Geographic Information Systems (GIS) combines layers of information about a place to give you a better understanding of that place. What layers of information you combine depends on your purpose-finding the best location for a new store, analyzing environmental damage, viewing similar crimes in a city to detect a pattern, and so on. The old adage "better information leads to better decisions" is true for GIS. A GIS is not just an automated decision making system but a tool to query, analyze, and map data in support of the decision making process.

A 20-minute video, entitled Geospatial Technologies at Work in Mississippi, is now available for your viewing. The video contains information on how GIS is helping Mississippi communities to better manage and plan services to the public. For instance, the City of Tupleo is utilizing GIS to organize maps of city and county land parcels; the Pearl River Valley Water Supply Dictrict is utilizing GIS to assist in planning development and creating opportunities for economic growth around the Ross Barnett Reservoir.

The Mississippi State University Geospatial Technologies Extension Program is a collaborative effort among the GeoResources Institute, the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The purpose of the program is to serve as the primary source for educational and technical information on geospatial information technology (e.g., remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and spatial data analysis).

The Mississippi Digital Earth Model (MDEM) project is a NOAA Sponsored project that produces an up-to-date, highly detailed, computerized map of the State of Mississippi similar to and coordinated with the National Map being compiled at the federal level by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). This aerial orthoimagery is made available to be used is GIS applications by local and state government agencies. More information can be found from the data library on the MDEM data.


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