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19CEOC1003 Unit 2
19CEOC1003 Unit 2
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Geographic Information System 2-2 Spatial Data Models
Database in GIS:
A database is a collection of related information that permits the entry, storage, input, output
and organization of data. A database management system (DBMS) serves as an interface between
users and their database.
A spatial database includes location. It has geometry as points, lines and polygons.
GIS combines spatial data from many sources with many different people. Databases connect
users to the GIS database.
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For example, a city might have the waste water division, land records, transportation and fire
departments connected and using datasets from common spatial databases.
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The database structure is the collection of record type and field type definitions that comprise
your database:
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Record Types: These define the type of entities or research objects you wish to capture
(e.g. Person).
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Fields: These are the properties or attributes that describe your record types
(e.g. Gender, Age, Height etc.).
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Collectively, these define the information or data that can be stored in any record of that type.
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Geographic Information System 2-3 Spatial Data Models
tuple and represents a basic fact. No two rows of the same table may have identical values in all
columns.
There are two crucial data integrity constraints viz. primary key and foreign key. A primary key
is an attribute whose value is unique across all tuples (rows) in a relation (table). The primary key
of one table appearing as an attribute of another table is known as a foreign key in that table.
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2.2.1.1 Relational Model Concepts
Fig. 2.2.1 Relational Data Model
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Attribute: Each column in a Table. Attributes are the properties which define a relation.
e.g., Student_Rollno, NAME,etc.
Tables – In the Relational model the, relations are saved in the table format. It is stored
along with its entities. A table has two properties rows and columns. Rows represent records
and columns represent attributes.
Tuple – It is nothing but a single row of a table, which contains a single record.
Relation Schema: A relation schema represents the name of the relation with its attributes.
Degree: The total number of attributes which in the relation is called the degree of the
relation.
Cardinality: Total number of rows present in the Table.
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Geographic Information System 2-4 Spatial Data Models
Column: The column represents the set of values for a specific attribute.
Relation instance – Relation instance is a finite set of tuples in the RDBMS system.
Relation instances never have duplicate tuples.
Relation key - Every row has one, two or multiple attributes, which is called relation key.
Attribute domain – Every attribute has some pre-defined value and scope which is known
as attribute domain.
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Insert, update, delete and select.
Insert is used to insert data into the relation
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Delete is used to delete tuples from the table.
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Modify allows you to change the values of some attributes in existing tuples.
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Select allows you to choose a specific range of data.
Whenever one of these operations are applied, integrity constraints specified on the relational
database schema must never be violated.
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2.2.1.3 Relational Integrity Constraints
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Relational Integrity constraints are referred to conditions which must be present for a valid
relation. These integrity constraints are derived from the rules in the mini-world that the database
represents.
There are many types of integrity constraints. Constraints on the Relational database
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management system are mostly divided into three main categories are:
Domain constraints- Domain constraints specify that within each tuple, and the value of
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each attribute must be unique. This is specified as data types which include standard data
types integers, real numbers,
Key constraints- An attribute that can uniquely identify a tuple in a relation is called the
key of the table. The value of the attribute for different tuples in the relation has to be
unique.
Referential integrity constraints- is base on the concept of Foreign Keys. A foreign key is
an important attribute of a relation which should be referred to in other relationships.
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Geographic Information System 2-5 Spatial Data Models
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Disadvantages of using Relational model
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Few relational databases have limits on field lengths which can't be exceeded.
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Relational databases can sometimes become complex as the amount of data grows, and the
relations between pieces of data become more complicated.
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Complex relational database systems may lead to isolated databases where the information
cannot be shared from one system to another
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in the world as objects and isolates it from each other. It groups its related functionalities together
and allows inheriting its functionality to other related sub-groups.
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Geographic Information System 2-6 Spatial Data Models
For an example consider an Employee database to understand this model better. In this database
we have different types of employees – Engineer, Accountant, Manager, Clerk. But all these
employees belong to Person group. Person can have different attributes like name, address, age and
phone.
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Fig. 2.2.2 Object oriented model
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Advantages
Because of its inheritance property, we can re-use the attributes and functionalities. It
reduces the cost of maintaining the same data multiple times. Also, these informations are
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encapsulated and, there is no fear being misused by other objects. If we need any new
feature we can easily add new class inherited from parent class and adds new features.
Hence it reduces the overhead and maintenance costs.
Because of the above feature, it becomes more flexible in the case of any changes.
