GEOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

GEOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

GEOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
In order to analyze and develop regions, describe places, and conduct detailed
geographic analysis, two important tools have been developed that are of particular
value to geographers. The first is remote sensing, or the acquisition of data about
the Earth’s surface from aerial platforms such as satellites, airplanes or drones.
Images taken from these airborne machines can provide a wealth of valuable
information about both the human and physical characteristics of a place. For
example, satellite imagery can depict the extent of human impact on rainforests in
the Amazonian rainforest of Brazil (Figure 1.9). Imagery can also depict information
that humans cannot see with the naked eye, such as the temperature of the Earth’s
surface. One example is a thermal infrared image, which can show warm
temperatures in red tones and cooler temperatures in blue tones (Figure 1.10).

Digital imagery like the one in Figure 1.9 is in a format that can be entered into
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the second important tool employed
by geographers. GIS combines computer hardware and software in a system that
stores, analyzes and displays geographic data with a “computer mapping” capability.
Geographic data is stored in layers, and these layers of data can be queried in a
number of sophisticated ways to analyze some aspect of an area (Figure 1.11). Each
data point in a GIS is georeferenced to
a precise location on the Earth’s surface
(latitude and longitude, for example),
and these data points have different
attributes corresponding to the data
layer they are associated with. Data
layers can represent a myriad of characteristics
about that data point, such
as elevation, soils, the presence of
water, per-capita income, ethnicity,
etc. Overlaying the data layers can
provide incredible insights into the
connections between characteristics/
factors in places, such as the connection
between per-capita income and
ethnicity or the links between soil types
and vegetative cover. GIS also has a
vast suite of other capabilities such as
least-cost path for transportation, lineof-
sight perspectives from a particular
location, or 3-D models of urban areas.
Because of their multi-faceted capacity
to present geographic information,
businesses and government agencies
around the world use GIS to answer
questions, plan development, chart
delivery routes, and even monitor
crime and first responder activity
(Figure 1.12). It is not surprising that
one of the fastest growing job markets
is in GIS technology, as GIS jobs exist
at the local, state, and national level as
well as in many businesses in the
private sector. Even the U.S. Census
Bureau maintains an extensive GIS
database known as Topologically
Integrated Geographic Encoding and
Referencing (TIGER).

CHANGES IN PLACES: DIFFUSION

Thus far, we have examined the Earth in a rather static fashion by learning about
places and regions, how maps are created, and how geographic information is gathered
and analyzed. However, the Earth is dynamic and constantly changing, and
one of the reasons places change is because of diffusion. Diffusion is the spread of
ideas, objects, inventions, and other practices from place to place. As people migrate
or move to a new area, they bring their ideas, objects, and the like with them in a
process call relocation diffusion. Another diffusion process involves the spread
outward from a core area that
contains the idea, cultural practice,
etc. This type of diffusion
is expansion diffusion, and
this type of diffusion can occur
from person-to-person contact
(as with a contagious disease)
or through a hierarchy, or
stratified condition, where the
idea might originate in a major
city, spread to medium-sized
cities, and so on to smaller cities
(Figure 1.13). In Chapter 6, we
will examine how religion has
spread across the world through
both relocation and expansion
diffusion, and in Chapter 10, we
will see that domesticated plants
and animals have diffused
extensively across the Earth.

THE HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP

The process of spatial diffusion can be profoundly affected by the physical
terrain, such as is the case with a mountain range. Because migration and
transportation over mountain ranges can be limited, diffusion can be slowed or
even stopped by these physical barriers. This example is but one instance of the
relationship between humans and their environment. The environment can
significantly affect human activities, and vice versa, humans can shape and change
the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere. Two major perspectives on the humanenvironment
relationship in the field of geography are environmental determinism,
which has been largely rejected, and possibilism. Environmental determinism
is the idea that the natural or physical environment shapes and creates cultures; in
other words, the environment essentially dictates culture. For example,
environmental determinists in the 1920s thought that people who lived in the

tropics were slothful and backward because finding food in the tropics was thought
to be rather easy. In contrast, Europeans, who lived in “stimulating” climates with
a sharp change in seasons were more industrious and inventive. The racist
undertones of this sort of perspective is clear, but modern geographers still
recognize the definitive impact of the environment on societies, as can be seen, for
example, in the theorized demise of the Anasazi people in the American Southwest
because of extended drought (Figure 1.14).
The Anasazi, who are believed
to have inhabited in the
Southwestern U.S. from 100
B.C. to 1300 A.D., were illequipped
to deal with drought,
compared to those who inhabit
the modern-day states of New
Mexico and Arizona. In the view
of possibilism, people can
adapt to their environmental
conditions, despite the limitations
they might pose, and if a
society has better technology,
the people are better able to
adapt and develop their culture
in a number of possible ways.
The possibilities are greater,
hence, the term possibilism. One
excellent example of possibilism
is found in Dubai, in the United
Arab Emirates. Although snow skiing in the Middle East may seem preposterous,
plans are in place to build the longest indoor ski slope in the world in this city,
where one ski slope already exists (Figure 1.15). Even technological advanced societies, however, can still be tremendously affected by the environment and have
little or no control over the power of nature. The devastating impact of hurricanes
in the United States, tsunamis in Japan, and fire in the United States are but a few
examples