The Academic Definition"A system of hardware, software, data, people, organizations and institutional arrangements for collecting, storing, analyzing, and disseminating information about areas of the earth." (Dueker & Kjerne, 1989)
Tao’s DefinitionA GIS is a computer-based information system for collection, management, manipulation, analysis, presentation, and dissemination of geospatially referenced data.
A Mathematical Definition- Measure aspects of geographic phenomena and processes;
- Represent these measurements in the form of a computer database;
- Operate these representations to produce more measurements and
- To discover new relationships;
- Transform these representations to conform to other frameworks of entities and relationships.
GIS Workflow
GIS is a location based information system:
A GIS stores information about the world as a collection of layers that can be linked together by geography.
- Logical breakdown of data - related objects in each theme
- Assemble maps for different purposes by combining themes
- Examine interaction between themes
- Create new themes
Paper maps use symbolism to distinguish between layers, to compensate for the limitations of the technology
Alternative Names
- Geospatial (Spatial) Information System
- Geographic(al) Information System
- Land Information System
- Environmental Information System
- Automated Mapping/Facilities Management
- Geographical Information Sciences (GIScience)
- Geographical Information Services (GIServices)
- Desktop Mapping.
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