GISP Exam Study Guide Terms Flashcards
2026-2027
Expert-Verified Questions and Answers
(With A+ Grades Guarantee)
,1005 Certification a process, often voluntary, by which individuals who have demonstrated a level of
expertise in the profession are identified to the public and other stakeholders by a
third party
1005 What did URISA explore in 1999? Formed a committee to explore GIS certification and this work lead to the creation
to the GIS Certification Institute
402 Surveyors determine exact position of features and the angles and distances between them.
Surveyors may collect attributes as they collect locations such as x,y,z values, time,
and other attributes
1004 Mappers create visual representations of real world locations and use thematic mapping to
show locations and attributes
404 Photogrammetrists Find positions of features and the angles and distances between them by
measuring from photographs and analyze data to determine landcover
503 CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) Use AutoCad and Microstation to create detailed plans for structures and collect
some attributes
1004 How is GIS different than CAD, Photogrammetrists, GIS introduces spatial and temporal analysis
& Cartographers?
1002 What are the GISCI code of ethics? Read definition online (www.gisci.org/ethics/codeofethics.aprx) likely a question
about conflict resolution
1002 What are the 4 obligations of a GISCI professional? Society, Employers and Funders, Colleagues and Profession, Individuals in Society
1002 What does HIPPA stand for? What is it for? Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPPA laws protect
individuals' medical records and other personal health information.
1002 How would you comply with HIPPA laws if asked to Data anonymization, hex map, heat map, etc
map medical data?
208 What is does OGC stand for? Open Geospatial Consortium
non-profit, international, voluntary consensus standards organization - created GML
or Geography Markup Language - XML based encoding standard
Has standards or almost any type of GIS data out there
208 What does FGDC stand for? Federal Geographic Data Committee
208 What does ISO stand for? International Standards Organization.
,What does the Federal Bureau of the Budget do in regards Publishes the National Map Accuracy Standards (NMAS)
to mapping?
401 What does the OGC do? What does F.A.I.R. stand The Open Geospatial Consortium is an internal industry consortium of companies,
for? government agencies, and universities. OGC standards are developed by members
to make location information and services FAIR (Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, Reuseable).
208 Give 4 Examples of File Based Standards from the KML/KMZ, GML, OGC and ISO Simple Features, Geopackage
OGC
208 Give 5 Examples of Web Based Standards from the Web Feature Service, Web Map Service, Web Coverage Service, Web Map Tile
OGC Service, Web Processing Service
503 What is a .gpkg? What is it based on? Can it store A geopackage. Universal file format for geodata based on SQLLite. Yes, it supports
both vector & raster data? both.
208 Who is in the FGDC? What does the FGDC do? It's an organization of federal geospatial professionals chaired by the Department of
the Interior. Provides oversight and direction for geospatial decisions across the
federal government
208 What are some standards that the FGDC publishes? Addressing, metadata and content standards, geographic information data quality,
soil code standards, classification of wetlands, National Standard for Spatial Data
Accuracy
208 Does the FGDC create metadata standards and the No, the Bureau of the Budget creates both metadata standards and the national
NMAS? map accuracy standards (NMAS)
203 What is the required horizontal accuracy of A) 1/30 (.033)
A) A map larger than 1:20,000 and b) 1/50 (.02)
B) A map 1:20,000 or smaller?
401 What percentage of points on a map have to match 90% for both smaller or larger than 1:20,000
the horizontal accuracy to pass the NMAS standard?
401 What is the vertical accuracy and percentage of points At least 1/2 the contour interval, 90% (again)
to pass a NMAS standard?
401 What is the minimum amount of points to check for 20 check points must be compared to a high accuracy data source
each dataset, according to the FGDC?
203 What is RMS Error? What is RMSE? The average of the distances between the mapped location and the actual location.
Both are the same.
203 What is geometric accuracy? How close a mapped location is to its real world counterpart
Closeness of a measurement to its true value
Error, inaccuracy, and imprecision can affect the quality of many types of GIS
projects, in the sense that errors that are not accounted for can turn the analysis in
a GIS project to a useless exercise.
