The Geospatial Desktop

Desktop Geographic Information System (GIS) software gives you the ability to make maps and analyze geographic information. This book provides a foundational level of knowledge for understanding GIS and the open source desktop mapping applications that are available for use, for free, today. Learn about vector and raster data, how to convert data, interacting with spatial databases, creating new map data, geoprocessing, scripting, and more. Special sections include focused learning on the Quantum GIS and GRASS GIS software platforms but other packages are also introduced. The Geospatial Desktop is written by the creator of Quantum GIS, so you can rest assured that you will be led by one of the most knowledgeable authors on the subject.

Coming from a natural sciences background, Gary Sherman has a long history of torturing computers and programming languages. Gary has been using and customizing Geographic Information Systems for well over 20 years. In 2002 he founded the Quantum GIS project, an Open Source, cross-platform, desktop GIS application. In addition to technical publications, Gary has authored a book on Open Source GIS and has another in the works. When not writing, he works as a consultant focusing on GIS, application development, and training.