OGI352- GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

UNIT III- DATA INPUT AND TOPOLOGY

QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWERS

1. Define scanning?

Scanning coverts paper maps into digital format by capturing features as

individual cells, or pixels, producing an automated image. Maps are generally considered the
backbone of any GIS activity.

2. What is Mechanical Scanner?

It is called drum scanner since a map or an image placed on a drum is digitized
mechanically with rotation of the drum and shift of the sensor as shown in Figure 3.1 (a).
It is accurate but slow.
3. What is a CCD video camera?
A CCD camera is a video camera that contains a charged-coupled device
(CCD), which is a transistorized light sensor on an integrated circuit. To simplify, CCD
devices convert or manipulate an electrical signal into some kind of output, including
digital values.
4. Types of Scanner.
There are three types of scanners available: drum scanner, flatbed, and
handheld scanners. The publishing industry primarily uses drum scanners to print high-
quality images, while flatbed scanners are generally used in schools and offices.
5. Define Raster Data Input?
Raster data is an image, or a grid of pixels, where each pixel has a unique value
that represents a data point on the ground – in other words, it stores information about
features in a cell-based manner.
6. Explain the Modes of Inputs?
There are several types of input modes, including analog inputs, differential
inputs, and input modes for devices:

 Analog inputs
Inputs where the value is variable, rather than just true or false. Analog inputs are
often sensor inputs.
 Differential inputs
Inputs that measure the voltage between two distinct input signals. Differential
inputs are more resistant to electromagnetic interference (EMI) than single-ended
inputs.
 Input modes for devices
 Input modes can be keyboard configurations, input method editors, or other settings
that affect input on a device. Input modes can be used to make form input easier for the
user.

7. What is Data Input Techniques.

Key encoding, digitizing, scanning, coordinate geometry, and direct file
transfer are the main techniques for inputting data into a geographic information
system (GIS). Key encoding involves directly entering spatial and attribute data using
a keyboard.
8. Define Automatic Scanning?
Automatic scanning in a Geographic Information System (GIS) is a data input
technique that uses a scanner and software to automatically capture spatial data.
9. Write a Short Notes on Coordinate Geomatery?
Coordinate Geometry is considered to be one of the most interesting concepts
of mathematics. Coordinate Geometry (or the analytic geometry) describes the link
between geometry and algebra through graphs involving curves and lines. It provides
geometric aspects in Algebra and enables them to solve geometric problems
10. What is Digitization and its types?
Digitization is the process of converting analog information into a digital
format, typically for storage and use on a computer. The three main types of digitization
are:
 Text-based: Converting text into digital form
 Image-based: Digitizing images
 Audio/visual: Transforming audio and video content into digital file
11. What is Hardware?
GIS hardware refers to the physical devices that run GIS software and store
spatial data. These devices can include:
Computers, Servers, GPS units, Mobile devices, Digitizers, Scanners, Printers, Plotters,
Tape drives, and Drones
12. Major Problems are Map Digitization ?
 More costly and complex to develop.
 Sponsor has less control over how users view and interpret the data.
 Requires user training and orientation.
 Users may need technical skills to fully make use of all of the features.
 Some mapping tools may have limited cartographic and graphic design
options.
13. Define Topology in GIS.
Topology is the arrangement of how point, line, and polygon features share
geometry. Topology is used for the following: Constrain how features share
geometry. For example, adjacent polygons such as parcels have shared edges, street
centerlines and census blocks share geometry, and adjacent soil polygons share edges.
14. Write the Topology Rules.
 Must Not Self-Intersect: Line features must not cross or overlap
themselves.
 Must Not Have Dangles: Lines must connect to at least two other
lines at each endpoint.
 Must Not Self-Overlap: Segments of the same line should not
occupy the same space as another segment on the same line.
 Boundary Must Be Covered By: Polygon boundaries in one
feature class or subtype must be covered by the lines of another
15. What are the Non Topology File Formats?
 PQR: A file format that can guess masses and types
 PSF: A file format for CHARMM, NAMD, or XPLOR
 TOP, PRMTOP, PARM7: A file format for AMBER topology
 TPR: A file format for GROMACS run topology
16. Define ODBC?
ODBC, or Open Database Connectivity, is an application programming
interface (API) that allows applications to access data in various database
management systems

PART B
1. Explain the Scanner of Raster Data Inputs?
Scanner are used to convert from analog maps or photographs to digital
image data in raster format. Digital image data are usually integer-based with one
byte gray scale (256 gray tones from 0 to 255) for black and white image and a set of
three gray scales of red (R), green (G) and blue(B) for color image.

