LEC 5: MORE ON GIS

DATA MODELS

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GIS DATA MODELS
• A Model is a representation of real world
• GIS data model is a set of rules to identify and symbolize features of
the real world (also called entities) into digitally and logically
represented spatial objects consisting of the attributes and the
geometry.
• There are two basic data structures/models to present the spatial
features
• Vector
• Raster

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VECTOR DATA MODEL
• The vector model is used to represent spatial entities (features) such
as roads, river and pipe networks and facilities (e.g., water supply
system).
• Spatial data are generally obtained from land surveying and CAD
(computer aided design) drawings, as well as conversion of imagery
data through processing.
• A key aspect of the vector data model is that the topology of
relationships between features is established.
• Topology refers to the relationships or connectivity between spatial objects.

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VECTOR DATA MODEL – Cont’d
• Vector data are represented by a point, line or polygon
• Points can represent particular point of observation, that are directly linked
via attribute tables to numerical, categorical or descriptive data like
abundance of water levels, river discharges, water quality, etc.
• Lines/Arcs may represent survey tracks, street network, contours, rivers,
sewarge lines, etc. Each arc can be linked with numerical values like water
depth or descriptive attributes like names, locations, etc.
• Polygons can represent governorate boundaries, areas severed by different
utility services, reservoir boundaries, land parcels, etc. with according
attributes.

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Vector Data Model (Point Data)
Coordinates of UKH Car Parking

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Vector Data Model (Polygon)
UKH Car Parking

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Vector Data Model (Polyline
Data)
River Network in Kurdistan

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• Spatial attributes define adjacency and containment of relationships
between spatial objects.
• Adjacency is a spatial relationship in which two or more polygons share a side
or boundary
• Containment is a spatial relationship in which a point, line, or polygon feature
or set of features is enclosed completely within a polygon
• Topological and descriptive attributes of each feature are stored in
Data Base Management Systems (DBMS).

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Attribute Table
• In vector data, the feature layer is linked to an attribute table. Every individual feature
corresponds to one record (row) in the attribute table

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Attribute Table of Car Parking Coordinates

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Attribute Data of Car Parking Boundary

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Topology
• Topology is spatial relationship between connecting or adjacent features
in a geographic data layer
• GIS can recognize and analyse the spatial relationships among mapped
phenomena independent of their exact position.
• In digital data, topological relationships such as: connectivity and
adjacency (what is next to what), containment (what is enclosed by what),
proximity (how close something is to something else) and relative position
are usually expressed as relationships between nodes, links and polygons.
• For example, the topology of a line includes its from- and to-nodes, and its
left and right polygons.

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Vector
topology

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• Why topology?
• In many spatial modelling operations, we do not need coordinates, only
topological information can be enough.
• For example, to find an optimal path between two points needs a list of the
lines that connect these two points and the cost to traverse each line in each
direction.
• Coordinates are only needed for drawing the path after it is calculated.

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RASTER DATA MODEL
• Raster Data
• The raster data model is more like a photograph than a map.
• If we look at a photograph through a strong magnifying glass, we will see that
it is made up of a series of dots of different colors or shades of grey.
• The raster data model works in a similar way; it is a regular grid of dots (called
cells, or pixels) filled with values.
• In fact, when a picture is stored in a computer, the raster data model is used.

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• Raster data are described
by cell grids, one value
per cell.
• The matrix of cells,
organized into rows and
columns, is called a grid.

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RASTER DATA (Contd..)
• Vector models are stored as a series of x,y coordinates and topological relationships, grid
cells are stored as rows and columns.

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RASTER DATA (Contd..)
• Raster grid can store values that represent
categories, for example vegetable type
• The basic grid attribute table has a value
and count field
• The value field has a code or some real
number representing information about
the grid cell. In this case, it is a code for
vegetable
• The count field shows how many grid cells
have the same value

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• A grid table can also have
additional information, in this
case the type of vegetation.
• But it always has the value and
count field

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• Raster grids can also
store continuous values
like elevation
• This raster is from
Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission
(SRTM)
• It is called Digital
Elevation Model (DEM)

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• Sources of Raster Data
• satellite imagery,
photogrammetry

• Conversion of vector data to

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• Raster Map Calculations
• Mathematical operations can be applied to two rasters and the result is in the
output raster. Functions include +, -, /, Log, Exp, Sin, Cos, and Sqrt

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• Vector and raster structures both have advantages and disadvantages.
• Vector structures are generally well suited to represent networks,
connected objects, and features that are defined by distinct boundaries.
• Raster structures work best when the attributes, they represent are
continuously and smoothly varying in space.
• The finer the grid used, the more geographic specificity there will be in the
raster data matrix.
• The location precision for a map feature in the raster model is limited by
the cell resolution.

