- make possible the automation of activities involving geographic data
- map production
- calculation of areas, distances, routes lengths
- measurement of slope, aspect, view shed
- logistics: route planning, vehicle tracking, traffic management
- allow for the integration of data hitherto confined to independent domains (e.g property maps and air photos)
- by tieing data to maps, permits the succinct communication of complex spatial patterns ( e.g environmental sensitivity)
- provides answer to spatial queries
- perform complex spatial modeling (what if scenarios for transportation planning, disaster planning, resource management, utility design)