GIS EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2024-2025
Geospatial technology is a broad term covering the integrated use of geographic
information systems, remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems, digital
cartography, and Internet mapping.
What exactly is GIS? A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer
system designed to handle and analyze spatial data.
Spatial data refers to any data that is associated with specific locations or
geographic coordinates.
*The five components of a computer system are:
--1) Hardware, 2) Software, 3) Data, 4) People, and 5) Workflow Procedures
A GIS has six key functionalities that enable it to handle and analyze spatial
data.
--GIS software allows users to capture, store, alter, and query data.
--5) Analyze and display spatial data (be familiar with these six main functions).
ANSWER: The Canadian Geographic Information System (CGIS) was the first
operational GIS.
--developed in the early 1960s, during the age of mainframe computers.
--the system was developed to inventory land use and aid in the management of
natural resources.
Roger Tomlinson is regarded the "father of GIS" for his participation in the
development of the CGIS.
,Esri Software History - ANSWER: In this lesson, we will use GIS software
tools made by Esri.
--Original Name: Environmental Systems Research Institute
--then the corporation became known as ESRI, and the name is now simply
Esri.
- Esri is a privately owned software corporation owned by Jack and Laura
Dangermond.
- headquarters in Redlands, California - regional offices across the United States
and around the world
ARC/INFO - ANSWER: Before the summer of 2001, ESRI had two main
software packages.
--ARC/INFO, a professional GIS developed in the 1970s.
---a command-line software package—very powerful yet tough to use.
ANSWER: ArcView is a desktop GIS that was developed in the 1990s.
--The original version was created as a viewer (for data analyzed in
ARC/INFO).
Throughout the 1990s, ArcView developed into a fairly sophisticated desktop
GIS.
--the software was simple to use and had an appealing graphical user interface.
In the summer of 2001, ESRI introduced ArcGIS (a collection of GIS software
tools).
, --ArcGIS includes two application programs: ArcMap and ArcCatalog.
--ArcMap is used for data analysis and map product creation, whereas
ArcCatalog is utilized for file management.
- ArcGIS has three levels of licensing, each with increasing functionality.
- ArcGIS 10 has three license levels: basic, standard, and advanced.
- As you progress from Basic to Standard to Advanced, the software provides
more tools (functionality).
Its major advantage: The user interface is the same across the Basic, Standard,
and Advanced editions.
- There are many of extensions available for the main ArcGIS software.
- Some of the extensions are licensed while others are free.
- Common extensions include Spatial Analyst, Network Analyst, 3D Analyst,
and so on.
- These extensions incorporate specialist tools (functionality) into the core
software.
How does a GIS work? - ANSWER - A GIS is based on the assumption that all
features in the real world can be represented by:
--points (such as wells, landmarks, or cities on a world map)
-lines (such as roads, rivers, pipelines, and transmission lines)
--polygons (such as soils, vegetation kinds, land-use parcels, counties, and
states)
--surfaces (e.g. elevation, temperature, and barometric pressure)
ANSWERS 2024-2025
Geospatial technology is a broad term covering the integrated use of geographic
information systems, remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems, digital
cartography, and Internet mapping.
What exactly is GIS? A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer
system designed to handle and analyze spatial data.
Spatial data refers to any data that is associated with specific locations or
geographic coordinates.
*The five components of a computer system are:
--1) Hardware, 2) Software, 3) Data, 4) People, and 5) Workflow Procedures
A GIS has six key functionalities that enable it to handle and analyze spatial
data.
--GIS software allows users to capture, store, alter, and query data.
--5) Analyze and display spatial data (be familiar with these six main functions).
ANSWER: The Canadian Geographic Information System (CGIS) was the first
operational GIS.
--developed in the early 1960s, during the age of mainframe computers.
--the system was developed to inventory land use and aid in the management of
natural resources.
Roger Tomlinson is regarded the "father of GIS" for his participation in the
development of the CGIS.
,Esri Software History - ANSWER: In this lesson, we will use GIS software
tools made by Esri.
--Original Name: Environmental Systems Research Institute
--then the corporation became known as ESRI, and the name is now simply
Esri.
- Esri is a privately owned software corporation owned by Jack and Laura
Dangermond.
- headquarters in Redlands, California - regional offices across the United States
and around the world
ARC/INFO - ANSWER: Before the summer of 2001, ESRI had two main
software packages.
--ARC/INFO, a professional GIS developed in the 1970s.
---a command-line software package—very powerful yet tough to use.
ANSWER: ArcView is a desktop GIS that was developed in the 1990s.
--The original version was created as a viewer (for data analyzed in
ARC/INFO).
Throughout the 1990s, ArcView developed into a fairly sophisticated desktop
GIS.
--the software was simple to use and had an appealing graphical user interface.
In the summer of 2001, ESRI introduced ArcGIS (a collection of GIS software
tools).
, --ArcGIS includes two application programs: ArcMap and ArcCatalog.
--ArcMap is used for data analysis and map product creation, whereas
ArcCatalog is utilized for file management.
- ArcGIS has three levels of licensing, each with increasing functionality.
- ArcGIS 10 has three license levels: basic, standard, and advanced.
- As you progress from Basic to Standard to Advanced, the software provides
more tools (functionality).
Its major advantage: The user interface is the same across the Basic, Standard,
and Advanced editions.
- There are many of extensions available for the main ArcGIS software.
- Some of the extensions are licensed while others are free.
- Common extensions include Spatial Analyst, Network Analyst, 3D Analyst,
and so on.
- These extensions incorporate specialist tools (functionality) into the core
software.
How does a GIS work? - ANSWER - A GIS is based on the assumption that all
features in the real world can be represented by:
--points (such as wells, landmarks, or cities on a world map)
-lines (such as roads, rivers, pipelines, and transmission lines)
--polygons (such as soils, vegetation kinds, land-use parcels, counties, and
states)
--surfaces (e.g. elevation, temperature, and barometric pressure)
