Validating your GIS with Network Analysis

Introduction
Oftentimes the GIS facilities layer is called upon to support numerous applications. The challenge for GIS is to provide the correct data scheme and information needed to support the numerous applications. Questions that often arise concerning these additional applications include “How robust must the GIS facilities layer be? ’’and “Can it handle all the chores demanded of it?” If part of your GIS initiative is to perform complex analysis such as hydraulic network modeling, your facilities layer will be challenged in many ways. If the facility layer is not designed for the unique challenges of network analysis from the beginning, it is unlikely that it will be successful for modeling at the end. Therefore, it is critical to assess the data quality prior to network analysis to ensure accurate modeling results. To achieve this goal requires assessing the components necessary for network analysis. The components for hydraulic analysis are connectivity, facility information and demand information. The easiest and most complete way to test the quality of these three components is to use the network analysis tool during the data capture phase. Using network analysis as a part of your quality assurance and quality control (QAIQC) procedures fhrther ensures that your GIS facility information is complete and accurate. Incorporating network analysis as a part of your QA/QC also provides additional benefits to other related GIS applications.

QA/QC Work Flow
Incorporating network analysis as a part of the QA/QC work flow procedures is shown in the diagram below.

Figww 1: QA/QCwith Network Analysis