GIS For Dummies

An easy-to-understand reference for navigating through geographic information systems (GIS) This guide avoids equations, computer codes, and overwhelming detail and instead provides a clear explanation as to how GIS technology captures, stores, counts, characterizes, integrates, analyzes, and displays data about the earth. Learn to: Use GIS technology as it applies to your business Retrieve, analyze, and interpret geographic data Recognize geographic patterns and distributions Design and implement a GIS Curious about GIS? Organizing a GIS? Here's the book you need! Geographic information system, or GIS, is a powerful technology that has been called "geography on steroids." This book contains what you need to know on mapping terminology and digital mapping, how to locate geographic features and analyze their patterns, and how to generate travel directions, customer locations lists, and much more with GIS. GIS takes a village — know all the hardware and software necessary to collect, analyze, and manipulate GIS data Just for map mavens — explore the difference between 2D and 3D maps, create a map, or manage multiple maps What the data mean — analyze patterns that appear in maps and interpret the results Think spatially — recognize how spatial factors relate to geographic data On the grid — define and locate geographic objects on the grid The earth is not flat — accurately portray geographic features with map projections Technological duct tape — discover the many uses of GIS for business, the military, city planning, emergency services, land management, and more Design a GIS — determine what your organization needs, do appropriate analyses, and plan your system Open the book and find: How to get paper maps into your computer Different ways to measure distance How to…