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LECTURE 12

The document discusses the differences between spatial and attribute data in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), highlighting how spatial data describes geographic locations while attribute data provides descriptive information about those features. It explains the types of spatial data, including vector (points, lines, polygons) and raster data, and their respective structures and uses. Additionally, it covers how attribute tables store nonspatial information linked to geographic features, and the significance of shapefiles in GIS analysis.

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Mxolisi Mcineka
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15 views17 pages

LECTURE 12

The document discusses the differences between spatial and attribute data in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), highlighting how spatial data describes geographic locations while attribute data provides descriptive information about those features. It explains the types of spatial data, including vector (points, lines, polygons) and raster data, and their respective structures and uses. Additionally, it covers how attribute tables store nonspatial information linked to geographic features, and the significance of shapefiles in GIS analysis.

Uploaded by

Mxolisi Mcineka
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LECTURE 12

Spatial and Attribute Data


SPATIAL vs ATTRIBUTE DATA

 Spatial Data (where)


 Describes the absolute and relative
location of geographic features
 Stored in a shape file, geodatabase
or similar geographic file
 Attribute Data (what, how much, when,
etc – descriptive)
 Information linked to spatial data
(geographic features) that describes
those features
 Stored in a database table
 GIS systems traditionally maintain
spatial and attribute data separately,
then “join” them for display or analysis
SPATIAL DATA TYPES: VECTOR AND RASTER
VECTOR DATA

 vector data structure shows geographic


features in the form of basic geometric
objects such as points, lines and polygons
 Defines discrete objects (fire hydrants,
rivers, lakes, etc)
 A vector feature has its shape
represented using geometry
 The geometry is made up of one or more
interconnected vertices
 A vertex describes a position in space
using an X and Y axis
 All three of these types of vector data are
composed of coordinates and attributes
attached to the geometry
POINTS

 0-dimension objects
 represented by a single pair of coordinates
(X,Y)
 associated attribute information is attached
to the center of the point
 used to represent objects with no length or
area (e.g.: light poles, trees)
 used to represent a geographic feature too
small to be displayed as a line or area (e.g.:
the location of a city on a small-scale map)
 symbolized by a point in different sizes and
colour
LINES

 1-dimension objects
 defined by an ordered set of two or more
coordinate pairs called vertices
 used to model linear features with no
area (e.g.: county boundary lines) or
 used to represent the shape of
geographic features too narrow to be
displayed as an area at the given scale
(e.g.: contours, street centrelines,
streams)
 symbolized by different types of line that
have a color, width and style (solid,
dashed, dotted, etc.)
POLYGONS

 2-dimension objects
 composed of three or more connected lines
where the start and end point have the same
coordinate
 attribute information is attached to the center
of the polygon
 used to represent areas (e.g.: lakes, forests,
cities)
 represent length and area, embody the idea
of an inside and an outside
1. A traffic light at an intersection.

POINT, LINE 2. A river flowing through a nature


reserve.
OR 3. A bus stop.

POLYGON? 4. A country’s border.


5. A highway connecting two cities.
6. A park or forest.
ATTRIBUTE TABLE (VECTOR)

 An attribute is nonspatial information about a


geographic feature in a GIS, usually stored in a table
and linked to the feature by a unique identifier (ID)
 A database or tabular file containing information about
a set of geographic features, usually arranged so that:
 each row represents a feature
 each column represents one feature attribute
 The attribute values can be used to find, query,
analyze and symbolize features
 Each column in the database may contain different
types of data (numeric, string, date/time, Boolean, etc)
SHAPEFILES

 A shapefile is a simple format for storing the geometric location and attribute
information of geographic features.
 Shapefiles are added as layers to the GIS for analysis
RASTER DATA

 Raster data divides the geographical


space into a series of equal sized grid
cells or pixels
 Consists of a matrix of cells (or
pixels) organized into rows and
columns (or a grid) where each cell
contains one value representing
information
 each pixel is associated with a
specific geographical location
RASTER DATA TYPES: CONTINUOUS AND
DISCRETE

 The value of a pixel can be:


 Continuous – grid cells with
gradual changing data. No clearly
defined boundaries. Every point
on a map made with continuous
GIS data will contain a value.
E.g.: elevation, slope,
temperature, and precipitation
 Categorical/Discrete – have
distinct themes or categories. For
e.g., one grid cell represents a
land cover class. You can
distinguish each thematic class,
i.e., each class can be discretely
defined where it begins and ends
 Represents the area on the ground that each pixel of the
raster covers. It is the smallest feature that can be
represented or is visible in an image
 For e.g.: 30m resolution satellite imagery can capture
details on the ground that are greater than or equal to
30m by 30m (e.g.: warehouse roof). Anything on the
ground that is less than that size (e.g.: tree) will be
blended with the surrounding area to make a 30m by 30m
square
 Features that are smaller than a grid cell may not be well
represented
 The raster grid is dependent on the pixel size. For e.g.: a
spatial resolution of 1m means that one pixel represents
an area 1 by 1 meters on the ground. Therefore, for an
area of 4 m2 the raster grid will comprise of 4 X 1m2 pixels

SPATIAL RESOLUTION
LOW VS HIGH
 Low resolution – large cell size and less
detail. For e.g.: Landsat 7 satellite
imagery (30m spatial resolution).
SPATIAL  High resolution – small cell size and lots
of detail. For e.g.: MicaSense drone
RESOLUTION imagery (10cm spatial resolution)
ATTRIBUTE TABLE (RASTER)

 Not all GIS raster data formats can store attribute


information
 Raster data can have an attribute table if pixels are
represented using a small set of unique integer
values
 Raster datasets that contain attribute tables have
cell values that represent or define a class, group,
category
 each row of an attribute table corresponds to a
certain zone of cells having the same value
 attribute tables can be used to analyze datasets
and symbolize raster cells

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