Principles of Geographic

Information Systems

Dr. Nabil Moustafa

Revision
 Geographic Data

• Information about geographic

features, including their location,
shapes, and descriptions (spatial
and nonspatial data).
 Geographic Data

◼ Geospatial data
tells you where it is
and attribute data
tells you what it is.
Metadata describes
both geospatial
and attribute data.

In GIS, we call geographic data as GIS data or spatial

data
 Discrete and Continuous Data
• Discrete data: distinct and noncontinous data, with
definite values that are not transitional from one
number to the next; definite boundaries and
identities. For example, a district has a definite
location and shape, as do houses, towns,
rivers,..,etc.

• Continuous data: data values that transition from

one number to the next, with no definite boundary
between the two. For example, temperature maps
show definite zones for convenience, but in reality
temperature typically transitions from one measure
to the next , without a defining border.
 Discrete Objects
• In the discrete object view, the world is empty, except
where it is occupied by objects with well-defined boundaries
that are instances of generally recognized categories.
• Objects can be counted.
• Objects have dimensionality: 0-dimension (points), 1-
dimension (lines), 2-dimensions (areas, polygons):
– 3-dimensions are problematic in GIS.
• Associating attributes to discrete objects can be expressed
in a table:
– each row corresponding to a different discrete object;
– each column corresponding to an attribute of the object.
• A table does not look like the real world.
 Discrete Objects
• Points, lines, and areas
• Countable
• Persistent through time, perhaps mobile
• Biological organisms
– Animals, trees
• Human-made objects
– Vehicles, houses, fire hydrants
 Continuous Fields view

• In this view the geographic world can be described by a

number of variables, each measurable at any point on
the Earth’s surface, and changing in value across the
surface.
 Continuous Fields
• Properties that vary continuously over space
– Value is a function of location
– Property can be of any attribute type, including direction
• Elevation as the archetype
– A single value at every point on the Earth’s surface
– The source of metaphor and language
• Any field can have slope, gradient, peaks, pits
 Examples of Fields
• Soil properties, e.g. pH, soil moisture
• Population density
– But at fine enough scale the concept breaks down
• Identity of land owner
– A single value of a nominal property at any point
• Name of county or state or nation
• Atmospheric temperature, pressure
 Phenomena conceptualized as fields. The
illustration shows elevation data from the Shuttle
Radar Topography Mission draped with an image
from the Landsat satellite, looking SE along the
San Andreas Fault in Southern California, plus a
simulated sky
 Difficult Cases
• Lakes and other natural phenomena
– Often conceived as objects, but difficult to define or count precisely
• Weather forecasting
– Forecasts originate in models of fields, but are presented in terms of
discrete objects
• Highs, lows, fronts
 Rasters and Vectors

• How to represent phenomena conceived as

fields or discrete objects?
• Raster and vector are two methods that are
used to reduce geographic phenomena to
forms that can be coded in computer
databases.
• In principle, each can be used to code both
fields and discrete objects, but in practice there
is a strong association between raster and
fields, and between vector and discrete objects.
 GIS Data Characteristics
• Geographic data has numerous properties
that make it much more functional and
valuable than serving as mere features on a
map.

• Major characteristics of geographic data are:

1. Location
2. Size
3. Shape
4. Spatial relationships
5. Time.
 Location, Size, and Shape
• Location (position): is a major starting point of spatial
measurements. Standard geographic coordinate
systems are normally used to define location.

• Size : is calculated by the amount of area, perimeter

or length.

• Shape : the shape of a feature is an important

descriptive element used in map and image
interpretation. It often indicates the feature’s identity
and role on the landscape.
 Spatial Data Relationships
• Features on maps have spatial relationships; that is,
how they relate to each other in space.

• Spatial relationships can be very important in many

applications, and GIS is an excellent tool for
determining such characteristics.

• The major spatial relationships are:

1. Distance
2. Distribution
3. Density
4. Pattern.
 Distance, Distribution, Density, and Pattern
• Distance: The amount of space between two things
that may or may not be connected, such as two
points. Differentiated from length, which always
implies a physical connection.

• Distribution: the amount or frequency of the

occurrence of a thing or things within a given area.

• Density: the number of items per unit area; how

close features are to each other.

