Hello, fellow Nairalanders. It is no longer news that GIS is being used to enhance decision making in several industries. Now, for those who have some knowledge of the technology and others who don't, feel free to post your questions and I will do my best to answer your queries.

thanks, my sibling is studying geoinfomatics, please whTs it's relevance and is it related 2 GIS

Geoinformatics has been described as the science and
technology dealing with the structure and character of spatial
information, its capture, its classification and qualification,
its storage, processing, portrayal and dissemination,
including the infrastructure necessary to secure optimal use
of this information. GIS is the System that enables Geoinformatic experts do their jobs. Your siblings course, is it Surveying and Geoinformatics?

there you r...yes

I have heard about AGIS- ABUJA GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM===== can you educate me a lay man on what the agency does?

@ charles, You might be doing your sibling a favor by introducing him or her to this thread. Several countries have been benefiting from the information that we can get from earth and while Nigeria is just scratching it on the surface, we have also decided to limit ourselves to "GIS for land surveys". Now is the time to employ GIS in our quest to answer our numerous queries.

Emzybrown: I have heard about AGIS- ABUJA GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM===== can you educate me a lay man on what the agency does?

As a layman, you need to know that a GIS is a system that includes a software, hardware, intelligently acquired data and well trained personnel which will all be channeled into solving human problems. You should also know that 98% of elements that affect humanity can be spatially referenced, and by this I mean the elements have a distinct location. Take for example, where you live- no other building can occupy that space while your house is still standing there. This means I can refer to your house using an address! However, in Geoinformatics, addresses aren't needed, co-ordinates are. Co-ordinates are the combination of the lines of longitude and latitude that point directly to the current position of a particular object on the earth surface.
Now that you know what a GIS is, I will now move on to Abuja GIS. AGIS is an agency saddled with the task of co-ordinating and managing landed properties within the FCT. Hence they commissioned a customized GIS that has been cushioned with a robust database of all land parcels, their area, estimated/current cost, current owner, approved usage type etc. This will enable the agency manage and enforce the government policy as regards landed properties within the FCT.

How can GIS be use to monitor and protect Nigeria's boarder? and secodly do u render training services?

pls can you give me a good kink where i can download tutorials for qgis?

@ jimikata, GIS can be used to monitor Nigeria's border but it will be much more effective if it is customized. Why I prefer the customized one is that whatever works fine for the custom service might fall short of the Nigerian immigration service requirement, however several GISs can be linked together if need be.
Let me make an example of a GIS customized for the custom service. Aerial photographs (snapshots of the earth taken from outer space) will be processed to determine the areas most susceptible to smuggling, the number of villages along the route (since some smugglers enjoy support from villagers) custom outposts can also be determined, even if the smugglers beat those outposts, their possible hideouts and routes can be detected.
All these and some other factors can be channeled to ensure safety in our border regions. Furthermore, in advanced climes, real time video links can be factored into the GIS to enhance performance. Web powered GIS can also be implemented to facilitate easy sharing of information among departments.
Yes, I run a firm that provides GIS solutions and Training.

jemijames: pls can you give me a good kink where i can download tutorials for qgis?

qgis.spatialthoughts.com/?m=1 . Are you working on a smart map project, or tracking perhaps?

Hello again! I'm new into gis but i use it for map making. Please how can make a compressed raster image(jpg) better for viewing

Try to open the map in the corel draw environment and re- save using as a Bitmap format. If you are using the ilwis software, choose another of the jpeg formats available. If that doesn't work, concentrate and digitize your area of interest. You can download google earth imagery of the area to guide you better. I'll like to see some of your maps. Keep on using GIS.

Speakin of google imagery, how do i recognise streams as compared to a scanned topo map i could make the compressed map available for u

Pls I have learnt MapInfo & ESRI GIS for sometime nw, but due to inavailability of projects to work on, I lost touch of it & cant work with it again....
Pls whats ur advice?

I_am_strata: Speakin of google imagery, how do i recognise streams as compared to a scanned topo map i could make the compressed map available for u

Have you ever seen a Google Imagery? Let me highlight some points just in case you haven't. Google earth imagery are very high resolution imagery that shows clearer pictures of the earth surface without further image processing. If you get the Google imagery of your area of interest, you will surely be able to differentiate a stream from a river.. I only advised that you get the imagery so as to guide you since your image isn't clear enough.

