UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

ECV 5502 APPLICATION ISSUES IN GIS

TITLE : MODELING SPATIAL PROCESSES OBJECTIVES This lab work has several objectives. a) To familiarize with normal GIS processes resulting in decision making. In this case is determining Land Availability b) Modeling spatial processes using a Model Builder BACKGROUND a) To familiarize with normal GIS processes resulting in decision making. In this case is determining Land Availability / potential / alternatives. Decision making using multiple criteria is not easy to be determined since each criterion will have influence on how and what should be decided. In this part of the practical, several criteria will be used to determine Land Availability for a specific goal or objective. Student should understand the various components of decision making i.e. goals, criteria, output and alternatives. The practical is not to focus on the spatial processes (buffer, overlay, clip etc) but on how these spatial processes are used in the process of decision making. Thus this practical is only for those who have undergone previous subject on Technical GIS since the spatial processes is assumed to be well-versed by the students. b) Modeling GIS spatial using a Model Builder A model is representation of reality. It is a simplified and manageable view of the real phenomena. In GIS, a model is a collection of processes performed on spatial data that produces information, usually in the form of map. A model is a set of spatial processes (such as buffer, overlay etc) that converts input data into an output map. In GIS analysis work, typical spatial processes consist of several spatial processes connected together. To ease the understanding of these connecting spatial processes, a model of the processes (called spatial model) is represented as a diagram that looks like a flowchart. Rectangle represents the input data, oval represent functions that process the data (spatial process) and rounded rectangle represent the output of the spatial process. They are connected by arrows that show the sequence of processing in the model. In this practical students will be using an ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension call ModelBuilder to help in creating spatial models. ModelBuilder has the tools to create, modify and run a spatial model. It helps to build, manage and automate spatial models.

Dr Noordin Ahmad

Students are required to create, run and modify a specific model. Using three to five basic datasets, a spatial analysis to model processes in finding suitable sites will be shown. Criteria and processes shall be linked with the datasets to form spatial model. A simple weighting processes should also be applied. An example of spatial processes modeled in ModelBuilder for locating the best site for residential area is shown below.

REPORT Student are required to produce a report on the steps, modeling processes, functionalities used and knowledge gained from this lab work.

Dr Noordin Ahmad