Introduction to Applications of GIS
Geographic Information Systems is a vast field in Information Technology and, like any other booming technology, also has various applications in multiple domains. GIS is used to create awareness and to share knowledge regarding the environment, natural resources, potential disaster and risks and planned urban routes. Organizations like ESRI, Here Maps, and Leidos group are working on various models concerning natural resources, advanced driving systems and even defense systems of the nations. Applications of GIS allows people and organizations to do geological observations and analyze the spatial data in a granular format.
Applications of GIS in Various Fields
Geographic Information Systems are applied in various domains. The count of its applications is only growing day by day. Below are some of the well-known applications concerning GIS.
1. Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the important tasks of human civilization. It is not only done for feeding the bellies but also to run the global business. GIS has spearheaded into this field with many of the applications.
- Drought: Identifying the drought area or land to avoid further damage of plant seeds, human effort, and costly fertilizers.
- Pest control: Predicting the pest attacks like locust and rodent attacks from the available spatial data sets of particular agricultural lands. This will allow the governing body and farmers to plan out on various things.
- Land and Soil Analysis: Using previous data sets, satellite imagery or even the field analysis, which field workers do.
- Planning of future food demand: Depending on the population’s need, the governing body and the farmers can plan out on the production of sufficient level crops. Geo-Spatial data sources and GIS will allow great decision making and avoid further hassle.
2. Urban and Town Planning
Developers, Builders, Architects, and Engineers are now using spatial data sets to plan on the futuristic township. With the help of granular information, it becomes easier for engineers and architects to hardly miss out on any of the parts. Governing bodies like CIDCO for New – Mumbai and BMC for greater Mumbai have also used GIS data and tools for planning out on various mega projects. The data is also useful to tackle water clogging during the time of flood and cloud burst in monsoons. It has also helped in redesigning the drainage models.
3. Oil Spill
Oil Spill can be intentional or accidental, depending on the conditions. The price is always paid by the Marine life and the humans who have frequent access to that particular sea route. GIS and geospatial data sets are used to curb such havoc spreading spills. According to various reports, most of oil spills happen in the Malaysian coastal areas. Governing bodies have implemented GIS to tackle such spills. It is cost-effective than the hazardous oil spill, which is also harmful to marine life.
4. Disaster Management
GIS is used to monitor disaster and natural calamity prone areas. The geospatial data sets and databases allow organizations to store data of all levels. The database can contain all the information related to risk-prone areas like hospitals and isolation centres near the risk-prone zones, quick habitation centres, history of the calamities in that area, and the effect of the past disaster to plan for further contingency plans. Most Remotes Sensing and GIS is used on the areas which are prone to Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. With the help of both the technologies, organizations and municipality of any city or admin can be prepared and ready to avoid the maximum effect. Using a GIS in a disaster is to create more awareness and be prepared and ready for the future.
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5. Mapping and Navigation
The best example of today’s world mapping and navigation is Google Maps. It is the most widely used service of Google by people. Humans around the world use it while travelling to a new place and also to review any place. It has also become a popular tool within Cab and carpool service providers. GPS, with the help of GIS, adds crisper and edge to the experience of navigation. It is not just about looking at the data on an application, but consumers are also allowed to post any unknown or unnamed information in the map data set. Google accepts consumer map edits and also has its map maker. However, Here Maps also collects data from local consumers and people in its proprietary tool, which is known as Map creator.
6. Reservoir and Dam Site location
Geo-Spatial data is used to find the perfect location for constructing a reservoir and dam. For selecting any dam site location, various factors should be looked after, Like economic factors, environmental conditions, and engineering factors. Geo-spatial data have all the information concerning this; hence it’s feasible to use GIS before implementing any of such major engineering projects.
7. Deforestation and Vegetation Management
Using GIS and geospatial data of forest lands allows organizations and governments to keep track of the rate of deforestation. The past information of different periods is used for analysis to plan for reforestation and vegetation. Due to the increasing number of deforestation, government bodies are also keeping track of forest and tree-related data. The datasets are used for the further analytical purpose of reforestation. With the help of heat maps and imagery sources, the data can be classified and visualized to take further actions.
8. GIS for Business, Marketing, and Sales
Apart from all the above applications, GIS also has unusual usage in making business and marketing sales. Geospatial databases store data of target customers, marketing campaigns and sales territories. This application enables companies and organizations to become strategically more competitive and strong in the market.
Conclusion
Looking at this robust system, its applications and uses are never-ending, just like its vast amount of geospatial data sets and databases. Day by day, analysts and researchers are innovating new applications of this technology. The count of the applications is never going to fall. Using GIS is not just limited to above 6 -7 applications, but it has around 1000+ uses and applications in various fields.
Archaeology, geology, Waste management, Natural Resources Management, Asset management and even Aviation and Banking. It seems that in the near future, GIS is going to get integrated with everything, and that’s why companies like HERE Maps and GOOGLE are working on prototypic concepts like the Internet of Things, where everything will be interconnected.
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This is a guide to the Applications of GIS. Here we discuss the top 8 Applications of Geographic Information Systems like Agriculture, Urban and Town Planning, Oil Spill, Disaster Management, etc. You can also go through our suggested articles to learn more –
