Geo ra is for at yste s® Technology Wit a tore? Thomas A. Wikle Department of Geography Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078 Geographic Information Systems A Brief Overview Tremendous advances in computing technology, especially graphics, have facilitated new methods for investigating and modelling our geographic environment. Many of these procedures for analyzing spatial data were barely conceivable a few decades ago. The phrase "geographic information system" (GIS) is now frequently used to refer to a group of spatially oriented activities for collecting, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying geographic information . Although definitions for GIS vary widely, nearly all use a combination of computer software and hardware to analyze and display geographic information in the form of "layers." Single layers usually contain a group of similar features such as property boundaries, census tracts, soils, or road networks. Although graphic display is an important part of GIS, it is the capacity to perform spatial analyses such as polygon overlay or nearest neighbor analysis that differentiates GIS from other graphics programs (Newell and Theriault 1990). Geographic analysis using map layers dates back to hinged troop movement maps used in the American Revolution . Although the idea for performing such analysis with
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