Codes are re-used because of inheritance.
Since each class binds its attributes and its functionality, it is same as representing the real
world object. We can see each object as a real entity. Hence it is more understandable.
Disadvantages
It is not widely developed and complete to use it in the database systems. Hence it is not
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ER Model is based on −
Entities and their attributes.
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These concepts are explained below.
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Fig. 2.2.3 ER Diagram
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Entity − An entity in an ER Model is a real-world entity having properties called attributes.
Every attribute is defined by its set of values called domain. For example, in a school
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database, a student is considered as an entity. Student has various attributes like name, age, .ne
class, etc.
Relationship − The logical association among entities is called relationship. Relationships
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are mapped with entities in various ways. Mapping cardinalities define the number of
association between two entities.
Mapping cardinalities
1. one to one 2. one to many
3. many to one 4. many to many
Attributes
Entities are represented by means of their properties, called attributes. All attributes have
values. For example, a student entity may have name, class, and age as attributes.
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Geographic Information System 2-8 Spatial Data Models
There exists a domain or range of values that can be assigned to attributes. For example, a
student's name cannot be a numeric value. It has to be alphabetic. A student's age cannot be
negative, etc.
Types of Attributes
Simple attribute − Simple attributes are atomic values, which cannot be divided further. For
example, a student's phone number is an atomic value of 10 digits.
Composite attribute − Composite attributes are made of more than one simple attribute.
For example, a student's complete name may have first_name and last_name.
Derived attribute − Derived attributes are the attributes that do not exist in the physical
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example, average_salary in a department should not be saved directly in the database,
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instead it can be derived. For another example, age can be derived from data_of_birth.
Single-value attribute − Single-value attributes contain single value. For example −
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Social_Security_Number.
Multi-value attribute − Multi-value attributes may contain more than one values. For
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example, a person can have more than one phone number, email_address, etc.
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In the below diagram, Entities or real world objects are represented in a rectangular box.
Their attributes are represented in ovals. Primary keys of entities are underlined. All the
entities are mapped using diamonds. This is one of the methods of representing ER model.
There are many different forms of representation. rin
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Geographic Information System 2-9 Spatial Data Models
Basically, ER model is a graphical representation of real world objects with their attributes and
relationship. It makes the system easily understandable. This model is considered as a top down
approach of designing a requirement.
Advantages
It makes the requirement simple and easily understandable by representing simple diagrams.
One can covert ER diagrams into record based data model easily.
Easy to understand ER diagrams
Disadvantages
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No standard notations are available for ER diagram. There is great flexibility in the notation.
It’s all depends upon the designer, how he draws it.
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It is meant for high level designs. We cannot simplify for low level design like coding.
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2.3 Spatial Data Models
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Spatial data refers to the data or information that describes the absolute or relative location of
geographic features on the earth. The non spatial data or the attribute data on the other hand
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describes the characteristics of the spatial features. These characteristics can be quantitative or
qualitative.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 10 Spatial Data Models
Since, the real world is made up of complex spatial objects and phenomena, it is practically
impossible for a single data model to represent everything that is present.
This means that different users may have different data models when they attempt to collect
data in the same location.
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It is frequently used to model field data.
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They correspond to regularly spaced points on a continuous surface.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 11 Spatial Data Models
Line/Arc : Ordered sets of (x, y) coordinate pairs arranged to form a linear feature. The curves
in a linear feature are generated by increasing the density of points/vertices.
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The roads, rails and telephone cables are the examples of the spatial features described by lines.
Polygon : The set of (x, y) coordinate pairs enclosing a homogeneous area
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The land parcels, agricultural farms and water bodies are the examples of the spatial features
described by polygons.
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2.3.2.2 Raster Data Model
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The raster data model is commonly associated with the field conceptual model. Here,
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geographic space is represented by array of cells or pixels (aka picture elements) which are
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arranged in rows and columns. Each pixel has a value that represents information. The value can be
in the form of integer, floating points or alphanumeric.
A point can be represented by a single pixel in raster model. A line is a chain of spatially
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connected cells with the same value. Similarly, a water body in raster data is represented as a set of
contiguous pixels having same value that represents a homogeneous area.
