Glossary for Geospatial Science

GIS:Geographic Information System.� �A Geographic Information System is a computer system designed to allow users to collect, manage, and analyze large volumes of spatially referenced and associated attribute data.� The major components of a GIS are: a user interface; system/database management capabilities; database creation/data entry capacity; spatial data manipulation and analysis packages; and display/product generation functions.� � from USGS Open File Report 88-105 [A process for evaluating Geographic Information Systems]. In the broadest sense, a GIS is any integrated system of information that includes a geographic component.