• Pattern: the consistent arrangements of features,

similar to (and can include) distribution and density.
 Proximity Relationships

• Proximity relationship refers to closeness; features

that may have associations because they are
spatially near each other.
• Proximity (neighborhood) analysis: selecting
geographic features based on their distance from
other features.
• The three major proximity relationships are:
1. Connectivity :How geographic features in a network
of lines are attached to one another functionally.
2. Contiguity: The degree of connectivity.
3. Adjacency: considers nearness, or the features that
are close to each other.
 Time and GIS Data

• Time is an important data quality element that can

be a critical descriptive characteristics of spatial
data.
• Time can be used or expressed in terms of data
quality, dynamic data, and trends (temporal
components).
• Temporal components can be very important in
understanding the processes affecting and shaping
physical and cultural landscapes.
• Dynamic Data: Changing data. Features can change
shape, size, position, and attributes over time.
• Trends: Trends are determined from comparisons of
data over time (temporal trends) and over space
(spatial trends).
 Real World and Data Models
• The real world is far too complex to model in its entirety
within any information system, so only specific areas of
interest should be selected for inclusion within a given
GIS application.
• Once a particular application area has been chosen the
next task is to select those features which are relevant to
the application and to capture information about their
locations and characteristics.
• In order to bring the real world into GIS, one has
to make use of simplified models of the real world
Real world - phenomena that exist

Data model - an abstraction

Data and file structures - computer representation

and storage scheme of the data model
 Entity
Entities - those things in the
real world we wish to represent
(rivers, buildings, soil types,
wetlands)

Objects - our representation

in a data model; generally Object
includes both geometric
information (spatial data) and
descriptive information
(aspatial or attribute data)
Real World
Data Model Data
Structure
1.2 , 4.7
5.8 , 3.6
8.9 , 7.2
.
.
 Data models
• A Data model is: A set of constructs for describing and
representing selected aspects of the real-world in a computer.

• A GIS Data model is :A consistent way of defining and

representing spatial objects and of representing the relationships
among the objects

• GIS Data models include at least 2 parts –

– Coordinate data - pairs or triplets of numbers that define location

– Attribute data - text, numbers, images, or other “non-spatial” data

Levels of Data Model Abstraction
 Levels of Data Model Abstraction :
Reality

• Reality is made up of real-world phenomena and includes all

aspects that may or may not be perceived by individuals, or
deemed relevant to a particular application.
 Levels of Data Model Abstraction:
conceptual model
• The conceptual model is a human-oriented, often
partially structured, model of selected objects and
processes that are thought relevant to a particular
problem domain.
• The conceptual modeling phase begins with definition
of the main types of objects to be represented in the GIS
and concludes with a conceptual description of the main
types of objects and relationships between them
 Levels of Data Model Abstraction:
Logical model
• The logical model is an implementation-oriented representation
of reality that is often expressed in the form of diagrams and lists.
• The logical modeling phase leads to the creation of diagrams and
lists describing the names of objects, their behavior, and the type
of interaction between objects.
 Levels of Data Model Abstraction:
Physical model
• The physical model portrays the actual implementation in a GIS,
and often comprises tables stored as files or databases.
• The physical modeling phase involves describing the exact files
or database tables used to store the data, the relationships between
objects types, and the precise operations that can be performed.
 Common Data Models
Vector Raster

Y Points Points

( x,y )

Area Area
Line Line

X
© 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
 Raster and Vector Models
• Raster – implementation of field conceptual model
– Array of cells used to represent objects
– Useful as background maps and for spatial analysis
• Vector – implementation of discrete object
conceptual model
– Point, line and polygon representations
– Widely used in cartography, and network analysis
Two representations of San Diego, California: (A) panchromatic SPOT raster
satellite image collected in 1990 at 10 m resolution; (B) vector objects digitized
from the image.
 Raster Coding
➢ In the data entry process, maps can be digitized or
scanned at a selected cell size and each cell assigned a
code or a value.
➢ The methods for assigning cell codes are:
1. Presence/Absence
2. Cell Center
3. Dominant Area
4. Percent Coverage (advanced method)
 Presence/Absence

➢The most basic method is to record a feature if some of it

occurs in the cell space.

➢The only practical way of coding point and line features,

because they don’t take up much area of a cell.
 Cell Center
➢ This method involves reading only the center of the cell
and assigning the code accordingly.

➢ When there are multiple features in a cell area, the one in

the center wins the code.

➢ This is no a good scheme for points or lines, because

they don’t necessarily pass through the exact center.
 Dominant Area
➢ A common method is to assign the cell code to the
feature with the largest (dominant) share of the cell.

➢ This is suitable primarily for polygons, although line

features could be assigned according to which one has
the most linear distance in a cell.
 Raster Data Structures
– Raster data stored as an array of values
• Georeferencing is implicit in the structure
• Usually defined by one corner of the image and the cell size
• Attributes are defined by the cell values (no character data!)
• One attribute for each raster file
Rasters: The Storage Space/Resolution Tradeoff

Decreasing the cell size by one-fourth

causes a four-fold increase in the storage
space
required for the raster data.
 Raster Data Compression
• Data compression refers to the reduction of data volume.
• A variety of techniques are available for image compression.
Compression techniques can be lossless or lossy.
• Lossless Compression: One type of data compression that
allows the original image to be precisely reconstructed.
• Lossy Compression: One type of data compression that can
achieve high compression ratios but cannot reconstruct fully
the original image .
 Raster – Advantages and Disadvantages
• Advantages
– Simple data structure
– Easy overlay
– Various kinds of spatial analysis
– Uniform size and shape
– Cheaper technology
• Disadvantages
– Large amount of data
– Less “pretty”
– Projection transformation is difficult
– Different scales between layers can be a nightmare
– May lose information due to generalization
 Types of Vector Data Models

