What is GIS?

Dr. June Skeeter

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 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.
  • It is rooted in Cartography, the art and science of graphically mapping
    • It is inherently multidisciplinary and 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 mobile applications to cloud computing systems that can process terabytes of planetary scale data.

What can be done with GIS?

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

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

Accessing GISystems

Proprietary GIS Software

GIS is rooted in the capitalist enterprise. Consequently many of the initial developments in GIS were by for profit companies.

  • ESRI is a leading producer of GIS software. They make ArcGIS Pro, one of the most widely used GIS applications.
  • Proprietary software requires users to purchase a license.
    • Proprietary licenses are often expensive.
    • They are a barrier to access for many uses.

ArcGIS Pro

Open Source GIS Software

Open source software has proliferated in recent years. The the internet has connected like-minded developers and allowed for collaboration across the globe.

  • Open Source software is published under an open copyright license making it free to access.
    • Includes programming languages such as Python, R, Java applications such as QGIS and InkScape.
    • Open source software is more accessible because its free to download and use!

QGIS

Programmatic Approaches

GIS & Coding

There are a number of free programming languages that can be used to do GIS, each having their own advantages. Three commonly used languages include:

  • Python: Great general purpose programming language that is easy to read/write with with numerous GIS packages.
  • Javascript: The go to language for web-based maps and applications.
  • R: A statistical programming language widely used in the sciences.

Python

Arguably the most widely used and flexible option. It has a number of packages that can help us work with geospatial data. A few examples include:

  • Geopandas: Works with vector data (points, lines, & polygons) and their tabular attributes.
  • Rasterio: Works with raster data (imagery & surfaces) and their tabular attributes.
  • Geopy: Used for geocoding, converts street addresses and other text based location data to coordinates (latitude & longitude).