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Geographic Information System

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Synonyms

Geospatial information system; Spatial information system

Definition

A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer application designed to perform a wide range of operations on geographic information. Geographic information is defined as information about locations on or near the surface of the Earth, and may be organized in a variety of ways. Thus a GIS includes functions to input, store, visualize, export, and analyze such information. Commercial off-the-shelf GIS software is today capable of virtually any conceivable operation on geographic information, and capable of recognizing hundreds of different formats. GISs are used in a wide range of applications, from the management of the distributed assets of utility companies to emergency response. Their scientific applications are found in any discipline that deals with phenomena distributed over the surface of the Earth, from ecology to criminology. Increasingly GIS technology is encountered by ordinary citizens, in the...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Arctur D, Zeiler M. Designing geodatabases: case studies in GIS data modeling. Redlands: ESRI Press; 2004.

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  2. Clarke KC. Getting started with geographic information systems. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall; 2003.

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  3. Foresman TW, editor. The history of geographic information systems: perspectives from the pioneers. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall; 1998.

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  4. Longley PA, Goodchild MF, Maguire DJ, Rhind DW. Geographic information systems and science. Chichester: Wiley; 2005.

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  5. van Oosterom P. Spatial access methods. In: Longley PA, Goodchild MF, Maguire DJ, Rhind DW, editors. Geographical information systems. New York: Wiley; 1999. p. 385–400.

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  6. Worboys MF, Duckham M. GIS: a computing perspective. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2004.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Michael F Goodchild

Authors
  1. Michael F Goodchild
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael F Goodchild .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Section Editor information

  1. Computer Science, University of Hagen, Hagen, Germany

    Ralf Hartmut Güting

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media LLC

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Goodchild, M.F. (2016). Geographic Information System. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_178-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_178-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7993-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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