Construction of a Sports Geographic Information Digital Archive

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to build a "Sports Geographic Information Digital Archive," a website which specializes in sports and physical activities in Japan, and to have people utilize the spatial data, statistical data and maps. This archive presents six themes of sport : professional sports, amateur sports, afterschool sports clubs, female sports, sports industry and sports facilities. Thematic maps have been created using GIS software and offer demographic data, sports data, and short descriptive texts on the maps and references as they are uploaded to a server. Since March 31, 2011, 134 thematic maps have been available for viewing by anyone over the Internet. This archive can be accessed through the following three ways : ① Using a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. Using a web browser, the archive can be accessed without restrictions on time or place as long as an Internet connection is ensured. The archive was developed on the assumption that most people would access this site using a web browser. ② Using ArcGIS Explorer, which is a free GIS viewer issued by Esri Japan. This software gives users an easy way to explore, visualize, and share GIS information. ③ Using ArcGIS DesktopIn these three ways, ArcGIS Desktop alone makes it possible to process a thematic map. Currently, all thematic maps offered by this archive are classified only at the prefecture level. In the near future, municipally-classified thematic maps and a chronologically ordered listing of those maps are scheduled to be appended to the archive.