![]() ![]() NIWA has established a programme supporting the New Zealand Government's policy on open data, using standards and protocols consistent with government guidelines, such as eGIF (e-Government Interoperability Framework) and the SDI (Spatial Data Infrastructure) Cookbook. Why is NIWA developing and supporting QGIS? Our Introduction to QGIS for NIWA (PDF 268 KB) is still useful, although it was based on QGIS v1.8. WHICH DOWNLOAD SITE FOR QUANTUM GIS 64 BITThe current version of QGIS can be downloaded from the main QGIS website, for Windows, Mac and Linux, in 32 and 64 bit versions. NIWA Quantum Map is no longer developed as a separate application. With the release of QGIS v2.6 in October 2014, NIWA Quantum Map functionality has been merged with the main QGIS application, with additional functionality developed by NIWA available as QGIS plugins. NIWA's Quantum Map tool was based on an earlier version of QGIS. It is capable of this in a desktop environment, and due to its compatibility with sophisticated spatial databases, it is also a very capable GIS in the corporate environment.QGIS is a free, open source, desktop mapping tool widely used in research, government, NGO and commercial agencies in New Zealand and around the world. Quantum GIS is a fully functional GIS that is capable of all of the things a fully functional GIS should be able to do. I suppose this post is as much about what is a GIS as it is “what is Quantum GIS?”. I hope this simple example illustrates that the database that lies behind a GIS map is a really important aspect of GIS. Land ownership information can be updated using the database functionality of GIS. They can be stored, they can be re-projected (made compatible with maps from different sources) if necessary, and they can be recombined to create new maps, Managing information about mapsĪn example of this would be a map of houses…although a house might be built to last for decades, during its lifetime it’ll probably be occupied by a number of different families. Maps can be managed in all sorts of ways in a GIS. Hmmmm, someone on a low income who owns an expensive sportscar? Managing maps WHICH DOWNLOAD SITE FOR QUANTUM GIS REGISTRATIONFor example, datasets that were previously impossible to relate to each other can be related in a GIS so long as there’s a common spatial “geocode”…imagine how happy tax departments are that a tax payer’s address can be mapped and related to a motor vehicle registration map. However, GIS has far more sophisticated functionality than front-of-house map viewing. ![]() At its simplest this means overlaying two maps on top of each other and having a look. This one makes me dreamy! Relating maps is such an incredibly powerful feature of most GISs. Zooming and panning is functionality we’re all familiar with Relating maps For example…houses built in the 1800s, towns where the average income is low, places where the vegetation quality is poor, etc. ![]() In QGIS though, you can search for something in your own maps. Google maps has given most of us the functionality to search for an address. This is something most of us are familiar with. Taken to an extreme, no more storage facilities for maps and maps produced on demand with the latest version of the map! Searching maps Of course you could imagine that a GIS would have to store maps…but what an incredible difference this functionality has made to the mapping industry. Whichever input method you choose, the things you’ve traced will need further editing and then processing using QGIS map editing modules so that the maps are then usable to QGIS. Another path is to bring a scanned paper map into QGIS and then, similarly to the digitizing tablet method, trace map features with a mouse. One path is placing a map on a digitizing tablet and tracing all the points, lines and areas with a (mouse like) puck. This is the conversion of paper maps into maps that can be used in the GIS. Quntum GIS can do everything in this definition so lets pull the definition apart a bit… Capturing mapsīy this, I mean digitizing. What a Geographical Information System?Ī GIS is a computer application that allows you to capture, store, search, manipulate, relate and manage maps and information about them. In order to understand what Quantum GIS is, lets have a quick look at what a Geographical Information System is. Its been around since around 2002 and these days is similarly functional to commercial Geographical Information Systems. What is Quantum GIS (QGIS) – its a brand of Geographical Information System that is Open Source and so free. ![]()
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