Getting My Feet Wet In ArcGIS

   GIS has many technological features that make it a useful tool in creating maps and storing data.  While doing this exercise, I was amazed at the many different layers of data that were synthesized to make maps that contain much information.  These maps could be used by citizens to make them more aware of the issues that surround them in their community.  Policymakers could also use these maps in an effort to address concerns of the community as a whole.  Data in both picture and table form, such as in the picture above, could be regarded as weighty pieces of evidence in favor of a piece of airport noise legislation, for example.  Even though this exercise required only a few data frames, I am certain that GIS professionals use many more data frames in a single project to give different perspectives on the same piece of land.
   GIS technology is also dynamic, which makes it very useful with respect to the real-world applications.  The real world is not constant - things are always changing - but GIS is adapted to the world's mutability. If I were able to change the data for the exercise, the graph would change based on the new data.  The fact that GIS can adapt to change is important because circumstances vary as time passes by.  Printed maps cannot change with the times.  If an airport starts to decrease in size and importance, noise levels may not be a huge concern to a nearby neighborhood.  GIS would be able to process the new data and inform various policymakers and city officials of the lessened problem.  These leaders may end up not having to spend X amount of money on fixing the noise problem.
   Even though GIS is a very sophisticated piece of technology, it does have its shortcomings.  In the example above, I created a population density map, which is divided up into many different-sized regions.  Each region is characterized with a shade of green, according to its population density.  While not blatantly inaccurate, this labeling is misleading - the map says that the density is uniform in every single part of region X.  It is as if the map is telling its user that the density will radically shift the moment somebody crosses over a border between two regions.  In my GIS experience so far, I remember extracting data that could only be used for a certain region.  Perhaps the map would have been far more accurate if the GIS program provided more data for smaller regions.  This would definitely help in suggesting different pieces of legislation, in navigation, and in personal use.  The issue of data is related to another downfall of GIS.
   As I went through the GIS exercise, I realized that while GIS is a very useful tool for mapmaking, it is constrained by the amount of data it has at any given time.  In other words, the ability of GIS to serve its user well is directly related to the amount of information it receives and already has.  While GIS can definitely be updated minute-by-minute, that depends on how fast information and data are being gathered in the outside world.  If somebody needs to know the sound levels of a nearby airport, he can easily ask for other people to do the job of collecting data regarding the amount of decibels in the nearby area.  However, what if the airport changed its regulations concerning the amount of air traffic that it can receive in any given period of time?  And what if this change was not publicly announced?  The end result would be an incorrect map, whose creator was unaware of the new airport policy.  He would again have to ask others to collect updated information about the sound levels, which takes time.  GIS is very much limited in its abilities with respect to the amount of information it has at the moment.  As previously mentioned, GIS is only as useful as the present amount of data already in the system.