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• Advantages of vector structures include:
• Good representation of point, line, and polygon features (streams, lakes,
drainage divides, etc.);
• Compactness of data storage; accurate graphics; relational representation of
objects; and
• Capability of updating, modifying, and generalizing graphics and attributes.
• Disadvantages include:
• Complexity of data structure,
• Comparatively expensive technology and data, and
• Difficulty in representing spatially varying attributes

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• The advantages of raster structures include:
• Simplicity of the data structure,
• Easy overlay and spatial analysis,
• Availability of data, and
• Comparatively cheap technology.
• Disadvantages of Raster Structure include:
• inefficient use of computer storage (memory);
• inaccuracies in point, line, and area definitions;
• difficulty in establishing networks and topology; and
• unattractive visualization in low-resolution rasters

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ATTRIBUTE DATA
• Attribute data are:
• The tabular or textual data describing the geographic characteristics of
features.
• Nonspatial information about a geographic feature in a GIS, usually stored in a
table and linked to the feature by a unique identifier (ID).
• For example, attributes of a river might include its name, length, and sediment
load at a gauging station
• In case of raster datasets, information associated with each unique value of a
raster cell.
• Information that specifies how features are displayed and labeled on a map; for
example, the graphic attributes of a river might include line thickness, line
length, color, and font for labeling.
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• Attribute values in a GIS are stored as Relational Database tables.
• Each feature (point, line, polygon, or raster) within each GIS layer is represented as a
record in a table.
• A table is like a spreadsheet.
• Each column in the table is called a field.
• Each row in the table is a record.
• Each record in the attribute table corresponds to one feature.
• Usually the information in the attribute table is stored in some kind of database.
• GIS links the attribute records with the feature geometry so that we can find records
in the table by selecting features on the map, and find features on the map by
selecting features in the table.

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• In an example on next slide see the raster data set is associated with a
table of values (Attribute Data).
• Each cell has a coordinate representation within the table and a
numeric value for land use (i.e., LU_CODE).
• Each LU_CODE is associated with a full description through a
relational join.

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Raster data with attribute table

Row 1

LU for Land Use Column 19

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• The vector data attributes are also held in database tables.
• Because the vector data represent both linear and polygonal
features, there will be 2 attribute tables

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Vector data with attribute table

Polygon attributes

Line attributes

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SYMBOLOGY IN GIS
• Symbols help in interpreting information in the maps
• There are three types of symbols in GIS
• Graduated
• Continuous; and
• Unique Value

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• Graduated Symbols
• Graduated symbols are useful when we want to show clear differences
between features with attribute values in different value ranges.
• For example we can draw low lying areas with one colour, mid-altitude areas
with another and high-altitude areas with a third.
• Vector features represent things with a changing numerical value.
• Contour lines are a good example of this.
• Each contour usually has an attribute value called ‘Elevation’ that contains
information about what elevation that contour represents.
• Adding color to the contours can help us to interpret the meanings of
contours.

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Map with graduated color symbols
• The height attribute of
contours can be used
to separate the
contours into 3 classes.
• Contours between
980m and 1,120m will
be drawn in brown,
• those between 1,120m
and 1,240m in blue,
and
• those between 1,240m
and 1,500m in purple.

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• Graduated
symbols
showing
discharges of
springs in
Kurdistan
Region

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• Graduate
symbols

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• Continuous Color Symbols:
• Used to represent the continuous change
• Sometimes it is useful to draw features in a color range from one color to
another.
• GIS Application will use a numerical attribute value from a feature (e.g.
contour heights or pollution levels in a stream) to decide which colour to use.
• Using the same contours example we used in the previous section, let's see
how a map with continuous color symbology is defined and looks.
• After defining the minimum and maximum colors in the color range, the color
features are drawn in will depend on where the attribute lies in the range
between minimum and maximum.

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• For example if we have contour features with values starting at 1000m and
ending at 1400m, the value range is 1000 to 1400.
• If the color for the minimum value is set to orange and the color for the
maximum value is black, contours with a value of close to 1400m will be
drawn close to black.
• On the other hand contours with a value near to 1,000m will be drawn close
to orange. See Figure on next slide

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A contour map drawn using continuous color symbology.

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Continuous Colour Symbols – Kurdistan Contours

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• Unique Value Symbols:
• Sometimes the attributes of features are not numeric, but instead strings are
used.
• 'String' is a computer term meaning a group of letters, numbers and other writing
symbols.
• Strings attributes are often used to classify things by name.
• We can tell the GIS Application to give each unique string or number its own
colour and symbol.
• Road features may have different classes (e.g. 'street', 'secondary road', 'main
road' etc.), each drawn in the map view of the GIS with different colours or
symbols.

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A roads vector layer symbolised using a unique value per road type.

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