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Data Entry and Preparation: Faculty of Applied Engineering and Urban Planning Civil Engineering Department

This document discusses methods for inputting spatial data into a geographic information system. It describes direct data acquisition methods like field surveys and remote sensing, as well as indirect methods such as digitizing existing paper maps. When digitizing maps, errors from the original map are accumulated, so the quality and complexity of the map should be considered to determine whether manual or automatic digitization is best.

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Mohammed Al Maqadma
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43 views

Data Entry and Preparation: Faculty of Applied Engineering and Urban Planning Civil Engineering Department

This document discusses methods for inputting spatial data into a geographic information system. It describes direct data acquisition methods like field surveys and remote sensing, as well as indirect methods such as digitizing existing paper maps. When digitizing maps, errors from the original map are accumulated, so the quality and complexity of the map should be considered to determine whether manual or automatic digitization is best.

Uploaded by

Mohammed Al Maqadma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Faculty of Applied Engineering and

Urban Planning

Civil Engineering Department

Geographic Information Systems

Data entry and


preparation
Lecture 7
Week 5
1st Semester 2012/2013
Spatial data input

• Spatial data can be obtained from scratch,


using direct spatial data acquisition techniques,
or indirectly, by making use of spatial data
collected earlier, possibly by others.
Under the first heading (direct) fall field survey
data and remotely sensed images.

Under the second (indirect)fall paper maps and


available digital data sets.
Direct spatial data acquisition

• The primary, and sometimes ideal, way to


obtain spatial data is by direct observation of
the relevant geographic phenomena. This can
be done through ground-based field surveys in
situ, or by using remote sensors in satellites or
airplanes.
Direct spatial data acquisition

An important aspect of ground-based surveying is that


some of the data can be interpreted immediately by
the surveyor.

• Many Earth sciences have developed their own survey


techniques, ground-based techniques remain the most
important source for reliable data in many cases.
Direct spatial data acquisition

For remotely sensed imagery, obtained from satellites or


aerial reconnaissance. These data are usually not fit
for immediate use, as various sources of error and
distortion may have been present at the time of
sensing, and the imagery must first be freed from
these as much as possible.
Digitizing paper maps
• A cost-effective, though indirect,
method of obtaining spatial data is by
digitizing existing maps. This can be
done through a number of techniques,
all of which obtain a digital version
of the original (analog) map.
• Before adopting this approach, one must be
aware that, due to the indirect process,
positional errors already in the paper map will
further accumulate, and that one is willing to
accept these errors.
• In manual digitizing, a human operator follows
the map’s features (mostly lines) with a mouse
device, and thereby traces the lines, storing
location coordinates relative to a number of
previously defined control points.
• There are two forms of digitizing: on-tablet and
on-screen manual digitizing.
• In on-tablet digitizing, the original map is fitted
on a special tablet and the operator moves a
special tablet mouse over the map, selecting
important points.
• In on-screen digitizing, a scanned image of the
map—or in fact, some other image—is shown
on the computer screen, and the operator
moves an ordinary mouse cursor over the
screen, again selecting important points.
Digitizer Tablet
Selecting a digitizing technique

The choice of digitizing technique depends on


the

Quality complexity and contents

of the input document.


Selecting a digitizing technique

Complex images are better manually digitized;

Simple images are better automatically digitized.

Images that are full of detail and symbols—like


topographic maps and aerial photographs—are
therefore better manually digitized.

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