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Geographic information system (GIS) is a bunch of maps stuck in a computer and connected to powerful databases

GIS session (ArcView 3) showing various data sets from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, an active seafloor spreading center only 200-300 miles off the Oregon/Washington coast.

Scientists have been tracking eruptions there since 1993.

Full caption for image: Example of a typical user interface for RIDGE scientists working in the field (based on successful implementations of GIS on the Juan de Fuca Ridge). Display includes a detailed map of a study area with previous submersible trackline over a broader study area, metadata for CTD casts, and an attribute table of interpreted camera images with fresh lava flows highlighted. This database was continuously updated as new observations were collected. (from Fox and Bobbitt, in press, 1999, NOAA Vents program marine GIS: Integration, analysis and distribution of multidisciplinary oceanographic data, in Wright, D.J. and Bartlett, D.J., Marine and Coastal Geographical Information Systems, London: Taylor & Francis).