Lecture-8-Fundamentals of GIS its Application in Hydrology.

Abstract

Computers have been used in the field of hydrology and water resources for many years as means of organising information in order to solve management problems. At the same time the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) became widespread during the last decade. This technology has altered traditional way of modelling in hydrology and water resources management and continues to do so. The term Geographic Information System may be explained as follows: 'Geographic' stands for spatial data. These are the data which are associated with a specific place or places on Earth's surface, sometimes called as `geo-referenced'. 'Information' may be viewed as data with added knowledge. 'System' refers to the integration of user and machine (hardware and software) able to input, manipulate and present data. Therefore, we can say that GIS is a general purpose computer based technology for handling geographical data in digital form. It is designed to capture, store, manipulate and perform analyses of spatially distributed data. It contains both geometry data (coordinates and topographical information) and attribute data (i.e., information describing the properties of geometrical objects). In GIS we can make the presentation of results in both graphic and report form, with a particular emphasis upon preserving and utilizing inherent characteristics of spatial data.