| s. | Sculpsit (engraver); sudlich = southern, southerly |
| S | Secret; Store; Suden = south |
| SA | Selected availability; Selective availability; Signal accuracy; Situational awareness; Source acquisition |
| S&A | Sampling and analysis |
| SAA | Southern Appalachian Assessment (GIS database) |
| SAC | Sectional aeronautical chart; Satellite Applications Centre (CSIR) |
| SACC | Spatial Analysis Coordinating Committee |
| SADIE | System at Arizona for Digital Information Extraction |
| SADL | South Australia Dept. of Lands |
| SADME | South Australian Dept. of Mines and Energy |
| SADR | Spatial address |
| SAE | Survey Agro Ekonomi (Indonesia) |
| SAF | Society of American Foresters |
| SAFOD | San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth |
| SAGA | Short Arc Geodetic Adjustment (doppler) |
| SAGEEP | Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems |
| SAIC | Science Applications International Corp. |
| SaLIS | Surveying and Land Information Systems (journal) |
| SALT | Salina |
| SAM | Spatial access methods |
| SAMAB | Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere (project) |
| SAMSOG | Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia |
| SANDAG | San Diego Association of Governments |
| SANAIS | South African Natural Areas Information System |
| SAR | Synthetic aperture radar |
| SARM | Spatial Auto-Regressive Model |
| SA/S | Source Aquisition Segment |
| SAST | Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team (U.S.) |
| SAT | Small area triangulation |
| SAW | Spill analysis workstation; Surface acoustic wave |
| SAZU | Slovenske Akademije Znanosti in Umetnosti = Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Art |
| SB | Survey of Bangladesh |
| SBAS | School Boundary Analysis System (GeoSpatial Technologies) |
| SBCDP | Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program (U.S.) |
| SBM | Surveys and Mapping Branch (Manitoba) |
| SBUV | Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (spectrometer) |
| sc. | Sculpsit = engraver |
| SC | South Carolina |
| S.C. | South Carolina |
| S/C | Spacecraft |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition |
| SCAMP | Southern California Aerial Mapping Project |
| SCAN | Surface Condition Analyzer (Surface Systems Inc) |
| SCAR | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research |
| SCB | Statistika Centralbyran (Sweden) |
| SCC | Servico de Cartografia e Cadastro (Macao); SoftCopy Catalog (USDMA) |
| SCCAMA | Southern California Computer Aided Mapping Assn. |
| SCD | Source Control Drawing; Specification Control Drawing |
| SCDOT | South Carolina Dept. of Transportation |
| SCEP | Servico Cartografico do Exercito (Portugal) |
| SCERP | Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy |
| SCGIS | Sedgwick County (Kans.) GIS Dept. |
| SCGP | Societe Canadienne des Geologique Petroliers |
| SCGS | South Carolina Geological Survey |
| Sch | School |
| SCH | School |
| Scheit-elst. | Scheitelstarke |
| Schl. | Schloss = castle |
| SCM | Supply chair management |
| SCO | State Cartographer's Office (Wisconsin) |
| SCOOP | Schedule Control of Orthophoto Products |
| SCOPE | Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment |
| SCR | Service Cartographique du Rwanda |
| SCS | Soil Conservation Service (USDA) |
| SCSA | Standard Consolidated Statistical Area; Soil Conservation Society of America |
| SCSD | Street Centerline Spatial Dataset |
| SCSI | Small computer system interface |
| SCSMAC | South Carolina State Mapping Advisory Committee |
| SCSPLS | South Carolina Society of Professional Land Surveyors |
