GIS and Network Analysis

This chapter describes how both geographic information systems (GIS) and network analysis are burgeoning fields that have been characterized by rapid methodological and scientific advances in recent years. A GIS is a digital computer application designed for the capture, storage, manipulation, analysis and display of geographic information. Geographic location is the element that distinguishes geographic information from all other types of information. Without location, data are termed to be non-spatial and would have little value within a GIS. Location is, thus, the basis for many benefits of GIS: the ability to map, the ability to measure distances, and the ability to tie different kinds of information together because they refer to the same place. GIS-T, the application of geographic information science and systems to transportation problems, represents one of the most important application areas of GIS technology today. While the strengths of stand GIS technology are in mapping display and goedata processing, GIS-T requires new data structure to represent the complexities of transportation networks and to perform different network algorithms in order to fulfill its potential in the field of logistics and distribution logistics.