GIS works as a tool to help frame an organizational problem. The tool can help organizations make various analysis with acquired data, and to share results that can be tailored to different audiences through maps, reports, charts, and tables and delivered in printed or digital format.

People working in many different fields use GIS technology. GIS technology can be used for scientific investigations, resource management, and development planning. Many retail businesses use GIS to help them determine where to locate a new store.

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.

It can help you better understand the area or community in which you’re working. A GIS map can show a large amount of information all at once. It may, for instance, illustrate for a targeted neighborhood abandoned buildings, population density, and the age, income, ethnicity, and education level of the population.

GIS Provides a Comprehensive View and Understanding You can use that location within your GIS to look at data from various sources, systems, or departments. You can analyze community assets in relation to other assets or features of the community to gain valuable context and greater understanding.

Geographic Information Systems are powerful decision-making tools for any business or industry since it allows the analyzation of environmental, demographic, and topographic data. Data intelligence compiled from GIS applications help companies and various industries, and consumers, make informed decisions.

A Geographic Information System (GIS) combines the visual elements and features on a map with the ability to link characteristics about these features in databases. This relationship provides a means for GIS to locate, display, analyze, and model information.

Geographic Information Systems, or GIS for short, is “a system of hardware and software that supports the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, and display of Geographic Information.” Geographic Information is basically data that specify the exact location of geographic features, manmade or natural, as well as.

• 1.0 INTRODUCTION. GIS is a computer-based system that is used in input, output, storage, manipulation, retrieval and analysis of spatial data.
• 1.1 SPATIAL DATA.
• 1.1.1 Spatial Data Representations.
• 1.2 DATA FORMAT.
• 1.3 DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL (DEM)
• 1.3.1 TIN.
• 1.3.2 Interpolation.
• 1.4 GIS OPERATIONS.

The three types of GIS Data are -spatial, –attribute, & —metadata

• vector data.
• raster or grid data (matrices of numbers describing e.g., elevation, population, herbicide use, etc.
• images or pictures such as remote sensing data or scans of maps or other photos.

The most important GIS component is the data – how it is managed and accessed. Data is stored as geographic data (spatial data) and related tabular data (non-spatial data). Data comes in various formats, and GIS integrates such spatial data and non-spatial data by using DBMS.

A GIS helps users answer questions and solve problems by looking at data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared, and GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. A working GIS integrates these five key components: hardware, software, data, people, and methods.

People. GIS technology is of limited value without the people who manage the system and develop plans for applying it to real world problems. GIS users range from technical specialists who design and maintain the system to those who use it to help them perform their everyday work.

Hardware – GIS hardware has equipment that helps in supporting the many activities that are important for geospatial analysis. People – The other component of GIS is people. It has professionals who are well-trained and knowledgeable and skilled in using GIS software and in spatial analysis.

The 5 Layers of GIS Mapping: What They Are and How They Work

• Mapping Reality: Spatial Reference Frameworks.
• Storing Mapped Data: Spatial Data Models.
• Collecting Geographic Data: Spatial Data Acquisition Systems.
• Turning Geographic Data into Useful Information: Spatial Data Analysis.
• Consuming Geographic Data: Geo-visualization and Information Delivery.

Attribute data can be store as one of five different field types in a table or database: character, integer, floating, date, and BLOB. The character property (or string) is for text based values such as the name of a street or descriptive values such as the condition of a street.

Common uses of GIS include inventory and management of resources, crime mapping, establishing and monitoring routes, managing networks, monitoring and managing vehicles, managing properties, locating and targeting customers, locating properties that match specific criteria and managing agricultural crop data.

Layers are used in GIS based on ease of use and data collection. Data is generally collected as a layer (i.e. a road survey collects data about roads, a vegetation survey collects data about vegetation). Layers allow you to view data effectively.

GIS data can be separated into two categories: spatially referenced data which is represented by vector and raster forms (including imagery) and attribute tables which is represented in tabular format.

10 Free GIS Data Sources: Best Global Raster and Vector Datasets

• Esri Open Data Hub.
• Natural Earth Data.
• USGS Earth Explorer.
• OpenStreetMap.
• NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
• Open Topography.
• UNEP Environmental Data Explorer.
• NASA Earth Observations (NEO)

Download free GIS data:

1. Harvard Geospatial Library. Search your topic .
2. National Geospatial Program. USGS.
3. Earth Explorer USGS. Data and maps of World and U.S.
4. Historic USGS Maps of New England & NY.
5. Historical GIS Research Network.
6. Edina.
7. Open Geoportal (Tufts)
8. Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

GIS applications (or GIS apps) are computer-based tools that allow the user to create interactive queries (user-created searches), store and edit spatial and non-spatial data, analyze spatial information output, and visually share the results of these operations by presenting them as maps.

Google Earth is not a Geographic Information System (GIS) with the extensive analytical capabilities of ArcGIS or MapInfo, but is much easier to use than these software packages. Google Maps and Earth Engine can be used in all major web browsers and platforms.

Google Earth gathers the highest resolution imagery where possible and works to eliminate seams, discoloration as well as other image artifacts. You can learn more here.

Import a GIS shapefile, or other vector dataset

1. Select Import… from the File menu.
2. Select your data’s file type from the Files of type menu.
3. A message will appear, stating that the file contains more than 2500 features and could cause application performance degradation.

There are several popular programs that can be used to open a SHP file. Try one of the three most common programs: Unknown Apple II File, Clarion for Windows Ship List, or 3D Modeling.

1 Answer

1. Go to a place on the map.
2. Above the map, click Add Path. To add a shape, click Add Polygon.
3. A “New Path” or “New Polygon” dialog will pop up.
4. To draw the line or shape you want, click a start point on the map and drag.
5. Click an endpoint.
6. Click OK.