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Fig. 2.3.2 Raster data model
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Geographic Information System 2 - 12 Spatial Data Models
scanned data
Simulation is easy because each unit has Network linkages are difficult to establish
the same size and shape
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Require less storage space Overlay based on criteria is difficult
Vector
Editing is faster and convenient Spatial analysis is cumbersome
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Simulation is difficult because each unit has
a different topological form
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Projection transformations are easier
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cells. A code is given to each cell which informs users which entity is present in which cell.
The simplest way of encoding a raster data into computers can be understood as follows:
Entity model rin
Pixel values
File structure
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a) Entity model : t
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Geographic Information System 2 - 13 Spatial Data Models
Let us assume that the raster data belongs to an area where land is surrounded by water.
Here a particular entity (land) is shown in SHADED color and the area where land is not
present is shown by white.
b) Pixel values :
The pixel value for the full image is shown.
Cells having a part of the land are encoded as 1 and others where land is not present are
encoded as 0.
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Fig. 2.4.2 Pixel values
The huge size of the data is a major problem with raster data.
An image consisting of twenty different land-use classes takes the same storage space as a
similar raster map showing the location of a single forest.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 14 Spatial Data Models
To address this problem many data compaction (Compression) methods have been
developed.
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Data compression has wide implementation in computing services and solutions, specifically
data communications. Data compression works through several compressing techniques and
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software solutions that utilize data compression algorithms to reduce the data size.
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A common data compression technique removes and replaces repetitive data elements and
symbols to reduce the data size. Data compression for graphical data can be lossless compression
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or lossy compression, where the former saves all replaces but save all repetitive data and the latter
deletes all repetitive data.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 15 Spatial Data Models
In the example , the first row is blank and is stored as (0,8). This means there are 8 cells and
they are all zeros. In the second row, there are 4 consecutive zeros so it gets a value of (0,4).
After this, we have three consecutive cells with the value 1 so it gets a value of (1,3). This
continues until it reaches the bottom-right cell.
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w .Ea Fig. 2.5.1 Example for Run length coding
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2.5.2 Block Coding-Grouping Blocks of Data
The block coding raster storage technique assigns areas that are blocks to reduce
redundancy.
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The block coding raster image compression method subdivides an entire raster image
into hierarchical blocks. It’s an extension of the run length encoding technique, but extends
it to two dimensions.
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In the example :
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Instead of storing 64 grid cells, all it takes is just 7 blocks. Using block coding, it requires one
3×3 block, two 2×2 blocks and four 1×1 cell blocks to encode this raster image.
In this block coding example, the top-left corner is used as a reference for each block. t
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Geographic Information System 2 - 16 Spatial Data Models
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Note : Only for the purpose of this exercise, we used north, east, south and west as alphabetical
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values. When encoded, it is a numerical value.
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Fig 2.5.3 Example for chain coding
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Geographic Information System 2 - 17 Spatial Data Models
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Fig. 2.5.4 Example for quadtree coding
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2.5.5 Image Compression Reduces File size t
GIS data is abundant. With satellites acquiring images each day, raster data is the spatial
model of choice.
Deploying efficient raster image compression techniques means reducing storage space. This
is the primary benefit of compressing your data.
It can save money and time. You can also improve your network performance because you
are working with a reduced amount of data.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 18 Spatial Data Models
a. Simple features
These are easy to create, store and are rendered on screen very quickly.
They lack connectivity relationships and so are inefficient for modeling phenomena
conceptualized as fields.
This is also called Feature data. Shapefiles are ArcView's native file format for geographic
features and attribute data. ArcView can also display Arc/Info Coverages, which comprises a
more complex representation of vector data. Vector comprise the following:
Point - a pair of x and y coordinates.
Line - a sequence of points
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Polygon - a closed set of lines
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Attribute information is stored in Feature Tables.
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Point entities : These represent all geographical entities that are positioned by a single XY
coordinate pair. Along with the XY coordinates the point must store other information such as
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what does the point represent etc.
Line entities : Linear features made by tracing two or more XY coordinate pair.
Simple line: It requires a start and an end point. ngi
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Arc: A set of XY coordinate pairs describing a continuous complex line. The shorter the line
segment and the higher the number of coordinate pairs, the closer the chain approximates a
complex curve.
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Simple Polygons : Enclosed structures formed by joining set of XY coordinate pairs. The
structure is simple but it carries few disadvantages which are mentioned below: g .ne
Lines between adjacent polygons must be digitized and stored twice, improper digitization
give rise to slivers and gaps
Convey no information about neighbor
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Creating islands is not possible
b. Topological features
A topology is a mathematical procedure that describes how features are spatially related and
ensures data quality of the spatial relationships.