| sct. | Sculpsit (engraver) |
| SCTRAP | South Carolina Toxic Risk Atlas Project |
| sculp. | Sculpsit (engraver) |
| SCWRC | South Carolina Water Resources Commission |
| SD | South Dakota |
| S.D. | South Dakota |
| SDB | Spatial data base |
| SDBMS | Spatial database management system |
| SDE | Spatial Database Engine (ESRI) |
| SDES | Spatial Data Exchange Standard |
| SDG | Survey Dept. Ghana |
| SDGS | South Dakota Geological Survey |
| SDH | Spatial data handling |
| SDI | Selected Dissemination of Information |
| SDL | Survey Dept. of Libya |
| SDLC | Synchronous Data-Like Control; System Development Life Cycle |
| SDMG | Direction des Mines et de la Geologie (Senegal) |
| SDNR | State Dept. of Natural Resources |
| SDOI | Spatial Data Organization Information |
| SDPS | Spatial Data Production System |
| SDRW | Societe de Developpement Regional pour la Wallonie |
| SDS | Swaziland Dept. of Surveys; Simplicial data structure |
| SDSB | Satellite Data Services Branch (NOAA) |
| SDSS | Spatial decision support systems |
| SDTP | Spatial data transfer processor |
| SDTS | Spatial Data Transfer Standard |
| SDUK | Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge |
| SE | Southeast |
| SEAMS | Soil, Environmental, and Agricultural Management System (Univ. of Florida Dept. of Soil and Water) |
| SEASAT | Sea Satellite (U.S.) |
| SEATO | Southeast Asia Treaty Organization |
| SECFT | Sociedad Espa~nola de Cartografia, Fotogrametria y Teledeteccion |
| SECO | Surveying Equipment Company (later: SECO Manufacturing) |
| SEDAC | Socioeconomic Data and Application Center |
| SEDESOL | Secretaria de Dessarrollo Social (Mexico) |
| SEDMS | Spatially Enabled Document Management System (Intergraph Corp.) |
| SEDUE | Secretaria de Desarrollo Urbano y Ecologia (Mexico) |
| SEG | Society of Economic Geologists; Society of Exploration Geophysicists |
| S.E.O.P. | Secretaria de Estado de Obras Publicas (Argentina) |
| SEOS | Stationary Earth Orbit Satellite |
| SEPA | State Environmental Protection Agency |
| SEPM | Society for Sedimentary Geology |
| SERIES | Satellite Emission Range Inferred Earth Surveying |
| Serna- geomin |
Servicio Nacional
Geologia y Mineria (Chile) |
| SES | Standalone Edit Stations |
| SESCPF | Service d'Etude des Sols et de la Carte Pedalogique de France |
| SEVIRI | Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager |
| SEWUG | Southeastern Water Use Group |
| S.F. | San Francisco |
| SfBWW | Senator fur Bau- und Wonungswesen (Berlin) |
| SFHA | Special Flood Hazard Area |
| SFQL | Structured Full-text Query Language |
| SfSU | Senator fur Stadtentwicklung und Umweltschutz (Berlin) |
| SGA | Societe Geoscientifique de l'Atlantique; State Geologic Agencies; Service Geologique de l'Armee (Syria) |
| SGB | Service Geologique Belgique; Servicio geologico de Bolivia |
| SGCB | State Geodesy and Cartography Board (Mongolia) |
| SGD | Solar Geophysical Data (journal); Symbolized Graphic Data; Surveyor General's Dept. (South West Africa) |
| SGE | Servicio Geografico del Ejercito (Spain) |
| SGG | Service Geologique du Gabon |
| SGpK | Schweizerische Geophysikalische Kommission |
| SGI | Servicio Geologico d'Italia; Silicon Graphics workstation |
| SGK | Schweizerische Geologische Kommission |
| SGL | Service Geologique de Luxembourg |
| SGM | Servicio Geografico Militar (Uruguay) |
| SGML | Standard generalized markup language |
| SGN | Servicio Geologico Nacional (Argentina, Nicaragua); Service Geographique National (Laos) |
| SGS | Stanford Geological Survey |
| SGtK | Schweizerische Geotechnische Kommission |
