Types of GIS
The following open-source desktop GIS projects are reviewed in Steiniger and Bocher (2008/9):[3]
- GRASS GIS – Originally developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: a complete GIS.
- gvSIG – Written in Java. Runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OS X and Windows.
- ILWIS (Integrated Land and Water Information System) – Integrates image, vector and thematic data.
- JUMP GIS / OpenJUMP ((Open) Java Unified Mapping Platform) – The desktop GISs OpenJUMP, SkyJUMP, deeJUMP and Kosmo all emerged from JUMP.[3]
- MapWindow GIS – Free desktop application and programming component.
- QGIS (previously known as Quantum GIS) – Runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OS X and Windows.
- SAGA GIS (System for Automated Geoscientific Analysis) –- A hybrid GIS software. Has a unique Application Programming Interface (API) and a fast-growing set of geoscientific methods, bundled in exchangeable Module Libraries.
- uDig – API and source code (Java) available.
Besides these, there are other open source GIS tools:
- Capaware – A C++ 3D GIS Framework with a multiple plugin architecture for geographic graphical analysis and visualization.
- FalconView – A mapping system created by the Georgia Tech Research Institute for the Windows family of operating systems. A free, open source version is available.
- Kalypso – Uses Java and GML3. Focuses mainly on numerical simulations in water management.
- TerraView – Handles vector and raster data stored in a relational or geo-relational database, i.e. a frontend for TerraLib.
- Whitebox GAT – Cross-platform, free and open-source GIS software.