Tilak Education Society’s

S.K College of Science and Commerce, Nerul

Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

Q1 Describe the classification of different analytical function of GIS.

ANS There are many ways to classify the analytical functions of a GIS. The
classification used for this chapter, is essentially the one put forward by
Aronoff. It makes the following distinctions.
1. Classification, retrieval, and measurement functions.
All functions in this category are performed on a single (vector
or raster) data layer, often using the associated attribute data.
• Classification allows the assignment of features to a class on the
basis of attribute values or attribute ranges (definition of data
patterns). On the basis of reflectance characteristics found in a
raster, pixels may be
classified as representing different crops, such as potato and
maize.
• Retrieval functions allow the selective search of data. We might
thus retrieve all agricultural fields where potato is grown.
• Generalization is a function that joins different classes of objects
with common characteristics to a higher level (generalized) class.1
For example, we might generalize fields where potato or maize,
and possibly other crops, are grown as ‘food produce fields’.
• Measurement functions allow the calculation of distances,
lengths, or areas.
2. Overlay functions.
These belong to the most frequently used functions in a GIS
application. They allow the combination of two (or more) spatial
data layers comparing them position by position, and treating areas
of overlap—and of non-overlap—in distinct ways. Many GISs support
overlays through an algebraic language, expressing an overlay
function as a formula in which the data layers are the arguments. In
this way, we can find
• The potato fields on clay soils (select the ‘potato’ cover in the
crop data layer and the ‘clay’ cover in the soil data layer and
perform an intersection of the two areas found),
• The fields where potato or maize is the crop (select both
areas of‘potato’ and ‘maize’ cover in the crop data layer and
take their union),
• The potato fields not on clay soils (perform a difference
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

operator of areas with ‘potato’ cover with the areas having clay
soil),
• The fields that do not have potato as crop (take the
complement of the potato areas).
2. Neighbourhood functions.
Whereas overlays combine features at the same location,
neighbourhood functions evaluate the characteristics of an area
surrounding a feature’s location. A neighbourhood function
‘scans’ the neighbourhood of the given feature(s), and performs a
computation on it.
• Search functions allow the retrieval of features that fall within a
given search window. This window may be a rectangle, circle, or
polygon.
• Buffer zone generation (or buffering) is one of the bestknown
neighbourhood functions. It determines a spatial envelope
(buffer) around (a) given feature(s). The created buffer may have
a fixed width, or a variable width that depends on characteristics
of the area.
• Interpolation functions predict unknown values using the known
values at nearby locations. This typically occurs for continuous
fields, like elevation, when the data actually stored does not
provide the direct answer for the location(s) of interest.
Interpolation of continuous data was discussed in Section 5.4.2.
• Topographic functions determine characteristics of an area by
looking at the immediate neighbourhood as well. Typical
examples are slope computations on digital terrain models (i.e.
continuous spatial fields). The slope in a location is defined as the
plane tangent to the topography in that location. Various
computations can be performed, such as:
– determination of slope angle,
– determination of slope aspect,
– determination of slope length,
– determination of contour lines. These are lines that connect
points with the same value (for elevation, depth, temperature,
barometric pressure, water salinity etc).
3. Connectivity functions.
These functions work on the basis of networks, including road
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

networks, water courses in coastal zones, and communication lines

in mobile telephony. These networks represent spatial
linkagesbetween features. Main functions of this type include:
• Contiguity functions evaluate a characteristic of a set of
connected spatial units. One can think of the search for a
contiguous area of forestof certain size and shape in a satellite
image.
• Network analytic functions are used to compute over connected
line features that make up a network. The network may consist of
roads, public transport routes, high voltage lines or other forms of
transportationinfrastructure. Analysis of such networks may entail
shortest path computations (in terms of distance or travel time)
between two points ina network for routing purposes. Other
forms are to find all pointsreachable within a given distance or
duration from a start point forallocation purposes, or
determination of the capacity of the networkfor transportation
between an indicated source location and sink location.
• Visibility functions also fit in this list as they are used to compute
thepoints visible from a given location (viewshed modelling or
viewshedmapping) using a digital terrain model.

Q2 What is overlay function?

ANS These belong to the most frequently used functionsin a GIS application.
They allow the combination of two (or more) spatial data layers
comparing them position by position, and treating areas of overlap—and
of non-overlap—in distinct ways. Many GISs support overlays through an
algebraic language, expressing an overlay function as a formula in which
the data layers are the arguments. In this way, we canfind
• The potato fields on clay soils (select the ‘potato’ cover in the
cropdata layer and the ‘clay’ cover in the soil data layer and perform
anintersection of the two areas found),
• The fields where potato or maize is the crop (select both areas
 Tilak Education Society’s
S.K College of Science and Commerce, Nerul
Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

of‘potato’ and ‘maize’ cover in the crop data layer and take their
union),
• The potato fields not on clay soils (perform a difference operator
ofareas with ‘potato’ cover with the areas having clay soil),
• The fields that do not have potato as crop (take the complement of
the
potato areas).

