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Essay on GIS
GIS is a set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming, and displaying spatial data from the real world for a particular set of purposes.
The manner in which GIS has been used in support of natural resource management and other spatial applications have evolved over three phases. The primary focus in the first phase is inventory, and spatial query typically is limited to simple operations, mainly retrieval. Complex analytical operations, such as suitability analyses, develop during the second phase. The hallmark of the third phase is the capability to perform decision support. New GIS implementations should allow three to five years for each of the first two phases before expecting an institutional system to have the GIS experience necessary to fully utilize the management potential of GIS. Eastman (1993) describes a series of tools which have been developed to enhance the decision-making role of GIS, thus, holding potential to shorten the length of the GIS implementation cycle.
It is useful to distinguish between the various levels of analytical capacity in the constantly growing body of GIS and related software packages. The simplest packages in the family of GIS software perform computer mapping. At this level, maps are entered, stored, retrieved, displayed, and output, but they are not used analytically. An example of the computer mapping level is the digital atlas or the electronic map file. A more sophisticated level of mapping is achieved when a linkage is present in the software between the geographic data elements and a separate database. At this level, specific points, lines, or polygons can be selected according to criteria defined in the database. Demographic analysis and tax parcel mapping can be done with this level of software. The industry of facilities management (e.g., telephone, cable, electric, and gas) realizes significant savings by using computer-assisted drafting / computer-assisted mapping (CAD /CAM) software....
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