From: sealy@aeneid.rtp.dg.com (Virgil Sealy)
Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.gis
Subject: Comp.infosystems.gis FAQ
Date: 18 Aug 92 14:09:13 GMT
Organization: Data General Corporation, RTP, NC.


Frequently Asked Questions and General Info List
Monthly Posting to GIS-l and comp.infosystems.gis 
First edition.  Note: We have not yet added What is GIS?


		       GIS FAQ List (92-08-14)


This is the list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) along with answers to these questions.  This
FAQ is posted as a resource to the `comp.infosystems.gis' newsgroup
which is connected to the GISL LISTSERVER mailing list.

Netiquette
----------

If someone askes a FAQ, please e-mail the answer instead of posting.
You should also include information on how to access the FAQ. (see
question 1)

If you have information that you think should be included in the FAQ,
please e-mail the information to Lisa Nyman <panda@syrinx.umd.edu> or
Virgil Sealy <sealy@dg-rtp.dg.com>.  Feel free to discuss the
information on the net to get a consinsus as to how canonnical the
answer is.

If you believe that some information in the FAQ is wrong, please e-mail
us.  We don't want the FAQ to generate more postings than it saves! We
are not the authors of much of this information, only the compilers.  Credit
is given for contributing information gotten from the Net.
We will work with you and the author to resolve the issue.

The FAQ is also crossposted to `news.answers'.

-- 
Virgil Sealy <sealy@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Lisa Nyman   <panda@syrinx.umd.edu>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Index
-----

1:   How do I get the FAQ list?
2:   What is the difference between the newsgroup and listserv?
3:   What are the major vendors, e-mail addresses, and addresses?
4:   What colleges and universities offer coursework in GIS?
5:   What public domain GIS software is avialable and where is it?
6:   What are the NCGIA anon ftp sites and what can be found there?
7:   What are the United States map accuracy standards?
8:   What is this SDTS thing?
9:   How do I order USGS maps?
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1:   How do I get the FAQ list?

     This list is posted to the comp.infosystems.gis and news.answers 
     newsgroups on a monthly basis.  The most current version is available
     via anonymous FTP on the system dg-rtp.dg.com (128.222.1.2) in the
     file /gis/faq

     NOTE: FTP access is being established and should be active by
     92-08-17

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2:   What is the difference between the newsgroup and listserv?

     The newsgroup comp.infosystems.gis is a Usenet special intrest news
     distribution scheme that allows individuals with access to Usenet
     to read and post articles.  The system is somewhat like e-mail
     but involves a network of news 'feeds' that pass the news along.

     The listserv system is a mailing list of e-mail addresses which
     allows members to send messages to the GIS-L mailing list.  The
     GIS-L mailing list consistes of a large number of people
     interested in GIS who receive GIS related articles using their
     normal e-mail software.  The GIS-L mailing list is maintained by
     the listserv software and by the human David Mark who is the
     manager of the GIS-L mailing list.

     Articles sent to either of the above will be sent to the other so
     there is no need to post to both groups.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

3:   What are e-mail addresses of some vendors?


     Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)
     380 New York Street,
     Redlands, CA USA 92373
     (714) 793-2853
     support@esri.com

     For Help with ESRI products, you can send email to the above
     address.  In correspondence be sure to include your name,
     organization, system, OS revision, ARC revision and your ESRI
     client number (if you know it).

     ------------

     GeoVision

     GeoVision's email address: firstinitiallastname@gvc.com' (or
     @geovision.gvc.com).  If you don't know who you want (as was the
     case with the original poster) try `postmaster'.

     For a complete USMail address list of GIS and mapping vendors, consult
     the GIS Sourcebook (annual) from GIS World Magazine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

4:   What colleges and universities offer coursework in GIS?

     Many schools throughout the world offer coursework in GIS and
     related studies in different academic departments including
     Geography, Computer Science, and Urban Planning among others.

