How To Learn Gis | A Nine Step Approach

Learning Gis not as easy, as simply going to a shop to buy chocolate.  If you want to learn Gis, you have to give it time, practice, your mind and yourself. I will just provide some Great Gis learning Techniques that have proven to work, and links for self-study materials that will help you learn Gis at your own. Mastering a skill needs patience and time, this is just a guide, read the full post and if you have any doubt, just hit the comment section, below the post our tem will quickly get back to you. Let’s get started

What is Gis

A GIS (Geographical Information System) is a computer-based system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. Since the late 1970’s, the use of GIS has rapidly developed all over the world for a wide range of applications such as Biology, hydrology, Surveying etc.

As a result, people always ask themselves, "How can I also self-learn Gis" Below is an outline the step by step for you to learn Gis. Please read and share it with your friends.

1.Explore the definitions and Applications of Gis.

Different individuals, scholars and institutions define Gis differently. Exploring the various definitions of Gis will enable you understand what a Gis is, what components must it have, and what each component does. Furthermore, understanding where and how Gis can be applied in various fields. This is the initial step before you dive into the Gis world.

2.Read about Geographical phenomena and the real world.

A geographic phenomenon is defined as any entity or process of interest that can be named, georeferenced and assigned a time at which it is/was present. This will enable you understand how different real word phenomena can be modelled within a Gis.

3.Explore Raster and Vector data.

This will give you an understanding of how points, lines, polygons, elevation and other data types are stored, incorporated and analyzed within a Gis. Read about Gis data values i.e Ordinal data values, Nominal data values, Interval data Values and Ratio data Values. here are plenty of online materials to help you achieve and learn about the components mentioned in this article.

4.Explore Gis Data Sources, Meta Data & Data quality. 

Because every project undertaken in a Gis environment requires spatial data, it is necessary to understand where and how to collect the necessary data. Depending on the time, financial resources, one can choose whether to use primary or secondary sources of data. This section will enlighten you on how you can collect data for your analysis i.e by yourself, from friends, organizations etc. Learning about Meta data will help you understand the history, data collection procedures and other aspects necessary for data sharing. Data quality will help you to understand how to ensure and keep quality of spatial databases.

5.Explore Coordinate systems, Map Projections and coordinate transformations.

A coordinate system is a reference system used to represent the locations of geographic features, imagery, and observations within a Gis. Coordinate transformations help us to move from one coordinate system to another. Map projections help us to project the shape of the earth from one form to another. A complete understanding of the above will help you master spatial representations within a Gis.

6.Explore the various Gis functions.

Gis as a tool can be applied in numerous ways. Read and understand the numerous Gis functions i.e. classification functions, retrieval functions, Overlay functions, Search functions, Network analytic functions, visibility functions etc. This will further broaden your knowledge on how Gis tools are applied in day to day life

7.Explore Gis Mapping functions.

Maps act as both inputs and end products of a Gis. It is thus required that at least any Gis expert knows how to map. Although it may be seen as a simple task, it requires some time and practice to perfect mapping.

Whenever you make a map, remember that you are communicating something to some person or community. Maps are always meant to show location of a certain phenomenon e.g. distance, disease infestation, deaths, droughts etc. Therefore, your communication should always depict the intended objective.

8.Dive into Software.

Once you are done with the above steps, now get into the software. Almost every day new Gis software is published on the market.

Although some people may prefer a given application to the other, it is important to note that there is no particular GIS package which is necessarily ‘better’ than another.

What you should always look for in a given software package are its analytical functions that provide means for deriving new geo-information from existing spatial and attribute data. Software may be Qgis, ArcGis, Supermap e.t.c

9.Spend Some time on software tutorials.

The good thing is that there are plenty of tutorials online, you just search for a given tutorial and explore the results for the best tutorial e.g. How to import data in Qgis, how to create a slope map, how to merge shape files…… etc.

To learn Gis using the above 9 step plan, I recommend this tool:  Learn Gis - Link 

Never stop learning, after some time you will get there at the top, always remember this 9 step plan.

I wish you the best in your journey to learn Gis. In case of any question, comment simply use the comment box, we shall get back to you soon