Career in Geographic Information Systems

Career in Geographic Information Systems  

                                                                                                Rruchi Shrimalli

How many times have you used Google Maps to find your way to a new destination? Have you ever wondered who developed the app that Ola and Uber cab drivers use to find their routes? Or have you ever used the apps that allow you to track how much distance you have covered while you were running to burn fat? Well, all these apps are based on the Geographic Information System (GIS)! The GIS is a system to capture, store, manage, analyse, manipulate and present all types of geographical or spatial data. In simple words, we can say that GIS enables us to know about a particular location on Earth in great detail. Along with capturing the image of a particular location point, the GIS depends on attribute data too. Attribute data is the additional information about a particular point of space.Suppose there is a school near your home. The exact location of the school is the Spatial Data but the additional information like the name of the school, number of students studying there, how many classes it has etc will be its Attribute Data.The GIS is a very upcoming technology these days. It is being used to solve problems and make decisions at government levels, corporate levels, and even individual levels. It can help us track the movement of terrorists, compare the geological features or status of deforestation at a point by comparing the pictures of the same place over a period of time, understand the density of any given feature in a particular area among several other things.Six major purposes GIS serves are:1.Mapping Features: This technology helps us to locate real-world features and visualise spatial relationships between them.2.Mapping Quantities: Suppose you want to source cotton. GIS can help you find places where cotton grows in abundance and also regions where it is scanty. Mapping quantities can help in resource and supply management.3.Mapping Densities: Density means number or quantity of a particular feature in a defined area. GIS can help us determine the population density of Kolkata vs population density of Delhi, or number of McDonalds in Mumbai vs number of McDonalds in Chennai.4.Determining Characteristics of Area of Interest (AOI): We can have a good idea of type of people living in a particular area and their lifestyle by studying different features there. For example, knowing how many people are exposed to Noise Pollution near Palam Airport and what is their socioeconomic status might be useful in determining policies that might help them better. Similarly knowing what the farmers are growing in a particular area can help the government to roll out best schemes tailored to their needs.5.Finding What is Nearby: In case of an emergency, how useful it is to be able to find a shelter home nearest to you by setting up a specific radii (distance you can cover)! GIS enables this geoprocessing tools like BUFFER.6.Mapping Change: By observing a feature over a period of a few years or decades, it becomes easier to anticipate what might happen in future. Is a particular river slowly changing its course or is a forest slowly disappearing and giving way to urban development? GIS can capture and store images which can be compared at any point of time to see the changes happening at a particular location.Career Prospects in the field of GISGIS has wide-ranging applications. Keeping an eye on Earth from space allows us to tackle various problems related to geography and geosciences. Remote sensing of images, mapping, modeling, developing geospatial databases, information systems design, geocomputation, geovisualisation, and GIS analysis are some of the fields in which one can specialise and work in this field.GIS specialists play an increasingly important role in government departments such as agriculture, urban and rural planning, forestry, natural resource management, infrastructure development, public health, and defence sector.GIS analysts and techies are involved in building increasingly advanced in-car navigation systems and automatic vehicle location systems. They also work in the aviation sector, maritime sector, and traffic management.Geoinformatic data analysts are in demand in Geography and Earth Sciences such as Oceanography, Meteorology, Climate Change Studies, Disaster Management, and Enviromental Modelling and Analysis. Criminology (especially Crime Simulation), Telecommunications, Architectural and Archaeological Reconstruction, and Business Location Planning are some other fields where GIS specialists are in demand.Central Government agencies such as Advanced Data Processing Research Institute (ADRIN) and National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) in Hyderabad; Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI); Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR); Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Bangalore; North East Space Application Centre (NESAC) Shillong; Regional Remote Sensing Application Centre (RRSAC) in Bangalore, Dehradun, Kharagpur, Jodhpur and Nagpur; and Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad) often advertise job opportunities for GIS analysts.Similarly, there are many GIS jobs advertised by State Governments from time to time. National Informatics Centre (NIC), State Electricity Board, and Space Application Centres employ geoinformatics specialists.One can also apply in international organisations and United Nations, utility companies, environmental agencies, mineral exploration companies, national survey and mapping organisations, tourism industry, emergency services, and market analysis an