History and Purpose of GIS

1
History and Purpose of GIS
2
Why use GIS?

• A GIS computer software package is as important
  to a cartographer as a Word Processor is to a
  writer.
• A Geographical Information System is a method of
• spatially storing,
• analysing,
• manipulating,
• managing and
• displaying geographical data.

3
GIS Timeline

• GIS began in 1950s
• 1966 GIS demonstrated by Howard Fisher
• 1969 ESRI founded
• 1970s satellites aid GPS
• 1971 GIS project used a layering system to
  display data
• 1979 Odessy developed
• 1980s maps moved from military and tax use to
  commercial use GIS masters in third level
  Edinburgh College began in the mid 1980s.
• 1986 MapInfo developed
• 1986 SPOT satellite was launched.
• 1992 the Lebanon used GIS to rebuild electrivity
  network the

4
What people use GIS?

• These people would include Archaeologists,
  Architects, Commercial Companies, Doctors,
  Engineers, Historians, Law Enforcement Agencies,
  Meteorologists, Military, Planners, Property
  Developers, Politicians, and Statisticians to
  name but a few.

5
What can maps display?

• Roads
• Rivers
• Urban areas
• Place names
• Railway
• Places of interest
• Town names