This tutorial, developed in 2002, is a showcase on network analysis in MFworks, with step by step instructions and a summary of the theory behind it.
Locating a right-of-way for a linear facility such as a pipeline, a transmission line, a railway or a roadway can be a complex problem. Locating a corridor connecting an origin and a destination on a landscape is analogous to identifying a route that traverses a continuous landscape. Thus, corridor analysis is closely linked to shortest-path finding and network analysis in raster GIS, and has evolved along with it. Corridor analysis is essentially a variant of surface analysis, but can also be viewed as a site selection problem where an optimal contiguous and elongated site is sought.
My PhD?
On a sidenote, I should mention that since this post was first published,
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Traditionally, network analysis, path finding and route planning have been the domain of graph theory and vector GIS, which is where most algorithms find their application. Contrary to such common wisdom, the research of this thesis for the Msc in GIS explores the topic of network analysis in raster GIS, using MFworks as example software.
This research essay and literature review investigates some of the gateways to path finding in static and dynamic networks that are listed in present research literature. A selected set of different approaches are highlighted and set in a broader context, illustrating the various aspects of path finding in static and dynamic networks.
Tomlin is a must to any academic student of GIS, since much or nearly all work on raster GIS springs off from Tomlin’s work….well not really, but Geographic Information Systems and Cartographic Modeling by Tomlin sparked the scientific interest in it.
The key to producing successful network models is in understanding the relationship between the characteristics of physical network systems and the representation of those characteristics by the elements of the network model.