Q3 Explain neighborhood function

ANS Whereas overlays combine features at the samelocation, neighbourhood

functions evaluate the characteristics of an areasurrounding a feature’s
location. A neighbourhood function ‘scans’ theneighbourhood of the given
feature(s), and performs a computation on it.
• Search functions allow the retrieval of features that fall
within a givensearch window. This window may be a rectangle,
circle, or polygon.
• Buffer zone generation (or buffering) is one of the best
known neighbourhood functions. It determines a spatial
envelope (buffer) around(a) given feature(s). The created
buffer may have a fixed width, or avariable width that depends
on characteristics of the area.
• Interpolation functions predict unknown values using the
known values at nearby locations. This typically occurs for
continuous fields, like elevation, when the data actually stored
does not provide the direct answer for the location(s) of
interest. Interpolation of continuousdata was discussed.
• Topographic functions determine characteristics of an area
by lookingat the immediate neighbourhood as well. Typical
examples are slopecomputations on digital terrain models (i.e.
continuous spatial fields).
The slope in a location is defined as the plane tangent to the
topography in that location. Various computations can be
performed, suchas:
– determination of slope angle,
– determination of slope aspect,
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

– determination of slope length,

– determination of contour lines. These are lines that connect
pointswith the same value (for elevation, depth, temperature,
barometric pressure, water salinity etc).

Q4 Explain connectivity function

ANS These functions work on the basis of networks,including road networks,

water courses in coastal zones, and communication lines in mobile
telephony. These networks represent spatial linkagesbetween features.
Main functions of this type include:
• Contiguity functions evaluate a characteristic of a set of
connected spatial units. One can think of the search for a
contiguous area of forestof certain size and shape in a satellite
image.
• Network analytic functions are used to compute over
connected line features that make up a network. The network
may consist of roads, public transport routes, high voltage lines
or other forms of transportation
infrastructure. Analysis of such networks may entail shortest
path computations (in terms of distance or travel time)
between two points ina network for routing purposes. Other
forms are to find all pointsreachable within a given distance or
duration from a start point forallocation purposes, or
determination of the capacity of the network
for transportation between an indicated source location and
sink location.
• Visibility functions also fit in this list as they are used to
compute thepoints visible from a given location (viewshed
modelling or viewshedmapping) using a digital terrain model.
 Tilak Education Society’s
S.K College of Science and Commerce, Nerul
Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

Q5 Explain two types of measuring data

Geometric measurement on spatial features includes counting,

distance and area size computations. For the sake of simplicity, this
section discusses such measurements in a planar spatial reference
system. We limit ourselves to geometric measurements, and do not
include attribute data measurement. In general, Measurement types
measurements on vector data are more advanced, thus, also more
complex, than those on raster data. We discuss each group.

i)Measurements on vector data

The primitives of vector data sets are point, (poly)line and polygon.
Related geometric measurements are location, length, distance and
area size. Some of these are geometric properties of a feature in
isolation (location, length, area size); others (distance) require two
features to be identified.
The location property of a vector feature is always stored by the GIS:
a single coordinate pair for a point, or a list of pairs for a polyline or
polygon boundary.
Occasionally, there is a need to obtain the location of the centroid of
a polygon; some GISs store these also, others compute them ‘on-the-
fly’.
Length is a geometric property associated with polylines, by
themselves, or in their function as polygon boundary. It can
obviously be computed by the GIS—as the sum of lengths of the
constituent line segments—but it quite often is also stored with the
polyline.
Area size is associated with polygon features. Again, it can be
computed, but usually is stored with the polygon as an extra
attribute value. This speeds up the computation of other functions
that require area size values. The attentive reader will have noted
that all of the above ‘measurements’ do not actually require
computation, but only retrieval of stored data. Measuring distance
between two features is another important function. If both features
are points, say p and q, the computation in a Cartesian spatial
reference system are given by the well-known Pythagorean distance
function:
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

dist(p, q) = squareroot((xp − xq)^2 + (yp − yq)^2)

