Open Source GIS: Comparing QGIS to ArcGIS

The above map is a multi-band false-color composite image. The map was generated as a part of a laboratory exercise structured around practicing with the open source QGIS software. In particular, I focused on contrasting the ease of use and general functionality as compared to proprietary ESRI. All the following questions and answers are structured around a comparison between open-source and proprietary GIS.

Introduction

What is GIS? That is, is it just software. What did Dr. Christina Hupy stress when she spoke about what defines what exactly constitutes GIS?

 - A GIS is not simply a software packages. Instead it is a combination of software, data, geospatial information, satellites/remote sensing, and people. It is a system of understanding, not an individual classification of software.

What makes open source GIS (QGIS) different than proprietary (ESRI) GIS?

- Open source GIS is developed entirely by the community, for the community, to enhance the functionality of GIS. Essentially, by removing as direct a profit motive (or any profit motive at all), and allowing anyone to develop the software, development can occur extraordinarily fast as compared to proprietary software. The cost of rapid multi-directional development is the concept of direction, which is more established in developments such as ESRI.


What are advantages and disadvantages between the two?
Why is Open Source GIS important to the UAS industry? That is, speculate upon your own experiences and goals to relate how this software could open doors and markets where proprietary GIS keeps doors closed.

- The clear advantage of open source is that it can be developed in any given direction whenever it needs to be. The lack of central authority allows for development to fringe out from the central concept. Over time, this means open source projects can become extremely functional for a variety of tasks. This is a massive advantage for the UAS industry because of how quickly the industry moves. When a new development in UAS is created, open source GIS can respond almost immediately. Whereas, proprietary brands will need to formalize resources and direction on a topic before moving on it. Because direct profits are at stake, it is less likely the proprietary brands will beat open source software to the end goal. However, direction does in some ways help proprietary brands. For the specific functions that ESRI does well, it is very reliable and effective. This can be because there is more available resources generally to tackle specific problems. ESRI is also more user friendly because proprietary development cares significantly about the usability of the platform. Open source cares more about the capability to perform tasks, not how easy it is to perform a task. This is especially as issue for open source because there is also a less central authority to receive help on any particular problem.

Model/Discussion

Steps to create hill-shaded DSM in QGIS:
- Load in an appropriate plugin (I believe color ramp manager was used in class)
- data layer added
- Right click DEM, click layer properties
- Enter the styles tab, select a color ramp
- match lowest and highest elevation of DEM in min and max values if you want more linear change in color
- go to raster -> analysis -> DEM
- Generate the DEM  with a hillshade effect
- Adjust features and transparency until a fine looking hillshade is overlapped with a DSM

The created aesthetically very similar to the one generated during the proprietary GIS assignment, however it required interaction with more menus. In total, there were more options that could be changed, and an experienced user of GIS would likely be able to interact with those options to generate very high quality results. However, it is nowhere near as simple as ArcMap's process.

The false color image at the top of this post was generated next. It is generated from a rededge sensor on an unmanned aircraft.

The following steps were used to create the image:
- the multispectral rasters were opened as individual layers
- the raster layers were stacked to form a single multiband raster
- band combinations were altered to form a false color infrared image ( 1 - NIR, 2 - Red, 3 - Green)
- The image was exported to the map creator functions
- all other features were added including watermark, band information, scale bar, etc.

Conclusions

 Draw upon the previous lab and compare your experience between Arc Desktop and QGIS.

- While both programs, at first glance, do not seem very distinct, there are clear differences. ArcMap, to me as a novice, is simply easier to use and is more manageable when trying to understand the best way to accomplish a task. The map making functions specifically are vastly superior to QGIS. Largely, this is because more resources are devoted towards user experience in an proprietary product. Despite the favoritism I have towards the proprietary software, I can see how the increased quantity of uses for QGIS would be advantageous. If I was more experienced at this time in GIS, I think I would be more fond of QGIS. In fact, I may find the proprietary software somewhat limiting or a nuisance if I ever became a QGIS expert.


Draw upon the lab examples, and some of the plug ins you were shown to link how this could relate to UAS data, and perhaps even your final project.

- I think the majority of the examples show, and the plug ins mentioned, would be advantageous to UAS and in general my final project. A few were mentioned regarding remote sensing, that may be useful. However, I do not believe this specific program will be used to handle the bulk of the remote sensing workload, but it could be useful for data visualization. Instead, I think the primary advantage is the base program of QGIS. Ultimately, I do not know what packages I will use, but they are all available, for free. I can see an assortment of problems arising spatially for this capstone, and having a plethora of plugins available will help elevate much of the potential headache. 

Building a Map with UAS

This lab activity was structured around practicing cartographic skills with UAS data. The test site is Wolf Creek Paving in Wisconsin, and the map includes an orthomosaic, three dimensional model, and digit surface model. The map, being the next feature in this report, is followed by a series of scripted questions and respective answers. These questions are representative of the overall map making process.

