Amazing GIS

GIS software is useful for any industry, allowing police, public health workers, journalists, weather forecasters, educators, researchers and planners of all types to pinpoint details on a map and show areas of need. The software can take thousands, millions of data points, rendering them instantly understandable with one glance.

The US Army Geospatial Center, US Army Corps of Engineers,  maps out terrorist incidents in Afghanistan. "The map examines civilian casualties due to acts of terrorism in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2009." Unfortunately, we noticed that the beautiful map has since been removed, but its creator relied on the style of maps from the 1930s and 1940s, found in the US Library of Congress, depicting a contemporary conflict with the most modern of technology.

The uses of ArcGIS are many. For example: "The World Bank sees GIS as vital for addressing poverty and climate change," notes the website for Esri, the company that makes ArcGIS.

"The World Bank Institute's Innovation Team has geocoded and mapped more than 30,000 geographic locations for more than 2,500 bank-financed projects worldwide under its Mapping for Results initiative," writes Rachel Kyte, vice president for sustainable development at the World Bank. "All new World Bank projects are now georeferenced to ensure that development planners can track and deliver resources more efficiently and effectively and avoid work duplication."

GIS maps come in all colors and styles.  And just as there is a Peace Corps, there is also a GISCorps. GIS changes how we see our world, and of course it had to make an appearance in Fear of Beauty.

Partial GIS map, showing coal resources in north Afghanistan, courtesy of the US Geological Survey.