Geographic information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is typically defined as a computer software package designed to facilitate the analysis and display of geographically referenced spatial data by providing four general capabilities:
- Data input (encoding)
- Data management (i.e. archival, storage, query and retrieval)
- Statistical analysis (both basic data analysis and methods unique to spatial analysis)
- Output (display and input into other software)
All four of these functions involve interactions between the software system and the user, and most modern GIS packages are designed to allow the user to display the data and results associated with each function inside the program (i.e. most packages include a visual display and a graphical user interface, or GUI). GIS is primarily used to analyze spatial data acquired from cartographic records or remote sensing imagery, although GIS could theoretically be used to analyze any type of multidimensional data. [1]
GIS and Remote Sensing
Because much of the spatial data used in GIS is based on remotely sensed images, the software systems designed for GIS and those designed for the processing of remotely sensed images are intimately related, and many of the major GIS packages include at least basic image processing capabilities, and image processing applications vice versa.
GIS Software Packages
As with many other software applications, both proprietary systems and open source systems are available. The majority of the proprietary systems are limited to the Microsoft Windows operating system, while the open source systems tend to work with several different OS types.
ArcGIS
Owned by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), ArcGIS is probably the GIS used by the majority of landscape ecologists.
- ↑ Jensen, J. R. (1996) Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective. Prentice Hall Series in Geographic Information Science. Clarke, K. C. (ed.). Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States. 316 p.