Geographic Information Systems mapping allows us to capture and analyze data about space and geography.
These systems may incorporate various technologies and have direct relevance to a wide range of business and industrial functions, including but not limited to telecommunications, management, and engineering. In this article, we introduce the very latest tools and software available for GIS Developers with a brief overview of what each has to offer.
1. ArcGIS Pro 2 – ArcGIS Pro is a powerful desktop GIS application. This high performance software is equipped with numerous features that are derived from the ideas generated in the ArcGIS Pro user community. ArcGIS Pro supports advanced analysis; data visualization; and authoritative data maintenance in 4D, 3D, and 2D. It supports data sharing across a diverse spectrum of ArcGIS products including ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online, and helps users operate across platforms through Web GIS.
Released in November 2020, this latest iteration supports data visualization & advanced analysis and allows users to explore and analyze geographic data as well as create multidimensional maps. It also supports authoritative data maintenance in 2D, 3D and 4D simultaneously.
2. QGIS 3.16 Hannover – QGIS allows users to analyze and edit spatial information as well as compose and export graphical maps. The latest version, QGIS 3.16 Hannover, released in November 2020, improves upon the programmatic interfaces of previous iterations and corrects hundreds of glitches.
3. QGIS 3.10 and Python – When incorporated into GIS, Python gives users the ability to access popular location tracking sites such as Google Maps, and has become the language of choice for geo-processors. If you are comfortable working on GIS and possess some knowledge of Python, QGIS—aligned with Python—will certainly provide you with compelling opportunities to modernize workflows and make the most of your data analysis and manipulation.
4. QGIS 3.4 and R – Assimilating traditional cartographic methods and geospatial data science is in great demand for modern geospatial analysts. In today’s age of thriving data products, it is an added advantage to an analyst to possess a working proficiency with QGIS and R. The programming language R, when integrated into GIS, gives users access to various R-related data visualization packages including ggplot2, ggmap, and raster.
5. PostGIS – This is a FOSS (freely available open-source software) tool that extends its support for spatial and geographic objects to store in the PostgreSQL database system. It is a spatial database that integrates the raster data with the advanced storage and analysis of vector, and is remarkably powerful and flexible. Its latest version, PostGIS 3.0.4, is currently one of the most prevalent open source spatial databases. It allows GIS objects to be run in SQL.
As the world continues to become more and more interconnected, GIS technologies allow individuals and businesses to measure, analyze, and manage data in ways that they’ve never been able to do before. We can see evidence of this in the fields of the supply chain, location-based services like Uber, tracking developments during natural disasters, and real estate apps using GIS platforms to name a few.