SAGA GIS
Encyclopedia
SAGA GIS is a free and open source
geographic information system
used for editing spatial data. It was originally developed by a small team at the Department of Physical Geography, University of Göttingen, Germany, and is now being maintained and extended by an international developer community.
SAGA GIS is a GIS software with the purpose to give (geo-)scientists an effective but easily learnable platform for the implementation of geoscientific methods. This is achieved by the API. SAGA has a fast growing set of geoscientifc methods, bundled in exchangeable Module Libraries.
The standard modules are:
SAGA GIS is an effective tool with user friendly GUI
that requires only about 10 MB disk space. No installation needed.
Available for Windows
, Linux
and also FreeBSD
.
SAGA GIS can be used together with other GIS software like Kosmo
to get better vector data and map producing capabilities. SAGA GIS modules can be executed from within the statistical data analysis software R
in order to integrate statistical
and GIS analyses.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
geographic information system
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
used for editing spatial data. It was originally developed by a small team at the Department of Physical Geography, University of Göttingen, Germany, and is now being maintained and extended by an international developer community.
SAGA GIS is a GIS software with the purpose to give (geo-)scientists an effective but easily learnable platform for the implementation of geoscientific methods. This is achieved by the API. SAGA has a fast growing set of geoscientifc methods, bundled in exchangeable Module Libraries.
The standard modules are:
- File access: interfaces to various table, vector, image and grid file formats, including shapefileShapefileThe Esri Shapefile or simply a shapefile is a popular geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other software products.Shapefiles spatially describe geometries:...
s, Esri gridESRI gridAn Esri grid is a raster GIS file format developed by Esri, which has two formats:#A proprietary binary format, also known as an ARC/INFO GRID, ARC GRID and many other variations...
s (ASCII and binary), and numerous grid file formats that are supported by the GDALGDALGDAL is a library for reading and writing raster geospatial data formats, and is released under the permissive X/MIT style free software license by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. As a library, it presents a single abstract data model to the calling application for all supported formats...
library, in addition to the native SGRD format of SAGA GIS. - Filter for grids: Gaussian, Laplacian, multi-directional Lee filter.
- Gridding: interpolationInterpolationIn the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points....
from vector data using triangulation, nearest neighbour, inverse distance. - Geostatistics: residual analysis, ordinary and universal kriging, single and multiple regression analysis, variance analysis.
- Grid calculator: combine grids through user defined functions.
- Grid discretisation: skeletonisation, segmentationSegmentation (image processing)In computer vision, segmentation refers to the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple segments . The goal of segmentation is to simplify and/or change the representation of an image into something that is more meaningful and easier to analyze...
. - Grid tools: merging, resampling, gap filling.
- Image classification: cluster analysis, box classification, maximum likelihood, pattern recognition, region growing.
- ProjectionsMap projectionA map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
: various coordinate transformations for vector and grid data (using Proj4 and GeoTrans libraries), georeferencing of grids. - Simulation of dynamic processes: TOPMODEL, nitrogen distributions, erosion, landscape development.
- Terrain analysis: geomorphometricalGeomorphometryGeomorphometry is the science of quantitative land surface analysis. It gathers various mathematical, statistical and image processing techniques that can be used to quantify morphological, hydrological, ecological and other aspects of a land surface. Common synonyms for geomorphometry are...
calculations such as slope, aspect, curvatures, curvature classification, analytical hillshading, sink eliminition, flow path analysis, catchment delineation, solar radiation, channel lines, relative altitudes. - Vector tools: polygon intersection, contour lines from grid.
SAGA GIS is an effective tool with user friendly GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
that requires only about 10 MB disk space. No installation needed.
Available for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and also FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
.
SAGA GIS can be used together with other GIS software like Kosmo
Kosmo
Kosmo is a desktop geographic information system with advanced functions. It is the first of a series of developments that are being made available to the community....
to get better vector data and map producing capabilities. SAGA GIS modules can be executed from within the statistical data analysis software R
R (programming language)
R is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The R language is widely used among statisticians for developing statistical software, and R is widely used for statistical software development and data analysis....
in order to integrate statistical
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
and GIS analyses.