GEOGRAPHICAL

INFORMATION
SYSTEMS Course
CIS Department
Prepared by: Eng. Heba Al-
Hiary
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Chapter 3:
Spatial Data
Modeling
Every day you ask
questions with a
spatial component.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 Introduction
Entity
02 Definition
03 Spatial Data Models

04 Spatial Data Structures

05 Modeling Surfaces

06 Modeling Networks

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
07 Building Computer Worlds

08 Modeling the Third Dimension

09 Modeling the Fourth Dimension

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 INTRODUCTION
There are two essential methods
used to store information in a
Geographic Information System –
GIS for both reflections: Raster
and Vector Data Model.

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 Introduction
The previous chapter introduced the
concept that a GIS, populated with
data and ideas about how these data
interact, is a model of reality. This
model was created to help us
develop our understanding of
geographical problems. Building a
model of the world
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 Introduction
GIS Model: A geographic data model,
geospatial data model, or simply
data model in the context of
geographic information systems, is a
mathematical and digital structure
for representing phenomena over
the Earth.
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 Introduction
Generally, such data models
represent various aspects of these
phenomena by means of geographic
data, including spatial locations,
attributes, changes over time, and
identity.

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 Introduction
Stages involved in constructing a GIS
data model:

1) Identifying the spatial features

from the real world that are of
interest in the context of an
application and choosing how to
represent them
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 Introduction
2) Representing the conceptual
model by an appropriate spatial
data model. This involves
choosing between one of two
approaches: raster or vector.
3) Selecting an appropriate spatial
data structure to store the model
within the computer.
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 Introduction
At each stage in the model-building
process, we move further away from
the physical representation of a
feature in reality and closer to its
abstract representation in the
computer.

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Stages involved in constructing a GIS data
model
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 Entity Definition
All geographical phenomena can be
represented in two dimensions by
three main entity types: points,
lines, and areas. Two additional
spatial entities: networks and
surfaces. These are an extension of
the area and line.
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 Entity Definition
A surface entity is used to represent
continuous features or phenomena.
For these features, there is a
measurement or value at every
location, as is the case with
elevation, temperature, and
population density.
A network Previo
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series of
A simple spatial entity model for Happy Valley
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Examples of surface data
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Roads, rivers and sewage networks in Happy
Valley
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 Spatial Data Models
There are two main ways in which
computers can handle and display
spatial entities. These are the raster
and vector approaches.

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 Spatial Data Models
The raster spatial data model is one
of a family of spatial data models
described as tessellations. In the
raster world individual cells are used
as the building blocks for creating
images of point, line, area, network,
and surface entities.
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 Spatial Data Models
A vector spatial data model uses
two-dimensional Cartesian (x,y)
coordinates to store the shape of a
spatial entity. In the vector world,
the point is the basic building block
from which all spatial entities are
constructed.
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Raster and vector spatial data
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Raster and vector spatial data
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 Spatial Data Structures
Data structures provide the
information that the computer
requires to reconstruct the spatial
data model in digital form.

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 Spatial Data Structures
Raster data structures: In the raster
world a range of different methods is
used to encode a spatial entity for
storage and representation in the
computer. The most straightforward
method of coding raster data is the
cells in each line of the image.
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A simple raster data structure
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 Spatial Data Structures
The first line of the file tells the
computer that the image consists of
10 rows and 10 columns and that the
maximum cell value is 1. In this
example, a value of 0 has been used
to record cells where the entity is not
present and a value of 1 for cells
where the entityPrevio
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 Spatial Data Structures
One of the major problems with
raster data sets is their size because
a value must be recorded and stored
for each cell in an image.

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 Spatial Data Structures
Vector data structure: the different
entity types –points, lines, and areas
– can be defined by coordinate
geometry. The simplest vector data
structure that can be used to
reproduce a geographical image in
the computer is a file containing
(x,y) coordinatePrevio
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 Spatial Data Structures
The following figure shows such a
vector data structure for the Happy
Valley car park. Note how a closed
ring of coordinate pairs defines the
boundary of the polygon.

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Data structures in the vector world: A simple vector data
structure
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 Spatial Data Structures
The limitations of simple vector data
structures are:
1) When more complex spatial
entities are considered. For
example, consider the Happy Valley
car park divided into different
parking zones.
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 Spatial Data Structures
The car park consists of a
number of adjacent polygons. If
the simple data structure in the
previous figure, were used to capture
this entity then the boundary line
shared between adjacent polygons
would be stored twice.
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Data structures in the vector world: Point dictionary
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 Spatial Data Structures
2) The simple vector data structure
could be used to graphically
reproduce the network without
any duplication of data. However, it
would not contain any information
about the linkage between lines.
3) A further problem of area
features is the Previo
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 Spatial Data Structures
For the representation of line
networks and adjacent and island
polygons, a set of instructions is
required that informs the computer
where one polygon, or line, is with
respect to its neighbors. Topological
data structures contain this
information. There
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numerous
 Spatial Data Structures
Topology is concerned with
connectivity between entities and
not their physical shape.