     Sources of Information:

     1.  Geo Info Systems May 1992, Academic GIS Directory: GIS in
         Higher Education.

	 This is a list compiled by John Morgan with Barbara Fleury
	 (Towson State University) which includes course offered by
	 University departments all over the world.  Listing are by
	 University, department type, and by state and country.
	 Information in the listings include course titles, school
	 addresses and persons to contact.

     2.  Guides to Geography Departments, annual publication
         of the AAG.

	 This publications provides graduate and undergraduate programs
	 for geography departments at US and Canadian Universities. Info
	 provided includes faculty, program options and requirements,
	 and lab facilities.

	 Contact the AAG, 1710 16th Str NW, Washington DC 20009-3198
	 for ordering information.  AAG phone: 202-234-1450 BITNET:
	 AAG@GWUVM

     Note:  Many faculty participate in Usenet and listserv
     discussions and are directly accessible via Email.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

5:   What public domain or shareware GIS software is avialable 
     and where is it?

     ----------

     GRASS

     >From: paulf@ldgo.columbia.edu (paul friberg)

     First let me post an anonymous ftp address where people can grab
     the latest version of the GRASS GIS (V 4.0). It's at

	uxc.cso.uiuc.edu 128.174.5.50

     under pub/grass. This is a great public domain GIS for anyone
     wishing to get started in this area. It comes complete with a full
     database containing SPOT, DEM and other interesting data sets.

     ----------

     MOSS

     MOSS can be found on csh.org [128.138.213.21] in the /COGS/MOSS
     directory.

     Contact: Bill Thoen <bthoen@csn.ort>

     ----------

     Arc Digitised Raster Graphics (ARDG) 

     >From: schuster@seas.gwu.edu (John Schuster)

     Code for viewing ADRG (Arc Digitised Raster Graphics) files is
     available on the GRIPS II CD-ROM. The U.S. Army Engineer
     Topographic Labs (Juan Perez) gave me permission to post the code
     on the net, so I've posted adrg.zip to spectrum.xerox.com.  The
     GRIPS II (Gov. Raster Image Processing Software) CD-ROM is
     available from CD-ROM Inc. at 1-800-821-5245 for $49.  Special
     thanks to Peter Z. Simpson for pointing this out.
  
     __________ 

     OZ GIS

     (from OZ GIS distribution materials)
     OzGIS is a software system for displaying geographically referenced 
     data, such as Census data, as maps and diagrams on screens, printers
     and plotters.

     Digitised map data (e.g.Census boundaries, GIS) and attribute data 
     (e.g. sales, environmental) are accepted as Ascii files and preprocessed
     (e.g. amalgamation, line thinning, polygon construction, subsetting) 
     before display. Maps of polygons, lines and points can be displayed
     according to one or two attributes along with various overlays. About 80
     provide extensive options for interactively designing the layout and
     appearance of the map, and for attribute handling, classification,
     interrogation and saving maps.  Maps can be output on plotters,
     printers and various file types.
     OzGIS is distributed as a "shareware" system.
     OzGIS is very extensive, (it is the product of over ten man-years effort),
     but also very cheap at A$100.

     OzGIS is available for evaluation via anonymous ftp from:
     Either Internet: [128.214.87.1]    garbo.uwasa.fi
     Or     Internet: [192.88.110.20]   WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil

----------------------------------------------------------------------

6:   What are the NCGIA anon ftp sites and what can be found there?

     >From Richard Johnson <mmdf@raj.NCGIA.ucsb.edu>:

     The NCGIA and UCSB (National Center for Geographic Information and
     Analysis at U. C. Santa Barbara) now has a publicly available FTP
     area in which are located various Technical Reports as well as our
     Annual Reports.

     To access this information, "FTP" to "ncgia.ucsb.edu"
     (128.111.254.105) as the user "anonymous" with any password, and
     "cd" into the "pub" directory.  In the "pub" directory the
     organization is as follows:

     Initiatives     - Papers/Reports related to specific initiatives which
                       are not considered "Technical Reports".

     annual-reports  - NCGIA annual reports in both plain text and
                       postscript form.

     new-reports     - Temporary repository for new reports being submitted
                       for public FTP from ncgia.ucsb.edu.

     tech-reports    - Selected NCGIA Technical Reports in both plain text
                       and postscript form.

     dems            - USGS CTOG DEM files.  (From Mark Kumler)

     etc             - Other random programs and files which are being made
                       available for public FTP.

