Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a fundamental element of ArchaeoPhysica's approach to spatial projects. Each project has it's own GIS within which all the project data resides. This permits easy collation of the disparate sources (e.g., vector map data, raster geophysical images, vector interpretation layers etc.) & supports detailed analysis & clear presentation. The biggest benefit is being able to manipulate & analyse these sources to maximise the available information & to draw out subtle correlations between features. At the same time, deployment of well-crafted algorithms means that analysis can be fully objective & the greater degree of automation can allow a more comprehensive result.

Computer-Aided Drawing (sometimes 'Design') (CAD) is a technique used by some surveyors instead of GIS to try & collate vector data into drawings, sometimes with raster data although the result can be clumsy. It is better to use a good GIS to acheive a similar result because each visible item can be associated with a large amount of other data which would otherwise be lost in a CAD environment.

Within a modern GIS environment many types of data can be collated, manipulated & analysed to produce detailed information of immediate use to the client. All our projects share an underlying structure comprising vector base plans (whether purchased or our own original survey) referenced to the relevant national grid for permanency of record. Raster data from geophysical & other 'blanket coverage' survey is imported onto separate layers & if not already georeferenced becomes so at this stage. Various processing & analysis algorithms can then be brought to bear on the data, some intrinsic to the GIS, others custom-developed using SQL with spatial extensions & scripts. These can generate database tables, linked drawings, etc. for various purposes. Day to day progress, personnel, equipment, land ownership etc. are tracked within the GIS & there are layers like soil type, vegetation, sources of contamination or interference & other relevant variables.

For some projects, especially Historic Landscape Characterisation & Upland Survey, extensive record auditing is also supported & alogorithms are applied to derive secondary information including intervisibility & territory analysis to name a couple. Thematic coding can be applied to drawings to highlight different variables at each point location, e.g., age or type of feature & fuzzy algorithms applied to extract groups or classes of similar feature.

In addition, the GIS used by ArchaeoPhysica has integral CAD capability so that data can be passed to clients in database, GIS or CAD formats depending upon requirements.