Topological relationships include following three basic elements:
I. Connectivity : Information about linkages among spatial objects
II. Contiguity : Information about neighbouring spatial object
III. Containment : Information about inclusion of one spatial object within another spatial
object
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Geographic Information System 2 - 19 Spatial Data Models
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and deleting arcs.
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Fig. 2.6.1 Arc-node Topology
The from node and to node of an arc indicate its direction, and it helps determining the
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polygons on its left and right side.
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Left-right topology refers to the polygons on the left and right sides of an arc.
In the illustration above, polygon B is on the left and polygon C is on the right of the arc 4.
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Polygon A is outside the boundary of the area covered by polygons B, C and D.
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It is called the external or universe polygon, and represents the world outside the study area.
The universe polygon ensures that each arc always has a left and right side defined.
Containment nee
Geographic features cover distinguishable area on the surface of the earth. An area is
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represented by one or more boundaries defining a polygon. The polygons can be simple or they can
be complex with a hole or island in the middle. In the illustration given below assume a lake withg
an island in the middle. The lake actually has two boundaries, one which defines its outer edge and .ne
the other (island) which defines its inner edge. An island defines the inner boundary of a polygon.
The polygon D is made up of arc 5, 6 and 7. The 0 before the 7 indicates that the arc 7 creates an
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island in the polygon.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 21 Spatial Data Models
Polygons are represented as an ordered list of arcs and not in terms of X, Y coordinates. This is
called Polygon-Arc topology. Since arcs define the boundary of polygon, arc coordinates are stored
only once, thereby reducing the amount of data and ensuring no overlap of boundaries of the
adjacent polygons.
Topologic Features
Networks : A network is a topologic feature model which is defined as a line graph composed
of links representing linear channels of flow and nodes representing their connections. The
topologic relationship between the features is maintained in a connectivity table. By consulting
connectivity table, it is possible to trace the information flowing in the network.
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Polygons with explicit topological structures : Introducing explicit topological relationships
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takes care of islands as well as neighbors. The topological structures are built either by creating
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topological links during data input or using software. Dual Independent Map Encoding (DIME)
system of US Bureau of the Census is one of the first attempts to create topology in geographic
data.
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Fig. 2.6.6 Polygons with explicit topological structures
Fig. 2.6.7 Arc node Topology, Polygon Topology, Polygon Arc Topology
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Geographic Information System 2 - 22 Spatial Data Models
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to store spatial data. These are summarized below.
Vector : Advantages
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Graphic output syE
Data can be represented at its original resolution and form without generalization.
is usually more aesthetically pleasing (traditional cartographic
representation);
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Since most data, e.g. hard copy maps, is in vector form no data conversion is required.
Accurate geographic location of data is maintained. nee
Allows for efficient encoding of topology, and as a result more efficient operations that
require topological information, e.g. proximity, network analysis. rin
Vector : Disadvantages g .ne
The location of each vertex needs to be stored explicitly.
For effective analysis, vector data must be converted into a topological structure. This is
often processing intensive and usually requires extensive data cleaning. As well, topology is
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static, and any updating or editing of the vector data requires re-building of the topology.
Algorithms for manipulative and analysis functions are complex and may be processing
intensive. Often, this inherently limits the functionality for large data sets, e.g. a large
number of features.
Continuous data, such as elevation data, is not effectively represented in vector form.
Usually substantial data generalization or interpolation is required for these data layers.
Spatial analysis and filtering within polygons is impossible.
Raster Advantages :
The geographic location of each cell is implied by its position in the cell matrix.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 23 Spatial Data Models
Accordingly, other than an origin point, e.g. bottom left corner, no geographic coordinates
are stored.
Due to the nature of the data storage technique data analysis is usually easy to program and
quick to perform.
The inherent nature of raster maps, e.g. one attribute maps, is ideally suited for mathematical
modeling and quantitative analysis.
Discrete data, e.g. forestry stands, is accommodated equally well as continuous data, e.g.
elevation data, and facilitates the integrating of the two data types.
Grid-cell systems are very compatible with raster-based output devices, e.g. electrostatic
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Raster : Disadvantages
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The cell size determines the resolution at which the data is represented.
It is especially difficult to adequately represent linear features depending on the cell
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resolution. Accordingly, network linkages are difficult to establish.
Processing of associated attribute data may be cumbersome if large amounts of data exist.