If one of the features is not a point, or both are not, we must be
precise in defining what we mean by their distance. All these cases
can be summarized as computation of the minimal distance between
a location occupied by the first and a location occupied by the
second feature. This means that features that intersect or meet, or
when one contains the other have a distance of 0. We leave a further
case analysis, including polylines and polygons, to the reader as an
exercise. It is not possible to store all distance values for all possible
combinations of two features in any reasonably sized spatial
database. As a result, the system mustcompute ‘on the fly’ whenever
a distance computation request is made.
Another geometric measurement used by the GIS is the minimal
bounding box computation. It applies to polylines and polygons, and
determines the minimal rectangle—with sides parallel to the axes of
the spatial reference system—that covers the feature. Bounding box
computation Minimal bounding box is an important support function
for the GIS: for instance, if the bounding boxes of two polygons do
not overlap, we know the polygons cannot possibly intersect each
other. Since polygon intersection is a complicated function, but
bounding box computation is not, the GIS will always first apply the
latter as a test to see whether it must do the first.
For practical purposes, it is important to be aware of the
measurement unit that applies to the spatial data layer that one is
working on. This is determined by the spatial reference system that
has been defined for it during data preparation. A common use of
area size measurements is when one wants to sum up the area sizes
of all polygons belonging to some class. This class could be crop type:
What is the size of the area covered by potatoes? If our crop
classification is in a stored data layer, the computation would include
(a) selecting the potato areas, and (b) summing up their (stored) area
sizes. Clearly, little geometric computation is required in the case of
stored features. This is not the case when we are interactively
defining our vector features in GIS use, and we want measurements
to be performed on these interactively defined features. Then, the
GIS will have to perform complicated geometric computations.
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

ii)Measurements on raster data

Measurements on raster data layers are simpler because of the
regularity of the cells. The area size of a cell is constant, and is
determined by the cell resolution. Horizontal and vertical resolution
may differ, but typically do not. Together with the location of a so-
called anchor point, this is the only geometric information stored
with the raster data, so all other measurements by the GIS are
computed. The anchor point is fixed by convention to be the lower
left (or sometimes upper left) location of the raster. Location of an
individual cell derives from the raster’s anchor point, the cell
resolution, and the position of the cell in the raster. Again, there are
two conventions:
the cell’s location can be its lower left corner, or the cell’s midpoint.
These conventions are set by the software in use, and in case of low
resolution data they become more important to be aware of. The
area size of a selected part of the raster (a group of cells) is
calculated as the number of cells multiplied by the cell area size. The
distance between two raster cells is the standard distance function
applied to the locations of their respective mid-points, obviously
taking into account the cell resolution. Where a raster is used to
represent line features as strings of cells through the raster, the
length of a line feature is computed as the sum of distances between
consecutive cells. This computation is prone to error, asalready
discovered.

Q6 Write a note on spatial selection query

ANS

When exploring a spatial data set, the first thing one usually
wants is to select certain features, to (temporarily) restrict the
exploration. Such selections can be made on geometric/spatial
grounds, or on the basis of attribute data associated with the spatial
features. We discuss both techniques below. Interactive spatial
selection In interactive spatial selection, one defines the selection
condition by pointing at or drawing spatial objects on the screen
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

display, after having indicated the spatial data layer(s) from which to
select features. The interactively defined objects are called the
selection objects; they can be points, lines, or polygons. The GIS
Selection objects then selects the features in the indicated data
layer(s) that overlap (i.e. intersect, meet, contain, or are contained
in; see Figure) with the selection objects. These become the selected
objects. spatial data stored in a geodatabase is associated with its
attribute data through a key/foreign key link. Selections of features
lead to selections on the records. Vice versa, selection of records
may lead to selection of features. Interactive spatial selection
answers questions like “What is at . . . ?” In Figure, the selection
object is a circle and the selected objects are the red polygons; they
overlap with the selection object.
Area Perimeter Ward_id Ward_nam
65420380.0000 41654.940000 1 KUNDUCHI Kinondoni 22106 27212.00