     Some directories have subdirectories of "text" and "postscript".
     When these are present, they contain the papers/reports in plain
     ascii text and in Adobe Postscript(*) forms respectively.

     Under tech-reports/text and tech-reports/postscript there are
     plain text and postscript forms of the Publication list (named
     "pub-list.txt" and "pub-list.ps" respectively).  These can be used
     to determine the publication number.  Then the publication can be
     retrieved using that number to locate the file.

     Some technical reports have separate "title" and "body" sections.
     Both of these should be retrieved and the "title" section should
     be placed before the "body" section after printing.  Some
     technical reports have whole subdirectories.  In this case, all
     files in the subdirectory should be retrieved, printed, and
     ordered according to the numerical sequence of the filename.

     Some papers available are:

     88-6    COGNITIVE AND LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF GEOGRAPHIC SPACE:  REPORT 
	     ON A WORKSHOP
     89-1    Accuracy of Spatial Databases: Initiative 1 Specialist Meeting 
	     Report
     90-10   Language, Cognitive Science, and Geographic Information Systems
     90-9    A Spatial Decision Support System For Bank Location
     91-1    Fractal Geometry and Spatial Phenomena
     91-12   GIS Laboratory Excercises: Volume 1
     91-19   The Use of a Geographic Information System for Second-Order 
	     Analysis
             of Spatial Point Patterns
     91-20   The NCGIA Guide to Laboratory Materials - 1991
     91-22   Bibliography on Animation of Spatial Data: A Guide to Literature,
             Video and Movie Media
     91-24   German GIS/LIS Standards
     91-26   Initiative 7 Specialist Meeting:  Visualization of Spatial Data 
	     Quality
             (This paper is incomplete currently and has been known to be
             unprintable in postscript form on some postscript printers.)

     These are available in both postscript and ascii text form.  All
     of them were produced on a Mac, so the best form in which to read
     them would be postscript, however the textual form should be
     usable for a quick reference or if you don't have access to a
     postscript printer.

     All of these documents are also available via the WAIS system also
     under "NCGIA Technical Reports".  For more information about WAIS,
     FTP to quake.think.com where the software distribution is kept.


     If you have questions/comments/complaints, please direct them to
     the Email address <postmaster@ncgia.ucsb.edu>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

7:   What are the United States map accuracy standards?

     >From: rcw@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Robert White)

     United States National Map Accuracy Standards

     With a view to the utmost economy and expedition in producing maps
     which fulfill not only the broad needs for standard or principal
     maps, but also the reasonable particular needs of individual
     agencies, standards of accuracy for published maps are defined as
     follows:

     1.  Horizontal Accuracy.  For maps on publication scales larger
     than 1:20,000, not more than 10 percent of the points tested shall
     be in error by more than 1/30 inch, measured on the publication
     scale; for maps on publication scales of 1:20,000 or smaller, 1/50
     inch.  These limits of accuracy shall apply in all cases to
     positions of well-defined points only.  Well-defined points are
     those that are easily visible or recoverable on the ground, such
     as the following:  monuments or markers, such as bench marks,
     property boundary monuments, intersections of roads, railroads,
     etc.; corners of large buildings or structures (or center points
     of small buildings); etc.  In general what is well defined will
     also be determined by what is plottable on the scale of the map
     with 1/100 inch.  Thus while the intersection of two road or
     property lines meeting at right angles would come within a
     sensible interpretation, identification of the intersection of
     such lines meeting at an acute angle would obviously not be
     practicable within 1/100 inch.  Similarly, features not
     identifiable upon the ground within close limits are not to be
     considered as test points within the limits quoted, even though
     their positions may be scaled closely upon the map.  In this class
     would come timber lines, soil boundaries, etc.