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Raster maps inherently reflect only one attribute or characteristic for an area.
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Since most input data is in vector form, data must undergo vector-to-raster conversion.
Besides increased processing requirements this may introduce data integrity concerns due to
generalization and choice of inappropriate cell size.
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Most output maps from grid-cell systems do not conform to high-quality cartographic needs.
It is often difficult to compare or rate GIS software that use different data models. Some g .ne
personal computer (PC) packages utilize vector structures for data input, editing, and display but
convert to raster structures for any analysis. Other more comprehensive GIS offerings provide both
integrated raster and vector analysis techniques. They allow users to select the data structure
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appropriate for the analysis requirements. Integrated raster and vector processing capabilities are
most desirable and provide the greatest flexibility for data manipulation and analysis.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 24 Spatial Data Models
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The TIN data structure is defined by two elements: a set of input points with x,y, and z
values, and a series of edges connecting these points to form triangles. Each input point
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becomes the node of a triangle in the TIN structure, and the output is a continuous faceted
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surface of triangles
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The triangles are constructed according to a mathematical technique called Delaunay
triangulation. The technique guarantees that a circle drawn through the three nodes of any
triangle will contain no other input point.
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Fig. 2.8.2 Delaunay Triangulation
Because points can be placed irregularly over a surface a TIN can have higher resolution in
areas where surface is highly variable. The model incorporates original sample points
providing a check on the accuracy of the model. The information related to TIN is stored in a
file or a database table. Calculation of elevation, slope, and aspect is easy with TIN but these
are less widely available than raster surface models and more time consuming in term of
construction and processing.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 25 Spatial Data Models
ID
A
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Triangle Area
8200
Edge1
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Edge2
2
Edge3
12
Nighbors
B, F
Edge
ID
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Length
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The TIN model is a vector data model which is stored using the relational attribute tables. A
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TIN dataset contains three basic attribute tables: Arc attribute table that contains length, from node
and to node of all the edges of all the triangles.
Node attribute table that contains x, y coordinates and z (elevation) of the vertices g .ne
Polygon attribute table that contains the areas of the triangles, the identification number of
the edges and the identifier of the adjacent polygons.
Storing data in this manner eliminated redundancy as all the vertices and edges are stored only
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once even if they are used for more than one triangle. As TIN stores topological relationships, the
datasets can be applied to vector based geoprocessing such as automatic contouring, 3D landscape
visualization, volumetric design, surface characterization etc.
TIN GRID
Advantages Ability to describe the surface at Easy to store and manipulate
different Easy integration with raster database
Efficiency in storing data Smoother, more natural appearance of
derived terrain features
Disadvantages In many cases require visual Inability to use various grid sizes to reflect
inpection and manual control of areas of different complexity of relief.
the network.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 26 Spatial Data Models
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offering data and software services online. The collection of geoportals and various other
complimentary services, create a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI).
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Benefits of the OGC
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Interoperability of geospatial data and reduced fragmentation in data delivery.
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Consensus based approach. Participation of organisations from the public sector, private sector,
academia and research when developing standards assures the interests and needs of the geospatial
community are considered.
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OGC helps to bring together geospatial data and services from multiple sectors.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 27 Spatial Data Models
The requests being made by the client are commonly known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) requests. HTTP is the protocol used for data communication on the World Wide Web and
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there are two types of HTTP requests that need to be defined for this course:
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Fig. 2.9.2 Working of HTTP
So to appropriately define the use of web services: A web service is used to provide access to
data and information from a server via the internet to a client.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 28 Spatial Data Models
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● Web Processing Service (WPS)
This standard allows the potential for geospatial processing tools and applications to be used on
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geographic data within an interface via the web. For example this standard could use digitising,
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spatial analysis and network analysis tools to edit geospatial data.
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parameters of a web map project so that it can be used at a different time and/or location. The OGC
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service layers being used in the map (e.g. WMS layers) and the map parameters (e.g. map extent,
projection scheme information) are saved within the xml context document.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 29 Spatial Data Models
● KML
This standard is a XML language that is based around the visualisation of geographic data, and
is used within Google Earth and Google Maps. Geographic data that this standard commonly
represents include place marks, image overlays, polygon features and paths.
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This standard allows for the encoding of models and XML for sensor and observation
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processing. This standard was established for the OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) that aims
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to enable applications and services to gain access to sensors of all types overthe web.