As map scale decreases the range of inaccuracy increases (map of Maricopa
county is more accurate than a map of AZ)
, 203 What is thematic accuracy? Are the attributes associated with the location correct? (Is it a 4 lane street, or a 2
way street? The data may be geometrically accurate but not thematically accurate
and vice versa)
Qualitative or label errors.
eg; street names are not correct on a streets feature layer, County names not being
correct on a counties by state polygon layer
203 What is precision? How is it different from accuracy? Precision is about process and consistency. If you take 5 GPS locations using the
same device, do they all fall in the same area? A location can be precise but
inaccurate.
Level of measurement and exactness of description in a GIS database
203 What level of accuracy is needed for any given Accuracy and precision depend on the business needs of the client
project?
201 What is a planar measurement? A planar measurement is something measured in 2D space
201 Can an area measured in GIS be different than a legal Yes. Legal areas commonly do not line up with GIS measurements.
area?
402 What are 3 kinds of accuracy for Remotely Sensed 1) Spatial Accuracy (is what is being returned in the right spot?)
Imagery? Size of a pixel that is recorded
2) Spectral Accuracy (is what is being returned true?)
electromagnetic spectrum measured - wavelength of the different frequency bands
recorded (usually the number of bands recorded)
Landsat (satellite) is 7 bands 0.7 to 2.1 μm
Includes several in infrared spectrum
Hyperion on Earth Observing-1 (satellite) is 220 bands 0.10 to 0.11 μm per band
3) Temporal/Classification Accuracy (user defined classification)
Resolution of a measurement with respect to time AKA Frequency of flyovers
(repeat cycle)
Only relevant in time-series studies or those with an averaged mosaic image
603 What is "fuzzy tolerance"? The point at which 2 different points are considered the same.
203 What is the Precision of 123.123456? 9 (can store 9 total digits)
203 What is the scale of 123.123456? 6 (6 spaces after the decimal point)
702 Does a "-" (negative sign) count as a significant digit? Yes
702 How many significant digits can a float value hold? 7 significant digits
702 How many significant digits can a double value hold? 15 significant digits
2026-2027
Expert-Verified Questions and Answers
(With A+ Grades Guarantee)
,1005 Certification a process, often voluntary, by which individuals who have demonstrated a level of
expertise in the profession are identified to the public and other stakeholders by a
third party
1005 What did URISA explore in 1999? Formed a committee to explore GIS certification and this work lead to the creation
to the GIS Certification Institute
402 Surveyors determine exact position of features and the angles and distances between them.
Surveyors may collect attributes as they collect locations such as x,y,z values, time,
and other attributes
1004 Mappers create visual representations of real world locations and use thematic mapping to
show locations and attributes
404 Photogrammetrists Find positions of features and the angles and distances between them by
measuring from photographs and analyze data to determine landcover
503 CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) Use AutoCad and Microstation to create detailed plans for structures and collect
some attributes
1004 How is GIS different than CAD, Photogrammetrists, GIS introduces spatial and temporal analysis
& Cartographers?
1002 What are the GISCI code of ethics? Read definition online (www.gisci.org/ethics/codeofethics.aprx) likely a question
about conflict resolution
1002 What are the 4 obligations of a GISCI professional? Society, Employers and Funders, Colleagues and Profession, Individuals in Society
1002 What does HIPPA stand for? What is it for? Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPPA laws protect
individuals' medical records and other personal health information.
1002 How would you comply with HIPPA laws if asked to Data anonymization, hex map, heat map, etc
map medical data?
208 What is does OGC stand for? Open Geospatial Consortium
non-profit, international, voluntary consensus standards organization - created GML
or Geography Markup Language - XML based encoding standard
Has standards or almost any type of GIS data out there
208 What does FGDC stand for? Federal Geographic Data Committee
208 What does ISO stand for? International Standards Organization.
,What does the Federal Bureau of the Budget do in regards Publishes the National Map Accuracy Standards (NMAS)
to mapping?
401 What does the OGC do? What does F.A.I.R. stand The Open Geospatial Consortium is an internal industry consortium of companies,
for? government agencies, and universities. OGC standards are developed by members
to make location information and services FAIR (Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, Reuseable).
