GIS - Geographic Information System

What is GIS?

Many definitions for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been developed since the beginnings in the early seventies. A quite simple definition would be:

A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that happen on earth.

Most of these things have a critical geographic dimension. The value of GIS as a tool consists of its capability to store, manipulate, analyze and display data related to positions on the Earth's surface. Whether finding the best soil for growing vegetables, or figuring out the best route for a tourist footpath, these local problems are related to geographic components.

In the normal sense, 'data' is information, facts or measurements of or about a particular entity or object. Data is described as 'geographical' when it includes information about the location on the earth's surface at which the data was taken. Other expressions used to described such data include 'spatial' or 'geo-referenced' data.

GIS technology integrates common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by maps. These abilities distinguish GIS from other information systems and make it valuable to a wide range of tasks for explaining features, predicting outcomes, or planning strategies.

© 1999 TRIANET, Program of the European Union Socrates-Comenius
Last update on 05.05.1999 by Markus Zapke-Gründemann