GIS
GIS is a computer-based tool that facilitates mapping and spatial analysis of Earth's features and events. Using GIS, otherwise disparate data can be related on the basis of common geographic location, creating new information from existing data resources. Hidden in most data is a geographical component: an address, postal code, census block, city, county, or latitude/longitude coordinate. GIS software lets you see, explore, and analyze data by location, revealing hidden patterns, relationships, and trends that are not readily apparent in spreadsheets or statistical packages. With GIS, you can display soil types, track crime patterns, analyze animal migration patterns, find the best location for an expanding business, model the path of atmospheric pollution, and much more. You don't use a GIS simply to make static maps, although you
These themes can be turned off and on with a click of a button to communicate different information to the user. Not only will these technologies create a great demand for spatial data, but also GIS databases will have to be standardized across platforms. The raster format is a grid of thousands or millions of cells such as you see in a scanned document or FAX. One can automatically generate buffers around features, overlay themes to analyze interactions, perform neighborhood analysis, and find least-cost paths, just to name a few capabilitiesWithin a few years GIS will become so seamlessly integrated with Internet technologies, wireless communications, and personal navigation systems, that it will be part of our daily activities. But GIS can do much more than that. If, for example, you have a building theme of a college campus, each building would have information stored in the database that might include its name, the number of stories, its area, its construction date, when it was last painted, and its primary function. Many users of GIS do nothing more than make pretty hardcopy maps. GIS organizes information normally seen on a single map into layers or themes, such as roads, streams, buildings, contour lines, etc. All true GIS programs can perform data analysis on the layers. Associated with each theme is a database table that lists attributes for each individual feature in the theme. From your car you'll easily be able to find the quickest way to your favorite restaurant while avoiding traffic snarls. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems.
Common topics in this essay:
Data Formats,
Using GIS,
Systems GIS,
GIS Internet,
,
using gis,
data analysis,
gis programs,
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