     2.  Vertical Accuracy, as applied to contour maps on all
     publication scales, shall be such that not more than 10 percent of
     the elevations tested shall be in error more than one-half the
     contour interval.  In checking elevations taken from the map, the
     apparent vertical error may be decreased by assuming a horizontal
     displacement within the permissible horizontal error for a map of
     that scale.  3. The accuracy of any map may be tested by comparing
     the positions of points whose locations or elevations are shown
     upon it with corresponding positions as determined by surveys of a
     higher accuracy.  Tests shall be made by the producing agency,
     which shall also determine which of its maps are to be tested, and
     the extent of such testing.

     4.  Published maps meeting these accuracy requirements shall note
     this fact on their legends, as follows:  "This map complies with
     National Map Accuracy Standards."

     5. Published maps whose errors exceed those aforestated shall omit
     from their legends all mention of standard accuracy.

     6.  When a published map is a considerable enlargement of a map
     drawing (manuscript) or of a published map, that fact shall be
     stated in the legend.  For example, "This map is an enlargement of
     a 1:20,000-scale map drawing," or "This map is an enlargement of a
     1:24,000-scale published map."

     7. To facilitate ready interchange and use of basic information
     for map construction among all federal map making agencies,
     manuscript maps and published maps, wherever economically feasible
     and consistent with the uses to which the map is to be put, shall
     conform to latitude and longitude boundaries, being 15 minutes of
     latitude and longitude, or 7.5 minutes or 3-3/4 minutes in size.

     US Bureau of the Budget

     Issued June 10, 1941
     Revised April 26, 1943
     Revised June 17, 1947

----------------------------------------------------------------------

8:   What is the Vector Product Format and where can I get information?

     > From: tjmisek@hou.amoco.com (Thomas Misek)

     The document that lists the format & form of the Vector Product
     Format is:

	Military Standard
	Vector Product Format
	MIL-STD-600006
	13 April 1992

     This 200+ page doctument has a complete discription of the
     format.

     I received mine from:

	DMA (PRS)
	8613 Lee Highway
	Fairfax, Virginia 22031-2137

	(703) 285-9240       -    I'm not sure about this phone, I
                                  wrote them.

     Since the VPF has been created as a means for transmitting digital
     geographic databases, I, for one, would be interested in any
     programs that make use of the format.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

9:  What is this SDTS thing?

    m: esri!marlow!peter@UUNET.UU.NET (Peter Aronson)
    SDTS is a large complex standard, including many elements not
    contained in most other transfer standards: a feature coding system
    with thousands of codes; data quality information (although DIGEST and
    VPF both also can carry this); a complete attribute data dictionary
    (required for attributes that are not part of the built-in feature
    coding system).
       Where most standards will specify a standard way of representing a
    spatial object, SDTS usually species half a dozen.  For example,
    lines:
    Lines can be represented using X,Y coordinates, X,Y,Z coordinates or
    as sequences of other linear features, including curves.  They may be
    specified as planar or nonplanar.  They may have left/right polygon
    information and they may have start and end node information, both, or
    neither.  (And unfortunately, since SDTS node objects are allowed (but
    not required) to have a coordinate, it is unclear whether the first
    and last coordinate of a line with node information is stored on the
    node only, or is redundantly stored on the line as well).
        SDTS was at one time clearly intended to be a US-only standard: an
    earlier version of the standard only allowed Lat/Long, UTM and State
    Plane coordinate systems.  However, it now allows additional
    transformations to be defined using projection information (either by
    storing projection parameters as attribute, with their meaning stored
    in the data dictionary (not to be confused with graphic codes which
    also can have their meaning stored in the data dictionary)), or by
    using sets of transformation points (rubber-sheeting is left as an
    exercise for the reader).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9:  How do I order USGS maps?

    It's easy.  Just call 1-800-USA-MAPS

------------------
End of the GIS FAQ


Virgil Q. Sealy     | Internet: sealy@dg-rtp.dg.com
Data General Corp.  | Phone: (919) 549-8421 x6203
62 TW Alexander Dr. | Quote: I know that this is a frequently asked
RTP, NC 27709       |        question but what is an FAQ?
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU