Data Capture In the field, mobile GIS enables field-workers or researchers to collect measurements that are directly stored in a GIS.

Data Management Information stored in a GIS database can be automatically screened for errors before being shared with project partners.

Environmental Analysis Location-based data can be analysed to reveal trends across geographic areas.

Reporting & Dissemination GIS facilitates efficient and professional delivery of the results of environmental work.

Application Areas GIS plays an important role in improving multiple areas of environmental management.

At ESRI we believe that geography is the key component for successful environmental management. The idea of using geography as the intellectual backbone to which all environmental data can be attached by location was the foundation that ultimately led to the development of GIS.

Natural resources—whether terrestrial, marine, or atmospheric—are finite, and the measurement and management of these resources are gaining importance as increased demands are put upon them.

One of the main benefits of GIS is better resource management both within and outside an organisation. GIS can link datasets by common locational data such as addresses or latitude and longitude, which helps members of the public and private environmental companies and government departments share their data. By creating a shared database, information can be collected once and used many times.

GIS can be used to describe the use of location-based data management tools to assist in the decision-making processes that together form an environmental management strategy. The application areas of GIS vary by not only potential users but also environmental sphere and specific environmental issue.

Simply put, a GIS combines layers of information about a place to give a better understanding of that location. Which layers of information are combined depends on the project theme (e.g., tracing a point source pollution event in a stream, planning a wildlife reserve buffer zone, or detecting a relationship between environmental factors and human health trends).