Amanda Briney

Amanda Briney is a graduate of California State University, East Bay where she got her M.A. in geography and Sacramento State University where she got her B.A. in English and geography. She is currently working on a Certificate of Advanced Study in GIS from Fresno State University. Amanda enjoys various aspects of geography and mapping but she is most interested in examining natural landscapes through spatial analysis. Amanda is also a contributing writer for the Geography at About.com website.

Examples of using GIS to bin point location data for South Africa, Nebraska, and Kenya. Source: MapBox

Binning in GIS

by Amanda Briney

In order to reduce congestion on maps many GIS users and cartographers have turned to a process known as binning.

Overview of Public Health and GIS

by Amanda Briney

This article provides an overview of the use of GIS as in public health. It includes a short history of its development as a tool in the field, explains how GIS is used, different data sources and how the privacy of sensitive health information is maintained. Examples of current research using GIS within the public health field are also provided.

Overview of Fuzzy Logic Site Selection in GIS

by Amanda Briney

Site selection is a type of GIS analysis that is used to determine the best site for something and fuzzy logic is one site selection method. It assigns membership values to locations that range from 0 to 1 and is commonly used to find ideal habitat for plants and animals. This article examines fuzzy logic and explains how and when to use it.

Overview of Weighted Site Selection and Suitability Analysis

by Amanda Briney

Site selection is a type of analysis used in GIS to determine the best place or site for something. Weighted site selection analysis is one type of site selection that allows users to rank raster cells and assign a relative importance value to each layer. This article examines weighted site selection by explaining how it works and when it should be used. It also provides an example of a weighted site selection project for reference.

Overview of Least Cost Path Analysis

by Amanda Briney

This article presents a summary of least cost path analysis, an important tool in GIS. Least cost path analysis is a distance analysis tool within GIS that uses the least cost path (the path between two locations that costs the least to those travelling along it) to determine the most cost-effective route between a source and destination. This article provides an overview of that topic as well as the requirements and steps for creating a least cost path analysis.

Radial flow lines map on a white background with red endpoints.

Overview of Flow Mapping

by Amanda Briney

Flow maps are a type of map used in cartography to show the movement of objects between different areas on the Earth’s surface.

Imagery and Its Use in GIS

by Amanda Briney

Most imagery for use in GIS projects consist of satellite images or aerial photographs but it can also include, thermal images, digital elevation models (DEMs), scanned maps and land classification maps. This article examines imagery and how to effectively gather, store, process and interpret it for a variety of different GIS projects.

A map of a statistical surface with a gradient of mostly yellow and shades of orange.

Danie Krige and Kriging

by Amanda Briney

This article provides a biography of a Danie Krige, and presents a short overview of geostatistics and kriging.

A Look at the Mercator Projection

by Amanda Briney

Learn about the Mercator map projection – one of the most widely used and recently, most largely criticized projections. Amanda Briney takes a look at the history and development of the Mercator projection, how it works and some criticisms of the projection.