Geographic information science or geographical information science (GIScience or GISc) is the

scientific discipline The branches of science, also referred to as sciences, scientific fields or scientific disciplines, are commonly divided into three major groups: * Formal sciences: the study of formal systems, such as those under the branches of logic and ma ...

that studies geographic information, including how it represents phenomena in the real world, how it represents the way humans understand the world, and how it can be captured, organized, and analyzed. It can be contrasted with

geographic information systems A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...

(GIS), which are the actual repositories of such data, the software tools for carrying out relevant tasks, and the profession of GIS users. That said, one of the major goals of GIScience is to find practical ways to improve GIS data, software, and professional practice. it is more focused on how gis is applied in real life British geographer

Michael Goodchild Michael Frank Goodchild (born February 24, 1944) is a British-American geographer. He is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After nineteen years at the University of Western Ontario, includin ...

defined this area in the 1990s and summarized its core interests, including

spatial analysis Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the ...

, visualization, and the representation of uncertainty. GIScience is conceptually related to

geomatics Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information". Under another definition, it ...

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information. ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

, but it claims the status of an independent scientific discipline. Overlapping disciplines are: geocomputation,

geoinformatics Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, cartography, geosciences and related branches of science and engineering, such as Land Surveying ...

and

geovisualization Geovisualization or geovisualisation (short for geographic visualization), also known as cartographic visualization, refers to a set of tools and techniques supporting the analysis of geospatial data through the use of interactive visualization. L ...

, which all fall into the geographic branch of

technical geography Technical geography is one of three main branches of geography and involves using, studying, and creating tools to obtain, analyze, interpret, and understand spatial information. The other two branches, human geography and physical geography, can ...

. Other related terms are ''geographic data science'' (after

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured and unstructured data, and apply knowledge from data across a bro ...

) and ''geographic information science and technology'' (GISci&T), with job titles ''geospatial information scientists and technologists''.

Definitions

Since its inception in the 1990s, the boundaries between GIScience and cognate disciplines are contested, and different communities might disagree on what GIScience is and what it studies. In particular, Goodchild stated that "information science can be defined as the systematic study according to scientific principles of the nature and properties of information. Geographic information science is the subset of information science that is about geographic information." Another influential definition is that by geographic information scientist (GIScientist)

David Mark David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark , is a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier General and politician. He was President of the Senate of Nigeria from 2007 to 2015 and was the Senator for Benue South Senatorial District Benue State. He is a member of t ...

, which states:

Geographic Information Science (GIScience) is the basic research field that seeks to redefine geographic concepts and their use in the context of geographic information systems. GIScience also examines the impacts of GIS on individuals and society, and the influences of society on GIS. GIScience re-examines some of the most fundamental themes in traditional spatially oriented fields such as geography, cartography, and geodesy, while incorporating more recent developments in cognitive and information science. It also overlaps with and draws from more specialized research fields such as computer science, statistics, mathematics, and psychology, and contributes to progress in those fields. It supports research in political science and anthropology, and draws on those fields in studies of geographic information and society.

In 2009, Goodchild summarized the history of GIScience and its achievements and open challenges.

References

External links

*
List of GIScience Conferences

Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT)
{{Geography topics, state=collapsed * Geographic data and information Geographical technology Science and technology Geographic data and information fields of study

Definitions

See also

References

External links