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This standard allows for the sharing of Location Based Services (LBS) through various
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interfaces. LBS include emergency response (E-911), personal navigation, traffic information
service, and travel directions.
● open GeoSMS
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This standard provides an encoding and interface that offers the potential for the
communication of location content betvveen different Location Based Service (LBS) devices or g .ne
applications via a Short Message Service (SMS).
● GeoAP1
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This standard defines a Java language application programming interface (API) that can be used
to manipulate geographic information via the use of a Java based standard library that contains the
types and methods that can be implemented.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 30 Spatial Data Models
Data quality is a pillar in any GIS implementation and application as reliable data are
indispensable to allow the user obtaining meaningful results. The following review of data quality
focuses on three distinct components, data accuracy, quality, and error.
2.10.1 Accuracy
The fundamental issue with respect to data is accuracy. Accuracy is the closeness of results of
observations to the true values or values accepted as being true. This implies that observations
of most spatial phenomena are usually only considered to estimates of the true value. The
difference between observed and true (or accepted as being true) values indicates the accuracy of
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the observations.
Basically two types of accuracy exist. These are positional and attribute accuracy
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Positional accuracy is the expected deviance in the geographic location of an object from its
ground position.
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are relative and absolute accuracy.
are two components to positional accuracy. These
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Absolute accuracy concerns the accuracy of data elements with respect to a coordinate scheme.
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Relative accuracy concerns the positioning of map features relative to one another.
Attribute accuracy is equally as important as positional accuracy. It also reflects estimates of
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the truth. Interpreting and depicting boundaries and characteristics for forest stands or soil
polygons can be exceedingly difficult and subjective.
Lineage
The lineage of data is concerned with historical and compilation aspects of the data such as the:
source of the data;
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Geographic Information System 2 - 31 Spatial Data Models
● Positional Accuracy
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The identification of positional accuracy is important. This includes consideration of inherent
error (source error) and operational error (introduced error).
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● Attribute Accuracy
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Consideration of the accuracy of attributes also helps to define the quality of the data. This
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quality component concerns the identification of the reliability, or level of purity (homogeneity), in
a data set.
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duplicate lines or boundaries, or gaps in lines. These are referred to as spatial or topological errors.
● Completeness
The final quality component involves a statement about the completeness of the data set. This
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includes consideration of holes in the data, unclassified areas, and any compilation procedures that
may have caused data to be eliminated.
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The ease with which geographic data in a GIS can be used at any scale highlights the
importance of detailed data quality information. Although a data set may not have a specific scale
once it is loaded into the GIS database, it was produced with levels of accuracy and resolution that
make it appropriate for use only at certain scales, and in combination with data of similar scales.
2.10.3 Error
Two sources of error, inherent and operational, contribute to the reduction in quality of the
products that are generated by geographic information systems.
Inherent error is the error present in source documents and data.
Operational error is the amount of error produced through the data capture and manipulation
functions of a GIS.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 32 Spatial Data Models
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statement on the quality and reliability of a product derived from GIS processing.
The validity of any decisions based on a GIS product is directly related to the quality
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and reliability rating of the product.
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Depending upon the level of error inherent in the source data, and the error operationally
produced through data capture and manipulation, GIS products may possess significant amounts of
error.
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2.10.4 Sources of Spatial Data Discrepancy
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● DataInformationExchange:
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Data information exchange is basically the information about the data provided by the client to
organization. The degree of information provided by the client defines the accuracy and
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completeness of data.
● TypeandSource:
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Data type and source must be evaluated in order to get appropriate data values. There are many
spatial data formats and each one of them is having some beneficiary elements as well as some t
drawbacks.
● DataCapture:
There are many tools that incorporate manual skills to capture the data using various softwares
like ArcGIS. These softwares allows user to capture information from the base data. During this
data capture, the user may misinterpret features from the base data and captures the features with
errors. Data capture must be performed on a perfect scale where one must be able to view the
features distinctly.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 33 Spatial Data Models
● CartographicEffects :
After capturing the data, some cartographic effects like symbology, pattern, colors, orientation
and size are assigned to the features. This is required for a better representation of reality. These
effects must be assigned according to the domain of the features
● DataTransfer:
Some discrepancies may occur while transferring the data from one place to another “There is
no bad or good data. There are only data which are suitable for a specific purpose.” So, Data must
be evaluated according to the domain for which it is supposed to be used.
