GIS Software

Information about GIS software and applications including both commercial and open source GIS applications. This category covers desktop GIS (Esri’s ArcGIS suite, MapInfo, QGIS, and GRASS) as well as web mapping, GIS apps, mobile GIS, and component GIS.

R Packages for Spatial Analysis

Caitlin Dempsey

Looking for R spatial packages? Listed here is a brief look some of the spatial packages in R that are available.

Screenshot showing contours in brown and green in ArcGIS Pro.

How To Create Contours in ArcGIS Pro from LIDAR Data

Jeff Oppong

This ArcGIS Pro tutorial shows how to add LIDAR data from the National Map to ArcGIS Pro and create topography contours.

Open Source GIS and Freeware GIS Applications

Caitlin Dempsey

There are many open source GIS and web mapping applications to choose from.

A detailed map showing a shaded relief area and a popup with attribute data about a fly fishing shop.

Using GIS to Map Fly Fishing Destinations

GIS Contributor

William Bakemeyer describes how he used QGIS and open source data to create a fly fishing map.

Two images - one from 2013 and one from 2021 showing changes in orange in the coastline of an area.

QGIS from a Graduate Student’s Perspective

GIS Contributor

Kent Campbell writes about how he has come to view the benefits of using QGIS as a graduate student.