"A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data."
The art of representing spatial data in a visually appealing and informative way, using maps, charts, and other graphics.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS): GIS is a computer-based system used for spatial data management, analysis, and visualization. It is an important tool for understanding complex spatial relationships in data.
Data Formats and Standards for GIS: Understanding data formats and standards is critical to proper data interpretation, processing, and sharing. Examples include Raster, Vector, GeoJSON, KML, and Shapefiles.
Coordinate Systems: Understanding coordinate systems, and how they relate to spatial data, is important for accurately representing geographic data on a map. Commonly used coordinate systems include Latitude/Longitude, UTM, and State Plane.
Visualization Techniques: There are many different visualization techniques that can be applied to geographic data, including choropleth maps, heat maps, point maps, and 3D visualizations.
Cartography: Cartography is the science of making maps. Understanding the principles of cartography, such as scale, symbolization, and labeling, is important for creating high-quality maps.
Spatial Statistics: Spatial statistics involves the analysis of data that is distributed across space. Techniques such as spatial autocorrelation, spatial interpolation, and cluster analysis can be used to understand spatial patterns in data.
Geocoding: Geocoding is the process of converting street addresses or other location descriptions into geographic coordinates. This is an important step in spatial analysis, as it allows data from disparate sources to be integrated and analyzed.
Spatial Data Mining: Spatial data mining involves the application of data mining techniques to spatial data. This can help identify patterns and relationships in the data that may not be apparent using traditional statistical methods.
Remote Sensing: Remote sensing involves the use of satellite or airborne sensors to collect data about the earth's surface. This data can be used to create detailed maps or to monitor changes in the environment over time.
Web Mapping: Web mapping involves the creation and sharing of interactive maps over the internet. This is an increasingly important field, as it allows users to explore geographic data in a way that is easy to use and accessible from anywhere in the world.
Choropleth maps: A choropleth map is a kind of thematic map in which areas are colored or shaded according to the statistical data being represented.
Proportional symbol maps: A proportional symbol map shows the relative size of an attribute.
Dot density maps: A dot density map is similar to a proportional symbol map, but uses dots instead of symbols to represent the data.
Graduated symbol maps: A graduated symbol map uses symbols of varying sizes to represent different values of a given attribute.
Isoline maps: An isoline map represents a continuous surface as a series of lines connecting points of equal value.
Cartograms: A cartogram is a map in which the size or shape of geographic regions is altered to represent some other factor.
Flow maps: A flow map depicts movement of goods, people, or raw materials from one place to another.
Heat maps: A heat map is a way of visualizing spatial data by plotting its density on a map.
Spatial interpolation: Spatial interpolation is a technique of estimating values for points in a grid based on values observed at surrounding grid points.
3D visualization: D visualization involves displaying geographic data in three dimensions for more realistic rendering.
Geographic Information System (GIS) animation: GIS animation is a sequence of frames that is used to create the illusion of motion or change in maps or other visualizations.
Time series maps: A time series map displays changes in data over time using a sequence of maps.
Voronoi maps: A Voronoi map divides a space into a set of polygons, each of which contains a single point, and represents areas that are closest to each point.
Network analysis: Network analysis involves measuring the distance and path between different locations on a map for use in transportation, logistics, and other applications.
Spatial statistics: Spatial statistics is the study of spatially dependent data and the application of statistical methods to analyze such data.
"[A GIS] consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data."
"Much of this often happens within a spatial database, however, this is not essential to meet the definition of a GIS."
"One may consider such a system also to include human users and support staff, procedures and workflows, the body of knowledge of relevant concepts and methods, and institutional organizations."
"The uncounted plural, geographic information systems, also abbreviated GIS, is the most common term for the industry and profession concerned with these systems."
"The academic discipline that studies these systems and their underlying geographic principles, may also be abbreviated as GIS, but the unambiguous GIScience is more common."
"They are attached to various operations and numerous applications, that relate to: engineering, planning, management, transport/logistics, insurance, telecommunications, and business."
"GIS and location intelligence applications are at the foundation of location-enabled services, which rely on geographic analysis and visualization."
"GIS provides the capability to relate previously unrelated information, through the use of location as the 'key index variable'."
"Locations and extents that are found in the Earth's spacetime are able to be recorded through the date and time of occurrence, along with x, y, and z coordinates."
"[x, y, and z coordinates representing] longitude (x), latitude (y), and elevation (z)."
"All Earth-based, spatial-temporal, location and extent references should be relatable to one another, and ultimately, to a 'real' physical location or extent."
"This key characteristic of GIS has begun to open new avenues of scientific inquiry and studies." Note: Since not all 20 questions can be answered directly by quotes from the paragraph, I have provided answers for the available quotes.