GIS Data Models: Faculty of Applied Engineering and Urban Planning Civil Engineering Department

Faculty of Applied Engineering and
Urban Planning
Civil Engineering Department
Geographic Information Systems
GIS Data Models
Lecture 6
Week 5
1st Semester 2013/2014
Geographic Information Technologies
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Software systems with capability for input, storage,

manipulation/analysis and output/display of
geographic (spatial) information
Geographic Information Technologies
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

a system of earth-orbiting satellites which can provide precise (100
meter to sub-cm.) location on the earth’s surface (in lat/long
coordinates or equiv.)
Remote Sensing (RS)

use of satellites or aircraft to capture information about the earth’s
surface
Digital ortho images a key product (map accurate digital photos)

The GIS Data Model
Knowledge Base for GIS
Computer
Science/MIS
graphics
visualization Application Area:
database public admin.
GIS planning
system administration
security geology
mineral exploration
forestry
site selection
Geography marketing
and related: civil engineering
cartography criminal justice
geodesy surveying
photogrammetry
landforms The convergence of technological fields and
spatial statistics. traditional disciplines.
The GIS Data Model: Purpose
Allows the geographic features in real world

locations to be digitally represented and stored
in a database so that they can be abstractly
presented in map (analog) form, and can also be
worked with and manipulated to address some
problem.
The GIS Data Model: Implementation
Geographic Integration of Information
Administrative Boundaries
Utilities
Zoning
Buildings
Parcels
Hydrography
Streets
Digital Orthophoto
• Data is organized by layers, coverages or themes (synonomous

concepts), with each layer representing a common feature.
• Layers are integrated using explicit location on the earth’s surface, thus
geographic location is the organizing principal.
The GIS Model: example
e
tud
lati
roads
Here we have three layers or themes:
longitude
--roads,
--hydrology (water),
e
tud
--topography (land elevation)

lati
hydrology
They can be related because
longitude
precise geographic coordinates are
recorded for each theme.
e
tud
topography
lati
longitude
e
tud
lati
roads
longitude
Layers are comprised of two data types

e
tud
•Spatial data which describes

lati
hydrology
longitude
location (where)
•Attribute data specifing what,
e
how much,when
tud
topography
lati
longitude
e
tud
lati
roads
longitude
Layers may be represented in two

e
tud
ways:
lati
hydrology •in vector format as points and lines

longitude •in raster(or image) format as pixels
All geographic data has 4 properties:

e
projection, scale, accuracy and

tud
topography
lati
resolution
longitude
Spatial and Attribute Data
Spatial data (where)

 specifies location
 stored in a shape file, geodatabase or similar geographic file
Attribute (descriptive) data (what, how much, when)

 specifies characteristics at that location, natural or human-
created
 stored in a data base table
Spatial and Attribute Data
GIS systems traditionally maintain spatial and attribute

data separately, then “join” them for display or
analysis
 for example, in ArcView, the Attributes of … table is used
to link a shapefile (spatial structure) with a data base
table containing attribute information in order to display
the attribute data spatially on a map
Representing Data with Raster and Vector Models
Raster Model
 area is covered by grid with (usually) equal-sized, square cells
 attributes are recorded by assigning each cell a single value
based on the majority feature (attribute) in the cell, such as land

use type.
 Image data is a special case of raster data in which the
“attribute” is a reflectance value from the geomagnetic spectrum

 cells in image data often called pixels (picture elements)
Representing Data with Raster and Vector Models
 Vector Model
The fundamental concept of vector GIS is that all geographic features in

the real work can be represented either as:
 points or dots (nodes): trees, poles, fire plugs, airports, cities
 lines (arcs): streams, streets, sewers,
 areas (polygons): land parcels, cities, counties, forest, rock type
Because representation depends on shape, ArcView refers to files containing vector

data as shapefiles
Concept of
Vector and Raster Real World
Raster Representation
Vector Representation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 R T
1 R T point
2 H R
3 R line
4 R R
5 R
6 R T T H
7 R T T polygon
8 R
9 R
Smart Vector—Pavement polygons
Dumb Images
& Smart GIS Data
Smart Raster—5 feet grids
Images—dumb rasters
(although they look good!)
Projection, Scale, Accuracy and Resolution
the key properties of spatial data
 Projection: the method by which the curved 3-D surface of
the earth is represented by X,Y coordinates on a 2-D flat

map/screen
 distortion is inevitable
 Scale: the ratio of distance on a map to the equivalent
distance on the ground

 in theory GIS is scale independent but in practice there is an implicit
range of scales for data output in any project
Projection, Scale, Accuracy and Resolution
the key properties of spatial data
 Accuracy: how well does the database info match the real world
 Positional: how close are features to their real world location?
 Consistency: do feature characteristics in database match those in real world
 is a road in the database a road in the real world?
 Completeness: are all real world instances of features present in the database?
 Are all roads included.
 Resolution: the size of the smallest feature able to be recognized

 for raster data, it is the pixel size
The tighter the specification, the higher the cost.

Layers
Vector
Layers
Street Network layer: lines Land Parcels layer: polygons
Raster (image) Layer

Digital Ortho Photograph Layer:
Digital Ortho photo: combines the visual

properties of a photograph with the positional
accuracy of a map, in computer readable
form.
Projection: State Plane, North Central Texas
Zone, NAD 83
Resolution: 0.5 meters
0 1500 3000 Feet
Accuracy: 1.0 meters
Scale: see scale bar
Overlay based on Common Geographic Location
Analysis
Data Table
Scanned Drawing
Photographic Image
Parcels within a half mile buffer of Park and Central

Vector Layers
Attribute Tables
Raster
Layers
Anatomy of a GIS Database:

City of Plano

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Faculty of Applied Engineering and

Civil Engineering Department

Geographic Information Systems

GIS Data Models

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Software systems with capability for input, storage,

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Remote Sensing (RS)

Digital ortho images a key product (map accurate digital photos)

Allows the geographic features in real world

• Data is organized by layers, coverages or themes (synonomous

--topography (land elevation)

Layers are comprised of two data types

•Spatial data which describes

Layers may be represented in two

hydrology •in vector format as points and lines

All geographic data has 4 properties:

projection, scale, accuracy and

Spatial data (where)

Attribute (descriptive) data (what, how much, when)

GIS systems traditionally maintain spatial and attribute

 attributes are recorded by assigning each cell a single value

based on the majority feature (attribute) in the cell, such as land

“attribute” is a reflectance value from the geomagnetic spectrum

The fundamental concept of vector GIS is that all geographic features in

 lines (arcs): streams, streets, sewers,

 areas (polygons): land parcels, cities, counties, forest, rock type

Because representation depends on shape, ArcView refers to files containing vector

Smart Raster—5 feet grids

 Projection: the method by which the curved 3-D surface of

the earth is represented by X,Y coordinates on a 2-D flat

 Scale: the ratio of distance on a map to the equivalent

distance on the ground

 Resolution: the size of the smallest feature able to be recognized

The tighter the specification, the higher the cost.

Street Network layer: lines Land Parcels layer: polygons

Raster (image) Layer

Digital Ortho photo: combines the visual

Parcels within a half mile buffer of Park and Central

Anatomy of a GIS Database:

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