Resource 1: ‘What is spatial?’ presentation notes Section Section text Notes 1. Spatial What is spatial? Conceptually, spatial thinking or What is ‘spatial’ and spatial concepts relate to space and how things are geospatial thinking? concepts arranged in space. ‘Spatial’ relates to where things are in It refers to the location, proximity, direction, distance space or where things and associated patterns of correlation that can be are in relation to other seen between multiple features. things. 2. Spatial The term spatial technologies or geospatial Tools that help us technologies technologies is really an umbrella term that covers a understand ‘where’ range of technology tools. questions. Where things are in relation to other things. Essentially, tools that help to answer ‘where?’ questions can be said to be spatial technologies; but modern usage of the term really focuses on three main tools: • Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) • Remote sensing • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 3. GNSS GNSS or Global Navigational Satellite Systems are Examples of things that networks of satellites that orbit the earth that provide use GNSS include locational information to those with compatible fitness apps, social receivers on the ground. The best known GNSS is media, in-car GPS, the Global Positioning System (GPS) network mapping apps, banking established by the United States of America. apps and many more. There are other networks online or being developed such as the GLONASS network (Russian), Galileo network (European) and the Chinese BeiDou system. The term GPS is often used interchangeably to refer to any or all of these networks. They work by allowing a receiver on the ground to connect to multiple satellites in orbit above the earth. Each satellite broadcasts its positional information and receivers on the ground can pick up multiple signals from multiple satellites to ‘triangulate’ the position of the receiver.
Connecting to more satellites greatly increases the accuracy of the receiver. 4. Remote Remote sensing is basically the collection of Notice that data from sensing information about our earth without being in contact different wavelengths with the earth, this applies to any planetary body highlights different really. features of the environment. E.g., vegetation, water. In a practical sense this refers to satellite imagery, aerial photography and, increasingly, the use of Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems or drones. Note that RPAS, drones and UAVs are terms that are almost used It isn’t only visible light that can be collected. Sensors interchangeably. can collect data from across the electromagnetic spectrum. 5. GIS Geographic Information System (GIS): the phrase is Examine different ways made up of two parts; ‘Geographic’ which refers to that data can be the geography of the world around us and represented in the gif. ‘Information System’ which is a fancy way of saying a database. A GIS is therefore a geographic database: a database that represents (some of) the Earth's geography. It is important to remember this link as you explore what a GIS is and is not. When you use a tool like Google Earth to search for an address, Google digs into its, rather large, database of almost every address on earth and finds the row with your search result in it. That row is connected to a point on the planet which you are taken to by Google Earth. Although initially used for natural resource management in Canada GIS can be used across all aspects of our society: Police use spatial data to map where crimes occur, emergency services manage their resources using spatial technologies, biologists can map species using GIS, businesses can see where their customers are using these tools and local councils can manage problems like graffiti with mapping tools. As long as the data is connected to somewhere on earth, GIS can be used to analyse and help solve issues. Maroon single-column fact sheet template 2
6. Further There are lots of career opportunities in the spatial For career information information field, to find out more visit the Destination Spatial go to Destination website. Spatial for the Geospatial Science career resources. Educators can visit the QSIC Education page to get started with spatial tools in the classroom. Teachers can find more resources at the Spatial Education page on the Queensland Government website. Maroon single-column fact sheet template 3
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