20 ways GIS Data is used in Business and Everyday Life:

41. Mapping

GIS can be used to provide a visual interpretation of data. Google Maps is an excellent example of a web-
based GIS mapping solution that people use for everyday navigation purposes. However, smart mapping
technology has significantly advanced and is used in products like Nobel’s GeoViewer, which gives cities,
municipalities and private industry an in-depth look at electric and water district assets in the field.

2. Telecom and Network Services

Organizations can incorporate geographic data into their complex network design, optimization, planning,
and maintenance activities. This data enhances telecom processes through better customer-relationship
management and location services.

3. Accident Analysis and Hot Spot Analysis

GIS data helps to identify accident locations, and road networks can be optimized using data intelligence.
This intelligence helps to improve road safety measures and allows better traffic management.

4. Urban planning

GIS data analyzes urban growth and the direction of expansion. When appropriately applied, it can
discover new sites for further development, considering various factors that are necessary for successful
building.

5. Transportation Planning

GIS data is commonly used for managing transportation issues. With the addition of environmental and
topical data in a GIS platform, companies can plan for a new road or rail route.

6. Environmental Impact Analysis

Data gathered via GIS applications is vital for conserving natural resources and protecting the
environment. Impact statements assess the magnitude of human impact on the environment, which GIS
integration helps indicate.

7. Agricultural Applications

GIS data helps create more efficient farming techniques, alongside analyzing soil data in an advanced
fashion. This can increase food production in different parts of the world.

8. Disaster Management and Mitigation

Efficient GIS systems protect the environment and are developed to assist risk and disaster management.

9. Navigation

Web-based navigation maps use GIS data to provide the public with useful information. Web maps are
regularly updated per GIS information and are used consistently in everyday life.

10. Flood damage estimation

Governments use GIS data to map flood risk areas and can use the information to coordinate relief
efforts.

11. Natural Resources Management

With the help of GIS information, forests can be adequately maintained and managed. It is especially
crucial for the allocation and geographic distribution of water, one of the more critical environmental
constituents.

12. Banking
Banking has evolved to become market-driven, and a bank’s success depends mainly on its ability to
provide customer-driven services. GIS data plays an essential role in planning, organizing, and decision
making in the banking industry.

13. Taxation

GIS data helps solve taxation problems and maximize government income. It is used for building permits
and engineering and offers a system for managing property tax on a geographic basis.

14. Surveying

Surveying involves measuring the location of objects on earth, and more organizations are using Global
Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for this function. This data incorporated into a GIS system can
estimate area and prepare digital maps.

15. Geology

Geologists use GIS data to analyze soil, assess seismic information, and create 3D displays of
geographic features. It can also be used to analyze rock characteristics, and identify the best location for
different functions.

16. Assets Management and Maintenance

GIS data helps organizations become more efficient with finite resources. With an understanding of the
population at risk, planners can allocate resources more efficiently.

17. Planning and Community Development

GIS data helps us understand and meet global challenges. As GIS technology rapidly advances, there
are various innovative applications in the planning sector. GIS tools can be used to integrate geographic
intelligence into planning processes, and have the potential to change how we think and behave.

18. Dairy Industry

The dairy industry uses GIS data for distribution, production, and identifying the location of shops. It is a
useful tool for planning in the field of dairy farm management and allows for better decision making.

19. Irrigation Water Management

The availability of water directly affects crop production in a given region. GIS data can identify significant
crops and determine yield, involving efficient techniques for spatial and time domain.

20. Pest Control and Management

Pest control is essential to agricultural production, and GIS technology plays a vital role in mapping out
infested areas. Organizations can consequently develop more effective pest management plans.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

A geographic information system (GIS) is a

computer system for capturing, storing,
checking, and displaying data related to
positions on Earth’s surface. GIS can show
many different kinds of data on one map,
such as streets, buildings, and vegetation.
This enables people to more easily see,
analyze, and understand patterns and
relationships.

If you have ever used Google Maps or GPS when traveling, then you've experienced the power of
GIS.

A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and
displaying data related to positions on Earth.

It can use any information that includes location. The location can be expressed in many different
ways, such as latitude and longitude, address, or ZIP code.

