50 general knowledge (GK) questions with answers on GIS (Geographic Information System) and Remote Sensing:

 

Questions on GIS

1. What does GIS stand for?
   Answer: Geographic Information System

2. What is the main function of GIS?
   Answer: To capture, store, analyze, and display geographical and spatial data.

3. Which is the primary data type used in GIS?
   Answer: Vector and Raster data

4. What are the three components of a GIS system?
   Answer: Hardware, Software, and Data

5. What is georeferencing in GIS?
   Answer: It is the process of aligning geographic data to a known coordinate system.

6. What is a layer in GIS?
   Answer: A layer represents a single dataset, such as roads, rivers, or land use, in a GIS.

7. What is spatial analysis in GIS?
   Answer: It is the process of analyzing geographic patterns to solve spatial problems.

8. What is vector data in GIS?
   Answer: Data represented as points, lines, and polygons.

9. What is raster data in GIS?
   Answer: Data represented in a grid or pixel format, often used for images.

10. What is topology in GIS?
    Answer: The spatial relationships between vector features, such as connectivity or adjacency.

11. What does GPS stand for and how is it related to GIS?
    Answer: Global Positioning System; GPS provides location data for use in GIS.

12. What is the role of a database in GIS?
    Answer: To store and manage the geographic data used in analysis.

13. What is buffering in GIS?
    Answer: Creating a zone around a geographic feature for analysis.

14. What is the difference between a map and GIS?
    Answer: A map is a static representation, while GIS is a system that allows for interactive analysis and manipulation of spatial data.

15. What is a DEM in GIS?
    Answer: Digital Elevation Model, a representation of terrain elevation.

16. What software is commonly used for GIS analysis?
    Answer: ArcGIS, QGIS, GRASS GIS, among others.

17. What is spatial resolution in GIS?
    Answer: The smallest detail that can be represented in a dataset.

18. What is interpolation in GIS?
    Answer: Estimating unknown values at unsampled points based on known data points.

19. What is a thematic map in GIS?
    Answer: A map focused on specific themes like population, vegetation, or climate.

20. What is remote sensing, and how is it related to GIS?
    Answer: Remote sensing is the collection of data from satellites or aircraft. It provides data that can be used in GIS for spatial analysis.

21. What is a geographic coordinate system in GIS?
    Answer: A system that uses latitude and longitude to define the locations of points on the earth.

22. What is the attribute data in GIS?
    Answer: Non-spatial data that provides information about spatial features, like names, types, or statistics.

23. What is a WMS in GIS?
    Answer: Web Map Service, a standard protocol for serving georeferenced map images over the internet.

24. What is the role of GIS in urban planning?
    Answer: GIS helps in analyzing land use, infrastructure planning, environmental management, and decision-making.

25. What is digitization in GIS?
    Answer: The process of converting analog maps into digital format.

Questions on Remote Sensing

26. What is remote sensing?
    Answer: Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with it.

27. What are the two main types of remote sensing?
    Answer: Passive and Active remote sensing.

28. What is passive remote sensing?
    Answer: It collects radiation that is naturally emitted or reflected by objects, usually from the sun.

29. What is active remote sensing?
    Answer: It involves emitting a signal (like radar or lidar) and analyzing the returned signal.

30. What is a satellite in remote sensing?
    Answer: A satellite is a platform that carries sensors to capture Earth’s data from space.

31. What is a sensor in remote sensing?
    Answer: A device that detects and measures radiation from the Earth’s surface.

32. What is a spectral band in remote sensing?
    Answer: A specific range of wavelengths that a sensor detects.

33. What does Landsat stand for in remote sensing?
    Answer: It refers to a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the USGS.

34. What is resolution in remote sensing?
    Answer: The level of detail in a remote sensing image, including spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution.

35. What is spatial resolution in remote sensing?
    Answer: The smallest object that can be detected by the sensor.

36. What is temporal resolution in remote sensing?
    Answer: How frequently a satellite revisits the same location.

37. What is spectral resolution?
    Answer: The ability of a sensor to distinguish between different wavelengths of light.

38. What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
    Answer: The range of all types of electromagnetic radiation, from gamma rays to radio waves.

39. What is a false-color image in remote sensing?
    Answer: An image where colors are assigned to specific wavelengths to make features easier to distinguish.

40. What are multispectral images?
    Answer: Images captured across multiple spectral bands, typically ranging from visible to infrared.

41. What is LiDAR in remote sensing?
    Answer: Light Detection and Ranging, a method that uses laser pulses to measure distances and create detailed topographic maps.

42. What is radar in remote sensing?
    Answer: Radio Detection and Ranging, a method using radio waves to detect objects and map the Earth’s surface.

43. What is hyperspectral imaging?
    Answer: Capturing data in hundreds of narrow spectral bands for detailed analysis.

44. What is image classification in remote sensing?
    Answer: The process of categorizing pixels in an image into land cover classes like vegetation, water, or urban areas.

45. What is NDVI?
    Answer: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, a measure of plant health based on reflectance in the red and near-infrared bands.

46. What is the significance of cloud cover in remote sensing?
    Answer: Clouds block the view of the Earth’s surface and can interfere with data collection.

47. What is geostationary satellite orbit?
    Answer: An orbit where a satellite stays above the same point on Earth, useful for weather monitoring.

48. What is the use of remote sensing in agriculture?
    Answer: To monitor crop health, soil moisture, and land use patterns.

49. What is image rectification in remote sensing?
    Answer: The process of correcting the geometric distortions in satellite images.

50. What role does remote sensing play in disaster management?
    Answer: It provides real-time data for monitoring natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, and forest fires.

These questions cover fundamental concepts in GIS and remote sensing, suitable for general knowledge assessments.