24813620.0000 30755.620000 2 KAWE Kinondoni 32854 40443.00

18698500.0000 26403.580000 3 MSASANI Kinondoni 51225 63058.00

81845610.0000 49645.160000 4 UBUNGO Kinondoni 47281 58203.00

4468546.00000 13480.130000 5 MANZESE Kinondoni 59467 73204.00

4999599.00000 10356.850000 6 TANDALE Kinondoni 58357 71837.00

4102218.00000 8951.096000 7 MWANANYAMALA Kinondoni 72956 89809.00

3749840.00000 9447.420000 8 KINONDONI Kinondoni 42301 52073.00

2087509.00000 7502.250000 9 UPANGA WEST Ilala 9852 11428.00

2268513.00000 9028.788000 10 KIVUKONI Ilala 5391 6254.00

1400024.00000 6883.288000 11 NDUGUMBI Kinondoni 32548 40067.00

888966.900000 4589.110000 12 MAGOMENI Kinondoni 16938 20851.00

1448370.00000 5651.958000 13 UPANGA EAST Ilala 11019 12782.00

6214378.00000 14552.080000 14 MABIBO Kinondoni 43381 53402.00

2496622.00000 7121.255000 15 MAKURUMILA Kinondoni 54141 66648.00

1262028.00000 4885.793000 16 MZIMUNI Kinondoni 23989 29530.00

35362240.0000 28976.090000 17 KINYEREZI Ilala 3044 3531.00

1010613.00000 5393.771000 18 JANGIWANI Ilala 15297 17745.00

475745.500000 3043.068000 19 KISUTU Ilala 8399 9743.00

1754043.00000 7743.187000 20 KIGOGO Kinondoni 21267 26180.00

29964950.0000 36964.000000 21 KIGAMBONI Temeke 23203 27658.00

1291479.00000 5187.690000 22 MICHIKICHINI Ilala 14852 17228.00

720322.100000 4342.732000 23 MCHAFUKOGE Ilala 8439 9789.00

9296131.00000 16321.530000 24 TABATA Ilala 18454 21407.00

483620.700000 3304.072000 25 KARIAKOO Ilala 12506 14507.00

3564653.00000 9586.751000 26 BUGURUNI Ilala 48286 56012.00

2639575.00000 6970.186000 27 ILALA Ilala 35372 41032.00

912452.800000 4021.937000 28 GEREZANI Ilala 7490 8688.00

6735135.00000 13579.590000 29 KURASINI Temeke 26737 31871.00

Figure 6.2: All city wards that overlap with the selection object—
here a circle—are selected (left), and their corresponding attribute
records are high lighted (right, only part of the table is shown). Data
from an urban application in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data source:
Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning and Geo-information
Management, ITC.

Q7 Write a note on classification.

ANS
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

• Definition: Classification is a technique of purposefully removing

detail from an input data set, in the hope of revealing important
patterns (of spatial distribution).
• In the process, we produce an output data set, so that the input set
can be left intact.
• We do so by assigning a characteristic value to each element in the
input set, which is usually a collection of spatial features that can be
raster cells or points, lines or polygons. If the number of
characteristic values is small in comparison to the size of the input
set, we have classified the input set.
• For example: The pattern that we look for may be the distribution of
household income in a city. Household income is called the
classification parameter. If we know for each ward in the city the
associated average income, we have many different values.
Subsequently, we could define five different categories or classes of
Classification parameter income: ‘low’, ‘below average’, ‘average’,
‘above average’ and ‘high’, and provide value ranges for each
category. If these five categories are mapped in a sensible colour
scheme, this may reveal interesting information.
• The input data set may have itself been the result of a classification,
and in such a case we call it a reclassification.
• For example, we may have a soil map that shows different soil type
units and we would like to show the suitability of units for a specific
crop. In this case, it is better to assign to the soil units an attribute
Reclassification of suitability for the crop. Since different soil types
may have the same crop suitability, a classification may merge soil
units of different type into the same category of crop suitability
• In classification of vector data, there are two possible results.
1) In the first, the input features may become the output features in
a new data layer, with an additional category assigned. In other
words, nothing changes with respect to the spatial extents of the
original features.
• A second type of output is obtained when adjacent features with the
same category are merged into one bigger feature. Such post-
processing Aggregation and merging functions are called spatial
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

merging, aggregation or dissolving.

This type of merging is only an option in vector data, as merging

cells in an output raster on the basis of a classification makes little
sense. Vector data classification can be performed on point sets, line
sets or polygon sets; the optional merge phase is sensible only for
lines and polygons.

Q8 What is vector overlay operators? Or Explain vector operators.

ANS Vector overlay operators

• In the
vector
domain,
overlay is

computationally more demanding than in the raster domain. Here

we will only discuss overlays from polygon data layers, but we
note that most of the ideas also apply to overlay operations with
point or line data layers.

fig.6.12: The polygon intersect (overlay) operator. Two polygon layer A

and B produce a new polygon layer (with associated attribute table)
that contains all intersections of polygons from A and B.

• The standard overlay operator for two layers of polygons is the

polygon intersection operator. It is fundamental, as many other
overlay operators proposed in the literature or implemented in
 Tilak Education Society’s
S.K College of Science and Commerce, Nerul
Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

systems can be defined in terms of it. The principles are illustrated

in Figure 6.12.
• The result of this operator is the collection of all possible polygon
intersections; the attribute table result is a join in the relational
database. This output attribute table only contains one tuple for
each intersection polygon found, and this explains why we call
this operator a spatial join.
• There are two more polygon overlay operators.

