GIS Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the GIS exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 GIS Exam Format at a Glance
📚 GIS Topics to Study (69)
✍️ Sample GIS Questions & Answers
1. Which satellite constellation is the European equivalent of GPS, providing global navigation services?
Galileo is the European Union's global navigation satellite system, providing high-accuracy positioning services independent of GPS.
2. What is a 'datum shift' in GIS cartography?
A datum shift occurs when coordinates are transformed between two datums (e.g., NAD27 to NAD83), causing positional offsets of meters to hundreds of meters.
3. What is the purpose of a GIS project charter?
The project charter formally authorizes the project, names the project manager, and provides high-level scope and objectives.
4. What is the purpose of the 'ST_Geometry' storage type in an Oracle enterprise geodatabase?
ST_Geometry is Esri's native spatial type installed into Oracle that stores feature geometries in the database and enables SQL spatial queries without requiring ArcGIS client software.
5. What is 'map algebra' as used in raster GIS analysis?
Map algebra performs mathematical and logical operations on raster grids at the individual cell level to create new output rasters.
6. What is the 'modifiable areal unit problem' (MAUP) in spatial analysis?
MAUP refers to how spatial analysis results can change significantly depending on the size and shape of the zones used for aggregation.