GIS

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Acronym

  • GIS stands for Geographic Information System or Geographic Information Science (depending on whether it refers to a particular database solution or the general disciplinary and technical approach).

Description

Deascription from Wikipedia (snapshot of 2019-10-12):

A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data. GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data in maps, and present the results of all these operations. GIS (more commonly GIScience) sometimes refers to geographic information science (GIScience), the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems.

GIS can refer to a number of different technologies, processes, techniques and methods. It is attached to many operations and has many applications related to engineering, planning, management, transport/logistics, insurance, telecommunications, and business. For that reason, GIS and location intelligence applications can be the foundation for many location-enabled services that rely on analysis and visualization.

GIS can relate unrelated information by using location as the key index variable. Locations or extents in the Earth space–time may be recorded as dates/times of occurrence, and x, y, and z coordinates representing, longitude, latitude, and elevation, respectively. All Earth-based spatial–temporal location and extent references should be relatable to one another and ultimately to a "real" physical location or extent. This key characteristic of GIS has begun to open new avenues of scientific inquiry.

"What is GIS?" from ArcGIS website (accessed 2019-010-17):

A geographic information system (GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. Rooted in the science of geography, GIS integrates many types of data. It analyzes spatial location and organizes layers of information into visualizations using maps and 3D scenes. ​With this unique capability, GIS reveals deeper insights into data, such as patterns, relationships, and situations—helping users make smarter decisions.

"A Gentle Introduction to GIS" from QGIS documentation (accessed 2019-10-17):

Just as we use a word processor to write documents and deal with words on a computer, we can use a GIS application to deal with spatial information on a computer. GIS stands for ‘Geographical Information System’.

A GIS consists of:

  1. Digital Data –– the geographical information that you will view and analyse using computer hardware and software.
  2. Computer Hardware –– computers used for storing data, displaying graphics and processing data.
  3. Computer Software –– computer programs that run on the computer hardware and allow you to work with digital data. A software program that forms part of the GIS is called a GIS Application.

With a GIS application you can open digital maps on your computer, create new spatial information to add to a map, create printed maps customised to your needs and perform spatial analysis.

Useful tools and resources

Training

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