A GIS software program is a computer program to support the use of a geographic information system, providing the ability to create, store, manage, query, analyze, and visualizegeographic data, that is, data representing phenomena for which location is important.[1][2][3] The GIS software industry encompasses a broad range of commercial and open-source products that provide some or all of these capabilities within various information technology architectures.[4]
History
The earliest geographic information systems, such as the Canadian Geographic Information System started in 1963, were bespoke programs developed specifically for a single installation (usually a government agency), based on custom-designed data models.[5] During the 1950s and 1960s, academic researchers during the quantitative revolution of geography began writing computer programs to perform spatial analysis, especially at the University of Washington and the University of Michigan, but these were also custom programs that were rarely available to other potential users.
The thematic map types that could be generated by SYMAP.
Perhaps the first general-purpose software that provided a range of GIS functionality was the Synagraphic Mapping Package (SYMAP), developed by Howard T. Fisher and others at the nascent Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis starting in 1965. While not a true full-range GIS program, it included some basic mapping and analysis functions, and was freely available to other users.[6] Through the 1970s, the Harvard Lab continued to develop and publish other packages focused on automating specific operations, such as SYMVU (3-D surface visualization), CALFORM (choropleth maps), POLYVRT (topological vector data management), WHIRLPOOL (vector overlay), GRID and IMGRID (raster data management), and others. During the late 1970s, several of these modules were brought together into Odyssey, one of the first commercial complete GIS programs, released in 1980.
The 1980s also saw the beginnings of most commercial GIS software, including EsriARC/INFO in 1982;[9]Intergraph IGDS in 1985, and the Mapping Display and Analysis System (MIDAS), the first GIS product for MS-DOS personal computers, which later became MapInfo.[10] These would proliferate in the 1990s with the advent of more powerful personal computers, Microsoft Windows, and the 1990 U.S. Census, which raised awareness of the usefulness of geographic data to businesses and other new users.
Several trends emerged in the late 1990s that have significantly changed the GIS software ecosystem leading to the present, by moving in directions beyond the traditional full-featured desktop GIS application. The emergence of object-oriented programming languages facilitated the release of component libraries and application programming interfaces, both commercial and open-source, which encapsulated specific GIS functions, allowing programmers to build spatial capabilities into their own programs. Second, the development of spatial extensions to object-relational database management systems (also both open-source and commercial) created new opportunities for data storage for traditional GIS, but also enabled spatial capabilities to be integrated into enterprise information systems, including business processes such as human resources. Third, as the World Wide Web emerged, web mapping quickly became one of its most popular applications; this led to the development of Server-based GIS software that could perform the same functions as a traditional GIS, but at a location remote from a client who only needed a web browser installed. All of these have combined to enable emerging trends in GIS software, such as the use of cloud computing, software as a service (SAAS), and smartphones to broaden the availability of spatial data, processing, and visualization.
Types of software
The software component of a traditional geographic information system is expected to provide a wide range of functions for handling spatial data:[11]: 16
The modern GIS software ecosystem includes a variety of products that may include more or less of these capabilities, collect them in a single program, or distribute them over the Internet. These products can be grouped into the following broad classes:
Desktop GIS application
The traditional form of GIS software, first developed for mainframes and minicomputers, then Unixworkstations, and now personal computers. A desktop GIS program provides a full suite of capabilities, although some programs are modularized with extensions that can be purchased separately.
Server GIS application
A program which runs on a remote server (usually in concert with an HTTP server), handling many or all of the above functions, taking in requests and delivering results via the World Wide Web. Thus, the client typically accesses server capabilities using a normal web browser. Early server software was focused specifically on web mapping, only including the output phase, but current server GIS provides the full suite of functions. This server software is at the core of modern cloud-based platforms such as ArcGIS Online.
An extension to an existing database software program (most commonly, an object-relational database management system) that creates a geometry datatype, enabling spatial data to be stored in a column in a table, but also provides new functions to query languages such as SQL that include many of the management and analysis functions of GIS. This enables database managers and programmers to perform GIS functions without traditional GIS software.
The development of open source GIS software has—in terms of software history—a long tradition[12] with the appearance of a first system in 1978. Numerous systems are available which cover all sectors of geospatial data handling.
Desktop GIS
Capaware rc1 0.1GRASS GIS 6.4gvSIG 1.0IDRISI Taiga 16.05SAGA-GIS v. 2.0.3
The following open-source desktop GIS projects are reviewed in Steiniger and Bocher (2008/9):[13]
Besides these, there are other open source GIS tools:
Generic Mapping Tools – A collection of command-line tools for manipulating geographic and Cartesian data sets and producing PostScript illustrations.
FalconView – A mapping system created by the Georgia Tech Research Institute for the Windows family of operating systems. A free, open source version is available.
Kalypso – Uses Java and GML3. Focuses mainly on numerical simulations in water management.
TerraView – Handles vector and raster data stored in a relational or geo-relational database, i.e. a frontend for TerraLib.
Whitebox GAT – Cross-platform, free and open-source GIS software.
Other geospatial tools
Apart from desktop GIS, many other types of GIS software exist.
