What is Spatial Data?

Posted on by KUMBIRAI MATINGO

No matter what your interests are or what field you work in, spatial data is always being considered whether you know it or not. Spatial data, also known as geospatial data, is a term used to describe any data related to or containing information about a specific location on the Earth’s surface.

The Basics

Spatial data can exist in a variety of formats and contains more than just location specific information. To properly understand and learn more about spatial data, there are a few key terms that will help you become more fluent in the language of spatial data.

Vector

Vector data is best described as graphical representations of the real world. There are three main types of vector data: points, lines, and polygons. Connecting points create lines, and connecting lines that create an enclosed area create polygons. Vectors are best used to present generalizations of objects or features on the Earth’s surface. Vector data and the file format known as shapefiles (.shp) are sometimes used interchangeably since vector data is most often stored in .shp files.

Raster

Raster data is data that is presented in a grid of pixels. Each pixel within a raster has a value, whether it be a colour or unit of measurement, to communicate information about the element in question. Rasters typically refer to imagery. However, in the spatial world, this may specifically refer to orthoimagery which are photos taken from satellites or other aerial devices. Raster data quality varies depending on resolution and your task at hand.

Raster data is data that is presented in a grid of pixels. Each pixel within a raster has a value, whether it be a colour or unit of measurement, to communicate information about the element in question. Rasters typically refer to imagery. However, in the spatial world, this may specifically refer to orthoimagery which are photos taken from satellites or other aerial devices. Raster data quality varies depending on resolution and your task at hand.

Attributes

Spatial data contains more information than just a location on the surface of the Earth. Any additional information, or non-spatial data, that describes a feature is referred to as an attribute. Spatial data can have any amount of additional attributes accompanying information about the location. For example, you might have a map displaying buildings within a city’s downtown region. Each of the buildings, in addition to their location, may have additional attributes such as the type of use (housing, business, government, etc.), the year it was built, and how many stories it has.

Geographic Coordinate System

To identify exact locations on the surface of the Earth, a geographic coordinate system is used. Normally, an x and y-axis are used in mathematical systems, but in geography, the axes are referred to as lines of latitude (horizontal lines that run east-west) and longitude (vertical lines that run north-south). Each axis represents the angle at which that line is oriented with respect to the center of the Earth, and so the units are measured in degrees (°)

Georeferencing and Geocoding

Georeferencing and geocoding are different but similar processes since both involve fitting data to the appropriate nike revolution 7 coordinates of the real world. Georeferencing is the process of assigning coordinates to vectors or rasters so they can be oriented accurately on a model of the Earth’s surface. The data used in geocoding are addresses and location descriptors (city, country, etc.). Each of these locations is given the exact coordinates of reference for that location on the surface of the Earth.

How can we use spatial data?

Find out more in our next post