The following four types of scanner are commonly used in GIS and remote sensing.

a. Mechanical Scanner
It is called drum scanner since a map or an image placed on a drum is digitized
mechanically with rotation of the drum and shift of the sensor as shown in Figure. It is
accurate but slow.
 b. Vedeo Camera
Video camera with CRT (cathode ray tube) is often used to digitize a small part of
map of firm. This is not very accurate but cheap.it shown in figure (b)

c. CCD Camera
Area CCD camera (called digital still camera) instead of video camera will be also
convenient to acquire digital image data (see Figure (c)). It is more stable and accurate than
video camera.

d.CCD Scanner
Flat bed type or roll feed type scanner with linear CCD (charge coupled device) is now
commonly used to digitize analog maps in raster format, either in mono-tone or color mode.
It is accurate but expensive.

2. Detail about the Data Input Techniques?

the input of attribute data is usually quite simple, the discussion of data input
techniques will be limited to spatial data only. There is no single method of entering
the spatial data into a GIS. Rather, there are several, mutually compatible methods
that can be used singly or in combination. The choice of data input method is
governed largely by the application, the available budget, and the type and the
complexity of data being input. There are at least four basic procedures for inputting
spatial data into a GIS. These are:
 Manual digitizing;
 Automatic scanning;
 Entry of coordinates using coordinate geometry;
 Conversion of existing digital data.
Digitizing :
 While considerable work has been done with newer technologies, the
overwhelming majority of GIS spatial data entry is done by manual digitizing.
 A digitizer is an electronic device consisting of a table upon which the map or
drawing is placed.
 The user traces the spatial features with a hand-held magnetic pen, often
called a mouse or cursor.
 While tracing the features the coordinates of selected points, e.g. vertices, are
sent to the computer and stored.
  All points that are recorded are registered against positional control points,
usually the map corners that are keyed in ◦ source maps may have different
projections, scales ◦ several stages of data transformation may be needed to
bring all data to a common by the user at the beginning of the digitizing
session.
Manual digitizing has many advantages. These include:
• Low capital cost, e.g. digitizing tables are cheap;
• Low cost of labour;
• Flexibility and adaptability to different data types and sources;
• Easily taught in a short amount of time - an easily mastered skill
• Generally the quality of data is high;
• Digitizing devices are very reliable and most often offer a greater precision
that the data warrants; and
• Ability to easily register and update existing data.
Automatic Scanning
A variety of scanning devices exist for the automatic capture of spatial data. While
several different technical approaches exist in scanning technology, all have the
advantage of being able to capture spatial features from a map at a rapid rate of speed.
Hard copy maps are often unable to be removed to where a scanning device is
available, e.g. most companies or agencies cannot afford their own scanning device
and therefore must send their maps to a private firm for scanning;
• Hard copy data may not be in a form that is viable for effective scanning, e.g.
maps are of poor quality, or are in poor condition;
• Geographic features may be too few on a single map to make it practical,
costjustifiable, to scan;
• Often on busy maps a scanner may be unable to distinguish the features to be
captured from the surrounding graphic information, e.g. dense contours with labels;
• With raster scanning there it is difficult to read unique labels (text) for a
geographic feature effectively; and
• Scanning is much more expensive than manual digitizing, considering all the
cost/performance issues.
Coordinate Geometry
 A third technique for the input of spatial data involves the calculation and
entry of coordinates using coordinate geometry (COGO) procedures. This
involves entering, from survey data, the explicit measurement of features
from some known monument
 This input technique is obviously very costly and labour intensive. In fact,
it is rarely used for natural resource applications in GIS.
 This method is useful for creating very precise cartographic definitions of
property, and accordingly is more appropriate for land records
management at the cadastral or municipal scale.
 Conversion of Existing Digital Data

 A fourth technique that is becoming increasingly popular for data

input is the conversion of existing digital data.
 A variety of spatial data, including digital maps, are openly available
from a wide range of government and private sources. The most
common digital data to be used in a GIS is data from CAD systems.
 A number of data conversion programs exist, mostly from GIS
software vendors, to transform data from CAD formats to a raster or
topological GIS data format.

3. Explain in detail about the Raster Data File Formats?

 Raster data models are useful for storing data that varies continuously, as in
an aerial photograph, a satellite image or an elevation surface.
 There are two types of raster data: continuous and discrete.
Raster stores the data in the type of digital image represented by reducible and
enlargeable grids and these grid of cells contains a value representing information,
such as temperature, discrete data represents features such as land-use or soils data.
 Raster data provides a matrix of cells with values representing a coordinate and
sometimes linked to an attribute table and it is much simpler for many layers
combinations. Raster data is very easy to modify or program due to simple data
structure.

Popular Raster data file format lists in GIS

1) Portable Network Graphics (PNG)

Provides a well-compressed, lossless compression for raster files. It supports a

large range of bit depths from monochrome to 64-bit color. Its features include indexed color
images of up to 256 colors and effective 100 percent lossless images of up to 16 bits per
pixel.

2) Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG2000)

Open-source raster format. A compressed format, allows both lossy and lossless
compression. JPEG 2000 is a non-proprietary image compression format based on ISO
standards, and typically uses .

3) JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF)

A standard compression technique for storing full-color and grayscale images.

Support for JPEG compression is provided through the JFIF file format.
 4) Digital raster graphic(DRG)

Digital Raster Graphic is a raster file format. From scanning a paper USGS
topographic map for use on a computer a digital image is created called DRGs.

5) ARC Digitized Raster Graphic (ADRG)

ARC Digitized Raster Graphics is a standard National Imagery and Mapping Agency
(NIMA) digital product. ADRG is designed to support applications that require a raster map
background display.

6) Enhanced Compressed ARC Raster Graphics (ECRG)

Enhanced Compressed ARC Raster Graphics (ECRG) file is an Enhanced Compressed

ARC Raster Graphics.

4. Briefly explain the Vector Data Input?

Digitization:Digitizing is the process of interpreting and converting paper map or

image data to vector digital data.

Heads down digitization

 Digitizers are used to capture data from hardcopy maps shown in the (fig.3.3).
Headsdown digitization is done on a digitizing table using a magnetic pen
known as Puck.
 The positionof a cursor or puck is detected when passed over a table inlaid with
a fine mesh of wires.
 Thefunction of a digitizer is to input correctly the coordinates of the points and
the lines.
 Digitizationn can be done in two modes:

1. Point mode: In this mode, digitization is started by placing a point

that marks the beginning of the feature to be digitized and after
that more points are added to trace the particular feature (line or a
polygon). The number of points to be added to trace the feature
and the space interval between two consecutive points are decided
by the operator.
2. Stream mode: In stream digitizing, the cursor is placed at the
beginning of the feature,a command is then sent to the computer
to place the points at either equal or unequalintervals as per the
position of the cursor moving over the image of the feature.
Heads-up digitization

 This method uses scanned copy of the map or image and digitization is done
on the screen of the computer monitor.
 The scanned map lays vertical which can be viewed withoutbending the head
down and therefore is called as heads up digitization.
 Semi-automatic andautomatic methods of digitizing requires post processing
but saves lot of time and resources compared to manual method and is described in
the following section.

Digitizers for Vector Data Input

Tablet digitizers with a free cursor connected with a personal computer are the
most common device for digitizing spatial features with the plan metric coordinates from
analog maps.

The digitizing operation is as follows.

Step 1: a map is affixed to a digitizing table.

Step 2: control points or tics at four corners of this map sheet should be digitized by
the digitizer and input to PC together with the map coordinates of the four corners.

Step 3: map contents are digitized according to the map layers and map code system in

either point mode or stream mode at short time interval.

Step 4: editing errors such as small gaps at line junctions, overshoots, duplicates etc.

should be made for a clean dataset without errors.

Step 5: conversion from digitizer coordinates to map coordinates to store in a spatial

database.

5. Explain about Digitizers.

DIGITIZERS
• Digitizers are the most common device for extracting spatial information from
maps and photographs
• the map, photo, or other document is placed on the flat surface of the
digitizing tablet
• The position of an indicator as it is moved over the surface of the digitizing tablet
is
detected by the computer and interpreted as pairs of x,y coordinates
◦ the indicator may be a pen-like stylus or a cursor (a small flat plate the size of a
hockey puck with a cross-hair)
• frequently, there are control buttons on the cursor which permit control of the
 system without having to turn attention from the digitizing tablet to a computer
terminal
• digitizing tablets can be purchased in sizes from 25x25 cm to 200x150 cm, at
approximate costs from $500 to $5,000
• early digitizers (ca. 1965) were backlit glass tables The digitizing operation
• The map is affixed to a digitizing table
• Three or more control points ("reference points", "tics", etc.) are digitized for each
map sheet
◦ these will be easily identified points (intersections of major streets, major
peaks,points on coastline)
◦ the coordinates of these points will be known in the coordinate system to be
used
in the final database, e.g. lat/long, State Plane Coordinates, military grid
◦ the control points are used by the system to calculate the necessary
mathematical transformations to convert all coordinates to the final system
◦ the more control points, the better
• digitizing the map contents can be done in two different modes:
◦ in point mode, the operator identifies the points to be captured explicitly by
pressing a button
◦ in stream mode points are captured at set time intervals (typically 10 per
second) or on movement of the cursor by a fixed amount
advantages and disadvantages:
• in point mode the operator selects points subjectively
• two point mode operators will not code a line in the same way
• stream mode generates large numbers of points, many of which may be
redundant
• stream mode is more demanding on the user while point mode requires some
judgement about how to represent the line
• most digitizing is currently done in point mode