Skip to main content

What is GIS?

          Once I started writing this blog, I received a number of feedbacks from readers asking me to write something about what exactly GIS is. So here is some information, that will give you an idea about "What is GIS?"

          A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.
 
          A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework.

          People use GIS to map locate where things are and let you find places that have the feature that you are looking for, and to see where to take action. A simple example of this is Geocaching. People map quantities, like where the most and least are, to find places that meet their criteria and take action, or to see the relationships between places. This gives an additional level of information beyond simply mapping the locations of features.

          While you can see concentrations by simply mapping the locations of features, in areas with many features it may be difficult to see which areas have a higher concentration than others. A density map lets you measure the number of features using a uniform areal unit, such as acres or square miles, so you can clearly see the distribution. Mapping density is especially useful when mapping areas, such as census tracts or counties, which vary greatly in size. On maps showing the number of people per census tract, the larger tracts might have more people than smaller ones. But some smaller tracts might have more people per square mile—a higher density.

         GIS is also used to monitor what's happening and to take specific action by mapping what's inside a specific area. For example, a district attorney would monitor drug-related arrests to find out if an arrest is within 1,000 feet of a school--if so, stiffer penalties apply.

         GIS can also be used to locate what's nearby a specific location. Map change is used to anticipate future needs. For example, a police chief might study how crime patterns change from month to month to help decide where officers should be assigned.

         This article must have given you a general idea of "What is GIS?" Do drop in your comments here or send me your feedbacks at my mail address!
Labels:

Comments

  1. BharariNovember 24, 2010 at 7:46 AM

    In past when GIS was not there people who depend on doing there things geographically were using paper maps like defense and government bodies. Now the maps are digitized and they can be viewed in GIS applications. More than this GIS applications provide additional facilities for there user specific requirements. So GIS is a software system which deals with Geographical data and provides intelligence which reduce human efforts, provide greater flexibility.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MarkNovember 24, 2010 at 11:45 AM

    Nice description and explanation about GIS. Heard to many times that GIS is ESRI, while these days it goes beyond that. Nowadays the normal citizen can gain from what GIS has to offer.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shreerang PatwardhanNovember 24, 2010 at 6:12 PM

    Absolutely Mark. Today a normal citizen can also gain so much from GIS and not just the corporates!

    ReplyDelete
  4. BharathiFebruary 17, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    Nice post on GIS, this can make a layman to understand GIS. As a GIS person i appreciate the way u have put in.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shreerang PatwardhanFebruary 17, 2011 at 2:00 AM

    Thank you Bharathi...

    ReplyDelete
  6. rajeswariMarch 22, 2024 at 12:42 AM

    Hi,
    Great article! Your insights are spot on GIS. I especially appreciate your point about education of geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software. It's evident you've done your research. Keep up the excellent work! Looking forward to reading more from you.

    Here is sharing snowflake online Training related stuff that may be helpful to you.
    snowflake online training

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please leave your comments here...

Recommended for You

Retriving co-ordinates...

         We have seen 2 Google Maps API v3 examples wherein we have retrieved the latitude-longitude co-ordinates of the point of click on the map. In the first example we have displayed the co-ordinates in the information window and in the second , we have displayed the co-ordinates in a form in the information window.         Today we will create a code to retrieve the latitude longitude co-ordinates in a text box while simultaneously a marker appears on the map as well. So, here goes the code. <html> <head> <title> Google Maps API v3 - Adding marker on Click and retrieving the co-ordinates in a text box </title> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var map;    //When using event as a parameter to a function declare map, strictly as a global variable fun...
5 comments
Read more

Google Street View Image API

    Street View is one of most used feature of the Google Maps and why not? You can actually see any part of the world as if you are visiting the place at that very moment. And now with the Google Street View Image API, you don't even need to carry a camera with you to the places you visit. You can take-in all the scenic beauty without even bothering about clicking a single picture. You can come back from your vacation and get a few images using the Google Street View Image API and show those images to your friends and relatives. Create an album of high definition images and go ahead and share it on Facebook for your friends to have a look.     Using the Google Street View Image API is very simple and anybody can make use of it without any programming knowledge required. I will walk you through the entire process of effectively using the Google Street View Image API. So if you are set, let's go on an amazing ride across the globe with the Google Street Views. ...
1 comment
Read more

Jquery Mobile - Listview with data-inset property

    In the previous post we looked at a basic example of the jQuery Mobile listview. The listview in jQuery Mobile stretches 100% of the width with sharp edges and straight corners. If you wish to have rounded corners for your lists you need to make use of the data-inset="true" property.     Lets take a look at the example below. The lists as seen in the result below have rounded corners as opposed to the straight edges in the example in the previous post, where we had not made use of the data-inset property. When we say that we did not use the data-inset property, we mean that the value of data-inset property is "false". UPDATE: The following example makes use of the next stable version of Jquery Mobile 1.3.1     Hope you have followed the post. Do let me know your feedback on the same and drop your commenets below.
Post a Comment
Read more

Jquery Mobile Form - Search input

    Input field of type search is newly introduced in HTML5 and is very well styled. The style is further enhanced when using the Jquery Mobile framework and we will see how this can be done in today's post. Jquery Mobile styles the search input type with capsule-corners and adds a 'x' icon to the right end, which clears the text in the search box.      The seacrch input elements are available in 2 flavors/sizes - regular and mini.   Adding a data attribute data-mini="true" to the input tag renders a smaller sized input element. Let's take a look at the code sample below to understand the working in a better way.      In the code above, you will see 4 different implementations of the input search element. The first one is a regular input of type search with the label and the searchbox one below the other. The second implementation is exactly similar to the first implementation with the only difference of the added data attrib...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jquery Mobile - Filtering the Listview

    So you have a very long list of items and you want to provide the users with a searching facility. There is nothing to worry here. Jquery Mobile provides a very simple solution to a very difficult and time-comsuming looking problem.   jQuery Mobile provides a very easy way to filter a list with a simple client-side search feature. To make a list filterable, simply add the  data-filter="true"  attribute to the list. The framework will then append a search box above the list and add the behavior to filter out list items that don't contain the current search string as the user types. The input's placeholder text defaults to "Filter items...".     Now again, this is not going to satisfy the client. The client will not like the default search and will ask for  customization . No problem again. We can do it very easily again by virtue of the Jquery Mobile framework.   To configure the placeholder text in the search input,  use the data ...
Post a Comment
Read more