| SGU | Sveriges Geologiska Undersokning; Savezna Geodetska Uprava (Yugoslavia) |
| SHA | State Highway Administration (Maryland) |
| SHAPE | Systematic Horizontol Adjustment of Positional Errors |
| SHDSL | Symmetric High-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line |
| SHEF | Standard Hydrometeorological Exchange Format |
| SHN | Servicio de Hidrografia Naval (Argentina) |
| SHOALS | Scanning Hydrographic Operational Airborne LIDAR System (USCE) |
| SHOL | Shoal |
| SHOM | Service Hydrographique et Ocenographique de la Marine (France) |
| SHORAN | Short-range Navigation (system) |
| SHS | Surveyors Historical Society |
| SI | Survey of India; Survey of Israel |
| SIAC | Spatial Information and Analysis Consortium |
| SIAN | Service d'information de l'atlas nationale (Canada) |
| SIAT | Special Image Annotation Tape |
| SIB | Solar Indices Bulletin |
| SIC | Standard Industrial Classification |
| SICC | Surveying Instrumentation and Coordinate Computation |
| SICO | Schonstedt Intstrument Company |
| SICOM | South Australian Spatial Information Committee |
| SID | Scanned Image Data; South Australian Spatial Information Directory |
| SIF | Standard Interchange Format (Intergraph) |
| SIG | Sistemas de informacion geografica; Special interest group |
| SIGACE | Special Interest Group for the Application of CD-ROM in Education |
| SIGCAT | Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications & Technology (U.S.) |
| SIGGRAPH | Special Interest Group on Graphics (ACM) |
| SIGIT | Swedish Institute for Geographic Information Technology |
| SIGLIT | Special Interest Group on Library Information Technology (U.S.) |
| SIGS | Solomon Islands Geological Survey |
| SIGSA | Sistemas de Informacion Geografica S.A. |
| SIM | Spatial interaction model |
| SIP | Scanner Interface Processor |
| SIPES | Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists |
| SIR | Shuttle Imaging Radar; Space Imaging Radar (NASA); Surveys, Investigations and Research (USGS) |
| SIRS | Satellite Infrared Spectrometer |
| SIRU | Soils and Irrigation Research Unit (South Africa) |
| SIS | Standard Indexing System (DOD aerial photography); Spatial Information Systems (Computer Aided Development Corp.) |
| SISMD | Solomon Islands Survey and Mapping Div. |
| SK | Survey of Kenya; Slovenska Kartografia |
| SKV | Statens Kartverk (Norway) |
| s.l. | Sine loco = without place (of publication) |
| SLA | Special Libraries Assn. |
| SLAC | Stanford Linear Accelerator Center |
| SLAGMD | Special Libraries Assn. Geography & Map Div. |
| SLAP | Soils Landscape Analysis Project; Supplemental Low Altitude Photography |
| SLAR | Side-Looking Airborne Radar |
| SLAT | Spacecraft Location/Attitude Tape |
| SLATS | Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (Queensland DNR) |
| SLD | Slope-Line Detection |
| SLD29 | Sea Level Datum of 1929 |
| SLF | Standard Linear Format |
| SLG | Symbolized Line Graph; Synthetic Line Generation |
| SLGSD | Sri Lanka Geological Survey Dept. |
| SLIP | Serial Line Internet Protocol |
| SLM | Structure line model |
| SLP | Slope(s) |
| SLR | Satellite Laser Ranging; Side-looking Radar |
| SLSD | Sri Lanka Survey Dept. |
| SLSI | Society of Land Surveyors of Iowa |
| SLUPD | Swaziland Land Use Planning Dept. |
| sm | Seemeile |
| SM | Survey Manual |
| SMA | Schweizerische Meteorologische Anstalt |
| SMAC | State Mapping Advisory Committee (or Council) |
| SMASCH | Specimen Management System for California Herbaria |
| SMB | Surveys and Mapping Branch (Manitoba) |
| SMC | Special Mapping Center |
| SMCRA | surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act |
