The Geographic Information Systems: GRASS How To

By: David A. Hastings

U. S. Department of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Geophysical Data Center
Boulder, CO 80303
USA
dah@ngdc.noaa.gov

Revision History
Revision 1.0 13 November 1997 Revised by: dah

Initial Release
This document describes how to acquire, install and configure a powerful scientific public-domain Geographic Information System (GIS): the Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS). It provides information on other resources for learning more about GRASS, GIS in general, for acquiring data, etc.

This document also encourages the Linux community to consider enhancing this software as a major application of UNIX/Linux. (“When will Linux become bundled with public domain or Linux Public License ‘killer apps’”?) For more on this topic, see Section 8 below.

Table of Contents1. What is a GIS?2. What is GRASS?3. A Brief History of GRASS3.1. A Reinvigorated GRASS Management Model3.2. Continued Assessment of Future GRASS Management4. System Requirements for GRASS5. How to Acquire GRASS6. How to Get GRASS Running on Your Linux-based Computer7. Web-based Support for GRASS (and for GIS Matters in General)8. The Future of GRASS?9. Copyright Notice, and Notice on Support of this Document10. ReferencesA. Acquisition/Installation of GRASS BinariesB. Acquisition/Compilation of GRASS Source CodeC. GRASS 4.2 Quick StartD. Enhancing GRASSE. Sample Files