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Geographic Information Systems (Gis) Essay Example

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Geographic Information Systems (Gis) Essay Example
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)
AND TERRORIST ATTACKS OF OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING AND THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

Submitted To
Mark Stallo
School of Graduate Studies
Of Tiffin University

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the graduate course
Geographic Information Systems
ENF 622

In the School of Criminal Justice

Summer Quarter 2006

by

Oscar Young

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
And Terrorist Attacks Of Oklahoma City Bombing And The World Trade Center

History of GIS

GIS is a way of organizing large amounts of geographic information. It is not a tool, a software, a hardware or a specific image; it is a concept--a way of understanding maps (http://cnx.org/content/m13693/latest). Maps are one of the most common products of GIS. Figure 1 is an example of how GIS is a way of conceiving maps as layers of information. Figure 1. On the left is enlarged piece of the same Nile Delta map from before, and on the right in an annotated version of the same map showing how GIS would categorize the features of the map (http://cnx.org/content/m13693/latest).

"Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computerized systems for the storage, retrieval, manipulation, analysis, and display of geographically referenced data" (http://www.ncgia.buffalo.edu/gishist/bar_harbor.html). It is a powerful system that procures data from many sources; changes the data into a variety of useful formats; stores the data; retrieves and manipulates the data for analysis; and then generates output required by a given user (http://cnx.org/content/m13693/latest).
"Although its antecedents go back hundreds of years in the fields of cartography and mapping, GIS as such began in the 1960's" (http://www. ncgia.buffalo.edu/gishist/bar_harbor.html) and has undergone phenomenal growth in sophistication, size, and popularity. GIS has become a basic information infrastructure for private enterprises, government agencies, and academic

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