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● Metadata:
Sometimes metadata is not updated according to the original features. So, metadata must be
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updated with the original data.
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2.10.5 Data Quality Improvement Techniques
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Choice of relevant data from a relevant source.
Derive precisions in the origin itself.
Data quality testing in each phase of data capture. ngi
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Using automated software tools for spatial and non-spatial data validation.
Assessment of the mode of data uses and user.
Determining the map elements like scale, visualization and feature orientation. rin
2.11 Two Marks Questions with Answers g .ne
Q.1 What is data model?
Ans. : Data Models: Vector and Raster Spatial data in GIS has two primary data formats: raster
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and vector.
Raster uses a grid cell structure, whereas vector is more like a drawn map. Raster and Vector
Data Vector format has points, lines, polygons that appear normal, much like a map. Raster
format generalizes the scene into a grid of cells, each with a code to indicate the feature being
depicted. The cell is the minimum mapping unit. Raster has generalized reality: all of the
features in the cell area are reduced to a single cell identity.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 34 Spatial Data Models
constructed. The vector spatial entity, the point is represented by a single x,y coordinate pair.
Line and area entities are constructed by a series of points into chains.
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location in terms of rows and columns.
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Q.4 Why is compression needed for remote sensing data?
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Ans. : Data compression method provides compact raster representation using a variable sized
grid. Large cells are used in areas of low detail while small cells are used in areas of high detail
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Ans. : Raster data also known as grid based system or cellular system consists of rectangular
cell. The raster system used minimum time for process in a and easy to program
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Advantages : It is a simple data structure, Overaly operations are easily and efficiently
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implemented, High spatial variability is efficiently represented in a raster format.
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Disadvantage : 1. Less compact 2. Topographical relationship are more difficult to represent
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Ans. : Reducing the 'electronic space' (data bits) used in representing a piece of information, by
eliminating the repetition of identical sets of data bits (redundancy) in an audio/video, graphic,
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or text data file. White spaces in text and graphics, large blocks of the same color in pictures, or
other continuously recurring data, is reduced or eliminated by coding(encryption) with a
program that uses a particular type of compression algorithm. The same program is used to rin
decompress (decrypt) the data so that it can be heard, read, or seen as the original data.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 36 Spatial Data Models
systems map overlay is time consuming, complex and computationally expensive. In raster
based systems it is quick, straightforward and efficient
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Ans. : The aim of object oriented model is to allow data modeling which is closer to real world.
An object-oriented database uses objects as elements within database files.
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An object is a logical grouping of related data that represents a real world entity.
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Each object is a distinct entity which is identified using a key attribute called ObjectID.
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The object can be grouped together to form a class.
Objects of the same class have same attributes, behavior and relationships with other objects
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field. A flat file structure is used with a relational database model. In this arrangement, data is
stored in different tables made up of rows and columns. The columns of a table are named by
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attributes. Each row in the table is called a tuple and represents a basic fact. No two rows of the
same table may have identical values in all columns. There are two crucial data integrity .ne
constraints viz. primary key and foreign key. A primary key is an attribute whose value is
unique across all tuples (rows) in a relation (table). The primary key of one table appearing as
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an attribute of another table is known as a foreign key in that table.
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Geographic Information System 2 - 37 Spatial Data Models
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arranged in rows and columns. Each pixel has a value that represents information. The value can
be in the form of integer, floating points or alphanumeric.
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A point can be represented by a single pixel in raster model. A line is a chain of spatially
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connected cells with the same value. Similarly, a water body in raster data is represented as a set
of contiguous pixels having same value that represents a homogeneous area.
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Q.20 What are the classifications of vector structures?
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Ans. : Geographic entities encoded using the vector data model, are often called features. The
features can be divided into two classes:
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a. Simple features : These are easy to create, store and are rendered on screen very quickly.
They lack connectivity relationships and so are inefficient for modelling phenomena
conceptualized as fields. rin
b. Topological features : A topology is a mathematical procedure that describes how
features are spatially related and ensures data quality of the spatial relationships.
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2.12 Long Answered Questions with Answers
Q.1 Explain about Relational and Object oriented model in detail. (Refer section 2.2)
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Q.2 Compare raster and vector data representation with suitable examples. (Refer section 2.7)
Q.3 With neat sketch explain briefly about Raster Data structures. (Refer section 2.4)
Q.6 Describe TIN. Give the difference between TIN and GRID. (Refer section 2.8)
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Notes
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