Ubuntu Manpage: When launching GRASS GIS for the first time, you will open a default Location

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GRASS GIS Quickstart

       When  launching  GRASS  GIS  for  the  first  time,  you  will  open  a  default  Location
       "world_latlog_wgs84" where you can find a map layer called "country_boundaries" showing  a
       world map in the WGS84 coordinate system.

       The  main  component  of  the  Data  tab  is  the  Data  Catalog which shows the GRASS GIS
       hierarchical structure consisting of Database , Location  and Mapset .

        GRASS Database (directory with projects)
           Running GRASS GIS for the first time, a  folder  named  "grassdata"  is  automatically
           created.  Depending  on your operating system, you can find it in your $HOME directory
           (*nix) or My Documents (MS Windows).

        Location (a project)
           A Location is defined by its coordinate reference system (CRS).  In the  case  of  the
           default Location, it is a geographic coordinate reference system WGS84 (EPSG:4326). If
           you  have  data  in  another  CRS  than  WGS84,  you  should  create  a  new  Location
           corresponding to your system.

        Mapset (a subproject)
           Each  Location  can  have  many Mapsets for managing different aspects of a project or
           project’s subregions. When creating a new Location, GRASS GIS automatically creates  a
           special Mapset called PERMANENT where the core data for the project can be stored.

       For more info about data hierarchy, see GRASS GIS Database page.

GRASS started in the default Location, now what?

       First,  if  you  would  like  to  get to know GRASS better before importing your own data,
       please download provided samples such as the "North Carolina"  dataset.   You  can  simply
       reach them through "Download sample location to current database" management icon .

       To  work  with  your  own  data,  you typically want to first create a new Location with a
       coordinate reference system (CRS) suitable for your study area or one  that  matches  your
       data’s CRS. The Location Wizard will help you with that by guiding you through a series of
       dialogs to browse and select predefined projections (also via  EPSG  code)  or  to  define
       individual projections.

   Creating a New Location with the Location Wizard
       If  you know the CRS of your data or study area, you can fill EPSG code or description and
       Location Wizard finds appropriate CRS from a predefined list of projections.   If  you  do
       not  know  CRS  of  you  data,  you  can  read  it from your georeferenced data file (e.g.
       shapefile or GeoTiff file with the related metadata properly included).

   Importing data
       After creating a new Location, you are ready to import  your  data.  You  can  use  simple
       raster  or vector data import , or a variety of more specialized tools.  If the data’s CRS
       does not match your Location’s CRS, data will be automatically reprojected.  After  import
       your  raster  or  vector  data  are  added  as  a  layer  to Map Display.  To change layer
       properties, go to Display tab.  To analyze your data, search for a  tool  in  the  Modules
       tab.

Text-based startup and Location creation

       GRASS GIS can be run entirely without using the graphical user interface.  See examples of
       running GRASS GIS from a command line.

GRASS GIS Quickstart

GRASS started in the default Location, now what?

Text-based startup and Location creation

See also