It is much more than this, however. GIS allows us to do many kinds of analysis with spatial data. Results of GIS analyses can take the form of maps, statistical summaries, or derived data sets. GIS can be integrated with other tools. This is because these data are often spatial in nature, and can be represented by points, lines, or areas on a landscape.
Environmental studies vary in scale.
We can look at global environmental issues, or we can look at local problems. An advantage of GIS is that it can be used at any scale, and can easily move between scales. Vector features are represented as points, lines, and areas or polygons. A point is a single location If you take a series of points and connect them to each other, you form a line. A polygon is the interior space created by two end points of a line when they close in on one another.