Geographic data and information is defined in the
ISO/TC 211
ISO/TC 211 is a standard technical committee formed within ISO, tasked with covering the areas of digital geographic information (such as used by geographic information systems) and geomatics. It is responsible for preparation of a series of Inte ...
series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
(a
geographic location or
geographic position).
It is also called geospatial data and information, georeferenced data and information, as well as geodata and geoinformation.
Approximately 90% of government sourced data has a location component. Location information (known by the many names mentioned here) is stored in a
geographic information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
(GIS).
There are also many different types of geodata, including
vector files,
raster files,
geographic databases, web files, and multi-temporal data.
Fields of study
Geographic data and information are the subject of a number of overlapping
fields of study
Fields may refer to:
Music
*Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006
*Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971
* ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010)
* "Fields", a song by ...
, mainly:
*
Geocomputation
*
Geographic information science Geographic information science or geographical information science (GIScience or GISc) is the scientific discipline that studies geographic information, including how it represents phenomena in the real world, how it represents the way humans unders ...
*
Geoinformatics
*
Geomatics
Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as