1) First is known as the polygon clipping operator. It takes a polygon

data layer and restricts its spatial extent to the generalized outer
boundary obtained from all selected Polygon clipping polygons in a
second input layer. Besides this generalized outer boundary, no
other polygon boundaries from the second layer play a role in the
result.
2) A second overlay operator is polygon overwrite. The result of this
binary operator is defined is a polygon layer with the polygons of the
first layer, except where polygons existed in the second layer, as
these take priority. Most GISs do not force the user to apply overlay
operators to the full polygon data set. One is allowed to first select
relevant polygons in the data layer, and then use the selected set of
polygons as an operator argument.

Q9 Explain in brief proximity computation?

ANS In proximity computations, we use geometric distance to define the

neighbour- hood of one or more target locations. The most common and
useful technique is buffer zone generation. Another technique based on
geometric distance that we discuss is Thiessen polygon generation.
Buffer zone generation
The principle of buffer zone generation is simple: we select one
or more target locations, and then determine the area around them,
within a certain distance. In Figure6.20(a), a number of main and
minor roads were selected as targets, and a 75 m (resp., 25 m) buffer
 Tilak Education Society’s
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Question Bank, TYIT
Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

was computed from them. In some case stud- ies, zonated buffers
must be determined, for instance in assessments of traffic noise
effects. Most GISs support this type of zonated buffer computation.
An illustration is provided in Figure.

(a) (b)
In vector-based buffer generation, the buffers themselves
become polygon fea- tures, usually in a separate data layer, that can
be used in further spatial analysis.
Figure : Buffer zone generation: (a) around main and minor
roads. Dif- ferent distances were ap- plied: 25 metres for minor
roads, 75 metres for main roads. (b) Zonated buffer zones around
main roads. Three different zones were obtained: at 100 metres
from main road, at 200, and at 300 metres.
Buffer generation on rasters is a fairly simple function. The
target location or lo- cations are always represented by a selection of
the raster’s cells, and geometric distance is defined, using cell
resolution as the unit. The distance function ap- plied is the
Pythagorean distance between the cell centres. The distance from a
non-target cell to the target is the minimal distance one can find
between that non-target cell and any target cell.
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Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

Thiessen polygon generation

Thiessen polygon partitions make use of geometric distance for
determining neigh- bourhoods. This is useful if we have a spatially
distributed set of points as target locations, and we want to know
for each location in the study to which target it is closest. This
technique will generate a polygon around each target location that
identifies all those locations that ‘belong to’ that target. We have
already seen the use of Thiessen polygons in the context of
interpolation of point data, as discussed in Section5.4.1. Given an
input point set that will be the polygon’s midpoints, it is not difficult
to construct such a partition. It is even much easier to construct if we
already have a Delaunay triangulation for the same input point set
(see Section2.3.3on TINs).
Figurerepeats the Delaunay triangulation of Figure2.9(b). The
Thiessen polygon partition constructed from it is on the right. The
construction first cre- ates the perpendiculars of all the triangle
sides; observe that a perpendicular of a triangle side that connect
point A with point B is the divide between the area closer to A and
the area closer to B. The perpendiculars become part of the
boundary of each Thiessen polygon.

Q10 Write a note on flow computation?

ANS Flow computations determine how a phenomenon spreads over the area,
in principle in all directions, though with varying difficulty or resistance.
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Subject: GIS
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There are also cases where a phenomenon does not spread in all
directions, but moves or ‘flows’ along a given, least-cost path, determined
again by local terrain characteristics. The typical case arises when we want
to determine the drainage patterns in a catchment: the rainfall water
‘chooses’ a way to leave the area.
This principle is illustrated with a simple elevation raster, in Figure.
For each cell in that raster, the steepest downward slope to a
neighbour cell is computed, and its direction is stored in a new
raster. This computation determines the elevation difference
between the cell and a neighbour cell,and takes into account cell
distance—1 for neighbour cells in N–S or W–E direction, root(2) for
cells in NE–SW or NW-SE direction. Among its eight
neighbourDetermining flow directioncells, it picks the one with the
steepest path to it. The directions in raster (b), thus obtained, are
encoded in integer values, and we have ‘decoded’ them for the sake
of illustration. Raster (b) can be called the flow direction raster. From
raster (b), the GIS can compute the accumulated flow count raster, a
raster that for each cell indicates how many cells have their water
flow into the cell.
Cells with a high accumulated flow count represent areas of
concentrated flow, and thus may belong to a stream. By using some
appropriately chosen threshold value in a map algebra expression,
we may decide whether they do. Cells with an accumulated flow
count of zero are local topographic highs, and can be used to identify
ridges.
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Subject: GIS
UNIT IV

Q11 Explain computation of diffusion?

