What are Geographic Information Systems (GIS)??
Geographic Information Systems are essentially relational databases. The relationship between items in the database are their locations, either in real-earth coordinates (e.g. UTM, or longitude/latitude), or on a grid (i.e. X,Y coordinates). GIS combine digital mapping, database functions, and spatial analysis. Basically, GIS are computer software packages that are capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information. The system itself includes the operator. As with any computer program, a GIS cannot confirm the quality of the data being input or interpret the output. These two tasks require an operator familiar with the field for which the digital tool is being used. The difference between a GIS and standard database software is the ability for GIS to conduct spatial analyses on the data. For example, in table 1 below, the percentage of wheat crop damaged by the Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia, at any one site location is a simp
