Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
The Mobile District provides a range of GIS services, including, but not limited to, mapping and surveying, data conversion, Internet mapping, database maintenance, software customization and integration, training, implementation, and other GIS services as required. Deliverables have included Fort Buchanan Facilities GIS, Italian Coastal GIS, Panama Canal Zone Facilities and Land Use GIS, Regional Sediment Management
Demonstration program, and web-based mapping of Black-Warrior Tombigbee River
Navigation GIS.
What is GIS?
A geographic information system (GIS) uses computers and software to leverage the fundamental principle of geography—that location is important in people’s lives. GIS helps a retail business locate the best site for its next store and helps agencies track
environmental degradation. It helps route delivery trucks and manage road paving. It helps marketers find new prospects, and it helps farmers increase production and manage their land more efficiently.
GIS takes the numbers and words from the rows and columns in databases and
spreadsheets and puts them on a map. Placing your data on a map highlights where you have many customers if you own a store, or multiple leaks in your water system if you run a water company. It allows you to view, understand, question, interpret, and
visualize your data in ways simply not possible in the rows and columns.
And with data on a map, you can ask more questions. You can ask where, why, and how, all with the location information on hand. You can make better decisions with the knowledge that geography and spatial analysis are included.
Learn more about GIS [659 kb]