PrintA GIS consists of five components or characteristics:
- hardware
- software
- data
- people
- applications
The combination of these five characteristics makes a GIS. Without all these components, a GIS would have limited value as a tool for analyzing and characterizing spatial information.
Reading Assignment
- Read "What are the Parts of a Geographic Information System?" to learn more about these five components.
- Learn more about data representation at Wikipedia, including the sections titled "Raster," "Vector," "Advantages and Disadvantages," and "Non-spatial Data."
- Use of GIS for Efficient Transmission Line Siting.