LECTURE - 03 Spatial Data Types (Vector Data)
LECTURE - 03 Spatial Data Types (Vector Data)
1. Spatial data
• Information about the locations and shapes of geographic features and the relationships
between them, usually stored as coordinates and topology, (ESRI)
Coordinates
A set of values represented by the letters x, y, and optionally z or m (measure), that define a
position within a spatial reference.
Topology
Topology is the arrangement of how point, line, and polygon features share geometry.
GIS Data type
• Vector data
• Raster data.
Data Models
The vector data model prepares data in two basics steps so that the computer can
process the data.
➢ First, it uses points and X, Y coordinate store present the spatial features as Points,
Lines and Polygons.
➢ Second, it organizes geometric objects and their spatial relationships into digital data
files that the computer can access, interpret and process.
Vector Data Model
POINT
• A point has zero dimension and has only the property of
location.
• A point feature is made of point or a set of separate
points.
• Wells, Poles, Trees, Towers etc.
Vector Data Model
Line
• A line is one dimensional and has
the property of length, in addition
to location.
POLYGON
• A Polygon is two dimensional and has the properties of Area(Size)
and perimeter, in addition to location.
Map scale
Topology
For example, adjacent polygons such as parcels have share edges, street
centre lines and census blocks share geometry
Data Models
• A geographic data model is a structure for
organizing geospatial data so that it can be
easily stored and retrieved by defining
geographic data elements and their
interrelations.
Coverage and Shapefile
Coverage
• A Coverage is a relational data model that stores vector data, it contains both spatial and
attribute data for a geographic feature.
Shapefile
• A shapefile stores non-topological geometry and attribute information for the spatial features
in a data set.
• The geometry for a feature is stored as a shape comprising a set of vector coordinates.
Shapefile
• An ESRI shapefile consists of a main file, an index file, and a database table.
• Main file (The main file that stores the feature geometry, required): .shp
• Index file (Stores the index of the feature geometry, required : .shx