Information Technology
Geographic Information Systems
We've been developing our geographic information system (GIS) since 1995. We bring together a wide range of geographic data including utilities, properties, natural features, political boundaries, aerial photography, and much more. Whether you're a citizen, a visitor, or planning to relocate, we hope you find this information helpful in discovering more about our community.
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What is GIS?
Think of a geographic information system (GIS) as lots of layers that all fit together. Each layer has a particular theme, and each feature on the layer is connected to a database that stores information about it. So, for example, the streets theme might be a bunch of lines representing the center line of every street in town, and each line has information attached to it which tells it what the name of the street is, what kind of street it is, what the surface of the street is made of, and so on.....get the picture? And because this all fits together, you can find out things like which properties are next to this street and who owns them.
That's the beauty of GIS, bringing a whole bunch of different information together in one place. We used to have to dig through mountains of paper drawings to get the information we get now with the click of the mouse.
Albany's GIS is composed of many layers, ranging from utility systems (sewer, water, storm drainage) to property information, and from aerial photography to environmental information. We've mapped just about everything that has to do with operating a municipal government. We use GIS in every department in the city. It helps in making decisions that make Albany such a great place to live. If you want more detailed information on GIS, try www.gis.com.