Fundamental to the design of GIS is the integration
of geographic features with information about those features. The
features are generally modeled as point, line, or polygon layers while
the information is stored in linked tables.
A
wealth of geographic information about our community is stored in
distinct map layers. City facilities and school locations are stored as
points. Roads, water mains, and rivers are stored as lines. Parcels,
zoning districts, and zip codes are stored as polygons.
Using
GIS tools, we can create graphical displays of the geographic data and
perform spatial analysis. These "intelligent maps" provide information
such as where people live and work, where growth and development occur,
locations of utilities and public facilities and much more.
