Our ancestors considered the Earth's resources to be
boundless and endless. We have no right to blame our ancestors
for their ecological ignorance: they fought to live.
Even in the 19th century when the word "ecology" was born
people continued to use nature as consumers, considering Man to
be "lord and king" of nature and not the child.
In the 20th century with the rapid growth of science and
technology human achievements in conquering nature became so
great that man's economic activities began to produce an
increasingly negative effect on the biosphere.
People's striving to reach an immediate objective, their
consumer attitude to nature in disregard of natural laws break
natural balance. According to the International Union for the
Protection of Nature 76 species of animals and some hundred
species of plants have disappeared from the planet in the course
of the last 60 years. 132 mammals and 26 bird species face
extinction not so much due to hunting as due to the pollution of
the biosphere.
- 31 -
The destruction of nature gradually led to the loss of the
most essential element of existence, a healthy biological
habitat. Environmental pollution increases the cases of disease,
raises the cost of medical services, reduces the life-span of a
man. By now the pollution and poisoning of the soil, water and
air have reached a critical level.
Environmental pollution has become a significant obstacle to
economic growth. The discharge of dust and gas into the
atmosphere returns to the Earth in the form of "acid rain" and
affects crop, the quality of forests, the amount of fish. To this
we can add the rise of chemicals, radioactivity, noise and other
types of pollution.
Economic, social, technological and biological processes
have become so interdependent that modern production must be seen
as a complex economic system. It is wrong to see economy and
ecology as diametrically opposed: such an approach inevitably
leads to one extreme or the other.
- 32 -
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Word list
storage хранение
tool орудие, инструмент
environment окружающая среда
manipulation манипулирование, управление, обработка
to perform выполнять
apparent явный, очевидный
to involve включать в себя, вовлекать, участвовать
to handle управлять, руководить, обращаться,
обрабатывать (данные)
spatial пространственный
means средство, способ
diverse разный, разнообразный
relationship связь
to perceive различать, понимать
malleable податливый, уступчивый
to up-date модернизировать
to disseminate распространять
to be available иметься, имеющийся, быть доступным
(пригодным)
to customize делать на заказ, заказывать
to process обрабатывать
to enable давать возможность
to refine усовершенствовать, повышать качество
facility (pl.) возможности, оборудование, приспособле-
ние, аппаратура, благоприятные условия
to implement выполнять, осуществлять (выполнение),
внедрять
to maintain содержать, обслуживать, содержать в
исправности, эксплуатировать
ultimately в конечном счете
mandate мандат, наказ, право
currency текущий момент, продолжительность во
времени, своевременность
completeness законченность, завершенность
to generate генерировать, производить, поражать,
вызывать
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to distinguish отличать, характеризовать, различать
to explore осваивать, исследовать
to accomplish завершать, доводить до конца, выполнять,
совершенствовать
goal цель
to pool объединять, соединять
Text
Geographic Information Systems are computer-based systems1
That are used for collection, processing, editing, storage,
manipulation, visualization and analysis of objects and phenomena
where geographic information is an important characteristic to
the analysis. GISs is a powerful tool2 for the effective use of
geographic information.
The history of GISs started from "computer-mapping" programs
in the early 1960s. The Harvard Graphic Laboratory was one of the
most effective research groups developing computer-based map
analysis programs.
The fundamental components of a GIS and its environment
(GIS-environment) are:
- input;
- data storage and retrieval3;
- manipulation;
- data management;
- output.
There are many manual systems that are used routinely to
perform these functions and are effective for the tasks they
perform and under the conditions in which they operate. The power
of GIS4 is most apparent when the quantity of data involved5 is
too large to be handled manually. The ability to perform complex
spatial analysis rapidly provides a quantitative as well as
qualitative advantage.
The GIS offers a practical means to manage large and diverse
spatial data base and provides effective tools to understand the
relationships among diverse phenomena. The GIS has not only made
the production and analysis of geographic information more
efficient, it is changing the way geographic information is
- 34 -
perceived and used6. It is a technology that makes geographic
data more malleable.
GIS technology has dramatically changed the rate at which
geographic information can be produced, updated and disseminated.
Map updating tasks that required months of manual effort are now
done in hours, and spatial analysis capabilities7 that were
unavailable a decade ago are now commonplace8. Today a GIS can
make the special purpose presentation of data quick and
inexpensive. As a result, the physical map becomes a customized
"snap shot"9 of a continuously changing geographic data base. The
processing power of the GIS has also enabled geographic
information to be used in a qualitatively different way10.
