suffice.

Nevertheless, the complexity of the program also fascinates me because the possibilities are endless with the right supply of data. Practicing with ArcGIS reminded me of the feeling I got the first time I played around with a computer game called Sim City. While I was creating complex, living cities out of scratch, I was struck by the profound feeling that I was omniscient in my little world. It might seem ridiculous, and quite a bit of a stretch, to compare serious map making in ArcGIS to playful city making in Sim City; but I did have somewhat the same feeling while working with ArcGIS. Unlike Sim City, however, ArcGIS can actually effect the world. ArcGIS is a powerful tool with myriad uses that can benefit people. But if used improperly in this age of easy information, ArcGIS can also be deadly.