ACEWM AAU

GIS Course Assignment I

Program: MSc in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Course: Remote Sensing and GIS

Submitted to Dr. Yonas

Submitted by Meseret E.
ID: GSR/1146/17

Submission date on 14th February 2025

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1. Define the following terms

i. Geographic field
A geographic field is a phenomenon that has a value at every location within a study space.
Fields can be continuous or discrete. Continuous fields, such as temperature and elevation,
exhibit gradual changes, whereas discrete fields categorize space into distinct units, like soil
type or land use classification.

ii. Geographic objects

Geographic objects represent distinct entities in a study area. These objects can be classified
based on their location, shape, size, and orientation. For instance, roads are linear objects,
while buildings are area-based objects. Natural features such as lakes and forests are also
represented as geographic objects.

iii. Tessellation (or tiling)

Tessellation is a method of partitioning space into mutually exclusive cells to represent spatial
data. Common tessellation types include:

 Square tessellation (Raster)

 Hexagonal tessellation
 Triangular tessellation

Raster representation is the most widely used due to its straightforward georeferencing and
efficient processing.

iii. Topology
Topology in GIS refers to the spatial relationships between geographic features. These
relationships remain unchanged under transformations like stretching or rotating a map.
Topology ensures:

 Connectivity (e.g., road networks)

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 Containment (e.g., land parcels within a city boundary)

 Adjacency (e.g., neighboring administrative zones).

iv. Database management systems

A Database Management System allows efficient storage, retrieval, and management of spatial
data. GIS databases require DBMS to handle large datasets, ensuring:

o Data integrity and security

o Multi-user access
o Structured querying through SQL (Structured Query Language).

v. Attribute data

Attribute data refers to non-spatial data that describes the characteristics of geographic
features. For example, the population of a city or the name of a river.

Attribute data provides descriptive information about geographic features. It can be:

 Nominal (e.g., land use type: residential, commercial)

 Ordinal (e.g., soil erosion severity: low, medium, high)
 Interval (e.g., temperature: 10°C, 20°C)
 Ratio (e.g., elevation: 100m, 200m).

vi. Rasterization or vectorization

There are two types of data conversion (Rasterization and Vectorization)

Rasterization is the process of converting vector data (points, lines, polygons) into raster
format (grid-based representation). Rasterization is useful for:

 Remote sensing applications

 Digital elevation models (DEM)
 Land cover classification.

Vectorization: The process of converting raster data into vector data.

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vii. Geoid

The geoid is a model of the Earth's gravitational field, representing the shape that the ocean
surface would take under the influence of gravity and rotation alone. It is used as a reference
surface for measuring elevations.

2. What are the classifications of map projections?

Map projections transform the Earth's 3D surface onto a 2D plane. Common projection types
include:

 Map projections can be classified based on the following criteria:

Based on the Surface Used:

1. Cylindrical projection: Projection onto a cylinder (e.g., Mercator projection).

2. Conic projection: Projection onto a cone (e.g., Lambert Conformal Conic).
3. Azimuthal /Planar projection: Projection onto a plane (e.g., Stereographic projection).

-Based on the Property Preserved:

 Conformal: Preserves angles and shapes (e.g., Mercator projection).

 Equal-Area: Preserves area (e.g., Albers Equal-Area Conic).
 Equidistant: Preserves distances from certain points (e.g., Azimuthal Equidistant).
 Compromise: Balances distortions (e.g., Robinson projection).

3. Enumerate and explain components of a map.

 A map typically consists of the following components:

Title: Describes the subject or purpose of the map.

Legend: a variety of features both natural and manmade with the help of explains the symbols,
colors, and patterns used on the map.

Scale: Indicates the relationship between distances on the map and actual distances on the
ground. (Verbal scale, graphical scale, representative fraction)

Compass Rose: Shows the orientation of the map, typically indicating north.

Grid: A network of lines (latitude and longitude) used to locate places on the map.

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Insets: Smaller maps that provide additional detail or context.

Source: Indicates where the data for the map came from.

Date: Shows when the map was created or last updated.

Direction: an essential component of map. Without direction one can never reach one’s
destination (cardinal direction, intermediate direction)

4. What is metadata?
In the context of GIS, metadata provides information about the spatial data, such as its source,
accuracy, resolution, projection, and creation date. It helps users understand the context and
quality of the data.

Metadata provides essential information about GIS datasets, including:

 Data source and accuracy

 Coordinate reference system
 Data collection date and methods.
5. If A, B and C are raster data as follows,

A B C

Calculate
i. A and B
ii. B or C
iii. A and not B
For the raster data calculations, need to perform logical operations on the raster layers A, B,
and C. Here’s how can approach each calculation:

I. A and B: This operation will return a new raster where each cell is the result of a logical
AND operation between corresponding cells in A and B. If both A and B have a value,
the result will be black; otherwise, it will be white.

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II. B or C: This operation will return a new raster where each cell is the result of a logical
OR operation between corresponding cells in B and C. If either B or C has a value, the
result will be black; otherwise, it will be white.
III. A and not B: This operation will return a new raster where each cell is the result of a
logical AND operation between A and the negation of B. If A has a value and B does not,
the result will be black; otherwise, it will be white

This diagram below shows:

A i= A and B

B ii= B or C

C iii= A and not B

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Reference

1. De By, R. A. (2001). Principles of Geographic Information Systems. ITC Educational

Textbook Series. The Netherlands: International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth
Sciences (ITC).

2. Burrough, P. A., & McDonnell, R. A. (1998). Principles of Geographical Information Systems.

Oxford University Press.

3. Chang, K. T. (2016). Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill

Education.

4. Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D. J., & Rhind, D. W. (2015). Geographic
Information Science and Systems (4th ed.). Wiley.

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