• GIS (Geographic Information Systems) – An integrated collection of computer software and data used to view and manage information about geographic places, analyze spatial relationships (how far between), and model spatial processes.  A GIS provides a framework for gathering and organizing spatial data and related information so that it can be displayed and analyzed. 
• Georeferencing - Aligning geographic data to a known coordinate system so it can be viewed, queried, and analyzed with other geographic data.
• Digitizing – The process of converting the geographic features on a paper into digital format.  Features on a paper map are traced and the x, y coordinates of these features are automatically recorded and stored as spatial data.
• Attribute – Non-spatial information about a geographic feature in a GIS, usually stored in a table and linked to the feature by a unique identifier.  For example, attributes of a designated trail line segment might include its trail name, route name and length.
• Attribute Table – A database or tabular file containing information about a set of geographic features. 
• GPS (Global Positioning System) – A system of radio-emitting and –receiving satellites used for determining positions on the earth.  The orbiting satellites transmit signals that allow a GPS receiver anywhere on earth to calculate its own location.  The system is used in navigation, mapping, surveying, and other applications in which precise positioning is necessary.
• Geodatabase – A database or file structure used primarily to store, query, and manipulate spatial data.  Geodatabases store geometry, a spatial reference system, attributes and behavioral rules for data.
• Shapefile – A proprietary vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features.
• Scale – The ratio or relationship between a distance or area on a map and the corresponding distance or area on the ground, commonly expressed as a fraction or ration.

Google Earth Terminology:

• Placemark – A georeferenced point with attributes
• Layers – Themed collections of data, either in raster format, or more commonly, a collection of placemarks to which attributes of multimedia and encyclopedic information have been added.
• Historical Imagery – Launching this, users have access to airborne and satellite panchromatic imagery dating back often to the 1970s, allowing for observing the temporal change of ,for example, rural farmland into suburban housing.
• Tour – Provides user with ability to record video of imagery in 3D along a route (limited by speed of internet connection and processor to render images).
• KML – Keyhole markup language—a file type storing grid coordinates and attributes, and how to render them.
• KMZ – A compressed or “zipped” version of a kml file.
• Regionate – An automated process used to improve load speed of large kml files and images, works by displaying fewer points at larger scales and revealing more as the user zooms in.
• Terrain Mode – Fits aerial imagery to a terrain DEM (Digital elevation model) in simulated 3D.  Exaggeration can be adjusted. 

Database Terminology:

• Relational Database – A data structure in which collections of tables are logically associated with each other by shared fields.
• Normalization – The process of organizing, analyzing, and cleaning data to increase efficiency for data use and sharing.  Normalization usually includes data structuring and refinement, redundancy and error elimination, and standardization.
• Schema – The structure or design of a database or database object.  The schema defines the tables, the fields in each table, the relationships between the fields and tables, and the grouping of objects within the database. 

Mapping and Cartography Terminology:

• bench mark - Relatively permanent material object, natural or artificial, bearing a marked point whose elevation above or below an adopted datum is known.
• boundary monument - Material object placed on or near a boundary line to preserve and identify the location of the boundary line on the ground.
• boundary survey - Survey made to establish or to reestablish a boundary line on the ground, or to obtain data for constructing a map or plat showing a boundary line.
• cadastral survey - Survey relating to land boundaries, made to create units suitable for title transfer or to define the limitations of title. Derived from "cadastre" meaning a register of land quantities, values, and ownership used levying taxes, the term may properly be applied to surveys of a similar nature outside the public lands, such surveys are more commonly called "land surveys" or "property surveys."
• cartography - Science and art of making maps and charts. The term may be taken broadly as comprising all the steps needed to produce a map: planning, aerial photography, field surveys, photogrammetry, editing, color separation, and multicolor printing. Mapmakers, however, tend to limit use of the term to the map-finishing operations, in which the master manuscript is edited and color separation plates are prepared for lithographic printing.
• chain - Unit of length equal to 66 feet, used especially in the U.S. public land surveys. The original measuring instrument (Gunter's chain) was literally a chain consisting of 100 iron links, each 7.92 inches long. Steel-ribbon tapes began to supersede chains around 1900, but surveying tapes are often still called "chains" and measuring with a tape is often called "chaining." The chain is a convenient unit in cadastral surveys because 10 square chains equal 1 acre.
• coordinates - Linear and (or) angular quantities that designate the position of a point in relation to a given reference frame.
• coordinates, origin of - Points in a system of coordinates which serves as a zero point in computing the system's elements or in prescribing its use.
• culture - Features constructed by man that are under, on, or above the ground which are delineated on a map. These include roads, trails, buildings, canals, sewer systems, and boundary lines. In a broad sense, the term also applies to all names, other identification, and legends o-n a map.
• datum (pl. datums) In surveying, a reference system for computing or correlating the results of surveys. There are two principal types of datums: vertical and horizontal. A vertical datum is a level surface to which heights are referred. In the United States, the generally adopted vertical datum for leveling operations is the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. The horizontal datum is used as a reference for position. The North American Datum of 1927 is defined by the latitude and longitude of an initial point (Meade's Ranch in Kansas), the direction of a line between this point and a specified second point, and two dimensions that define the spheroid. The new North American Datum of 1983 is based on a newly defined spheroid (GRS80); it is an Earth-centered datum having no initial point or initial direction.
• datum, national geodetic vertical See: national geodetic vertical datum of 1929.
• electronic distance measuring (EDM) device - Instruments that measure the phase difference between transmitted and reflected or retransmitted electromagnetic waves of known frequency, or that measure the round-trip transit time of a pulsed signal, from which distance is computed.
• elevation - Vertical distance of a point above or below a reference surface or datum.
• erosion - Group of natural processes including weathering, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation that remove material from any part of the Earth's surface.
• estuary - That portion of a stream influenced by the tide of the body of water into which it flows; an arm of the sea at a river mouth.
• flood plain - Belt of low flat ground bordering a stream channel that is flooded when runoff exceeds the capacity of the stream channel.
• grid - Network of uniformly spaced parallel lines intersecting at right angles. When superimposed on a map, it usually carries the name of the projection used for the map- that is, Lambert grid, transverse Mercator grid, universal transverse Mercator grid.
• land use classification system - Coding system of categories and subcategories designed for use on a map to designate land or water use.
• landmark - Monument of material mark or fixed object used to designate a land boundary on the ground: any prominent object on land that may be used to determine a location or a direction in navigation or surveying.
• latitude - Angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds of a point north or south of the Equator.
• longitude - Angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, of a point east or west of the Greenwich meridian.
• map - Graphic representation of the physical features (natural, artificial, or both) of a part or the whole of the Earth's surface, by means of signs and symbols or photographic imagery, at an established scale, on a specified projection, and with the means of orientation indicated.
• map, base - Map on which information may be placed for purposes of comparison or geographical correlation. The term "base map" was at one time applied to a class of maps now known as outline maps. It may be applied to topographic maps, also termed "mother maps" that are used in the construction of other types of maps by the addition of particular data.
• map, cadastral - Map showing the boundaries of subdivisions of land, often with the bearings and lengths thereof and the areas of individual tracts, for purposes of describing and recording ownership. It may also show culture, drainage, and other features relating to land use and value. See: plat
• map, choropleth - Thematic map in which areas are colored, shaded, dotted, or hatched to create darker or lighter areas in proportion to the density of distribution of the theme subject.
• map digitization - Conversion of map data from graphic to digital form.
• map, engineering - Map showing information that is essential for planning an engineering project or development and for estimating its cost. It usually is a large-scale map of a small area or of a route. It may be entirely the product of an engineering survey, or reliable information may be collected from various sources for the purpose, and assembled on a base map.
• map, flood control - Map designed for studying and planning control projects in areas subject to flooding.
• map, forestry - Map prepared principally to show the size, density, kind, and value of trees in a designated area.
• map, geologic - Map showing the structure and composition of geologic features.
