GIS terms starting with G

26 terms

Gazetteer A geographical dictionary, an important reference for information about places and place-names and associated spatial location
GBF/DIME For the 1980 census, the U.S. Census Bureau produced Geographic Base Files (GBF) and Dual Independent Map Encoding (DIME) files, containing census…
generalization In general, reducing the number of points used to represent a line. In ARC/INFO, the process of removing vertices from arcs according to a specified…
geocode Geocode refers to the combination of applicable codes for the metropolitan area, state, county and census tract.
Geocoding Assigning locational values (for example: latitude and longitude coordinates) to attribute data, such as an event or an address, that results in a feature…
geographic data The locations and descriptions of geographic features. The composite of spatial data and descriptive data.
geographic data set One of seven geographic data types supported by ARC/INFO. Geographic data sets in ARC/INFO include coverages, grids, DBMS tables, tins, images, lattices…
geographic database A collection of spatial data and related descriptive data organized for efficient storage and retrieval by many users.
geographic feature A user-defined geographic phenomenon that can be modeled or represented using geographic data sets in ARC/INFO.
Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis (GIRAS) Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis data files from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Geographic Information System (GIS) A set of computer tools and procedures used to collect, manage, analyze and display information associated with a specific location; a computerized…
Geographical Resource Analysis Support System (GRASS) A public-domain raster GIS modeling product of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USACERL).
geometry Geometry deals with the measures and properties of points, lines and surfaces. In ARC/INFO, geometry is used to represent the spatial component of…
georeference To establish the relationship between page coordinates on a planar map and known real-world coordinates.
georelational model A geographic data model that represents geographic features as an interrelated set of spatial and descriptive data.
GeoTIFF A binary digital image format commonly used by GIS software that is characterized by reference information embedded in the file header as opposed to an…
Global Positioning System (GPS) A navigation system which uses a constellation of artificial earth satellites to make precise determinations of the latitude and longitude of locations on…
Government Open System Interconnection Protocols (GOSIP) U.S. government procurement specifications for OSI protocols (see OSI). The government has mandated that all federal agencies standardize on the OSI model…
grain tolerance A parameter controlling the number of vertices and the distance between them on arcs representing curves.
graphical user interface (GUI) A graphical method of controlling how a user interacts with a computer to perform various tasks.
graphics display terminal A computer terminal used to view and manipulate graphic information. It can also be used for graphic selection (e.g.
graphics page That area on the graphics display device reserved for map display, or simulating the plotter page area.
gravity model A methodology used in the geography, engineering and social sciences to model the behavior of populations.
Grid A common term referring to an electricity transmission and distribution system.
grid cell A discretely uniform unit that represents a portion of the Earth, such as a square meter or square mile.
ground control Physical points on the ground whose positions are known with respect to some horizontal coordinate system and/or vertical datum.