WHAT IS GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)?

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer based information system used to digitally represent and analyse the geographic features present on the Earth' surface and the events (non-spatial attributes linked to the geography under study) that taking place on it. The meaning to represent digitally is to convert analog (smooth line) into a digital form.

"Every object present on the Earth can be geo-referenced", is the fundamental key of associating any database to GIS. Here, term 'database' is a collection of information about things and their relationship to each other, and 'geo-referencing' refers to the location of a layer or coverage in space defined by the co-ordinate referencing system.

Work on GIS began in late 1950s, but first GIS software came only in late 1970s from the lab of the ESRI. Canada was the pioneer in the development of GIS as a result of innovations dating back to early 1960s. Much of the credit for the early development of GIS goes to Roger Tomlinson. Evolution of GIS has transformed and revolutionized the ways in which planners, engineers, managers etc. conduct the database management and analysis.

Geographic Information System (GIS) can be described as: "An organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze and display all forms of geographically referenced information.". These are computer-based systems that are designed to store a large volume of data and to efficiently retrieve, analyze and manipulate geographic information according to user defined specifications.

GIS assists in focusing user's data storage, acquisition activities, provides a framework for improving data storage and provide tools that can facilitate data management. GIS also provides these users with analytic and reporting capabilities that were unheard of before. This technology has developed so rapidly over the past two decades that it is now accepted as an essential tool for the effective use of geographic information.

Using GIS technology, geographic information can be assembled and applied in new ways. The GIS offers a practical means to manage large and diverse spatial data bases and provides effective tools to understand the relationships among diverse phenomena.
GIS is a multi-disciplinary science of Computers Geography and Engineering sciences, aimed at the betterment of the world by providing better, reliable and accurate information for decision making on time.

The present day world has realized the importance of geography ( and related ) data as part of its daily activities and now communities are increasingly becoming spatially literate.

QUESTIONS A GIS CAN ANSWER

For any GIS application there are five generic questions that a sophisticated GIS can answer

LOCATION: What is at…?

The first of these questions seeks to find out what exists at a particular location. A location can be described in many ways using, for example, a place name, a PIN code, or a geographic reference, such as latitude and longitude.

CONDITION: Where is it?

The second question is the converse of the first and requires spatial analysis to answer. Instead of identifying what exists at a given location, you want to find a location where certain conditions are satisfied (e.g. a hospital with 5 ambulances and 100 beds).

TRENDS: What has changed since..?

The third question might involve both of the two and seeks to find the difference within an area over time.

PATTERNS: What spatial patterns exist?

This question is more sophisticated. You might ask this question to determine whether cancer is a major cause of death among residents near a nuclear power station. Just as important, you might want to know how many anomalies there are that do not fit the pattern and where they are located.

MODELING: What if…?

"What if…?" questions are posed to determine what happens, for example, if a new road is added to a network, or if a toxic substance seeps into the local ground water supply. Answering this type of question requires geographic as well as other information.

Typical Uses of GIS

Oil & Gas Oil Well locations, Cross Country Pipeline mapping, Village, Forest, Govt. & cadastral mapping, ROU, ROW, Product outlets, Disaster Planning, Network Analysis, Oil & Gas prospecting using satellite imagery.	Utilities Network/capacity/maintenance planning; asset management; basemap generation; customer records; market analysis; leak detection/fault location; environmental impact studies; safety monitoring.
Local Government Planning/building control; land searches; boundary change modelling; property/highways maintenance; crimes analysis; police/fire service command and control.	Transportation Infrastructure planning/lifecycle management; Electronic Chart Display Information Systems (ECDIS); integrated transport planning; vehicle navigation.
Financial Service Branch location assessment and analysis; facilities management; demographic profiling; target marketing; insurance claim/risk modelling and analysis.	Agriculture Crop monitoring; land use management; commodity forecasting; soil studies; irrigation planning and water resource assessment.
Retailing Store location assessment and analysis; inventory and facilities management; deliveries routeing; drive-time studies.	Environment Pollution/weather/climate monitoring; cause-effect studies; landscape assessment; conservation planning; biodiversity libraries.
Health Care Asset management; ambulance routeing/mobilisation; epidemiological studies; road traffic accident analysis.

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