GIS Data Analysis

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), have truly opened the door of modern spatial and landscape analysis, allowing us to accomplish tasks never before thought of. It has revolutionized the environmental community, along with virtually every other organization or agency that deals with real-world questions and analyses.

GIS applications are extremely widespread - ranging from landscape based planning to environmental and ecological modeling. Monitoring real-world conditions is also an extremely popular use of GIS, and with the increasing growth of remote sensing and imagery data, building spatial models is easier than ever. GIS allows the user to create a flexible framework in which a variety of tasks can be accomplished and questions anwered.

Many people envision GIS as a complicated and overwhelming system. However, one of the best uses for GIS is the answering of basic questions. For example, suppose you are a business owner who wants to expand to a new city or region and are interested in demographic analysis and customer potential. Such a study could be extremely difficult, but GIS allows you to monitor multiple variables at once, while providing constraints and other limitations on analyses.

Alternatively, if your company, agency or department works in the field a great deal, or focuses energy on real-world conditions, an "Enterprise Level GIS" may be a good step. By integrating GIS into your daily work, data management, processing and analysis can become more streamlined and efficient. Multiple users can access information at once, get real-time information and compute results with the click of a mouse button. Developing an Enterprise Level GIS is no easy task, however, and should be approached with as much information and flexibility as possible. The initial planning of the GIS can affect the eventual operation of the entire system.

Regardless of the purpose of your GIS, Talon Associates can help shape your model and steer you in the right direction. We have over 10 years of experience designing, implementing and managing a variety of geographic systems, and have worked with nearly every application of the technology. Please look through our Project History to see some of the work we have done with GIS, then talk to us to see how we could help you with your projects. If you are an experienced GIS user, but just need a little extra help getting going, or answering occasional questions, talk to us about how our Support Services can help you out.

If you are new to GIS, and just want to know more about the applications and possibilities, check out our "What is GIS" section. We look forward to working with you on your projects.

Not everyone is blessed with existing GIS data for their project. In fact, many projects focus entirely on the creation of new data, from field research, GPS point collection or the manipulation and analysis of existing data.

Data creation can be a huge sticking point for GIS Working Groups. Not only is the process tedious and slow, but requires past experience and a great deal of fore-sight. Essentially, anyone can create data. The question is how well it is created, how much time is spent on spatial accuracy, and how the aspatial attributes are organized in the background.

There are a variety of different methodologies associated with creating new data, and each one has its own starting point and outcome. Today, a great deal of data is generated from GPS point collection. Such a method can ensure spatially accurate and well organized data that opens up a lot of doors for data use. Using imagery, either aerial photographs, satellite pictures, or existing georeferenced images such as Digital Raster Graphics (DRGs) can also be quite useful and make the creation process much simpler.

Regardless of the methods you choose to use for collecting and creating new data sets, it is important that you find a model that works for you, and stick to it.

Beyond data creation, management is key. Often data sets that originate from other sources need some work. Sometimes updating an existing data set is a better alternative to creating one from scratch. Sometimes such a process takes more work than starting fresh.

We have built up an incredible amount of experience in this category, and have worked with various input methods (GPS, COGO and Digitization). If you have any questions about what your next step should be in this process, please feel free to contact one of us. We will be happy to sit down and work with you by either giving you advice, or working on the data creation for you.

 

Whether you are looking for a graphic for the cover of your book or thesis, or need to show the results of years of research, maps are the perfect tool! People can easily relate to data presented in a visual nature.

Perhaps one of the greatest successes of GIS is that it allows virtually anyone who can run a computer to create maps. Just because you can physically make a map, however, does not mean that it will necessarily be a good map. Cartographers spend years learning and perfecting different techniques that are appropriate to different map types. Simply understanding the basic cartographic principles that make a good map takes a long time. The biggest advantage a good cartographer has over a bad one is experience and time to develop a style that communicates concepts effectively and creates a map that is interesting to look at.

Understanding printing and image output is also an extremely important aspect of map design, and is something that causes stress to even the most experienced of designers. Using designed map images in publications or on the web takes understanding different file formats, compatibility issues and general use restrictions. Printing large format maps and images adds a whole new twist to the task. Designers and printers need to understand image quality at high resolution, how to deal with large file sizes and long print times, and manage overall print quality.

In our 15 years of experience with cartography and design, we have learned the subtleties that make a good map. We have an experienced and efficient cartography staff with lots of ideas and ways to make your maps look great. Please look through our Map Gallery to get an idea of the work that we do, and see if any of the existing designs fit the look you are interested in. We always enjoy working with new people on new and different map projects. Ask us how we can help you out!

 

Database related issues plague virtually every business, company and organization working in the world today. Many people do not fully understand how much good database design can help the efficiency of daily tasks, not to mention organize and streamline your workflow.

Although GIS operates within a database framework, you may often be able to benefit from database use separate from a spatial or GIS context. Let us see if we can help you get organized!

If GIS is the way to go for you, there are a few thing to think aboug before jumping into the task with both feet;
How and where to begin?
The first step in integrating GIS into your operations is to build a library of data sets that relate to the issues you are work on. Doing this can be time consuming and frustrating, as there is such a large amount of data out there. And once you get all the data you need, you are faced with the reality of organizing and maintaining it.

After bringing GIS to a number of different organizations and agencies, we have an excellent grasp on how to design systems so that they are easy to maintain and are user friendly. This, accompanied with a good library of data can make all the difference in making a good GIS program a great one.

 

We have extensive background in preparing a variwty of documents, from grants to project synopses and environmental impact reports. Integrating maps and graphics from analyses which we have run provide an extra spark, and a helpful reference in any final document.

If you are looking for quality presentation, Powerpoint or otherwise, pictures, images and maps are the way to go. Whether the output is digital, slide or paper, we can help get you from the backroom to the boardroom.

Talk to us to see how we can help with your documents or reports, and ask us for ideas to spruce up your final products.