Despite the analytical power of this technology, a GIS, like
any other system, does not and cannot exist on its own. To be
successful it must exist within a suitable organizational
framework11.
There must be an organization of people, facilities and
equipment responsible for implementing and maintaining the GIS.
Ultimately, a GIS is used to produce information that is needed
by a user. The client may be a person or a group of people. To be
useful to the client, information must be of the right kind and
quality, presented in an appropriate format to the client to use
and to be available at the right time. The GIS is operated by
staff who report to a management12. That management is given the
mandate to operate the Gis facility13 in such a manner as to
serve some user community within an industry, business, or
government organization.
The data used in a GIS represent something about the real
world at some point in time14. The most important aspects of data
quality are: accuracy, precision, time, currency and complete-
ness. The information in a GIS is represented in two basic forms:
as maps and as tables.
Often GIS is confused with cartographic systems that store
maps in automated form. While the main function of the
cartographic system is to generate computer-stored maps, the
function of a GIS is to create information by integrating data
layers15 to show the original data in different ways and from
different perspectives16.
- 35 -
What distinguishes a GIS from other systems is the ability
to integrate georeferenced data. GISs are a powerful resource
that provide flexible methods for exploring relationships among
geographic data and assisting experts from diverse fields in poo-
ling knowledge to solve complex problems, and to assist the users
in accomplishing the goals of their respective organizations.
Notes
1. ...computer-based ... автоматизированные системы
systems
2. ...a powerful tool мощная (высокопроизводительная)
технология, мощное орудие
3. ...data storage and хранение, извлечение и поиск
retrieval (выборка) данных
4. ...the power of GIS мощности (возможности) ГИС
5. ...the quantity of представленный массив данных
data involved
6. ...information is информация расшифровывается и
perceived and used используется
7. ...spatial analysis возможности пространственного
capabilities анализа
8. ...are now commonplace всегда в базе данных (имеются под
рукой)
9. ...a customized "snap- карта на заказ; "моментальный
shot" снимок"
10. ...in a qualitatively более качественно (достоверно)
different way
11. ...within a suitable в рамках соответствующей организаци-
organizational онной интегрированной системы
framework
12. ...report to a manage- подчиняются руководящему органу
ment
13. ...the GIS facility программы ГИС (зд.)
14. ...about the real world в реальном режиме времени и прост-
at some point in time ранства
15. ...by integrating data посредством слияния (интеграции)
layers различных слоев данных
- 36 -
16. ...from different pers- с различной позицией специалистов
pectives
Exercises:
1. Find English equivalents for the following:
1. Управление базой данных.
2. ГИС - среда.
3. Система обработки данных вручную.
4. Как количественное, так и качественное преимущество.
5. Связь между различными явлениями.
6. Задачи обновления данных.
7. Возможности обработки данных.
8. Информация должна быть достоверной.
9. Руководящему органу дается право.
10. Некоторая группа пользователей.
11. На бумажном носителе (карте) или в цифровом виде (таблицах).
12. Помочь пользователю в достижении цели.
2. Give Russian equivalents for the following:
1. Effective use of geographic information.
2. "Computer-mapping" programs.
3. The most effective research group.
4. The fundamental components.
5. The quantity of data is too large to be handled manually.
6. The relationship among diverse phenomena.
7. This information is needed by the user.
8. Within an industry, business or government organization.
9. In automated form.
10. Flexible methods for exploring relationship...
11. Experts from diverse fields.
3. Translate the following sentences into Russian:
1. GISs is one of the most powerful systems for the effective
use of geographic information.
2. This research team is one of the most effective groups
developing computer-based maps analysis programs.
3. The ability to perform complex spatial analysis in a period
of time is very important nowadays.
4. The GIS makes the production and analysis of geographic data
more efficient.
- 37 -
5. A GIS cannot exist on its own (doesn't operate in a vacuum).
6. The information must be presented in an appropriate format to
the client to use and to be available at the right time.
7. The most important aspects of data quality are: accuracy,
precision, time, currency and completeness.
8. The main function of a GIS is to create information by
integrating data layers to show the original data in
different ways and from different perspectives.
9. GISs are a powerful resource that provide flexible methods
for exploring relationships among geographic data and
assisting experts from diverse fields, in pooling knowledge
to solve complex problems.
10.The ability to integrate georeferenced data distinguishes a
GIS from other systems.