Year: 1996
Type: article
Abstract: Information about where a thing is or where an event takes place is an important factor in decisionmaking in both the public and private sec-tors. Spatial data provide a unique context for integrating disparate observations and evaluating competing options. Factors of location, distance, pathways, and other spatial relationships often must be con-sidered when making decisions about economic ventures, environmental and health concerns, responses to emergencies, and other issues. Public and private sector organizations have quickly realized the usefulness ofspatial data in their activities. The nation spends billions of dollars annually on just the collection, management, and dissemina-tion of spatial data. Difficulties in finding and accessing data, and a lack ofdata documentation, hinder the spatial data community 's efforts to work together and leverage this large investment. Through the Na-tional Spatial Data Infrastructure, government agencies, private com-panies, and nonprofit organizations cooperate to develop consistent, re-
Author: Michael A. Domaratz
Language: English
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1146579036