What is data?

Data refers to raw facts, figures, or information that can be collected, measured, and
processed for analysis or decision-making. It represents qualitative or quantitative variables
and is often the basis for understanding trends, making decisions, or deriving insights.

What are Types of Data?

The data is classified into majorly four categories:

● Nominal data
● Ordinal data
● Discrete data
● Continuous data

Further, we can classify these data as follows:

Let us discuss the different types of data in Statistics herewith examples.

Qualitative or Categorical Data

Qualitative data, also known as the categorical data, describes the data that fits into the
categories. Qualitative data are not numerical. The categorical information involves
categorical variables that describe the features such as a person’s gender, home town etc.
Categorical measures are defined in terms of natural language specifications, but not in terms
of numbers.

Sometimes categorical data can hold numerical values (quantitative value), but those values
do not have a mathematical sense. Examples of the categorical data are birthdate, favourite
sport, school postcode. Here, the birthdate and school postcode hold the quantitative value,
but it does not give numerical meaning.

Nominal Data

Nominal data is one of the types of qualitative information which helps to label the variables
without providing the numerical value. Nominal data is also called the nominal scale. It
cannot be ordered and measured. But sometimes, the data can be qualitative and quantitative.
Examples of nominal data are letters, symbols, words, gender etc.

The nominal data are examined using the grouping method. In this method, the data are
grouped into categories, and then the frequency or the percentage of the data can be
calculated. These data are visually represented using the pie charts.

Ordinal Data

Ordinal data/variable is a type of data that follows a natural order. The significant feature of
the nominal data is that the difference between the data values is not determined. This
variable is mostly found in surveys, finance, economics, questionnaires, and so on.

The ordinal data is commonly represented using a bar chart. These data are investigated and
interpreted through many visualisation tools. The information may be expressed using tables
in which each row in the table shows the distinct category.
Quantitative or Numerical Data

Quantitative data is also known as numerical data which represents the numerical value (i.e.,
how much, how often, how many). Numerical data gives information about the quantities of a
specific thing. Some examples of numerical data are height, length, size, weight, and so on.
The quantitative data can be classified into two different types based on the data sets. The
two different classifications of numerical data are discrete data and continuous data.

Discrete Data

Discrete data can take only discrete values. Discrete information contains only a finite
number of possible values. Those values cannot be subdivided meaningfully. Here, things can
be counted in whole numbers.

Example: Number of students in the class

Continuous Data

Continuous data is data that can be calculated. It has an infinite number of probable values
that can be selected within a given specific range.

Example: Temperature range

Characteristics and source of geographical data:

Characteristics of Geographical Data

1. Spatial Component: Geographical data always includes a location-based aspect,

typically represented by coordinates (latitude, longitude) or grid references. This
makes it possible to map and analyze data in relation to physical space.
 2. Attribute Data: In addition to spatial information, geographical data includes
attributes or descriptions of the features at a specific location, such as land use,
population, vegetation, or elevation.
3. Scale and Resolution: Geographical data comes at different scales (local, regional,
global) and resolutions (fine to coarse), affecting the level of detail and how the data
can be used.
4. Temporal Dimension: Some geographical data has a time component, showing
changes over time (e.g., satellite images, weather patterns, or land-use changes).
5. Accuracy and Precision: The reliability of geographical data depends on its accuracy
(how close the data is to the true value) and precision (the level of detail or
resolution).
6. Projection and Coordinate System: Geographical data uses specific map projections
and coordinate systems to represent the earth’s curved surface on a flat map. Different
projections affect how areas, distances, and shapes are represented.
7. Data Format: Geographical data can be stored in various formats, including vector
(points, lines, polygons), raster (grid of pixels, like satellite images), and tabular
formats (spreadsheets or databases).

Sources of Geographical Data

1. Satellite Imagery: Collected from earth-observing satellites, providing data on land

cover, vegetation, water bodies, and weather. Examples: Landsat, Sentinel, MODIS.
2. Aerial Photography: Data captured from aircraft, often used for detailed mapping,
urban planning, and agriculture monitoring.
3. Global Positioning System (GPS): Provides precise location data for various
applications, including navigation, transportation, and geolocation services.
4. Geographic Information Systems (GIS): These systems store, manipulate, and
analyze geographical data. Commonly used in urban planning, disaster management,
and environmental monitoring. Example: ArcGIS.
5. Census Data: Population and demographic information collected by governments,
often spatially referenced to regions, cities, or districts.
6. Surveying and Field Data Collection: Data obtained directly through land surveys,
ground measurements, or fieldwork, often used for construction, land ownership, or
environmental studies.
 7. Remote Sensing: Involves the use of sensors (mounted on drones, aircraft, or
satellites) to gather data about the earth’s surface, often used in agriculture, forestry,
and environmental monitoring.
8. Open Data Platforms: Various governments and organizations provide open access
to geographical data. Examples: OpenStreetMap, USGS Earth Explorer, NASA Earth
Data.
9. Crowdsourced Data: Data collected by the general public using GPS-enabled
devices, apps, or platforms like OpenStreetMap, Waze, or participatory GIS projects.
10. Historical Maps and Atlases: Data sources that provide geographical information
from the past, useful for understanding historical landscapes and changes over time.

