Which term refers to the process of making data usable in a GIS environment?

The process of making data usable in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment is most accurately described by the term data digitization. This involves converting analog data, which may be in the form of paper maps, photographs, or other non-digital formats, into a digital format that can be manipulated and analyzed within a GIS.

Digitization typically includes scanning paper maps, creating vector data from raster images, or entering data into a GIS system to represent geographical features accurately. By converting these physical or analog representations into digital formats, the data can then be analyzed spatially, integrated with other data sources, and visualized through various mapping techniques within the GIS framework.

Other terms, like data cleaning, data transformation, and data normalization, while all important processes in data management, do not specifically refer to the initial conversion of non-digital formats into a usable digital state within GIS. Data cleaning involves correcting and removing errors from datasets, data transformation refers to changing the format or structure of data without necessarily creating digital representations, and data normalization typically means organizing data to reduce redundancy and improve integrity. Thus, while these processes might follow the digitization phase, they do not define the act of converting data into a format usable by GIS software.