Many different types of information can be compared and contrasted using GIS, and we can find out
how that information relates to each other. It tells us about the landscape and people around us. GIS
is an important tool for many different jobs.

Data Capture

Data Formats

GIS data comes in many forms.

One example is cartographic data, or map data. This might include such information as the location of
rivers, roads, hills, and valleys. Cartographic data might also include survey data, or mapping
information, which can be directly entered into a GIS.

Interpreting photographs is a major part of GIS. Photo interpretation involves analyzing photographs
from above and assessing the features that appear.

Digital data can also be entered into GIS. For example, computer data collected by satellites can
show how land is used, plus the location of farms, towns, and forests. Satellites can also use GIS to
capture images in a tool called remote sensing.

Finally, GIS data can also be collected from tables or spreadsheets. One example of this is
population demographics. This is when people are grouped into certain categories. Some examples
are age, income, and ethnic background, or even internet browsing history.

GIS technology allows all these different types of information to be overlaid on top of one another on
a single map. Location is the key data point that connects seemingly unrelated information.
Spatial Relationships

GIS technology can be used to display spatial relationships and linear networks.

Spatial relationships may display topography, such as farmland and streams. They may also show
patterns of how land is used, such as the location of parks and neighborhoods.

Examples of linear networks are roads and rivers. A line on a map might indicate a road or highway.
With GIS layers, however, that road may indicate the boundary of a school district, public park, or
other land-use area.

GIS must make the information from all the various maps and sources fit together on the same scale.
A scale is the relationship between the distance on a map and the actual distance on Earth.

Often, GIS must manipulate and move data because different maps have different projections. A
projection is a way of moving information from Earth's curved surface to a flat piece of paper or
computer screen. Different types of projections accomplish this task in different ways. Whenever this
happens, there is some distortion. You can't put a curved, three-dimensional shape onto a flat surface
without stretching some parts and squeezing others.

A world map can show either the correct sizes of countries or their correct shapes, but it can't do
both. GIS takes data from maps that were made using different projections. It combines them so all
the information can be displayed using one common projection.

GIS Map

Once all the desired data have been entered into a GIS system, they can be combined to produce a
wide variety of individual maps. One of the most common uses of GIS involves comparing natural
features with human activity.

For instance, GIS maps can display what homes and businesses are in areas prone to flooding.

GIS technology also allows users to "dig deep" in a specific area with many kinds of information.
Maps of a single city or neighborhood can relate such information as voting patterns or the average
amount of money made by people there. Any GIS data layer can be added or subtracted to the same
map.

GIS maps can be used to show information about numbers and density. For example, GIS can show
how many doctors there are in a neighborhood compared with the area's population.

With GIS technology, researchers can also look at change over time. They can use satellite data to
study topics such as movement and disappearance of ice cover in the North Pole. A police
department might study changes in crime data to help determine where to assign officers.

Photography and 3-D Images

One important use of time-based GIS technology involves creating time-lapse photography. It shows
processes changing over large areas and long periods of time. For example, data showing the
movement of fluid in ocean currents help scientists better understand how moisture and heat energy
move around the globe.

GIS technology sometimes allows users to access further information about specific areas on a map.
For example, a user might click on a school to find how many students are enrolled there or how
many students there are per teacher.

Three-dimensional images are often produced with GIS systems. This is useful, for example, to
geologists studying fault lines, where earthquakes happen.
It's also easy to update maps because of GIS technology—data can simply be added to the existing
program. A new map can then be printed or displayed on screen. This skips the old way of drawing a
map, which takes time and money.

GIS technology is used for many jobs.

Many retail businesses use GIS to help them determine where to locate a new store. Scientists use
GIS to compare population statistics to resources such as drinking water. Biologists use GIS to track
animal-migration patterns.

City, state, or federal officials use GIS to help plan their response in the case of a natural disaster
such as an earthquake or hurricane. GIS maps can show these officials what neighborhoods are
most in danger or where to locate emergency shelters.

Engineers use GIS technology to design and manage the cellphone and Wi-Fi networks we use.
Other engineers might use GIS to develop road networks and transportation infrastructure.

There is no limit to the kind of information that can be analyzed using GIS technology.