Geographic Data

- Spatial and Attribute Data

Presented By
Abhishek - 00196207317 (F14)
Geographic Data

Also known as geospatial data or geographic information it is

the data or information that identifies the geographic location
of features and boundaries on Earth, such as natural or
constructed features, oceans, and more. Spatial data is usually
stored as coordinates and topology, and is data that can be
mapped.
GIS ( Global informaion system) DATA TYPES
GIS technology utilizes two basic types of data. These are:
 Spatial data: describes the absolute and relative location of

geographic features.

 Attribute data: describes characteristics of the spatial

features. These characteristics can be quantitative and/or
qualitative in nature. Attribute data is often referred to as
tabular data.
SPATIAL DATA MODELS

 Vector
 Raster
 Image

 VECTOR
 All spatial data models are approaches for storing the spatial
location of geographic features in a database. Vector storage
implies the use of vectors (directional lines) to represent a
geographic feature.
Fig. 1. Vector Data
 RASTER
Raster data models incorporate the use of a grid-cell data
structure where the geographic area is divided into cells
identified by row and column. This data structure is
commonly called raster.

 IMAGE
Image data is most often used to represent graphic or pictorial
data. The term image inherently reflects a graphic
representation, and in the GIS world, differs significantly from
raster data.
Fig. 2. Raster Data model
Advantages of vector data model
 Data can be represented at its original resolution and form
without generalization.

 Graphic output is usually more aesthetically pleasing

(traditional cartographic representation);

 Since most data, e.g. hard copy maps, is in vector form no data
conversion is required.

 Accurate geographic location of data is maintained.

 Allows for efficient encoding of topology, and as a result more
efficient operations that require topological information, e.g.
proximity, network analysis.

Disadvantages of vector data mode

 The location of each vertex needs to be stored explicitly.

 For effective analysis, vector data must be converted into a

topological structure.

 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.
Advantages of raster data model

 The geographic location of each cell is implied by its

position in the cell matrix. 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 plotters, graphic terminals.

Disadvantages of raster data model

 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 resolution. Accordingly, network linkages are
difficult to establish.
 Processing of associated attribute data may be cumbersome if
large amounts of data exists. Raster maps inherently reflect
only one attribute or characteristic for an area.

 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.

 Most output maps from grid-cell systems do not conform to

high- quality cartographic needs.
 Attribute data
Attribute data is information appended in tabular format to
spatial features. Attribute data provides characteristics about
spatial data

Types of Attribute Data

 Character Data
 Numeric Data
 Date /Time Data
 BLOB Data
 Character Data
The character property (or string) is for text based values such
as the name of a street or descriptive values such as the
condition of a street.  Character attribute data is stored as a
series of alphanumeric symbols.

 Numeric Data
Integer and floating are numerical values. Within the integer
type, the is a further division between short and long integer
values.  As would be expected, short integers store numeric
values without fractional values for a shorter range than long
integers.  Floating point attribute values store numeric values
with fractional values. 
 Date /Time Data
Date fields contains date and time values.

 BLOB Data
BOLB stands for binary large object and this attribute type is
used for storing information such images, multimedia, or bits
of code in a field. This field stores object linking and
embedding (OLE) which are objects created in other
applications such as  images and  multimedia and linked from
the BLOB field.
Thank You