Geographic information systems (GIS) are integrated frameworks for acquiring, storing, managing, analyzing, and visualizing data referenced to locations on Earth’s surface. They combine spatial (vector and raster) and attribute data within coordinate reference systems, enabling spatial analysis operations such as overlay, buffering, network analysis, interpolation, and spatial statistics. GIS supports modeling of spatial processes, multi-criteria decision analysis, and integration with remote sensing and global navigation satellite system data. In research, GIS underpins spatial epidemiology, environmental assessment, urban and regional planning, resource management, and geospatial data infrastructure, facilitating reproducible, quantitative analyses of spatial patterns, relationships, and temporal dynamics.
A foundation model trained on Earth observation data from Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 has been made widely available to researchers, it was announced at a computer industry conference this week in Denver, U.S.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 4, 2026
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10
Satellite images, weather maps and other data are collected in enormous quantities—but much of this remains unused. The reason is simple: the data is fragmented, difficult to interpret, and stored in different formats. Dr. ...
Environment
May 7, 2026
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12
Cranfield University has launched a new soil and environmental online database and mapping tool, opening up detailed information about land in England and Wales. In collaboration with Defra, Cranfield's Land Information System ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 3, 2026
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30
Engineers at the University of Houston have unlocked decades of hidden flood risk data, using artificial intelligence to transform paper flood maps into digital tools that reveal how flooding has evolved—and where future ...
Environment
Apr 29, 2026
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13
Arctic fossil fuel development shows significant overlaps with Indigenous communities and ecologically sensitive areas, which might support calls from some scientists to keep Arctic fossil fuels in the ground, according to ...
Environment
Apr 22, 2026
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98
A Purdue University digital forestry team has created a computational tool to obtain and analyze urban tree inventories on public and private lands with record-breaking speed at an unprecedented scale. The team accomplished ...
Ecology
Feb 18, 2026
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27
If you told me a decade ago that I'd become an expert in mapping cemeteries, I would've laughed and been very confused about the dramatic turn my professional life must've taken at some point.
Environment
Feb 15, 2026
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16
Geographic information system (GIS) maps help researchers, policymakers, and community members see how environmental risks are spread throughout a given region. These types of interactive, layered maps can be used for storytelling, ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 11, 2026
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13
Cities are increasingly becoming the epicenter of climate-related risks, with research showing that impervious surfaces (e.g., roofs, streets, sidewalks, parking lots) are a major driver of urban climate impacts because they ...
Environment
Feb 5, 2026
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18
Far from simply a source of unstructured online content, disaster management in the digital age can be supported by careful analysis of online social-media data, suggests a paper published in Natural Hazards and Earth System ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 30, 2026
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11
