Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

I'm sure most of you, if not all, have heard of Global Positioning System programs, or GPS. You probably know that GPS is very useful when dealing with specific locations. Today I want to talk about a similar, yet quite different, program called Geographic Information System or GIS.

GIS is a computer program used to interpret spatial data. The program provides tools for solving specific problems related to spatial data. A lot of the spatial data is represented and easily interpreted by using a map, or integrating multiple layers of information onto one map. For example, you work for a company that manages the natural resources for a specific area. GIS would be a great tool to use. It allows you to integrate and compare multiple sets of data that may include: topography of the land, water use, soil type, crop type, roadways, land use, and allows you to set boundaries for each.

If you have ever used Google Earth before you can think of GIS as a more advanced product. Google Earth is very good at finding specific locations and giving you the exact latitude/longitude readings. With GIS you can do the same thing as Google Earth, but you can also add multiple features and labels that you cannot add when using Google Earth.

Now that you have somewhat of an understanding of what the program is used for I would like to talk about my personal experiences when using the GIS program. GIS can be a very complex program, but because of the complexity of the program it can provide very useful information that cannot be used elsewhere. There are parts of the program that I think can be very confusing at times, and other parts of the program that are pretty basic and straightforward. The program has a good layout that is basic enough to find the functions and features one needs to get a desired output. The program makes it easy to maneuver between different layers by displaying an easily accessible table of contents bar as well as a catalog. What I found confusing was once you have your final product, the way you go about saving your file/forwarding file to someone else. It does not always save into one file, sometimes it is separated into multiple files so you have to know what files are needed to access all of the information. If one file is not saved properly, or not attached to the rest of the files, some information may be left out. Another problem with the program is the files being saved/uploaded can get pretty big. If you have poor internet connection or on a server with multiple people using the internet, the files may take hours to load or not even load at all. I recommend using a personal computer versus a public computer network.

Pros of GIS:

• analyze large quantities of data
• analyze several different kinds of data and compare relationships
• compare changes of geographical area over time
• integrate multiple data sets
• allows you to add layers of maps on top of each other
• shows you boundary errors and allows you to fix them
• gives you a visual representation of data sets
• data use is widely available

Cons of GIS:

• can be a very complex program
• results can appear more reliable than they actually are
• importing false information from the internet makes your final product unreliable
• some data may not be free to the public and can be very expensive or hard to purchase
• can be a very slow program without ideal internet connection
• saving/forwarding files can be confusing

Overall this program has changed how people interpret maps. Instead of having three or four different maps on paper and having to flip back and forth, GIS allows you to incorporate all of those maps into one. This allows for easier comparison and to easily identify relationships. With increasing technology I expect this program to only get better and will allow for more data to be imported. 

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Corey