GIS Services: A Snapshot Of The Before, During And After
GIS services are becoming more important today. GIS or geographic information systems are properly defined as a database of spatial information which can be accessed and analyzed at will. One can think of it as Google Earth on steroids, but Google Earth is actually a good GIS system for most of us.
Simply put, it is a set of maps displaying different information and values, which can be overlain above each other to help in analysis and other systematic studies in geography and other fields. Thus, any geographic or spatial information can be placed in a GIS.
A Snapshot of Before
GIS can be used to store maps and other information from different time periods. This allows you to compare the development of a place as time passes by. This makes it look as if you're watching a time-lapse photo of the entire place.
This is important in studying the effects of a certain phenomenon in a landscape over time. Whether this is the effects of erosion, mapping archaeological sites, checking the distribution of fossils to determine the age of rocks, it allows you to check previous trends, thus unlocking the future. You may even use geographic information systems to track historical diseases to better predict the behavior of the next epidemic.
Analysis
GIS also allows you to keep track of current developments and conditions. Everything we do affects our landscape, and thus our maps should be able to keep track or else face the risk of being outdated. GIS is like a paper map which is updated more frequently, thus being more advantageous for planners.
This helps in places which are fast developing or changing, like forests, rivers, and mines. They can direct development to the right direction. This is also very important in predicting the effects of floods, earthquakes and fires. This also is a good basis for a weather forecasting system, since this takes the locality into consideration. In addition, new development could be seen, allowing for anticipation of services needed.
A Snapshot of After
Planning and zoning require a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of the geographic and spatial information which create that living system. Thus, all the correlations and previous information are needed to create models or predictions about the future, giving the GIS a very important role in the regional planning process.
Having a lot of spatial information, which could be analyzed through the finding of a correlation is essential in planning. Thus, GIS services are in governments all over the world today. It is an essential, yet very intuitive tool in today's development.
GIS services
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