INSROP GIS v1.0a - User's Guide and System Documentation

(By Stig Magnar Lovеs ; INSROP Working Paper No. 47 – 1996, I.3.1/II.3.2)

In order to facilitate storage, retrieval and analysis of information obtained within the INSROP programme, an INSROP Information System has been developed using GIS technology. The system has been jointly developed by Sub-programmes I and II and is hence primarily designed to serve as a tool for these sub-programmes. The system is, however, designed in a modular way to enable inclusion of items from other sub-programmes later on.

The INSROP GIS system design was presented in Working Paper No.4 (Lшvеs et al, 1994). During the 1994/95 project work, ArcView 2.0, and later 2.1, became available to the INSROP GIS development team. This software product provided new capabilities that made us modify the original design. The main changes are that INSROP GIS is now primarily an ArcView 2.x-application available for PCs running Microsoft Windows 3.x. ARC/INFO is used to prepare data sets for use by ArcView, and to carry out analyses beyond the capabilities of ArcView.

Although the purpose of the development of INSROP GIS was to develop the system, a number of data sets have already been implemented as part of the development process or in other INSROP projects. However, the system allows importing new data, either in ArcView or ARC/INFO format, or as ASCII files using a predefined structure. Depending on the type of information INSROP GIS enables display of data on maps, in tables or as charts, and these are linked so that information features selected on a map may be directly displayed in a table or a chart. INSROP GIS includes general utilities for classifying data and also includes some customised analysis utilities to process ‘raw’ data sets into e.g. charts with statistical information.

As INSROP GIS is an ArcView 2.x application under MS Windows 3.x, an ArcView 2.x licence is needed to run INSROP GIS. We also recommend a PC486/66 as minimum and 16Mb RAM (PC 386 and 8 Mb RAM is the required minimum). In addition to the 13Mb storage space required by ArcView, INSROP GIS requires an additional 2 Mb for the basic INSROP GIS software. INSROP GIS data sets may range from a few Kb to several 100 Mb. However, large data sets normally consist of a set of smaller files which permit using only required subsets of a huge data set.

The authors of this working paper (Stig Magnar Lшvеs and Odd Willy Brude) would like to thank the appointed project reviewer, Dr. Richard Luxmoore, World Conservation Monitoring Service, for his comments, which have been incorporated in the Working Paper.

Stig Magnar Lovеs, 1996, INSROP GIS v1.0a - User's Guide and System Documentation, INSROP.©