Questions - Introductions

Q: What are proper cartographic skills essential in working with UAS data?
A: At the most fundamental level, a good spatial instinct is critical for working with UAS data, especially when working with different data sets. At larger scales, it is often more difficult to identify direction and orientation of data versus regional data due to a lack of features easier to identify on small scales. Second, an understanding of datum's and projections is critical. Both are critically important for accurate data, especially when working with multiple data types simultaneously.  Datums are more important to UAS versus other forms of remote sensing imagery because the height variable is more critical.

Q: What can spatial patterns of data tell the reader about UAS data? Provide several examples.
A: spatial patterns can inform the reader about important processes occurring on the surface. These can be patterns of land use, ecological changes, geomorphic changes, etc.  The spatial characteristics of a feature on the ground can tell about extent of processes impacting the area of interest. Things like crop health, soil erosion, hydrology gradients, animal nesting sites, and construction progress are all examples of what spatial patterns from UAS data can identify. The high spatial resolution of UAS allows for identification of patterns not visible with other remote sensing methods.

Q: What are the objectives of the lab?
A: To practice basic cartographic skills in the ArcGIS suite of software. To gain familiarity with high level mapping activities that may be advantageous in our career and our capstone projects.

Questions - Methods

Q: What key characteristics should go into folder and file naming conventions
A: A folder convention of increasingly specific folders is recommended. At the most fundamental level, a folder titled for a specific project will contain further folders of individual data types which will then contain more specific folders of operations. Each core file should be titled straight forward to contain the name of the operation and relevant metadata.

Q: Why is file management so key in working with UAS data?
A: Because UAS data can be remarkably extensive, with many different data types being part of the same project. This is especially true after data processing and the beginnings of analysis. Proper file management will enable successful navigation of data with little thought so that the correct data can be easily found and reliable chosen. Less mistakes will be made with proper file management.

Q:  What key forms of metadata should be associated with every UAS mission?
A: key metadata includes: Location, date, UAS platform, altitude flown, GPS system used, datum, projection, sensor information, band information if relevant, and perhaps pilot is some situations.

Q:  What basemap did you use? Why?
A: I used light grey canvas because it is relatively simple but still highlights important features such as large lakes or cities.

Q: What is the difference between a DSM and DEM?
A: A DSM, or digital surface model, tells height about the ground surface. Meaning ground level is considered a height of 0ft. Taller objects are measured in comparison to ground level. A DEM, or digital elevation model, is in reference to sea level. It ultimately tells topographical information and features total height including the ground elevation under an object.

Q:  What does hillshading do towards being able to visualize relief and topography?
A: Hillshading provides a better visualization of height by showing how sunlight would interact with the ground surface. Objects with height and general topographical changes will produce a different shading effect than objects next to it, making delineation of surfaces more clear.

 Q: How does the orthomosaic relate to what you see in the shaded relief of the DSM?
A: Features that are more clear in the orthomosaic due to color become more apparent in the DSM after shaded relief.

Q: What is the purpose of vertical exaggeration?
A: To make subtle features in the terrain more apparent in the overall model. Mathematically it does not change anything in the map, but it does make it more clear visually.

Q: What color ramp did you use? Why?
A: I used a red to green color ramp because there is a drastic contrast but a clear flow between the two colors. This makes high and low points very visibly different but elevation changes between them easily comparable.

Q: What are the advantages of using ArcScene to view UAS DSM data vs the overhead shaded relief in ArcMap? What are the disadvantages?
A: The advantages are that the model is completely manipulable in ArcScene. The software is essentially built to handle this form of information and interacting with a 3D model. The downside is it essentially is the model alone without much information of distance or metadata. It is a visualization tool, not much else.

Q: Is this export a map? Why or why not?
A: No, a map requires scale bars.

Questions - Conclusions

Q: Summarize what makes UAS data useful as a tool to the cartographer and GIS user?
A: It is an extremely high resolution data capture tool that can extract features not possible by satellite, but exponentially faster than by manned aircraft.

Q: What limitations does the data have? What should the user know about the data when working on it?
A: Despite very high spatial resolution, the data is only as accurate as the spatial positioning system used with the data. Standard GPS can be as inaccurate as three meters. At this level, at least for most purposes, it does not matter if the spatial resolution is much higher because it will not be as accurate as if a better positioning system was used.

Q: Speculate what other forms of data this data could be combined with to make it even more useful?
A: Ground measurements to either "truth" or subsidize the data. Being that this site appears to be a mine, information regarding estimated volume of Earth moved can be compared to drone derived volumetric measurements. Data regarding value of the materials being extracted can be used with volumetric analysis to discover the total economic value of the extracted materials in aggregate.

