A GIS principally differs from a standard database in that a GIS can make spacial querries of different data sets. For example, a regular database manager could not tell you how many people live within twenty miles of the World Trade center unless the database was programed with specific information about distances from the World Trade Center. However, a GIS stores and associates spacial data; therefore the GIS could easily determine the value sought. It is this spacial association which gives a GIS its power.
In addition to querrying spacial results, a GIS can output any analyses made in spacial form (that is, as a map). This allows information to be clearly understood and helps to highlight spacial patterns in the data one might otherwise not realize.
The Carrizo project is using a Geographic Information System to analyse areas of the San Andreas fault where local stress from tectonic events has caused deformation resulting in the presence of structures such as thrust faulting and pressure ridges. It is hoped that the GIS will aide in the correlation of these structures with the stress/deformation fields created by the faulting and hypothesized by a Boudary Element Model. In addition, the group hopes to develop new imaging techniques which will aide in the analysis of the area.
More information is available about Geographic Information systems on the Web. To visit the home page of one of the largest GIS software producers- the Environmental Research Institue (ESRI) home page, simply click on the icon below. Other links are available to GIS information and data sets from Ramon Arrowsmith's home page.
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