Uses of CAMRIS

 

CAMRIS is based on a simple DOS gui interface. The program comes complete with a set of tutorials. The basics, consisting of digitizing, manipulating vector data, printing, and interfacing with data base files can be mastered with about 2 full days work, even by individuals without gis training. More complex functions can be learned as needed. CAMRIS can be used for the following general purposes:

 

Digitizing: CAMRIS is a very good digitizing platform for use with small digitizers. It permits concurrent viewing of many data layers as you digitize so that you can work in the context of other data if desired. It also has sophisticated snapping and stringing functions so that lines that have been digitized once need not be redigitized. After digitizing, objects (such as points lines or polygons) can be recategorized or moved between layers. The system is designed to make it easy to move the map on the digitizing tablet and continue digitizing objects from one section of a map (or maps) to the next.

 

 

Map Production: CAMRIS has a built in desktop editing mode that allows you to edit a map of any size at any level of detail. You can zoom out and view the entire map, or window in to see the precise placement of a label down to the level of a single pixel. It also has a two color mode to show how an image will look when printed in black and white.

 

Measurement: Basic measurement functions can be used to calculate the areas of polygons, lengths of lines, and counts of points. Calculations can be made for single objects, or entire themes at one time. A function is provided for measuring distances between points on a map. A constant readout shows the latitude/longitude position of the cursor relative to the map displayed onscreen.

 

Database Query and Display: Objects displayed in CAMRIS, such as points, lines, or polygons, can be given unique names that can be matched to names in a data base file. If these names are included in a dBASE formatted file (.dbf is still the most widely used database file format, and most programs will generate files in that format), CAMRIS can display these data in a wide variety of ways. For example, observations of marked animals might be colored so that each category of behavior was coded with a different color or style of point. Similarly, a database of land parcels might be shaded according to the value of the property or by the intensity of use by a particular species of animal. CAMRIS also allows you to point at specific objects on screen and query the database for all the information relating to that object.

 

Raster/Vector Integration: Although CAMRIS is a vector oriented program, it is designed to integrate and display raster imagery along with vector data. For example, the outlines of a reserve or planned development could be displayed against the background of a false-color LandSat image, or contours of density of a whale species might be displayed against a background of sea surface temperature. CAMRIS has the ability to "rubber sheet" raster data to fit corresponding vector data so that the two types of data coincide. CAMRIS also allows you to select the colors used for the raster data so that you can emphasize exactly what you want in your raster data. An external program called iVIEW allows you to view a multi-band image of any size (such as a SPOT or LandSat TM image which often are in excess of 100 mb in size) in high quality false color, and to export a subset of that image for use in CAMRIS. For image processing purposes, vector and raster data can be exchanged easily between CAMRIS and IDRISI.

 

Logical Operations: CAMRIS supports Boolean logical functions that can be used to create new themes based on the relationship between existing themes, such as intersects or unions. Buffer strips can also be created around points, lines, or polygons. It is possible to generate reports that show the degree of overlap between two polygon themes, or a polygon theme and a point theme.

 

Home Range Data: CAMRIS has special modules for the analysis and display of home range and distributional data. Location fixes based on radio tracking or observational data can be used to generate polygonal use areas such as convex polygons, linearly interpolated isopleths, or harmonically interpolated isopleths. These polygons can be constructed so that they contain a specified percentage of all the fixes. These polygons can then be intersected with other data, such as habitat type, to estimate the proportion of the locations that are in various categories. Similarly, the point locations themselves can be intersected with habitat or land use mosaics to generate tables of frequency of use.

 

 

Biological Survey Data: If line transect data are prepared in the approriate format, they can be manipulated to display animal densities and distributions as shaded rectangles or contoured polygons. Density maps can be quickly generated for single species or groups of species, particular months or groups of months, etc.. User defined regions can be queried for statistical summaries including effort, mean density, and estimated population size. Distributional data can be printed out in color gradients or black and white shaded gradients.