ANS The determination of neighbourhood of one or more target locations may de- pend
not only on distance—cases which we discussed above—but also on direction and
differences in the terrain in different directions. This typically is the case when the
target location contains a ‘source material’ that spreads over time,referred to as
diffusion. This ‘source material’ may be air, water or soil pollution, Diffusion and
spreadcommuters exiting a train station, people from an opened-up refugee camp, a
water spring uphill, or the radio waves emitted from a radio relay station. In all
these cases, one will not expect the spread to occur evenly in all directions. There
will be local terrain factors that influence the spread, making it easier or more
difficult. Many GISs provide support for this type of computation, and we discuss
some of its principles here, in the context of raster data.
Diffusion computation involves one or more target locations, which are better
called source locations in this context. They are the locations of the source of
whatever spreads. The computation also involves a local resistance raster,
which for each cell provides a value that indicates how difficult it is for the
‘source material’ to pass by that cell. The value in the cell must be normalized:
i.e. valid Resistancefor a standardized length (usually the cell’s width) of
spread path. From the source location(s) and the local resistance raster, the
GIS will be able to compute a new raster that indicates how much minimal
total resistance the spread has witnessed for reaching a raster cell. This
process is illustrated in Figure
While computing total resistances, the GIS takes proper care of the path
lengths. Obviously, the diffusion from a cell csrc to its neighbour cell to the
east ce isshorter than to the cell that is √its northeast neighbour cne.
The distance ratiobetween these two cases is 1 : 2. If val(c) indicates the local
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resistance value

for cell c, the GIS computes the total incurred resistance for diffusion
from csrc to
ce as 1 (val(csrc) + val(ce)), while the same for csrc to cne is 1
(val(csrc) + val(cne)) ×
√ 22
2. The accumulated resistance along a path of cells is simply the sum
of these incurred resistances from pairwise neighbour cells.
Since ‘source material’ has the habit of taking the easiest route to
spread, we must determine at what minimal cost (i.e. at what
minimal resistance) it may
have arrived in a cell. Therefore, we are interested in the minimal
cost path. To Minimal cost path
determine the minimal total resistance along a path from the source
location csrc to an arbitrary cell cx, the GIS determines all possible
paths from csrc to cx, and then determines which one has the lowest
total resistance. This value is found, for each cell, in the raster of
Figure.
For instance, there are three paths from the green source location to its
northeast neighbour cell (with local resistance 5). We can define them as
path 1 (N–E),
Q12 Explain two types of classification:
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ANS 1 .User controlled classification 2.Automatic classification

User-controlled classification:
• In user-controlled classification, a user selects the attribute(s)
that will be used as the classification parameter(s) and
defines the classification method.
• The latter involves declaring the number of classes as well as
the correspondence between the old attribute values and the
new classes. This is usually done via a classification table.
• It is rather typical for cases in which the used parameter
domain is continuous
(as in household income). Then, the table indicates value
ranges to be mapped to the same category.
• Another case exists when the classification parameter is
nominal or at least discrete.
• We must also define the data format of the output, as a spatial
data layer, which will contain the new classification attribute.
The data type of this attribute is always categorical, i.e. integer
or string, no matter what is the data type of the attribute(s)
from which the classification was obtained.
• Sometimes, one may want to perform classification only on a
selection of features. In such cases, there are two options for
the features that are not selected.
One option is to keep their original values, while the other is to
assign a null value to them in the output data set. A null value
is a special value that means that no applicable value is
present. Care must be taken to deal with these values
correctly, both in computation and in visualization.

Automatic classification:
User-controlled classifications require a classification table or
user interaction.
GIS software can also perform automatic classification, in
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which a user only specifies the number of classes in the output

data set. The system automatically determines the class break
points. Two main techniques of determining break points are in
use.

1. Equal interval technique: The minimum and maximum

values vmin and vmax of the classification parameter are
determined and the (constant) interval size for each category is
calculated as (vmax − vmin)/n, where n is the number of classes
chosen by the user. This classification is useful in revealing the
distribution patterns as it determines the number of features in
each category.
2. Equal frequency technique: This technique is also known as
quantile classification. The objective is to create categories
with roughly equal numbers of features per category. The total
number of features is determined first and by the required
number of categories, the number of features per category is
calculated. The class break points are then determined by
counting off the features in order of classification parameter
value.

Q13 What is raster overlay operators?

