Unit

5 Science & Engineering

Department of Computer
BITs edu Campus
Making Maps from
Spatial Data
Basics of
GIS
• Basic Terminology
• Spatial databases
• File formats in GIS
• Map projections and coordinate systems
Introducti
on
A sample of basic spatial Spatial data described through coordinates and additional
data attributes

Findings: how much snow has fallen and accumulated in each city or to determine the cities where it’s
particularly dangerous to drive during snow event
Basic
Terminology
With respect to GIS
• An attribute - class of fact that describes a feature
• location describes the feature’s location on Earth
• Geometric data describes the feature’s geometry type — either a point, a line,
or a polygon
Spatial
databases
• Used to store, manage, and manipulate attribute, location, and
geometric data for all records in a feature’s database
• Similar to a plain relational database which stores qualitative and
quantitative attributes data and data about physical location and
feature geometry type
• Every record is stored with numeric coordinates that represent where
that record occurs on a map
• We can perform almost all the types of calculations on — and
manipulations of — attribute data on spatial databases
File formats in
GIS
Two main file formats:
2. Vector
1. Raster
• Data is broken up and plotted out along • store data as either points, lines, or
a 2-dimensional grid structure polygons on a map
• each grid cell gets its own attribute • Point features are stored as single point
value records, whereas line and polygon
features are stored as a series of
• horizontal dimension represents
vertices
longitude and the vertical dimension
represents latitude • Example - Digital photographs and
• Example - Digital photographs and Doppler weather radar maps
Doppler weather radar maps
Raster v/s
vector
Raster v/s
vector Advantages Disadvantages

• Linear features and paths are difficult

• Map Algebra with raster data is usually to display
quick and easy to perform
• Subject to a pixelated look and feel
Raster • Some specific use cases can only be Datasets can become very large
achieved with raster data (e.g. modeling because they record values for each
water flow over the land surface) cell

• Continuous data is poorly stored and

• Graphical output is generally more displayed
aesthetically-pleasing
Vector • Needs a lot of work and maintenance
• Higher geographic accuracy because data to ensure that it is accurate and
isn't dependent on grid size reliable
Map projections and coordinate
systems
• Projections and coordinate systems project spatial data
• Map projections and coordinate systems used to represent a round
Earth on a flat surface, translating Earth’s arced 3-dimensional
geometry into flat 2-dimensional geometry.
Coordinate
systems
• A coordinate system is a referencing system that is used to define a
feature’s location on Earth.
• There are two types of coordinate systems
1. Projected(map projection)
o A mathematical algorithm you can use to transform the location of features on a round
Earth to equivalent positions represented on a flat surface instead.
o The three common projection types are cylindrical, conical, and planar.
2. Geographic
o A coordinate system that uses sets of numbers and/or letters to define every location on
Earth.
o location is represented by latitude/longitude, decimal degrees, or degrees-
minutes-
seconds
Projection
Types
Analyzing Spatial
Data
• Querying spatial data
• Buffering and proximity functions
• Using layer overlay analysis
• Reclassifying spatial data
Querying spatial
data
• Two ways
1. Attribute querying
o Used to summarize, extract, manipulate, sort, or group database records according to
relevant attribute values
o If you want to make sense of your data by creating order from its attribute values, use
attribute querying.
2. Spatial querying
o querying data records according to their physical location in space
o based solely on the location of the feature and has nothing to do with the
feature’s attribute values
o If your goal is to make sense of your data based on its physical location, use spatial
querying
Buffering and proximity
functions
• Are fundamental, basic spatial querying methods
• Used to select or extract spatial features based on their physical proximity, or
nearness, to a point, line, or polygon
• Proximity analysis
o Is a spatial querying operation you can use to select and extract features that are within
a user-defined distance from your target feature.
o You can use proximity analysis to calculate distances between features or to calculate the
shortest route in a network.
• Buffering analysis
o Is a proximity operation you can use to select and extract spatial features that are within
a user-defined distance of your target feature.
o We can use buffer Zone to isolate, extract, and analyze all spatial features within the
distance of Polygon
Buffering and Proximity
Analysis
Layer overlay
analysis
• Most powerful features of a GIS platform is its
capability to overlay and derive meaning from
multiple layers of data.
• We can apply multiple operations to multiple
layers of data that overlap the same spatial area
• Overlay analysis is commonly used in suitability
studies to determine which sites are best suited to
support a particular function or type of business.
• Fundamental overlay operations are Union,
intersection, non-intersection, and subtraction
Overlay
operations
1. Union operations combine the total area
of all features being overlain
2. Intersection operations retain only the
areas of overlap between the features
being overlain.
3. Non-intersection operations are the
reverse of intersection operations —
they represent the areas of non-overlap
between the features being overlain.
4. Subtraction operation to subtract an
area from one feature based on the area
of other features that overlay it
Reclassifying
spatial data
• Reclassification is the act of changing or reclassifying the values of cells in a raster
file, or the values of an attribute in a vector file
• Used to reassign a new set of values to existing cells (in rasters) or attribute
values (in vectors), the newly assigned values to be proportional to, and
consistent with, the current values and groupings of those cells or attribute
values
Open-Source
QGIS
• QGIS is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop geographic information
system (GIS) application that supports viewing, editing, and analysis of geospatial
data.
• QGIS functions as geographic information system (GIS) software, allowing users to
analyze and edit spatial information, in addition to composing and exporting
graphical maps.
• QGIS supports both raster and vector layers
Referen
ces
• Data science for Dummies by Lillian Pierson WILEY publication
• https://www.tableau.com/about/blog/2020/3/seeing-and-
understanding-proximity-made-easy-buffer-calculations
• https://carto.com/blog/raster-vs-vector-whats-the-difference-which-
is-best/
• https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/performing-proximity-
analysis-on-feature-data/
• https://open.lib.umn.edu/mapping/chapter/6-analysis/
• https://qgis.org/en/site/