GIS: A Step Above Essay -- Business Essays

GIS: A Step Above Urban growth in the suburbs and maintaining what is already built is one problem facing the United States today. One difficulty in regional planning is the visualization of the area in question. Finding the problem areas, addressing all the issues involved, and discovering the best way to implement changes can create challenges for those in charge. A technology that is growing to accommodate the various areas of study which helps address these issues is Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Geographical Information Systems is the prime tool for spatial research. GIS at work Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used in a wide variety of businesses across the United States. The program can compile various amounts and types of data into the system’s database. The computer can then use the information to aid in spatially analyzing a specific research topic. Information stored in the GIS database is structured to order the information in separate applications. In a study of an urban street, information about the poverty statistics over the last decade would be saved separate from the literacy percentages. This input data could serve to catalog all the information a homeless shelter would record for the different neighborhoods around it. The computer software of the GIS system is what is used to analyze that data. GIS provides â€Å"an accessible, realistic model of what exists in the real world,† (Martà ­n 2) which allows different types of questions to be addressed. â€Å"Spacial means related to the space around us, in which we live and function.† (Clarke 2) The foundation for the use of GIS is to incorporate the many details of life in one location to describe the unit as a whole. ... ...ilities of GIS makes the program software realiable, accurate, and updatable. 6) Martà ­n, David. Geographic Information Systems: socioeconomic applications. Ed. 2. Routledge: London, 1996. - This book defines GIS by its uses, history, and the principles behind the technology. Its purpose is to explain to newcomers how to use the software. It details recent advances in GIS. 7) Vine, Marilyn F., Darrah Degnan, and Carol Hanchette. Geographic information systems: their use in environmental epidemiologic research. Journal of Environmental Health v. 61 no3 (Oct. ‘98) p. 7-16. - This article shows how GIS allows for researchers to show the relationship between human exposure and inset of the disease. The data from previous technology analysis used with the recent data can be used to show the spatial relationsihp of these elements.