Mobile GIS is taking Geographic Information Systems (GIS) out of the office and into the field. A mobile GIS allows folks out in the field to capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display geospatial data and information. Mobile GIS integrates one or more of the following technologies:
* mobile devices (such as a PDA, tablet, or laptop computer, and in some countries mobile phones)
* Geographic Information System (GIS) software
* the Global Positioning System (GPS)
* wireless communications for Internet-based GIS access.
For most applications, it is an extension of desktop GIS, although increasingly users are taking mobile GIS data and uploading it directly to powerful visualization tools online such as Google Earth. Mobile GIS can allow for edits and changes to be made in the field, increasing accuracy and saving time. Many mobile GIS systems are relatively inexpensive.