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Topological structuring of complex areas
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 Spatial Data Structures
There is a considerable range of
topological data structures in use by
GIS. All the structures available try
to ensure that:

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 Spatial Data Structures
 no node or line segment is
duplicated;
 line segments and nodes can be
referenced to more than one
polygon;
 all polygons have unique
identifiers, and island and hole
polygons can Previo
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adequately
 Modeling Surfaces
The modeling of surface entities
such as height, pollution, and rainfall
poses interesting problems in GIS. In
this section, we explore surface
modeling by looking in detail at
Digital Terrain Models (DTMs). These
are used as an example because of
their wide application
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Example surface types
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 Modeling Surfaces
To model a surface accurately it
would be necessary to:
 store an almost infinite number of
observations.
 Since this is impossible, a surface
model approximates a continuous
surface using a finite number of
observations.Previo
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 Modeling Surfaces
 DTMs are created from a series of
either regularly or irregularly
spaced (x,y,z) data points (where
x and y are the horizontal
coordinates and z is the vertical or
height coordinate).

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 Modeling Surfaces
 DTMs may be derived from a
number of data sources. These
include contour and spot height
information found on topographic
maps, stereoscopic aerial
photography, satellite images and
field surveys.
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 Modeling Surfaces
The raster approach to digital terrain
modeling:
 In raster GIS a DTM is simply a
grid of height values in which each
cell contains a single value
representative of the height of the
terrain that is covered by that cell.
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 Modeling Surfaces
 This type of simple raster DTM is
perhaps more accurately referred
to as a Digital Elevation Matrix
(DEM) because it contains no
information about the terrain
surface being modeled other than
the elevation or height above the
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 Modeling Surfaces
The vector approach to digital terrain
modeling:
 In its simplest form, a vector DTM
mimics the raster version by using
a regularly spaced set of spot
heights to represent the terrain
surface. A more advanced, more
complex, andPrevio
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 Modeling Surfaces
 In vector GIS, a TIN is used to
create a DTM from either regular
or irregular height data. The TIN
method joins the height
observations together with
straight lines to create a mosaic of
irregular triangles.
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 Modeling Surfaces
 In the TIN model of a surface, the
vertices of the triangles produced
represent terrain features such as
peaks, depressions, and passes,
and the edges represent ridges
and valleys.

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 Modeling Surfaces
 The surfaces of individual triangles
provide area, gradient (slope), and
orientation (aspect). These values
can be stored as TIN attributes or
can be quickly calculated when
the TIN is used in further analysis.

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 Modeling Surfaces
 The main advantage of the TIN
model is the efficiency of data
storage since only a minimum
number of significant points need
to be stored to reproduce a
surface.

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Digital terrain models
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Example DEM and TIN model for region of varying
complexity
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 Modeling Networks
A network is a set of
interconnected linear features
through which materials, goods,
and people are transported or
along which communication of
information is achieved.
 Network models in GIS are
abstract representations
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 Modeling Networks
 They are essentially adaptations of
the vector data model and for this
reason, raster GIS is generally not
very good at network analysis.
 The vector network model is made
up of the same arc (line segments)
and node elements as any other
vector data Previo
model
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Network data model

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 Building Computer Worlds
In this section, we will consider the
methods used to construct computer
worlds by grouping entities together.
At the present time, we have two
options: layers and objects.
 The most common method of
structuring the geography of the
real world inPrevio
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The layer-based approach

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 Building Computer Worlds
 Another approach to structuring
geographical space views the real
world as a set of individual objects
and groups of objects. This
approach draws on the methods of
object-oriented (OO)
programming.
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The layer-based approach

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 Modelling the Third Dimension
 Current GIS software products do
not permit us to model the third
dimension. Partly this is due to the
technical difficulties of
constructing full 3D models of
geographical space.
 Those including full 3D topology
are particularly
us difficult.
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 Modelling the Third Dimension
 It is only a matter of time before
we will see the emergence of 3D
modeling as an integral part of the
GIS toolbox.

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 Modelling the Fourth Dimension
 Modeling time is made more
complex since there are several
different sorts of time that GIS
developers need to consider work
practice time, database time, and
future time.

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 Modelling the Fourth Dimension
 Much remains to be done before
true temporal GIS can be realized
but a large part of the solution
may lie in exploring how the
temporal dimension of information
has been dealt with by other
disciplines.
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Chapter 3
Review Questions
Try!!!!!!

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 Review Questions
To show different types of data on a map, To build a kindergarten, which layers of
they are organized using: GIS data would be most appropriate to
● Layers
consider?
● Stages
● Topography and climate
● Selectors
● Rivers and flood zones
● Types
● Neighborhood locations and population
When studying natural disasters, what density

can GIS help us do? ● Vegetation map of local plants and a

● map of animal biomes.

Plan and prepare for natural hazards
● Monitor climate and weather changes
● Make decisions about where and how to
protect certain areas
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 Review Questions
One of the following is not a A surface entity is used to represent
characteristics of the vector model: _________ or phenomena.
● Uses two-dimensional Cartesian (x,y) ● Vertices
coordinates ● Interconnection
● Described as tessellations. ● Continuous features
● The point is the basic building block ● Lines
from which all spatial entities are
constructed.
● Composed of three main elements:
points, lines, and polygons.

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 Review Questions
Classify the following models to their
proper type.

● a) Raster model.
● b) TIN model.
● c) Surface model.
● d) TIN model.
● e) Raster model.

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 Review Questions
A _________ is a series of
interconnecting lines along which there
is a flow of data, objects, or materials.
● Point
● Network
● Surface
● Line

Notice the picture below that ● 101

represents a topological structuring of ● 103

● 104
complex areas, then answer questions
● 105
7, 8, and 9.

Which zone ID represents an island?

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 Review Questions
Name the chain of Zone 101. How many chains are there in this
● A I M L H
topology?
● A B C D F
.
● M N O P
● 10
● Not determined.
● 16
● 20
● 18

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THANKS
DO YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS?

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