Web map servers
GeoServer – Written in Java and relies on GeoTools. Allows users to share and edit geospatial data.
MapGuide Open Source – Runs on Linux or Windows, supports Apache and IIS web servers, and has APIs (PHP, .NET, Java, and JavaScript) for application development.
Cataloging application for spatially referenced resources
GeoNetwork opensource – A catalog application to manage spatially referenced resources
pycsw – pycsw is an OGC CSW server implementation written in Python
Spatial analysis frameworks and libraries/packages
package:spmodel – free and open-source R package implementing a framework for fitting and applying geostatistics (i.e. mainly kriging models) to geo-spatial points, and spatial regressions (i.e. mainly spatial autoregressive models) to geo-spatial polygons.[16]
package:GWmodel and package:gwverse – free and open-source R packages implementing two frameworks for instantiating and applying Geographically Weighted (GW) models, so to analyse any geo-spatial data.[17][18]
Other tools
Commercial or proprietary GIS software
Desktop GIS
Note: Almost all of the companies below offer Desktop GIS and WebMap Server products. Some such as Manifold Systems and Esri offer Spatial DBMS products as well.
Companies with high market share
Autodesk – Products that interface with its AutoCAD software package include Map 3D, Topobase, and MapGuide.
Bentley Systems – Products that interface with its MicroStation software package include Bentley Map and Bentley Map View.
ENVI – Utilized for image analysis, exploitation, and hyperspectral analysis.
Intergraph – Products include G/Technology, GeoMedia, GeoMedia Professional, GeoMedia WebMap, and add-on products for industry sectors, as well as photogrammetry.
Conform by GameSim – Software for fusing and visualizing elevation, imagery, vectors, and LiDAR. The fused environment can be exported into 3D formats for gaming, simulation, and urban planning.[19]
Dragon/ips – Remote sensing software with GIS capabilities.
Golden Software – GIS and scientific software. Products include Surfer for gridding and contouring, MapViewer for thematic mapping and spatial analysis, Strater for well or borehole logging and cross sections, Voxler for true 3D well and component mapping, Didger for digitizing and coordinate conversion, and Grapher for 2D and 3D graphing.
SuperMap Inc. – a GIS software provider that offers Desktop, Component, Web, and Mobile GIS.
TerrSet (formerly IDRISI) – GIS and Image Processing product developed by Clark Labs at Clark University.
TNTmips by MicroImages – a system integrating desktop GIS, advanced image processing, 2D-3D-stereo visualization, desktop cartography, geospatial database management, and webmap publishing.
twiGIS – a web based GIS/FM software, developed by Arkance Systems.
GIS as a service
Many suppliers are now starting to offer Internet based services as well as or instead of downloadable software and/or data. These can be free, funded by advertising or paid for on subscription; they split into three areas:
SaaS – Software as a Service: Software available as a service on the Internet
ArcGIS Online – Esri's cloud based version of ArcGIS[20]
CartoDB – Online mapping platform that offers an open source, cloud based SaaS model[21]
IBM Db2 – Allows spatial querying and storing of most spatial data types.
Informix – Allows spatial querying and storing of most spatial data types.
MySQL – Allows spatial querying and storing of most spatial data types.
Microsoft SQL Server (2008 and later) – GIS products such as MapInfo and Cadcorp SIS can read and edit this data while Esri and others are expected to be able to read and edit this data at some point in the future.
Oracle Spatial – Product allows users to perform geographic operations and store spatial data types in an Oracle environment. Most commercial GIS packages can read and edit spatial data stored in this way.
SAP HANA – Allows users to store common spatial data types, load spatial data files with well-known text (WKT) and well-known binary (WKB) formats and perform spatial processing using SQL. Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) certification allows third party GIS software providers to store and process spatial data. GIS products such as ArcGIS from Esri work with HANA.[35]
Teradata – Teradata geospatial allows storage and spatial analysis on location-based data which is stored using native geospatial data-types within the Teradata database.
VMDS – Version managed data store from Smallworld.
Crunchy Certified PostGIS - Open Geospatial Consortium certified open source distribution of PostgreSQL with PostGIS from Crunchy Data.[36][37]
^Clarke, K. C., 1986. Advances in geographic information systems, computers, environment and urban systems, Vol. 10, pp. 175–184.
^Maliene V, Grigonis V, Palevičius V, Griffiths S (2011). "Geographic information system: Old principles with new capabilities". Urban Design International. 16 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1057/udi.2010.25. S2CID110827951.
^Kent, Alexander James; Vujakovic, Peter (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN9780367581046.
^Tomlinson, Roger F.; Calkins, Hugh W.; Marble, Duane F. (1976). Computer handling of geographical data. UNESCO Press.
^Chrisman, Nicholas R. (2006). Charting the Unknown: How Computer Mapping at Harvard Became GIS. Esri Press. ISBN978-1-58948-118-3.
^Greenlee, David D.; Guptill, Stephen C. (1998). "GIS Development in the Department of Interior". In Foresman, Timothy W. (ed.). The History of Geographic Information Systems: Perspectives from the Pioneers. Prentice Hall. pp. 191–198. ISBN0-13-862145-4.