208 Give 4 Examples of File Based Standards from the KML/KMZ, GML, OGC and ISO Simple Features, Geopackage
OGC
208 Give 5 Examples of Web Based Standards from the Web Feature Service, Web Map Service, Web Coverage Service, Web Map Tile
OGC Service, Web Processing Service
503 What is a .gpkg? What is it based on? Can it store A geopackage. Universal file format for geodata based on SQLLite. Yes, it supports
both vector & raster data? both.
208 Who is in the FGDC? What does the FGDC do? It's an organization of federal geospatial professionals chaired by the Department of
the Interior. Provides oversight and direction for geospatial decisions across the
federal government
208 What are some standards that the FGDC publishes? Addressing, metadata and content standards, geographic information data quality,
soil code standards, classification of wetlands, National Standard for Spatial Data
Accuracy
208 Does the FGDC create metadata standards and the No, the Bureau of the Budget creates both metadata standards and the national
NMAS? map accuracy standards (NMAS)
203 What is the required horizontal accuracy of A) 1/30 (.033)
A) A map larger than 1:20,000 and b) 1/50 (.02)
B) A map 1:20,000 or smaller?
401 What percentage of points on a map have to match 90% for both smaller or larger than 1:20,000
the horizontal accuracy to pass the NMAS standard?
401 What is the vertical accuracy and percentage of points At least 1/2 the contour interval, 90% (again)
to pass a NMAS standard?
401 What is the minimum amount of points to check for 20 check points must be compared to a high accuracy data source
each dataset, according to the FGDC?
203 What is RMS Error? What is RMSE? The average of the distances between the mapped location and the actual location.
Both are the same.
203 What is geometric accuracy? How close a mapped location is to its real world counterpart
Closeness of a measurement to its true value
Error, inaccuracy, and imprecision can affect the quality of many types of GIS
projects, in the sense that errors that are not accounted for can turn the analysis in
a GIS project to a useless exercise.
As map scale decreases the range of inaccuracy increases (map of Maricopa
county is more accurate than a map of AZ)
, 203 What is thematic accuracy? Are the attributes associated with the location correct? (Is it a 4 lane street, or a 2
way street? The data may be geometrically accurate but not thematically accurate
and vice versa)
Qualitative or label errors.
eg; street names are not correct on a streets feature layer, County names not being
correct on a counties by state polygon layer
203 What is precision? How is it different from accuracy? Precision is about process and consistency. If you take 5 GPS locations using the
same device, do they all fall in the same area? A location can be precise but
inaccurate.
Level of measurement and exactness of description in a GIS database
203 What level of accuracy is needed for any given Accuracy and precision depend on the business needs of the client
project?
201 What is a planar measurement? A planar measurement is something measured in 2D space
201 Can an area measured in GIS be different than a legal Yes. Legal areas commonly do not line up with GIS measurements.
area?
402 What are 3 kinds of accuracy for Remotely Sensed 1) Spatial Accuracy (is what is being returned in the right spot?)
Imagery? Size of a pixel that is recorded
2) Spectral Accuracy (is what is being returned true?)
electromagnetic spectrum measured - wavelength of the different frequency bands
recorded (usually the number of bands recorded)
Landsat (satellite) is 7 bands 0.7 to 2.1 μm
Includes several in infrared spectrum
Hyperion on Earth Observing-1 (satellite) is 220 bands 0.10 to 0.11 μm per band
3) Temporal/Classification Accuracy (user defined classification)
Resolution of a measurement with respect to time AKA Frequency of flyovers
(repeat cycle)
Only relevant in time-series studies or those with an averaged mosaic image
603 What is "fuzzy tolerance"? The point at which 2 different points are considered the same.
203 What is the Precision of 123.123456? 9 (can store 9 total digits)
203 What is the scale of 123.123456? 6 (6 spaces after the decimal point)
702 Does a "-" (negative sign) count as a significant digit? Yes
702 How many significant digits can a float value hold? 7 significant digits
702 How many significant digits can a double value hold? 15 significant digits
