| Summary: | Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are a useful tool for presenting and analysing scientitic and management information. GIS is often seen as just a cartographic tool, however, this is just a small part of its functionality. It is envisaged that GIS could be an important tool for a proposed international latitudinal gradient reseawh initiative along Victoria Land, Antarctica, coordinated by the New Zealand, Italian and United States Antarctic programs. There are a large number of GIS data sets available for Victoria Land and these are described online through the Antarctic Master Directory. The Antarctic Digital Database contains several important topographical layers. These data sets are displayed in this paper so that the detail of them can be assessed. These data sets are of "general purpose" quality and could provide a geo-spatial "backbone" for additional scientific information. Another important data set is the 50-m interval elevation contours of the Dry Valleys, which are archived by Gateway Antarctica at the University of Canterbury. In preparing for the Victoria Land latitudinal gradient initiative, this paper assesses: (a) GIS data availability and accessibility for Victoria Land; (b) examples of adding information to the Antarctic Digital Database using ArcView; and (c) examples of topographic and terrain data analyses using Digital Elevation Model manipulations for biodiversity mapping. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are a useful tool for presenting and analysing scientitic and management information. GIS is often seen as just a cartographic tool, however, this is just a small part of its functionality. It is envisaged that GIS could be an important tool for a proposed international latitudinal gradient reseawh initiative along Victoria Land, Antarctica, coordinated by the New Zealand, Italian and United States Antarctic programs. There are a large number of GIS data sets available for Victoria Land and these are described online through the Antarctic Master Directory. The Antarctic ...
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