GIS

Geography & Places abbreviation · Geographic Feature

GIS stands for Geographic information system, a geographic feature abbreviation.

Software and methods for capturing, storing, analyzing and mapping location data, used in urban planning, environmental science, logistics and emergency response. Esri's ArcGIS and the open-source QGIS are leading programs.

Example: The county's GIS portal shows parcel lines, flood zones and zoning for every property.

Usage notes

Roger Tomlinson developed the Canada Geographic Information System in the 1960s and is often called the father of GIS. GIS layers combine vector data (points, lines and polygons) with raster data such as satellite imagery.

Related abbreviations

More geographic feature abbreviations

• ASL – Above sea level
• Bch. – Beach
• Co. – County
• Cyn. – Canyon
• Elev. – Elevation
• Ft. – Fort
• Gt. – Great
• Hbr. – Harbor
• Hts. – Heights
• Is. – Island
• Jct. – Junction
• L. – Lake

See all 46 geographic feature abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.