ANS Vector overlay operators are useful, but geometrically complicated, and
this sometimes results in poor operator performance. Raster overlays do
not suffer from this disadvantage, as most of them perform their
computations cell by cell, and thus they are fast.
• GISs that support raster processing—as most do—usually have
a language to express operations on rasters. These languages are
generally referred to as map algebra , or sometimes raster calculus.
• They allow a GIS to compute new rasters from existing ones,
using a range of functions and operators. Unfor- tunately, not all
implementations of map algebra offer the same functionality.
• When producing a new raster we must provide a name for it,
and • The discussion below is to a large extent based on
general terminology, and attempts to illustrate the key operations
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using a logical, structured language. Again, the syntax often differs

for different GIS software packages.
define how it is computed. This is done in an assignment statement
of the following format: Output raster name := Map algebra
expression.
• The expression on the right is evaluated by the GIS, and the
raster in which it results is then stored under the name on the left.
The expression may contain references to existing rasters, operators
and functions; the format is made clear below.
• The raster names and constants that are used in the expression
are called its operands. When the expression is evaluated, the GIS
will perform the calcu- Operands lation on a pixel by pixel basis,
starting from the first pixel in the first row, and continuing until the
last pixel in the last row. There is a wide range of operators and
functions that can be used in map algebra, which we discuss below.

Q14 Describe overlay using decision table?

• Conditional expressions are powerful tools in cases where multiple
criteria must be taken into account. A small size example may illustrate
this.
• Consider a suitability study in which a land use classification
and a geological classificationmust be used. The respective rasters
are illustrated in Figureon the left.
• main expertise dictates that some combinations of land use
and geology result in suitable areas, whereas other combinations do
not. In our example, forests on alluvial terrain and grassland on shale
are considered suitable combinations, while the others are not.
We could produce the output raster of Figure6.19with a map algebra
expression such as:
Suitability := CON ((Landuse = “Forest ” AND Geology = “Alluvial ”)
OR (Landuse = “Grass” AND Geology = “Shale”), “Suitable”,
“Unsuitable”)
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• consider ourselves lucky that there are only two ‘suitable’

cases. In practice, many more cases must usually be covered, and
then writing up a complex CON expression is not an easy task.

• To this end, some GISs accommodate setting up a separate

decision table that will guide the raster overlay process. This extra
table carries domain expertise,

• and dictates which combinations of input raster cell values will

produce which output raster cell value. This gives us a raster overlay
operator using a decision table, as illustrated in Figure.
• The GIS will have supporting functions to generate the
additional table from the input rasters, and to enter appropriate
values in the table.

Q What is Raster based surface analysis?

ANS 1. Surfaces can be represented using contour or iso-lines, arrays of points,
TINs, and raster; however, most surface analysis in GIS is done on raster or
TIN data. contours are sets of lines of equal value across a surface. They
are frequently created to represent surfaces on a map.
2.Continuous fields have a number of characteristics not shared by
discrete fields. Since the field changes continuously, we can talk
about slope angle, slope aspect and concavity/convexity of the slope.
These notions are not applicable to discrete fields.
3.The discussions in this section use terrain elevation as the
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prototypical example of a continuous field, but all issues discussed

are equally applicable to other types of continuous fields.
4.we regularly refer to the continuous field representation as a DEM,
to conform with the most common situation Throughout the section
we will assume that the DEM is represented as a raster.

Q Discuss GIS and application models.

We have discussed the notion that real world processes are often
highly complex. Models are simplified abstractions of reality
representing or describing its most important elements and their
interactions. Modelling and GIS are more or less inseparable, as GIS
is itself a tool for modelling ‘the real world’ (or al least some part of
it).
The solution to a (spatial) problem usually depends on a (large)
number of pa- rameters. Since these parameters are often
interrelated, their interaction is made more precise in an application
model.
Here we define application models to include any kind of GIS based
model (in- cluding so-called analytical and process models) for a
specific real-world appli- cation. Such a model, in one way or other,
describes as faithfully as possible how the relevant geographic
phenomena behave, and it does so in terms of the parameters.
The nature of application models varies enormously. GIS applications
for famine relief programs, for instance, are very different from
earthquake risk assessment applications, though both can make use
of GIS to derive a solution. Many kinds of application models exist,
and they can be classified in many different ways. Here we identify
five characteristics of GIS-based application models:

1.The purpose of the model,

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2.The methodology underlying the model,

3.The scale at which the model works,
4.Its dimensionality - i.e. whether the model includes spatial,
temporal or spatial and temporal dimensions, and
5.Its implementation logic - i.e. the extent to which the model uses
existing knowledge about the implementation context.
It is important to note that the categories above are merely different
characteristics of any given application model. Any model can be
described according to these characteristics. Each is briefly discussed
below.
Purpose of the model refers to whether the model is descriptive,
prescriptive or predictive in nature. Descriptive models attempt to
answer the “what is” question. Prescriptive models usually answer
the “what should be” question by Descriptive and prescriptive

determining the best solution from a given set of conditions.

