What Actually GIS is?

                            What Actually GIS is?

    GIS is expressed in individual letters G – I – S and not at pronunciation GIS. It stands for
geographic or geographical information systems. Geographic Information Science is a new
interdisciplinary field. It is built upon knowledge from geography, cartography, computer science, mathematics etc.

        GIS can be defined as ‘A system for Capturing, storing, checking, integrating, manipulating, analysing and displaying data which are spatially referenced to the Earth. This is normally considered to involve a spatially referenced computer database and appropriate applications software’. GIS needs spatial data, this makes it unique. Here spatial means – related to the space– the real world location. That is why GIS is based on basic geographic concepts.

  
      A Geographic Information System is an integration of computer hardware and software which can create manipulate, and analyze a geographically referenced data base to produce new maps and tabular data GIS includes the capabilities of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Data Base Management Systems (DBMS), but is more than just a combination of those systems. In a GIS, a relationship between the graphic map data and the tabular data base is maintained so that changes to the map are reflected in the data base GIS allows automatic determination of the relationships between maps, and can create new maps of those relationships.

Geographic Information System (GIS) can also be defined as:
  The organized activity by which people

Measure aspects of geographic phenomena and processes;

* Represent these measurements, usually in the form of a computer database, to emphasize spatial themes, entities, and relationships;
* Operate upon these representations to produce more measurements and to discover new relationships by integrating disparate sources
* Transform these representations to conform to other frameworks of entities and relationships.

 * These activities reflect the larger context (institutions and cultures) in which these people carry out their work. In turn, the GIS may influence these structures.

 Other Definitions:

    Many people offer definitions of GIS. In the range of definitions presented below, different emphases are placed on various aspects of GIS. Some miss the true power of GIS, its ability to integrate information and to help in making decisions, but all include the essential features of spatial references and data analysis.

 
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