What Is GIS?

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a database management system (DBMS) for capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data and related information. The GIS data is referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates (i.e. city name, state name or zip code) and can be integrated with additional sources of data.

GIS applications cross all disciplines. Some common GIS applications are in the areas of:

  • Urban planning
  • Business and marketing
  • Environmental law/planning
  • Geology
  • Transportation
  • Health care
  • Criminology
  • Archaeology

Want to know more? Check out this short video and our GIS resources page!