geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

s, a geocell (or geo-cell) is a patch on the surface of the Earth that is 1 degree of latitude by 1 degree of longitude in extent. At the equator, a geocell is approximately a 111x square - but the east-west dimension of geocells gradually decreases and the shape of the geocell becomes increasingly trapezoidal towards the poles. At the North and South poles, geocells are distorted into long, thin triangles which are still approximately in the north/south direction but with a base of just .

References

{{reflist Geography terminology