Each source of data has its own strengths and limitations depending on the scale, accuracy,
and type of analysis required.

Data analysis in geography and environment, collection of temporal and special data,
preparation of data.

Data Analysis in Geography and Environment

Data analysis in geography and the environment involves examining spatial and temporal
data to understand patterns, relationships, and trends. Key techniques include:

1. Spatial Analysis:
○ Overlay Analysis: Combines multiple layers of geographic data (e.g., land
use, water bodies) to find relationships or patterns.
○ Proximity Analysis: Analyzes the spatial relationships between features, such
as finding distances between points or identifying nearby features (e.g.,
schools, hospitals).
○ Spatial Interpolation: Estimates values at unknown locations based on data
from known points (e.g., predicting rainfall distribution).
2. Temporal Analysis:
○ Time-Series Analysis: Studies how a particular variable changes over time,
such as tracking temperature, deforestation, or population growth.
 ○ Change Detection: Compares datasets from different time periods to identify
changes in land use, vegetation, or climate over time (e.g., urbanization or
glacier retreat).
3. Geostatistics: Uses statistical techniques for analyzing spatial and environmental
data, such as kriging or regression analysis. These methods help predict spatial
patterns and model relationships between variables (e.g., pollution levels based on
population density).
4. Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A key tool for spatial and environmental
data analysis, GIS allows users to manipulate, analyze, and visualize geographic data.
It can support decision-making in urban planning, disaster management, and natural
resource conservation.
5. Remote Sensing Data Analysis: Uses satellite or aerial imagery to study
environmental phenomena, such as forest cover, water resources, and climate change.
Image processing techniques (e.g., NDVI for vegetation health) are commonly used.
6. Environmental Modeling: Builds models to simulate natural processes, such as
hydrological models (for water flow), climate models, or habitat suitability models.

Collection of Temporal and Spatial Data

The collection of temporal (time-based) and spatial (location-based) data is fundamental for
environmental and geographic research. Some key methods include:

1. Remote Sensing:
○ Temporal: Satellite images and aerial photography captured over different
time periods (e.g., yearly, monthly) provide valuable temporal data.
○ Spatial: Remote sensing platforms, such as satellites, drones, and planes,
capture large-scale spatial data on land use, vegetation, or urban growth.
2. Global Positioning System (GPS):
○ Collects spatial data in real-time, offering precise location coordinates. GPS is
widely used in fieldwork for mapping features like rivers, roads, or wildlife
habitats.
3. Census and Survey Data:
 ○ Temporal: Census data, collected at intervals (e.g., every 10 years), provides
valuable demographic and social information.
○ Spatial: Georeferenced census data can be mapped at various scales (e.g., city,
district, or country).
4. Field Data Collection:
○ Involves gathering data directly from specific locations, such as measuring
soil composition, air quality, or biodiversity. Field data often has both spatial
(location) and temporal (time of collection) components.
5. Environmental Monitoring Stations:
○ These stations collect temporal environmental data, such as weather
conditions, air or water quality, and climate data over time.
6. Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science:
○ Public contributions through apps (e.g., reporting pollution, biodiversity
observations) can provide spatial and temporal data from diverse locations.
7. Historical Data Sources:
○ Data from historical maps, satellite imagery, and archival records provide
insights into changes over time, useful for long-term environmental
monitoring (e.g., deforestation).

Preparation of Data

Before data analysis, geographical and environmental data must be pre-processed and
prepared to ensure accuracy and reliability. Key steps include:

1. Data Cleaning:
○ This involves removing errors, outliers, or inconsistencies in the data. Missing
values can be interpolated, or anomalies identified and corrected.
2. Data Standardization:
○ Spatial data often comes in different formats or coordinate systems.
Standardization involves converting datasets into a common format (e.g., a
unified coordinate system like WGS84) and ensuring consistent units of
measurement (e.g., meters vs. kilometers).
3. Georeferencing:
○ For spatial data like maps or satellite images, georeferencing involves aligning
them to a coordinate system, so they match real-world locations.
 4. Data Aggregation:
○ Summarizing data for analysis at specific scales, such as aggregating data by
administrative units (e.g., city, region, country) or time periods (e.g., annual or
monthly averages).
5. Spatial Data Resampling:
○ Adjusting the resolution of raster data (e.g., satellite imagery) to match the
scale of analysis or reduce file size. This step is crucial when combining data
from different sources with varying spatial resolutions.
6. Metadata Documentation:
○ Creating metadata ensures that the data's source, collection methods, accuracy,
and limitations are clearly documented. This is crucial for ensuring data
quality and reproducibility of results.
7. Interpolation of Missing Data:
○ If temporal or spatial gaps exist in the dataset, interpolation techniques (e.g.,
kriging for spatial data, linear interpolation for time-series data) can be used to
estimate missing values.
8. Reclassification and Clipping:
○ Involves modifying datasets to focus on areas of interest (e.g., clipping a map
to a region) or categorizing data into classes (e.g., land use types).

By collecting and preparing temporal and spatial data properly, accurate and meaningful
insights can be derived from geographic and environmental data analysis.