Geo FAQs

FAQs provide answers to Frequently Asked Questions about a topic

GIS Frequently Asked Questions
comp.graphics.algorithms FAQ
Global Positioning System (GPS) FAQ (Coast Guard)
Global Positioning System (GPS) FAQ (Federal Aviation Administration)
Satellite Imagery FAQ
Virtual Worlds FAQ

Megasites

Megasites highlights sites that contain pointers to large numbers of other GIS sites. GIS.com, GeoCommunity, GisCafe.com, and GIS Lounge all provide a good series of resources and commentary.

GISCafe.com
GIS.com
GIS WWW Resource List (Edinburgh)
GInfoServer (University of Bonn)
GIS@development
GIS Lounge
GISUser.com
GeoCommunity
Portal: GIS Sites (Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine)
The GIS Notebook - Bill Thoen
The Ultimate Map/GIS Directory (GIS Monitor)
Useful Sites for MapInfo Users (And All People Who Love Maps)
Yahoo GIS Listings

Mailing Lists/Newsgroups

comp.infosystems.gis (Google Groups)
GIS Discussion Groups & Lists
On-Line GIS Discussion Archive (Directions Magazine)
CrimeMap Listserv
Map History-Related Discussion Lists
Archives of MAPS-L

Blogs

Blogs are Web pages that serves as a publicly-accessible personal journal covering a variety of topics. There are a number of new blogs related to Google Earth, including Google Earth Blog, Google Maps Mania, Ogle Earth and Google Sightseeing

Planet Geospatial
slashgeo
All Points Blog
All Things Geography
Cartography
Geo-Web - Markup and the Geo-Web
Geobloggers
Google Earth Blog

Dictionaries

Dictionaries and glossaries are helpful for sorting out terminology in the GIS community

ESRI GIS Glossary
Glossary of Remote Sensing Terms(CCRS)
Glossary of Cartographic Terms (Reisenett)
AGI GIS Dictionary 

Web Mapping

The web-based mapping sites provide information on products and applications for delivering maps and GIS services over the Internet.

General

The General web-mapping sites are meta sites with a wide variety of information on web-mapping and pointers to other sites.

Web Mapping Channel (GeoCommunity) 
Web Mapping Guide (GeoResources) 
Web Mapping Applications (GeoCommunity)  
Web Mapping (FreeGIS) 

Products

Products sites point to specific software for delivering maps and images over the web. This includes map servers, image servers, sites dealing with XML/GML/SVG, Flash, and Web Hosting.

Map Servers

Autodesk MapGuide Family
Internet Map Server Technology (ESRI)
MapExplorer (Triscape)
GeoMicro AltaMap Server
Geofactory
Maptitude for the Web (Caliper) 

Imagery Servers

ImageConnect (GlobeXplorer) 
Image Web Server (EarthEtc.com) 

3D View Servers

Google Earth (Download and install client application)
Map 24 (3D option available after selecting map)
TerraGate (TerraExplorer) 

Sites

This section highlights web mapping sites by their application area.

Atlases

Atlases show sample applications for delivering general map information and data over the Internet.

Earth and Moon Viewer
eMapSite
Place Finder (Expedia)
National Geographic Map Machine 
Interactive Atlas(Mapquest)  

Geocoding

Geocoding sites use a street address as input and provide the latitude and longitude of the address as output.

Eagle Geocoder (TeleAtlas)
Free Geocoding Service (TravelGIS.com)
Free Location Geocoding (ajm Software)  

Imagery

Imagery servers provide aerial photography and satellite imagery over the web.

GlobeXplorer
GO 3-D (Skyline)
TerraFly 

Localized Search Engines

Localized search engines allow you to locate businesses by type and location.

Google Maps  
Business Locator (MapQuest) 
Yahoo GetLocal Maps

Route Planners

Route planners generate maps and directions given a start address to a stop address.

Map24 (Select Calculate Route)
MapQuest Directions  

Topographic Maps

Topographic maps show general landscape features with elevations as contours

MapTech Mapserver 
TopoZone - The Web's Topographic Map
Trails.com 

GIS Software

GIS software sites provide software for the creation, management, analysis, and display of geographic data.

Products

These company sites sell and/or provide GIS software. The On-Line Product Sourcebook and Geo Directory of Products and Services provide information on multiple products.

Autodesk
Bentley Systems, Inc.
Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. .
Intergraph
MapInfo
Star Informatic GIS  

Data Viewers

Data viewers listed here are free software that can be used to look at geographic data.

Viewers (GeoCommunity)
ArcExplorer (ESRI)
ER Viewer (ER Mapper)
GeoMedia Viewer (Intergraph)
MapInfo ProViewer (MapInfo)   

Open Source

FreeGIS.org
Open Source GIS
Open Source Remote Sensing Software
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
PostGIS
GRASS(Open GIS)  

Mobile Mapping

Mobile/field mapping applications are becoming increasingly popular as cellphone, handheld, and palm top computers become cheaper and more powerful. Navigation and map display applications typically link a GPS receiver with a map display for location and/or routing applications.

Handheld/Wireless GIS Software (GeoCommunity)
GpsPilot
HandMap
JungleSoft

Location-Based Services

Wireless Location Industry Association
Mobile Wireless Services Channel (GeoCommunity)
Comsearch
Maptuit  

Data Collection

GIS systems require accurate feature and attribute information. This information can come from existing maps, Global Positioning System (GPS) collection systems, or imagery (using photogrammetry or remote sensing). Web cameras provide a handy source of real-time imagery.

Digitizing Software

Digitizing software allows users to collect spatial data from maps..

CartaLinx (Idrisi)
Didger (Golden Software) - Digitizing Software
Image Series (Hitachi Software Global Technology)
WinTopo - Raster to Vector Conversion  

Digitizing Hardware

Digitizing hardware includes digitizing tablets and scanners.

Colortrac
Contex  
GTCO CalComp