Analysis of Predator

The Distorted Line Between Success and Failure in UAS 

The Story of Abe Karem

 

The unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry, after several years as a blossoming fledgling commercial field, appears to finally be stabilizing. Where over-promising under-delivering glorified hobbyists once dominated the market, now is home to topical experts with advanced equipment and experience enabling educated business decisions. It seems that as UAS enters the realm of the mainstream, success becomes less associated with innovative development and more with monetary gains. Indeed, the line that divided the firms in the market a few years ago from the ones that are still there, is the capability to make a profit. However, there is two critical observations regarding the UAS industry that may not be apparent but warrant appreciation. As infantile and unruly as it seems, the UAS industry is not new, and some of the most crucial actors in the fundamental days of the modern unmanned aircraft market would hardly be considered successful in monetary evaluation. The book, Predator, by Richard Whittle alleviates on this fact. Whittle tells the story of the Predator aircraft, perhaps the most quintessential UAS to ever be designed, from its earliest predecessor prototypes. The foundational individual to the story is aeronautical engineer and Predator designer, Abe Karem. Karem, an Israeli immigrant originally from Baghdad, would never see financial success from his most famous creation. However, without him, the UAS industry may be in a fundamentally different place today. Ultimately, Abe Karem’s failure to profit on his aircraft due to bureaucracy and his own personality challenges the notion that success in the UAS industry should be measured by profit, but instead by contribution to the industry.

Some of the roots to the concept of the Predator were born during the Yom Kippur war. To aid Israeli military during this conflict, Abe was tasked with the mission of constructing a target drone that could mounted under the wing of fighter aircraft. This was a necessity due to the armies of Israels’ Arab enemies utilizing cutting edge Soviet technology and tactics that effectively shut down operations of the Israeli Airforce. While the drone would not be flight tested before the war’s end, initial trials were a success. Exposure to this first drone project inspired Abe that the future of his career was ultimately unmanned. Despite the reputation for drones being unreliable at that time, he decided that he would be a pioneer of unmanned aviation. To do this however, he knew he had to quit his job at the premier aircraft manufacturer in the region, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). He believed that the government influence over the company made it unfit for innovation; an inefficient public works program with the slow metabolism of a large corporation. Abe believed that small teams of topical experts would ultimately be the way to innovate the industry. From there, he started his own company is Israel.

Abe’s beliefs when he left IAI were not unlike many of the early members of the commercial UAS industry around 2010. Both in manufacturing and operations, small teams of people working on proprietary and open source products are the reason drones have become diverse, affordable, and powerful tools today. Once separated from the bounds and regulation of manned aviation, development of UAS in commercial markets grew so fast that entire generations of designs and methodology can become antiquated in as little as a year; 15 times faster than it takes a manned aircraft to move from initial design to first flight.

 Unfortunately, Abe’s new firm in Israel would not find the success that it probably deserved. IAI, with its close government ties, essentially inhibited Abe from selling his UAS products, or getting his ideas for new drone concepts approved. While some of his ideas were unorthodox at the time, namely a combat capable drone that serves a purpose other than to be a decoy, bureaucracy prevented him from continuing his work is Israel. The bureaucratic red tape would not end for Abe Karem in Israel. After immigrating to the United States, despite the traction he eventually produced, bureaucracy would halt Abe’s ability to make profit. After the success of a prototype long duration UAS, the Albatross, Karem received funding from the DARPA to develop his concept further. Through that funding, the true initial prototype of the Predator, Amber, was born. Amber was a very capable system flying for incredibly long durations, carrying almost as much fuel as the aircraft weighed itself. Amber exceeded the expectations of military contracts. However, bureaucratic ties ultimately destroyed the project. Due to varying contract requirements between branches, a poor track record of UAS from other firms, and an Airforce controlled by manned pilots biased against drones, the Amber program was cancelled. Karem, after struggling to maintain his company without extensive contracts, had to sell his company's assets along with the rights to his designs, to general dynamics. The acquisition of the amber by General dynamics was ultimately the end of Karem’s control over the drone design that would become the infamous predator. Eventually Abe would leave General Dynamics, and his life's work, to start another company of his own.

However, lack of control was not the only reason Karem left General Dynamics. More simply, he left because it was not what he did best. Abe did not particularly care if Amber performed well for general dynamics, he cared that the design was innovative. Beyond being an engineer, Abe liked being on the cutting edge and advancing his field. Therefore, even when he had engineers employed at his company, Karem remained the primary designer of his products. In many ways, this may be a critical reason as to why his companies failed. At a certain point, a company needs a strong manager to make a profit, not just an individual with good product ideas. Producing cutting edge designs is what Karem was passionate about, owning his own business to do so was simply a means to completing his dream. If Abe could have designed aircraft that would have pushed the boundry without having to also run a company, he likely would have. One could argue that, at least in the formative years for unmanned aviation, Abe would have never succeeded to make money on his ideas because his personality would never had allowed him to do so. 

With the understanding that the companies of Abe Karem failed due to bureaucratic constraints and Abe’s own unrelenting need to be on the cutting edge, it can be difficult to classify him as a failure. After all, if it was not for the Predator that arose from Karem’s Amber, it is unlikely that UAS would be in the same place physically, operationally, and philosophically as it is today. Financially, Amber was a blunder for its creator but for the industry that would arise from it, Abe is a founding father. Retrospectively, it may be short sited to criticize the financial failures of the commercial drone revolution that occurred over the last decade. Each individual player, from defunct creators of open source software to uninformed consumer drone owners seeking to make a quick profit, are crucial to the state of UAS today.