APPLICATIONS OF

GPS & GIS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

Geographic Information Technologies

• Global Positioning Systems (GPS)– A system of Earth-orbiting satellites which

provides precise location on the earth’s surface in lat./long coordinates.

– 11 hours 58 minutes orbital period– 24 hour 3D coverage worldwide

• Remote Sensing (RS)– Use of satellites/aircrafts to capture info-earth’s

surface.– Digital ortho images a key product.

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

GIS-What is it?

GIS•Computer-based Technology•Designed with software, hardware, data, procedure, network and live ware.•Storage, retrieval, mapping and analysis of geographic data.•Data is stored in coordinate form.•Layered together for mapping analysis.

Location Patterns Trends Conditions

1. Where r particular feature found?2. What geographical patterns exist?3. Where have changes occurred

over given period?4. Where do certain conditions apply?

GIS are designed to answer the followings:

Basic Components

Includes database, drawing, stats. &imaging software.

Requires well-defined, consistent methods to produce accurate, reproducible results.

Affect processing speed, ease of use, and type of output

The availability and accuracy of data affects results of query/analysis.People develops the procedures and define the tasks of the GIS.

DATA INPUT DATA INPUT

GEOGRAPHIC DATABASE

GEOGRAPHIC DATABASE

TRANSFORMATION

TRANSFORMATION

USER INTERFACEUSER INTERFACE

DISPLAY AND REPORTING

DISPLAY AND REPORTING

Software-GIS architecture

Hardware

Data and Analysis

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480585.5, 3769234.6483194.1, 3768432.3485285.8, 3768391.2

HARDCOPY MAPSHARDCOPY MAPS

GPSGPS

GIS DATA

COORDINATESCOORDINATES

DIGITAL DATADIGITAL DATA

Data, Information, Knowledge, Intelligence•Data: Collection of facts/figures that pertain to places, people, things, events, and concepts. •Information: Data transferred – through processes.

Components of Geographic Data

• Three general components to geographic information

• Each feature corresponds to a record in the attribute table

AttributesAttributesGeometryGeometry BehaviorBehavior

Streets and

highways may not intersect

Rules:

GIS Functions

• GPS satellites

• Stores in Vector or Raster format

• Spatial and Attribute data• Identifying specific features• Identifying features based on

conditions• Proximity analysis• Overlay analysis-overlap 2

layers• Network analysis-examines

linear features • Visualized as a maps• Reports, 3-D views,

photographs• Paper map,

Document, Image• Internet

The GIS Data Model: Implementation

Geographic Integration of Information

• Data is organized by layers. • Layers are integrated using explicit location on the

earth’s surface, thus geographic location is the organizing

principal.

The GIS Model Here we have three layers : •Roads•Hydrology (water)•Topography (land elevation)

roads

hydrology

topography

longitude

latit

ude

longitude

longitude

latit

ude

latit

ude

Layers are comprised of two data types:•Spatial data -describes location(where)•Attribute data specifies what, how much, when

Layers may be represented in two ways:•Vector format as points and lines.• Raster(or image) format as pixels.

All geographic data has 4 properties: projection, scale, accuracy and resolution

Civil Engineering Applications

TransportationWatershed AnalysisEnvironment Impact AssessmentRemote SensingUrban DevelopmentTarget Site SelectionLandfill Site SelectionMineral mappingPollution MonitoringNatural Hazard AssessmentResource Management

Water Resources

Roads/InfrastructureDemographicsLand Use/Land Cover

EnvironmentalConsiderations

Imagery

Topographic Data

GIS Integrates Data

Engineering

Planning•Involves surveys, review of exiting infrastructure.•GIS- integrates, manage, analyze and visualize the wide range of data sets.Design•GIS- data management tools to manage and share data between GIS and CAD soln. Maintenance•Detailed understanding of the location of assets for transport infrast.Information•Up to date information systems for travellers.• The wide choice of travel options require true multi-modal solutions. 

Location-Allocation

GIS in Transportation Engineering

• METRO projects.• Airlines or road transport-detailed information-

Bus no, route, timings etc.• Disaster responses-advance warning.• Planning and locating- railway corridors.

Location-Allocation Inputs & output

• Customer or demand locations.• Potential site locations and/or existing

facilities.• Street network or Euclidean distance.

• Finding a subset of locations from a set of potential-minimizing cost.

Initial Configuration Available Sites

Final Configuration

Vehicle Routing

Pictorial Representation

• GIS map water resources and link them to a database • Planners/Engineers link their modeling system to the

GIS-tie to attribute data.• Data – land use & land cover, geology, soils,

hydrography & topography. • Project represented in 3-D form-the impact of facilities

on landscape-design process.

Watershed Analysis

Flood Modeling

• Estimate the magnitude of high-flow events, the probability of low-flow events.

• Determine flood zones.• Identify high-potential erosion areas.• Derive physical characteristics area, perimeter,

soil data etc.

• GIS-Ideal solutions Environmental Impact Assessment for a new construction project, pollution monitoring.

• GIS visualize all available info.

Environmental MonitoringUndertaken if all available data is utilized effectively.

Remote Sensing

Land use :Water: 268.74 km2

Urban: 2312.35 Km2

Forest: 11182.39 km2

Agriculture: 16675.65 km2

Pasture: 1308.23km2

Grass: 1518.18 km2

• Image backdrop• Source of information on:

Land use/land coverVegetation type,

distribution, conditionSurface watersRiver networksGeomorphologyMonitor change

Conclusion

Geographic information is at the heart of all engineering projects.

With increasingly complex projects, GIS provides the civil engineers with tools for creating,managing,analysing and visualizing all types of geographic information. GIS education is expected to prepare individuals in the civil engineering profession for the implementation of engineering projects/tasks with time- and money-saving approaches. Some of the open ended limitations the high over head cost GPS/GIS softwares and hardwares

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