| SMD | Surveys and Mapping Div. (Tanzania) |
| SME | Softcopy Monoscopic Extraction; Society of Mining Engineers; society for Mining, Metalurgy, and Exploration, Inc. |
| SMI | Surveyors Module International (Firm) |
| SMIB | Surveying and Mapping Inst. of Beijing |
| SMIMS | Single MIM-Based Integrated Mapping System (USBC) |
| SMIRR | Shuttle Multispectral Infrared Radiometer |
| SMIPS | Small Interactive Image Processing System |
| SMMR | Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer |
| SMMT | Submilimeter Telescope |
| SMN | Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (Argentina) |
| SMOW | Standard Mead Ocean Water |
| SMS | Synchronous Meteorological Satellite(s) |
| SMSA | Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area |
| SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol |
| S/N | Signal-to-Noise Ratio |
| s.n. | Sine nomine = without name (of publisher) |
| SNARIL | Social, Natural, and Agricultural Resources Information Laboratory (Univ. of Kentucky) |
| SNCF | Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer (France) |
| SND | Street Network Database |
| SNEP | Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project |
| SNF | Superior National Forest (Minn.) |
| SNGM | Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria (Chile) |
| SNI | Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems AG |
| SNID | Startnode ID |
| SNIG | Sistema Nacional de Informac~ao Geografica = Portuguese National Infrastructure for Geographic Information |
| SNLCS | Servico Nacional de Levantamento e Conservac~ao de Solos (Brazil) |
| SNM | Square nautical miles |
| SNR | Signal-to-Noise Ratio |
| SNRIM | Subcommittee on Natural Resources |
| SNT | Servicio Nacional de Turismo (Chile) |
| SNWA | Southern Nevada Water Authority |
| SNWS | Southern Nevada Water System |
| SODEMI | Societe pour le Developpement Minier de la Cote d'Ivoire |
| SOFRATOP | Societe Francais de Travaux Topographique et Photogrammetriques |
| SOHO | Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite |
| SOI | Survey of India |
| SOLE | Spatial On-Line Editor (ESRI) |
| SOM | Space Oblique Mercator (projection); Spatial Object Manager (Smallworld) |
| SONAR | Sound Navigation and Ranging |
| SONATRACH | Societe Nationale de Recherches de l'Explorations Mini`eres (Algeria) |
| SOP | Secretaria de Obras Publicas |
| SORSA | Spatially-Oriented Referencing Systems Assn. |
| SOS | Survey Office System |
| SOWR | Sensitivity of Water Resources (global change hydrology program) |
| SP | Survey of Pakistan |
| SPANS | Spatial Analysis System (TYDAC Technologies) |
| SPARRSO | Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organisation |
| SPB | Space Planning Bureau |
| SPC | State Plane Coordinate (system or systems) |
| SPC RE | Survey Production Centre, Royal Engineers (U.K.) |
| SPCS | State Plane Coordinate System(s) |
| SPDK | Sistem Pengurusan Data Kadaster (Malaysia) |
| SPEK | Sistem Pengeshan Kualiti = Quality Assurance System (SPDK) |
| SPID | Sistem Pengurusan Imej Dokumen = Certified Plan Image Database (SPDK) |
| SPIE | Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers |
| SPIN-2 | Space Information-2 Meter Data (Russian Space Agency) |
| SPIRE | Spatial Paradigm for Information Retrieval and Exploration |
| SPO | State Planning Office |
| SPOEM | Special Projects Office for Exploitation Modernization (USDMA) |
| SPOT | Syst`eme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre (satellite) |
| SPOTS | Standard Programming of Telemetry Systems |
| SPRI | Scott Polar Research Inst. (Univ. of Cambridge) |
