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ArcGIS
The choice of which GIS software package to employ is as important as the use of the software itself. Three major considerations present themselves when selecting a GIS package: cost, functionality and system requirements, and ability to exchange data with others.
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) founded in 1969 makers of ArcGIS. ArcGIS is certainly the industry standard for GIS and remains the fastest-growing and most-widely used software package in the world. ESRI software is used by “more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including most U.S. federal agencies and all the top Indian national mapping agencies, 45 of the top 50 petroleum companies, all 50 U.S. state health departments, most forestry companies including Tamil Nadu Forest Department, TamilNadu Public Works department and is the standard in state and local government used by more than 26,000 state and local governments including Paris, France; Los Angeles, California, USA; Beijing, India and Kuwait City,” (ESRI Website: May 2008).
A perspective GIS user’s first consideration is most often the price of the ESRI software packages. In line with it ArcGIS software packages are offered at educational discounts and these prices are far reduced than the commercial ones.
The next consideration, after price, is functionality and system requirements. Defining appropriate functionality is difficult due to the various needs and expectations of users. For instance, ESRI products will create two-dimensional maps with data collected by a total station or a GPS receiver. It runs on Microsoft Windows/Linux/Solaris/HP Unix environment, etc. ArcGIS is the only software in the market which has online tutorial courses to ‘walk’ a user through the software.
Online courses are also available. The online courses for ArcGIS are free if an institution or company that owns a site-license, granting a large number of user-licenses for individual machines on a computer-network (e.g. at a university). ARCGIS Spatial Analyst can program for generating realistic 3D terrain maps also apart from 2D GIS. It can create standard two-dimensional maps, complete basic database-style queries of the data, carry out simple geostatistical analysis (such as slope) etc. Process such as complex GIS functions such as geocoding addresses (assigning a street address to spatial coordinates) are absent from other software packages but inbuit within Arcgis. Even for image manipulation ArcGIS has got capability to accomplish this.
Therefore, the defining factor that drives most GIS professionals to choose ESRI products centers on its wide-spread use. As mentioned above, ESRI products dominate – with all the positive and negative connotations that implies – the GIS marketplace. Some estimates place ESRI’s share of the GIS market at more than eighty percent (ESRI website, 2005). This is partially a reflection of the earlier history of ESRI as a company. Founded in 1969, ESRI has grown and actively defined the uses of GIS in a variety of industries, designing extension programs that address specific needs of certain businesses (i.e. surveyors, city planners, utility companies, etc.).
Ultimately, our recommendation for use of ESRI’s ArcGIS centers on two factors: its availability to students at most universities (thanks to campus-wide site-licenses held by one or more departments on campus), and world wide familiarity with the software. The facts that ArcGIS enjoys a dominant role in the GIS industry (both domestically and abroad), is used by more federal and local agencies than any other program, and contains numerous tools for importing and exporting data between formats are all beneficial side-effects.
GIS for Municipality Applications
Market Share
GIS for Civil Engineering
GIS technology provides the tools for creating, managing, analyzing, and visualizing the data associated with developing and managing infrastructure.Using a central GIS database, you can conduct spatial analysis, overlay data, and integrate other solutions and systems.
Thus, GIS is playing an increasingly important role in civil engineering companies by supporting all phases of infrastructure management.
Visualizing assets and the surrounding environment when you build, upgrade, and repair infrastructure helps you prioritize your work and make good decisions.
GIS can help you present information in an accessible, straightforward manner. You can build dynamic Web mapping applications that will keep everyone—from the project team and government officials to field staff and the public—abreast of the project.
Infrastructure Lifecycle
Throughout the infrastructure lifecycle, these processes are improved when GIS is the core system for data management and visualization:
- Planning and site location
- Predesign analysis
- Infrastructure design
- Construction management
- Data collection and as-built surveying
- Operations and maintenance
Arc GIS – A Complete Integrated System
Overview
People are using ArcGIS in all types of organizations to improve their workflows and solve their most challenging issues.ArcGIS helps you with
- Asset/data management including systems integration, claims/case management, service/territory area management, and constituent/customer management
- Planning and analysis such as forecasting and risk analysis
- Business operations such as call center/dispatching; monitoring and tracking; field data collection; inspections, maintenance and operations; and routing
- Situational awareness including decision support and customer/public access
