What Is GIS?

The GI stands for Geographic Information. The S can be either Science or System. You will often see them used interchangeably because they are very closely related. Basically, you do GIScience with a GISystem.

What is GIScience?

The science and study of geospatial information:

  • GIScience is a framework we use to understand spatial information.

    • Rooted in Cartography, but it is inherently multidisciplinary
    • Draws on Computer Science, Mathematics & Statistics, Remote Sensing, and many other fields.

What is a GISystem?

Any system or tool we use to store and analyze geospatial information can broadly be considered a GISystem.

  • Until a the late 20th century, atlases and library map catalogues were our most advanced GIS.
  • Now we have a wide range of computer and web based GISystems.
    • Ranging from the “desktop” GIS applications like ArcGIS Pro that you will be using to cloud computing systems that can Terabytes of planetary scale data.

What is a GISystem?

Credit - https://gisgeography.com/what-is-gis/

What can be done with GIS?

GIS can be used to help solve a wide range of geographic problems in different fields:

  • Public Health (Epidemiology)
  • Planning (Urban, Hazards)
  • Resource Management
  • Economics
  • Ecology & Biology
  • Climate Science
  • Social Justice
  • Conservation

TopHat Question 1

GIS is an acronym that stands for:

  • Geographic Information Science
  • Geographic Information System
  • Both Geographic Information Science and Geographic Information System

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