(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 13:36, 24 July 2006 Peter (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Revision as of 13:56, 24 July 2006 Peter (Talk | contribs) Next diff → |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| - | Data formats | + | Introduction to GIS and formats |
| - | Basic formats | + | In order to work effectively with large quantities of data the use of geographic information systems (GIS) is necessary. |
| + | |||
| + | Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a computer programs that organize, display, and analyze spatially distributed data. At its simplest, GIS is "mapping", providing a geographic arrangement of extremely diverse information. GIS has been applied in geology, biology, psychology, anthropology etc., and has been around in Crop Forecasting for a long time. | ||
| + | |||
| + | General purpose GIS programs are designed to capture and analyze any kind of geographical data. The most common commercial GIS software packages worldwide are: | ||
| + | * [[http://www.esri.com|ArcGIS]] | ||
| + | * [[http://www.mapinfo.com|MapInfo]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | However the open-source community has created a wide range of free tools (to be downloaded from the internet). A nice start page can be found here: http://www.mapcruzin.com/free_gis.htm | ||
Revision as of 13:56, 24 July 2006
Introduction to GIS and formats
In order to work effectively with large quantities of data the use of geographic information systems (GIS) is necessary.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a computer programs that organize, display, and analyze spatially distributed data. At its simplest, GIS is "mapping", providing a geographic arrangement of extremely diverse information. GIS has been applied in geology, biology, psychology, anthropology etc., and has been around in Crop Forecasting for a long time.
General purpose GIS programs are designed to capture and analyze any kind of geographical data. The most common commercial GIS software packages worldwide are:
However the open-source community has created a wide range of free tools (to be downloaded from the internet). A nice start page can be found here: http://www.mapcruzin.com/free_gis.htm