Madelineclaire’s Weblog

The second exmple of applied GIS is through the USGS.  The USGS uses GIS to do many things but at present I am most interested in the use of GIS in creating topographic maps.  These maps show contour intervals and give the map viewer a good idea of the elevations of the area on the map.  By looking at the contour lines on the map and observing their proximity to one another or their relative distance apart, the viewer can learn about the topography of a region.  This is of particular interest to myself as a runner and hiker as it is rarely fun to encounter a surprise mountain at the end of a grueling workout.