What is GIS?
GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems, which are tools and techniques for capturing, managing, storing, processing, and analysing spatial data. It is part of the broader geospatial technology ecosystem, which also includes drones, remote sensing, and GPS.Geospatial data (Raw)
Definition: Any data that includes a geographic component, describing the location and attributes of features on Earth, contains raw information, like points, lines, and polygons, that has a real-world location associated with it.
Examples: A GPS position of a car or the address of a customer.
GIS data (Organised)
Definition: Geospatial data that is structured, stored, and analysed using Geographic Information System software.
Examples: include a digital map of roads created from GPS data or layers of data showing flood risk areas.
Summary: Geospatial data is the foundation: It is the raw material for all things spatial. GIS is a toolset that may include tools like ArcGIS from Esri.
Other:
In the AEC space, building and Asset management rely heavily on GIS within BIM.
ArcGIS is the industry leader in GIS tooling, and comes in three versions:
- Desktop (ArcPro, Arc Toolbox, ArcCatelog),
- Server (),
- SaaS ArcGIS Online (AGOL).
What WGS84 and GeoJSON Mean?
These are the most common formats for storing position (WGS84) and shape data with coordinates (GeoJSON)
WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) is the standard geographic coordinate reference system used globally. It represents positions on Earth using latitude and longitude in decimal degrees.
GeoJSON is a widely used format for encoding geographic data structures in JSON. According to RFC 7946, all GeoJSON coordinates must use WGS84 (EPSG:4326).
