Contemporary Relevance of Human Geography :

With the change in time and technology, paradigms of geographic perspectives have shifted towards the needs of the hours. Necessity and challenges associated to human beings have produced new themes and contents in the Human Geography. Themes like, location, distribution, growth, space, time, region, diffusion, etc. have taken new dimensions and significance. Contemporary issues have emerged in every sub-field of Human Geography as described below: 

1.  Contemporary issues in Population Geography: The recent population geography has become more thematic and applied. Themes like population dividend, ageing population, population density, over-population, population policy, population composition in terms of gender, cast and religion etc. are pronounced and significant for the betterment of society. Studies on these issues have become important for educational, health, and other physical infrastructural development. Population distribution analysis based on geo-spatial technology has become useful to address the challenge like crime, hunger, sanitation, congestion, water etc. Nowadays demographic studies are being taken as study of well being. The demographic studies with the integration of GIS technology have shifted its applicability in planning and allocation of resources. Demographic dividend, demographic transition, economic growth, employability, human capital and life expectancy have become contemporary key themes of study under population geography as a sub field of Human Geography. 
2. Contemporary issues in Social Geography: Majority of the contemporary planning is oriented to social well being. Every social issue being studied with geographical perspective come under the gamut of social geography. Whole of the world is facing problems arising out of social composition. How the social space can be constructed in a better manner is key area of study nowadays. Challenges free and socially sustainable social-space construction is the key theme of contemporary Social Geography. The challenges and problems of socio-cultural space are being studied and addressed well with the amalgam of spatial intelligence and geo-spatial technology. Theme based studies like housing, health, gender, culture, religion, languages have picked the pace to address the issues in planning, resource allocation and better society establishment/management. 
3. Contemporary issues in Political Geography: Governance is the utmost applied issue being studied under the political geography. Overall development is the outcome of efficient governance which is only possible through the rationalisation of the, administrative boundary and the resources. Now a days politics for geographic space is the matter of less debate due to precision of GIS technology application. Rationalization of frontiers of socio-economic zones, borders and administrative boundaries are the key study area under the contemporary political geography. Amalgam of politics and governance has made regional development more prioritized and judicious. Mapping and spatial analysis of political issues based on the challenges and needs have become more contemporary themes at global level. 
4. Contemporary issues in Economic Geography: the relevance of the Human Geography in the modern era is marked by the issues being studied under economic Geography. The scope of economic geography has become applied and significant from planning and globalization perspective. The corrections of the widespread spatial inequality in economy is the contemporary objective of studies under the discipline of economic geography. The popularity of such themes under human geographic research have increased due to complex challenges and competition of economy. The refinement in the research tools also signifies the relevance of human geography in economic development rivalry. The scientific interpretation and geo-spatial technical study of interrelationship between economic activities and ecological consequences have become burning research question in this globalized era, where each country is trying to geoformed their development model in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner.

        Apart from the above sub-fields of human geography, the relevance of this discipline can also be traced through the applied research in urban planning, agricultural development, disaster management, defense research, tribal development and rural development issues. The significance of human geographical studies in the contemporary studies has also been substantiated by the trending synthesis of geo-informatics and spatial intelligence concern. 

Active Microwave Remote Sensing

Active remote sensors create their own electromagnetic energy that is transmitted from the sensor towards the terrain (and is largely unaffected by the atmosphere), interacts with the terrain producing a backscatter of energy, and is recorded by the remote sensor's receiver. The strength of the backscattered signal is measured to discriminate between different targets, and the time delay between the transmitted and reflected signals determines the distance to the target. Active microwave sensors are generally divided into two distinct categories: imaging and non - imaging. The most common form of imaging active microwave sensors is imaging RADAR. RADAR is an acronym for Radio Detection And  Ranging, which essentially characterizes the function and operation of a radar sensor. Non - imaging microwave sensors include altimeters and scatterometers. In most cases, these are profiling devices which take measurements in one linear dinension, as oppoosed to the two- dimensional representation of imaging sensors. Radar altimeters transmit short microwave pulses and measure the round trip time delay to targets to determine their distance from the sensor. Generally altimeters 'look' straight down at nadir below the platform and thus measure height or elevation. Radar altimetry is used on aircraft for altitude determination, on aircraft and satellites for topographic mapping, for the estimation of the height of the sea surface, etc. (Bhatta B, 2009, page 165.)

Reference: Bhatta B. 2009. Remote Sensing and GIS, Oxford, page 165. 

