The U.S. Geological Survey uses GIS to analyze and visualize geology 3-dimensionally. These examples show the Quarternary deposits for an area in east-central Illinois.

Displaying the data 3-dimensionally enhances the visualization by the reader and gives a more realistic interpretation of distribution for the deposits.

The Bureau of Land Management uses GIS to manage the ecosystem for the Columbia River Basin. Using GIS they can assess environmental impact, develop planning strategies, and create maps that show the entire system.

Seismologists at the U.S. Geological Survey use GIS to assess the potential damage from earthquakes.

These maps show the severity and frequency of earthquakes for the lower Wabash River valley. After the data are displayed, geographic relationships between the earthquakes and known areas of liquefaction can be used to determine the overall hazards for any site.

GIS can be used to show areas covered by a particular service.

VESTRA, Inc., used GIS to demonstrate the areas covered by the U.S. Weather Service radar in northern California. Information provided by the GIS demonstated that there would be insufficient data to track storms if the Red Bluff radar were discontinued. The GIS easily demonstrated the justification for continued radar service in Red Bluff.

GIS is used by the military to aid their understanding of regional terrain and how it affects overall battlefield support.

These examples combine satellite imagery and GIS terrain data to illustate potential landing site analysis, vehicular travel time, field of view, and line of site assessment for a given area.