Geographic Information System of the Gas Network in Pakistan

The truthfulness and understandability of information is dependent upon the way it is presented. It is admitted now that almost 85% of the data in human brain is related to geography and we continuously keep upgrading urban information in our brain consciously or unconsciously. This information, if updated frequently, affects most of the decisions made in our life. Maps are considered an easy and comprehensive source of transferring geographical information on paper. Such information is generic in nature and valid for everyone using maps. At times these maps are organized and annotated with symbols and interfaces to customize them for specific industries. In the industrial/corporate works geography is vital for decision-making but the decisions can’t be taken without complete information including both geographical and attribute information, i.e., spatial features and features lay on geography to reach a logical conclusion. In the field of gas distribution and transmission it is desired to create infrastructure maps of Pakistan which will underlay the engineering projects of corporations/establishments and providing infrastructure services especially in metropolitans. The incorporation of geographic information system (GIS) maps in existing gas pipelines became an inevitable necessity to integrate existing maps with coordinate based systems. GIS mapping of network based systems facilitates the following to decision makers: (1) Network analysis, (2) Simulation of new network extensions, and (3) Search, edit, modify operations on digital maps which are near to impossible on manual or cartographic maps. This paper presents the implementation of GIS for the country’s gas network. The design is specific for the distribution and transmission of the gas network in Pakistan. In an extension to the study, intelligent analysis techniques will be included that can be applied to make GIS more analyzable.