Models for planning and site selection are usually prescriptive, in
that they quantify environmental, economic and social factors to
determine ‘best’ or optimal locations. So-called Predictive models
focus upon the “what is likely to be” Predictive models
questions, and predict outcomes based upon a set of input
conditions. Examples of predictive models include forecasting
models, such as those attempting to predict landslides or sea–level
rise.
Methodology refers to the operational components of the
model. Stochastic
models use statistical or probability functions to represent random
or semi-random behaviour of phenomena. In contrast, deterministic
models are based upon Inner workings of the model
a well-defined cause and effect relationship. Examples of
deterministic modelsinclude hydrological flow and pollution models,
where the ‘effect’ can often be described by numerical methods and
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differential equations.
Rule-based models attempt to model processes by using local
(spatial) rules. Cellular Automata (CA) are examples of models in this
category. These are often used to understand systems which are
generally not well understood, but for which their local processes
are well known. For example, the characteristics of neighbourhood
cells (such as wind direction and vegetation type) in a raster- based
CA model might be used to model the direction of spread of a fire
over several time steps.
Agent-based models (ABM) attempt to model movement and
development of multiple interacting agents (which might represent
individuals), often using sets of decision-rules about what the agent
can and cannot do. Complex agent-based models have been
developed to understand aspects of travel behaviour and crowd
interactions which also incorporate stochastic components.
Scale refers to whether the components of the model are individual
or aggregate in nature. Essentially this refers to the ‘level’ at which
the model operates.
Individual-based models are based on individual entities, such as the
agent-based
models described above, whereas aggregate models deal with
‘grouped’ data, Individual and aggregate
such as population census data. Aggregate models may operate on
data at the level of a city block (for example, using population census
data for particular social groups), at the regional, or even at a global
scale.

Dimensionality is the term chosen to refer to whether a model is

static or dynamic, and spatial or aspatial. Some models are explicitly
spatial, meaning they operate in some geographically defined space.
Some models are aspatial, meaning they have no direct spatial
reference.
Models can also be static, meaning they do not incorporate a notion
of time or change. In dynamic models, time is an essential parameter
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(see Section2.5. Dynamic models include various types of models

referred to as process models orsimulations. These types of models
aim to generate future scenarios from existing scenarios, and might
include deterministic or stochastic components, or some kind of
local rule (for example, to drive a simulation of urban growth and
spread). The fire spread example given above is a good example of
an explicitly spatial, dynamic model which might incorporate both
local rules and stochastic components.
Implementation logic refers to how the model uses existing theory or
knowledge to create new knowledge. Deductive approaches use
knowledge of the over- all situation in order to predict outcome
conditions. This includes models that have some kind of formalized
set of criteria, often with known weightings for
the inputs, and existing algorithms are used to derive outcomes.
Inductive approaches, on the other hand, are less straightforward, in
that they try to generalize(often based upon samples of a specific
data set) in order to derive more general models. While an inductive
approach is useful if we do not know the general conditions or rules
which apply in a given domain, it is typically a trial- and-error
approach which requires empirical testing to determine the
parametersof each input variable.
Most GIS only come equipped with a limited range of tools for
modelling. For complex models, or functions which are not natively
supported in our GIS, external software environments are frequently
used. In some cases, GIS and modelscan be fully integrated (known
as embedded coupling) or linked through data andCouplinginterface
(known as tight coupling). If neither of these is possible, the external
model might be run independently of our GIS, and the output
exported from our model into the GIS for further analysis and
visualization. This is known as loose coupling.
It is important to compare our model results with previous
experiments and to examine the possible causes of inconsistency
between the output of our models and the expected results. The
following section discusses these aspects further.
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Q15 How errors propagate in spatial data handling?

ANS

1. Spatial data is also known as geospatial data or geographic

information.
2.it is the data or information that identifies the geographic location
of features and boundaries on Earth, such as natural or constructed
features, oceans, and more.
3.Spatial data is usually stored as coordinates and topology, and is
data that can be mapped. Spatial data is often accessed,
manipulated or analyzed through GIS.
4.It is important to note that the acquisition of base data to a high
standard of quality still does not guarantee that the results of
further, complex processing can be treated with certainty.
5.As the number of processing steps increases, it becomes difficult to
predict the behaviour of error propagation. These various errors may
affect the outcome of spatial data manipulations.
6.One of the most commonly applied operations in geographic
information sys tems is analysis by overlaying two or more spatial
data layers. As discussed above, each such layer will contain errors,
due to both inherent inaccuracies in the source data and errors
arising from some form of computer processing
7.for example, rasterization. During the process of spatial overlay, all
the errors in the individual data layers contribute to the final error of
the output. The amount of error in the output depends on the type
of overlay operation applied. For example, errors in the results of
overlay using the logical operator AND are not the same as those
created using the OR operator.