Two main types of vector data models:

➢spaghetti vector data model

➢Topological vector data model

 The Spaghetti Model
• The spaghetti model is the most simple vector data
model
• The model is a direct representation of a graphical image
• No explicit topological information
• Example: shapefiles
 Spaghetti Model
• Description: direct line for line translation of the paper
map (often viewed as raw digital data)
• Pros: easy to implement, good for fast drawing
• Cons: storage and searches are sequential, storage of
attribute data
Spaghetti model
 Topology
• Topology is the mathematical procedure for defining
spatial relationships, i.e., it is the mathematics of
connectivity and adjacency for spatial features (how
features join).

• Topology is the programming that provides spatial

relationships between nodes, chains, and geographic
features, i.e., it is a special data structure that
establishes connections and links for the nodes and
chains in order to recognize spatial relationships
among the geographic features.
 Intelligent Vector Data model - Topology
• GIS analysis answers many questions:
– Where is it?
– What is it next to?
– Is it inside or outside
– How far is it from something else
• The mathematical terms for these answers is:
– Where is it? (location)
– What is is next to (adjacency)
– Is it inside or outside (containment)
– How far is it (connectivity)
• Topology represents the structuring of coordinate data which
clearly describes adjacency, containment, and connectivity.
 Topology
➢ With topology each feature has the following
characteristics:
– knows where it is.
– Knows what is around it.
– Has recognized spatial relationships with other
features.
– Has length, distance, perimeter, and area information.
– Knows how to get around.
– Understands its environment.
➢ Example of topological data model: coverage
 Network data model
• Network topological relationships define how lines connect with
each other at nodes and define rules about how flows can move
through the network
• In linear referencing systems, the location of geographic entities are
stores as distances along a network from a point of origin
• Dynamic segmentation is a special case of linear referencing in
which data values are added dynamically to the route each time the
user queries the database
Figure 8.11 An example of a street network (Paris, France)
 TIN model

• Triangulated irregular networks (TINs)

• A TIN is a topological data structure that
manages information about the nodes
comprising each triangle and the
neighbors of each triangle.
• created by performing Delaunay
triangulation
Examples of applications that use the TIN data
structure
 Object data model

• An object is a self-contained package of information describing

the characteristics and capabilities of an entity under study.
• An interaction between two objects is called a relationship.
• A collection of objects of the same type is called a class.
• A class can be thought of as a template for objects.
 Object data model

• Each geographic object is an integrated package of geometry,

properties, and methods.
• Geometry is treated like any other attribute of the object
• Geographic objects of the same type are grouped together as
object classes
• Individual objects in the class are instances
Water distribution system water facility object types and relationships
 A water facility object model
Unified Modeling Language
An example of a CASE tool
 Storing Vector Data

Two common methods for storing vector data:

• Georelational (e.g. shapefiles, coverage)

– Spatial and attribute stored separately
• “geo” – graphic/spatial part
• “relational” – database part (tabular)
• Classical approach to vector data

• Object-based (oriented) (e.g. geodatabase)

• Spatial and tabular component are stored as a single system
• Spatial features can have properties and methods
• Recent trend towards object-based model
 Raster Vs. Vector
• Must Consider
– Discreteness of the entity being depicted
– Intended application (efficiencies)
– Source data
– Storage considerations
• Resolution
• Color
Vector – Advantages and Disadvantages
• Advantages
– Good representation of reality
– more efficient data storage
– Topology can be described in a network
– Accurate graphics
• Disadvantages
– Complex data structures
– Simulation may be difficult
– Some spatial analysis operations are difficult or
impossible to perform
 Comparisons, raster vs. vector
Characteristics Vector Raster
Positional Precision Can be Precise Defined by cell size
Attribute Precision Poor for continuous data Good for continuous data
Analytical Capabilities Good for spatial query, Spatial query more difficult,
adjacency, area, shape good for local
analyses. Poor for neighborhoods, continuous
continuous data. Most variable modeling. Rapid
analyses limited to overlays.
intersections. Slower
overlays.
Data Structures Often complex Often quite simple
Storage Requirements Relatively small Often quite large
Coordinate conversion Usually well-supported Often difficult, slow
Network Analyses Easily handled Often difficult
Output Quality Very good, map like Fair to poor - aliasing
 Task 1

A. Construct the adjacency matrix and incidence matrix

for a digraph represent your name as a vector layer.
B. Construct the point list, arc-node list, arc-coordinate
list for the a line coverage represent your name.
 Task 1
C. Use 2 (8*8 raster diagrams) for your initials to explain
how the run length encoding, cell by cell encoding and
quad tree methods work.
 Task 2
• https://www.esri.com/training
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