| SPS | Stichting Planbureau Suriname; Standard Positioning Service |
| SP/S | Source Preparation Segment |
| SPT | Strathclyde Passenger Transport |
| SPVEA | Superintendencia do Plano de Valorizac o Economica da Amazonia (Brazil) |
| SQL | Standard Query Language; Structured Query language |
| SRBC | Susquehanna River Basin Commission |
| SRES OP | Special Report on Emission Scenarios Open Process |
| SRF | Systematic reconnaissance flights |
| SRI | Spatial Reference Information |
| SRMB | Surveys and Resource Mapping Branch (British Columbia) |
| SROM | Spectro-radiometer for Ocean Monitoring |
| SRTM | Shuttle Radar Toporaphy Mission |
| SRV | Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
| SSA | Seismological Society of America |
| SSCC | SPAWAR Systems Center, Charleston |
| SSSA | Soil Science Society of America |
| SSD | Singapore Survey Dept.; Sudan Survey Dept. |
| SSE | South Southeast |
| SSEW | Soil Survey of England and Wales |
| SSEOP | Space Shuttle Observation Project (U.S.) |
| SSGN | Service Geographique National (Senegal) |
| SSI | Surface Systems Inc. |
| SSK | Stereo Softcopy Kit (Intergraph Corp.) |
| SSMC | Silver Spring Metro Center (NOAA) |
| SSMS | Spatial statistical modeling service |
| SSS | Side Scan SONAR |
| SSU | Strategic Services Unit (U.S. War Dept.); Secondary sampling unit |
| SSURGO | Soil Survey Geographical (database) |
| SSW | South Southwest |
| St | Saint; Street |
| STAAC | Space and Terrestrial Applications Advisory Committee |
| STAC | State Technology Applications Centers (NASA) |
| StatsCan | Statistics Canada |
| STATSGO | State Geographic Database (U.S.) |
| Stb. | Steinbruch = stone quarry |
| STC | Standard Telephones & Cables PLC; Stanford Technology Corp. |
| STCB | Survey Technician Certification Board (ASCM) |
| Stde. | Stunde = hour |
| STDM | Stadium |
| STDN | Spacecraft Tracking and Data Network |
| STF | Summary tape file |
| STIBOKA | Stichting voor Bodemkartering (Netherlands) |
| STINASU | Stichting Natuurbescherming Suriname |
| STK | Satellite Tool Kit (Analytical Graphics, Inc.) |
| STM | Stream; System test mode |
| STMA | Anabranch |
| STMD | Distributary |
| STMI | Intermittent stream |
| STMM | Stream mouth |
| Str. | Strasse = street |
| STRT | Strait |
| STV | Service Topographique (Vanuatu) |
| SU | Standard update; Stanford University |
| SUC | Society of University Cartographers |
| SUDENE | Superintendencia de Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (Brazil) |
| SuDocs | Superintendent of Documents (U.S.) |
| SUDSS | Spatial understanding and decision support system |
| SUGK | Slovak Office of Geodesy and Cartography |
| SUM | Standard update, monoscopic |
| SUNI | Stockholms Universitet Naturgeografiska Institutionen |
| SUNMAP | Dept. of Natural Resources (Queensland) and its earlier names: Dept. of Lands; Division of Information, Dept. of Lands; Dept. of Geographic Information; Dept. of Mapping and Surveying |
| Sur. | Surveyor |
| SUS | Standard update, stereoscopic |
| SV | Space vehicle |
| SVD | Singular Value Decomposition |
| SVF | Simple Vector Format |
| SVG | Scalable Vector Graphics |
| S-VGA | Super Video Graphics Array |
| SVP | Society of Vertebrate Paleontology |
| SW | Software; Southwest; Surface water |
| S/W | Software |
| SWA | Super-wide angle |
| SWAB | Southwest Alluvial Basins (project, NM) |
| SWDC | Southwestern Colorado Data Center |
| SWEMP | Southwest Exotic Plant Mapping program |
| SWG | Standards working group |
| S.W.P.A. | Southwest Pacific Area (Allied Forces) |
| SYCI | System Corrected Images |
| SYMAP | Synagraphic Mapping System |