• map hypsographic - Map showing relief with elevations referred to the national geodetic vertical datum of 1929.
• map, hypsometric - Map showing relief by any convention, such as contours, hachures, shading, or tinting.
• map, isopleth - Map consisting of lines connecting places of equal value of distribution for a given theme such as rainfall or temperature.
• map, land use - Map showing by means of a coding system the various purposes for which parcels of land are being used by man.
• map, line - Map composed of lines as distinguished from photographic imagery.
• map, planimetric - Map that presents only the horizontal positions for features represented. distinguished from a topographic map by the omission of relief in measurable form. The features usually shown on a planimetric map include rivers, lakes, and seas; mountains, valleys, and plains; forests, and prairies; cities, farms transportation routes, and public utility facilities; and political and private boundary lines. A planimetric map intended for special use may present only those features essential to the purpose to be served.
• map series - Family of maps conforming generally to the same specifications and designed to cover an area or a country in systematic pattern.
• map, slope (clinometric map) - Map showing the degree of steepness of the Earth's surface by the use of various colors or shading for critical ranges of slope.
• map, thematic - Map designed to provide information on a single topic, such as geology, rainfall, population.
• map, topographic - Map that present the horizontal and vertical positions of the features represented; distinguished from a planimetric map by the addition of relief in measurable form.
• meridian - Great circle on the surface of the Earth passing through the geographical poles and any given point on the Earth's surface. All points on a given meridian have the same longitude.
• metes and bounds - Method of describing land by measure of length (metes) of the boundary lines (bounds).
• Metonic cycle - Period of 235 lunations or about 19 years. devised by Meton, an Athenian astronomer (5th century B.C.) for the purpose of obtaining a period at the end of which the phases of the moon recur in the same order and on the same days as in the preceding cycle.
• monument (surveying) - Permanent physical structure marking the location of a survey point. Common types of monuments are inscribed metal tablets set in concrete posts; and metal rods driven in the ground.
• national geodetic vertical datum of 1929 - Reference surface established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1929 as the datum to which relief features and elevation data are referenced in the conterminous United States; formerly called "mean sea level 1929."
• orientation - Establishing correct relationship in direction with reference to points of the compass; the state of being in correct relationship in direction with reference to the points of the compass.
• origin of coordinates - Point in a system of coordinates that serves as a zero point in computing the system's elements or in prescribing its use.
• parallel of latitude - A circle, or approximation of a circle, on the surface of the Earth, parallel to the Equator, and connecting points of equal latitude; a circle of the celestial sphere parallel to the ecliptic, and connecting points of equal celestial latitude.
• plain - Region of uniform general slope, comparatively level, of considerable extent, and not broken by marked elevations and depressions (it may be an extensive valley floor or a plateau summit); an extent of level or nearly level land; a flat, gently sloping, or nearly level region of the sea floor.
• plat - Diagram drawn to scale showing all essential data pertaining to the boundaries and subdivisions of a tract of land, as determined by survey or protraction. As used by the Bureau of Land Management, the drawing which represents the particular area included in a survey, such as township, private land claim, or mineral claim, and the lines surveyed, established, or retraced, showing the direction and length of each such line; The relation to the adjoining official surveys; the boundaries, descriptions, and area of each parcel of land subdivided; and, as nearly as may be practicable, a representation of the relief and improvements within the limits of the survey.
• prime meridian - Meridian of longitude 0 degrees, used as the origin for measurements of longitude. The meridian of Greenwich, England, is the internationally accepted prime meridian on most charts. However, local or national prime meridians are occasionally used.
• public land system - Public lands are subdivided by a rectangular system of surveys established and regulated by the Bureau of Land Management. The standard format for subdivision is by townships measuring 6 miles (480 chains) on a side. Townships are further subdivided into 36 numbered sections of 1 square mile (640 acres) each.
• quadrangle - Four-sided area, bounded by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude used as an area unit in mapping (dimensions are not necessarily the same in both directions). Also, a geometric figure of significance in geodetic surveying.
• scale - Relationship existing between a distance on a map, chart, or photograph and the corresponding distance on the Earth.
• section - Unit of subdivision of a township; normally a quadrangle 1 mile square with boundaries conforming to meridians and parallels within established limits, and containing 640 acres as nearly as practicable.
• survey - Orderly process of determining data relating to any physical or chemical characteristics of the Earth. The associated data obtained in a survey. An organization engaged in making a survey.
• topography - Configuration (relief) of the land surface; the graphic delineation or portrayal of that configuration in map form, as by contour lines; in oceanography the term is applied to a surface such as the sea bottom or surface of given characteristics within the water mass.
• township - Unit of survey of the public lands of the United States, normally a quadrangle approximately 6 miles on a side with boundaries conforming to meridians and parallels within established limits, containing 36 sections. Also, in minor governmental subdivision.
• triangulation - Method of extending horizontal position on the surface of the Earth by measuring the angles of triangles and the included sides of selected triangles.
• trilateration - Method of surveying wherein the lengths of the triangle sides are measured, usually by electronic methods, and the angles are computed from the measured lengths. Compare with triangulation.
• Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid - Military grid system based on the transverse Mercator projection, applied to maps of the Earth's surface extending from the Equator to 84 Degrees north and 80 degrees south latitudes