Vector Data Analysis in Geospatial

Analysis
Buffering, Overlay Methods, Pattern Analysis, and
Feature Manipulation

©Sujan Parajuli
 Introduction
● Vector data
○ Represents geographical features using points, lines, and
polygons
■ Essential for analyzing various spatial phenomena, especially
where precision and defined boundaries are necessary, such
as roads, buildings, administrative boundaries, or natural
features like rivers
● Vector data analysis is widely used in applications like urban planning,
environmental monitoring, and resource management.
○ Generally involves geometrical relationships, spatial operations,
and attribute queries to derive meaningful insights.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Types of Vector Data
Points Lines Polygons

Represents linear features Represents area features

Represents discrete
such as roads, rivers, or like lakes, administrative
locations such as a city,
pipelines. boundaries, or land parcels.
well, or building.
Example: Mapping of Example: Route analysis for Example: Urban zoning
meteorological stations or transportation planning or maps, where each polygon
crime incidents. network modeling of river represents a different
systems. land-use type.

©Sujan Parajuli
Key Methods of Vector Data Analysis

Buffering Overlay
Spatial
Analysis
Join

Feature
Pattern Manipulation Network
Analysis Analysis
Topological
Analysis
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 Buffering in Vector Data Analysis
● Buffering involves Point Buffers Line Buffers Polygon Buffers
creating a zone • For instance, to • Line buffering is • Buffering around
around a vector determine the useful for a forest can help
feature (point, line, or area within 1 km analyzing assess the
of a radius of a corridors like potential area
polygon) at a school, a point roads or rivers. affected by
specified distance to buffer around the • For example, a deforestation.
measure proximity, school’s location buffer around a
can help planners river can show
perform impact identify which which areas may
analysis, or even property fall be at risk of
assess areas of within this zone. flooding.
influence.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Variations in Buffering
● Buffering techniques can vary based on the shape, size, and distance
required.
Create a constant Fixed-width Vary in size based
distance around buffer Variable-widt on a feature
features h buffer attributes

Combine
overlapping areas
Dissolved Keep individual
into one unified buffer Non-dissolved features' buffers
buffer buffer separate

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 Applications of Buffering

Environmental Network
Impact Public Safety
Assessment Analysis
Evaluating how land Determining service
development will Creating evacuation areas around public
affect nearby rivers zones around amenities like
or protected areas. hazardous sites hospitals or schools.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Overlay in Vector Data Analysis
Point-in-polygon Line-in-polygon Polygon-polygon
● Overlay analysis overlay overlay overlay
involves placing
• Used to • Determines if a • Compares two
layers of vector data determine if a line intersects polygon layers,
on top of one point feature or lies within a such as
another to analyze lies within a polygon, e.g., comparing land
polygon analyzing ownership with
relationships boundary, e.g., which roads conservation
between features. identifying pass through a areas.
which city a national park.
weather station
belongs to.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Overlay Methods
Union Intersect Symmetrical Identity
Difference
Combines all Retains only Retains all
features from overlapping Keeps only features from
features, e.g., non-overlapping one layer while
two input
finding common incorporating
layers, retaining portions, e.g.,
areas between only the
all attributes. protected forests showing areas of
land use change. overlapping
and mining
concessions portion from
another
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 Overlay Errors

Application of Overlay
Urban Planning

Overlaying zoning
Interpretation regulations with land use
Error

Environmental
Digitization
Error
Source Map
Error
Error Studies
Propagation Combining biodiversity
Arises when inaccuracies are and land cover layers to
study habitat loss.
present in the original input and
Slivers overlay layers and are
Produced when two propagated through to the
slightly misaligned output layer.
vector layers are
overlain Cluster tolerance can help eliminate
slivers by merging nearly coincident vertices.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Pattern Analysis in Vector Data
● A powerful method for
understanding the spatial Clustered
distribution of features and
uncovering underlying trends. Random Dispersed

● Understanding spatial patterns

is critical for various fields,
including public health, crime Types of
analysis, urban planning, and
environmental conservation.
Pattern
To identify whether the
distribution of features
shows randomness or a
meaningful structure
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 Pattern Analysis Techniques
Moran’s I for G-Statistic for
Measuring Spatial Measuring High/Low
Autocorrelation Clustering

Positive spatial Similar values (such as high or low) Are areas with high
autocorrelation cluster together Hotspots values relative to their
neighbors.

Negative Spatial Dissimilar values are close to each

Autocorrelation other

Are areas with low

Cold spots values compared to
Zero spatial Suggests a random spatial surrounding areas.
Autocorrelation pattern.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Applications of Pattern Analysis
Public Crime Urban Ecology and
Health Analysis Planning Environmental
Identifying disease Detecting
Studies
clusters, such as high-crime Understanding the Analyzing the spread
concentrations of neighborhoods to spatial distribution of of invasive species or
COVID-19 cases, help prioritize law housing prices, habitat fragmentation
which may guide enforcement amenities, or traffic patterns to prioritize
quarantine efforts and allocate accidents to improve conservation efforts.
measures or resources for crime zoning regulations or
vaccine distribution prevention. develop better
transport
infrastructure.
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 Feature Manipulation in Vector Data
Dissolve Clip Append Select
Aggregates features Extracts features Combines datasets. If two
from one layer using Aggregates features
based on common road networks are split
the boundaries of based on common
attributes across different regions,
another attributes
append them to create a
unified dataset.

Eliminate Update Erase Split

Removes unwanted small Removes features from Divides a dataset into
features, such as tiny Replaces parts of a layer one layer based on
with new data, such as multiple smaller datasets,
polygons that don’t meet a another, such as erasing e.g., splitting land parcels by
minimum size updating land use based forest areas that are part
on new development ownership
requirement of new urban
i plans.
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Spatial Join, Network and Topological Analysis
Spatial Join Network Topological
Transfers attributes from Analysis Analysis
one layer to another Examines spatial
based on spatial Analysis of interconnected
line features such as relationships like
relationships. adjacency, connectivity, and
roads, railways, or
pipelines. containment.
Example: Joining population
data with administrative
Example: Route optimization for Example: Determining whether a
boundaries to aggregate
delivery trucks to minimize fuel road crosses a river
statistics for each region.
consumption. (intersection), or checking if a
park is inside a city boundary
(containment).

©Sujan Parajuli
 How Vector Data Analysis is Performed
● Vector data is typically collected through surveys,
01 Data Collection GPS devices, digitizing paper maps, or remote
sensing.

● Before analysis, data needs to be cleaned,

02 Preprocessing transformed, and projected into a common
coordinate system to ensure accurate results.
● GIS software (ArcGIS, QGIS) and scripting languages
Geoprocessing (Python using libraries like ArcPy, GeoPandas) enable
03
Tools vector operations and automation.

● Once the data is prepared, spatial operations can

04 Analysis be performed, and queries can be run to answer
specific questions.

● Results are visualized through maps, charts, and

05 Visualization dashboards to communicate findings.

©Sujan Parajuli
 Conclusion
● Vector data analysis is crucial for any geospatial project, as it allows for
the precise representation of real-world features and relationships.

● From buffering and overlay to pattern analysis and feature manipulation,

each technique offers powerful ways to analyze spatial data.

● By applying these methods, we can solve complex spatial problems,

improve decision-making, and ultimately enhance our understanding of the
world around us.

● Whether you're an urban planner, environmental scientist, or a GIS

enthusiast, mastering these vector analysis techniques is essential to
unlock the full potential of geospatial data

©Sujan Parajuli