I m actually interested in GIS. Wanted to start since 2006, jst didnt know how.
Can u please explain for us beginners how to go about it; The target markets in Nigeria and hw is it relevant to NGOs?

ccharlex: Pls I have learnt MapInfo & ESRI GIS for sometime nw, but due to inavailability of projects to work on, I lost touch of it & cant work with it again....
Pls whats ur advice?

Get some video tutorials, or better still go for a customized training to brush you up. Never lose touch with GIS, it's here to stay!

EdDave: I m actually interested in GIS. Wanted to start since 2006, jst didnt know how.
Can u please explain for us beginners how to go about it; The target markets in Nigeria and hw is it relevant to NGOs?

For beginners, please get quality GIS training. It might cost you a small fortune and time on your path but I can assure you that you will be better for it. NGOs depend mainly on foreign finances and as such decisions must be based on facts that can add up. GIS is a technology based on locational analysis. Let me site an example of the ActionAid, its an NGO that involved in developmental projects. Most of their projects are borne out of information produced from a GIS. Questions like where is the best place to site a maternity centre, or a dispensary or an elementary school can be answered using GIS.

PalmTree:

Have you ever seen a Google Imagery? Let me highlight some points just in case you haven't. Google earth imagery are very high resolution imagery that shows clearer pictures of the earth surface without further image processing. If you get the Google imagery of your area of interest, you will surely be able to differentiate a stream from a river.. I only advised that you get the imagery so as to guide you since your image isn't clear enough.

i am working on one now in a forest reserve area. I jez want a guide not to confuse it with fraxtures

I_am_strata: i am working on one now in a forest reserve area. I jez want a guide not to confuse it with fraxtures

Mind sharing more details? Its getting more interesting. Why aren't you using satellite imagery, that way we can do some image processing using erdas imagine, ilwis or arcGIS 10. Are you going to determine vegetative cover extent or index.

PalmTree:

Mind sharing more details? Its getting more interesting. Why aren't you using satellite imagery, that way we can do some image processing using erdas imagine, ilwis or arcGIS 10. Are you going to determine vegetative cover extent or index.

bros i v not gotten to that level. I only use arcgis 9.3. I jez want to trace out streams roads and footpath then plot coordinates of rocks and trace out boundaries, thts all i kno for now

I_am_strata: bros i v not gotten to that level. I only use arcgis 9.3. I jez want to trace out streams roads and footpath then plot coordinates of rocks and trace out boundaries, thts all i kno for now

That's brilliant, please do not use the word trace, its called Vectorize or Digitize. Can you create and populate a database?

PalmTree:

That's brilliant, please do not use the word trace, its called Vectorize or Digitize. Can you create and populate a database?

not yet, i'm moving bit by bit, thanks for the correction

My field of study- geology and would like get where I could get the best training centre for GIS in Port-Harcourt!
gokelue@gmail.com

Saryea83: My field of study- geology and would like get where I could get the best training centre for GIS in Port-Harcourt!
gokelue@gmail.com

Sir, I don't know of any in PH. I run a GIS firm that offers hands on training amongst other solutions in Ibadan. But if you stick with this thread, you might be able to learn a thing or two.

How much is ur training and for how long?
What other materials do I need to start? Guess I ll need to install the software. Any thing else?

EdDave: How much is ur training and for how long?
What other materials do I need to start? Guess I ll need to install the software. Any thing else?

Hello, this thread is one of my firm's CSR outreach to enlighten and sensitize people on GIS, so I won't want to introduce any kind of advertisement on it. Post your e-mail address here, so I can send you our course module, duration and cost. Thanks

^^^dave.atoza@yahoo.com

EdDave: ^^^dave.atoza@yahoo.com

Check your mail.

It's so refreshing seeing a thread dedicated to GIS, I am a graduate of Surveying & Geoinformatics.
Thanks for sensitizing the public, Kudos.

Now let me go brush up on my GIS skills, I am starting to lose touch.

garbigarba: It's so refreshing seeing a thread dedicated to GIS, I am a graduate of Surveying & Geoinformatics.
Thanks for sensitizing the public, Kudos.

Now let me go brush up on my GIS skills, I am starting to lose touch.

Colleague, please try to brush up quick o, I'm sure you know that GIS is here to stay!