Components of GIS

GEOGRAPHICAL G.K

Q. Hydrabad is located on the bank of river   1 Godavari   2 Krishna   3 Kavery   4 Musi     Ans: 4

Q. The largest producer of Coffee in India is   1 Kerala   2 Tamilnadu   3 Karnataka   4 Andhra Pradesh     Ans: 3

Q. In which of the following countries High Yield Variety seed develop for the first time ?   1 Argentina   2 China   3 Mexico   4 India     Ans: 3

Q. The First Industry to develop in India was the-   1 Cottage Industry   2 Cement Industry   3 Iron and Steel industry   4 Engineering Industry     Ans: 1

Q. The deepest trenches of the ocean are found in-   1 Indian Ocean   2 Pacific Ocean   3 Arctic Ocean   4 Atlantic Ocean     Ans: 2

Q. The deepest lake of the world is-   1 Pushkar lake in Rajasthan   2 Lake superior in America   3 Victoria lake in Africa   4 Baikal lake in Russia     Ans: 4

Q. The planet which which is called twin sister of earth is-   1 Mercury   2 Venus   3 Mars   4 Pluto     Ans: 2

Q. The distance of Moon from the Earth-   1 364 thousand kms   2 300 thousand kms   3 446 thousand kms   4 384 thousand kms     Ans: 4

Q. Chilka lake is situated in-   1 West Bengal   2 Andhra Pradesh   3 Orissa   4 Tamil Nadu     Ans: 3

Q. Uttar Pradesh holds the first place in India in the production of-   1 Ice and Wheat   2 Wheat and Sugarcane   3 Rice and Sugarcane   4 Wheat and Pulses     Ans: 2

SOURCE: http://www.onlinegk.com/general-knowledge/default.aspx?cat=Geography

GIS

Apr 6 2008

The acronym GIS refers to Geographic Information Systems - a tool that allows geographers and analysts to visualize data in several different ways in order to see patterns and relationships in a given area or subject. These patterns generally appear on maps but they can also be found on globes or in reports and charts.

The first truly operational GIS appeared in Ottawa, Ontario in 1962 and was developed by Roger Tomlinson of Canada's Department of Forestry and Rural Development in an effort to use map overlays for analysis of various areas in Canada. This early version was called CGIS.

The more modern version of GIS used today emerged in the 1980s when ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) and CARIS (Computer Aided Resource Information System) created a commercial version of the software that incorporated the methods of CGIS, but also included newer "second generation" techniques. Since then it has undergone a number of technological updates, making it an efficient mapping and informational tool.

How GIS Works

GIS is important today because it is able to bring together information from multiple sources so that various types of work can be done. In order to do this though, the data must be tied to a specific location on the Earth's surface. Latitude and longitude are usually used for this and the locations to be viewed are attached to their points on the geographic grid.

In order to then do an analysis, another set of data is layered on top of the first one to show spatial patterns and relationships. For example, elevation at specific locations can show up in the first layer and then rates of precipitation at various places in the same area can be in the second. Through a GIS analysis patterns about elevation and the amount of precipitation then arise.

Also important to the functionality of GIS is the use of raster and vectors. A raster is any type of digital image, such as an aerial photograph. The data itself however is depicted as rows and columns of cells with each cell having a single value. This data is then transferred into GIS for use in making maps and other projects.

A common type of raster data in GIS is called the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and is simply a digital representation of topography or terrain.

A vector is the most common way data is shown in GIS however. In ESRI's version of GIS, called ArcGIS, vectors are referred to as shapefiles and are made up of points, lines, and polygons. In GIS, a point is the location of a feature on the geographic grid, such as a fire hydrant. A line is used to show linear features like a road or river and a polygon is a two dimensional feature that shows an area on the earth's surface such as the property boundaries around a university. Of the three, the points show the least amount of information and the polygons the most.

The TIN or Triangulated Irregular Network is a common type of vector data that is capable of showing elevation and other such values that change consistently. The values are then connected as lines, forming an irregular network of triangles to represent the land's surface on a map.

In addition, GIS is capable of translating a raster to a vector in order to make analysis and data processing easier. It does this by creating lines along the raster cells that have the same classification to create the vector system of points, lines, and polygons which make up the features shown on the map.

The Three GIS Views

In GIS, there are three different ways in which data can be viewed. The first is the database view. This consists of the "geodatabase" otherwise known as the data storage structure for ArcGIS. In it, data is stored in tables, is easily accessed, and is able to be managed and manipulated to fit the terms of whatever work is being completed.

The second view is the map view and is the most familiar to many people because it is essentially what many see in terms of GIS products. GIS is in fact a set of maps that show features and their relationships on the earth's surface and these relationships show up most clearly in the map view.

The final GIS view is the model view which consists of tools that are able to draw new geographic information from existing datasets. These functions then combine the data and create a model that can provide answers for projects.

Uses of GIS Today

GIS has many applications in various fields today. Some of which include traditional geographically related fields like urban planning and cartography, but also environmental impact assessment reports and natural resource management.

In addition, GIS is now finding its place in business and related fields. Business GIS as it has come to be known is usually the most effective in advertising and marketing, sales, and the logistics of where to locate a business.

Whichever way it's used though, GIS has had a profound influence on geography and will continue to be used in the future as it allows people to efficiently answer questions and solve problems by looking at easily understood and shared data in the form of tables, charts, and most importantly, maps.

SOURCE: aboutgeography.com. matt rosenberg.

Need you feed back . dev.tropicalzone@gmail.com