Free Desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Programs

Digital Data Technologies, Inc., distributes to more than 25,000 users worldwide a fast, powerful, independently developed, free GIS application available. AccuGlobe® Desktop 2007 – an upgrade to their initial 2004 launch, – evolved from providing numerous government agencies with enhanced GIS solutions, like 9-1-1 emergency dispatch and data dissemination applications.

DIVA-GIS is a free mapping program, sometimes called geographic information system (GIS), that can be used for many different purposes. It is particularly useful for mapping and analyzing biodiversity data, such as the distribution of species, or other 'point-distributions'. DIVA-GIS can: 1) Make maps of the world or of a very small place, integrating, for example, state boundaries, rivers, a satellite image, and the locations of sites where an animal species was observed. 2) Make grid maps of the distribution of biological diversity, to identify “hotspots” and areas that have complementary levels of diversity. 3) Map and query climate data. Predict species distributions using the BIOCLIM or DOMAIN models. Create ESRI shapefiles, import and export grid data, and much more!

Forestry GIS (fGIS™) is a compact but robust shapefile editing program, digitizer and GIS data query tool for Windows®. fGIS was designed for natural resource managers who are not GIS specialists. It’s easy-to-use and simple to install. Many power users also like fGIS because they can run it on laptops or home computers without copyright issues, it produces data compatible with commercial GIS programs, and fGIS is free. Notice! As of November 7, 2005, Forestry GIS (fGIS) updates are no longer available for public download. Although Wisconsin DNR continues to improve fGIS, a change in the license agreement for the TatukGIS Developer Kernel would require payment of royalties to distribute newer versions of fGIS outside of DNR programs. The software build from September 24, 2005 is still available as a free download