What is Geospatial?

"The location of anything is becoming everything."
– The Geospatial Revolution Project, Penn State University

Mankind has created maps for thousands of years, for navigation, education, and boundary definition. From horseback to hot air balloons to satellites, we’ve sought geographic information from greater and greater heights, and we’ve gained incredible perspective with every new elevation.

"Geospatial information" is simply data concerning a place, collected in real time. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial information can now be layered and analyzed to understand complex situations like economic trends, natural disasters, ocean levels, military action, or even population shifts. Watch the Geospatial Revolution Project video for a compelling illustration of data layering.

GeoEye’s high-resolution, commercial satellite imaging, with new GIS technologies to process it, has helped create transparency and connectivity between nations, industries, and cultures. It has changed the way businesses and policy makers solve problems and the way scientists understand global change. It has generated new fields of expertise. It continues to inspire new government, business, and private applications around the world.

At the same time, access to Earth-imaging and global positioning system (GPS) information through applications like Google Earth and portable navigation devices has become part of our personal, daily lives. The answer to "where am I?" or "where are they?" can be found with a click.

• Watch the Geospatial Revolution Project (video)
• Discover the history of satellite imagery
• Technology for information and insight