GIS for Educators

Topic 2: Vector Data

Objectives: Understanding of vector data
models as used in GIS.
Keywords: Vector !oint !olyline !olygon
Verte" Geometry Scale #ata
$uality Symbology #ata
Sources
Overview:
Vector data %rovide a way to re%resent real world features wit&in t&e GIS
environment. ' feature is anyt&ing you can see on t&e landsca%e. Imagine you
are standing on t&e to% of a &ill. (oo)ing down you can see &ouses roads
trees rivers and so on *see Illustration + below,. Eac& one of t&ese t&ings
would be a feature w&en we re%resent t&em in a GIS '%%lication. Vector
features &ave attributes w&ic& consist of te"t or numerical information t&at
describe t&e features.
' vector feature &as its s&a%e re%resented using geometry. -&e geometry is
made u% of one or more interconnected vertices. ' verte" describes a %osition
in s%ace using an x y and o%tionally z a"is. Geometries w&ic& &ave vertices
wit& a . a"is are often referred to as 2.5D since t&ey describe &eig&t or de%t&
at eac& verte" but not bot&.
/&en a feature0s geometry consists of only a single verte" it is referred to as a
+
Illustration 1: Looking over a landscape you can see the main features, such as
roads, houses and trees.
point feature *see Illustration 1 below,. /&ere t&e geometry consists of two or
more vertices and t&e first and last verte" are not e2ual a polyline feature is
formed *see Illustration 3 below,. /&ere four or more vertices are %resent and
t&e last verte" is e2ual to t&e first an enclosed polygon feature is formed *see
Illustration 4 below,.
(oo)ing bac) at t&e %icture of a landsca%e we s&owed you furt&er u% you
s&ould be able to see t&e different ty%es of features in t&e way t&at a GIS
re%resents t&em now *see Illustration 5 below,.
oint features in detail:
-&e first t&ing we need to realise w&en tal)ing about %oint features is t&at w&at
we describe as a %oint in GIS is a matter of o%inion and often de%endent on
scale. let0s loo) at cities for e"am%le. If you &ave a small scale ma% *w&ic&
covers a large area, it may ma)e sense to re%resent a city using a %oint
feature. 6owever as you .oom in to t&e ma% moving towards a larger scale it
ma)es more sense to s&ow t&e city limits as a %olygon.
/&en you c&oose to use %oints to re%resent a feature is mostly a matter of
scale *&ow far away are you from t&e feature, convenience *it ta)es less time
and effort to create %oint features t&an %olygon features, and t&e ty%e of
feature *some t&ings li)e tele%&one %oles just don0t ma)e sense to be stored as
%olygons,.
1
Illustration 2: A point
feature is described by
its X, and optionally !
coordinate. "he point
attributes describe the
point e.g. if it is a tree or
a lamp post.
Illustration #: A polyline
is a se$uence of %oined
vertices. &ach verte'
has an X, (and
optionally !) coordinate.
Attributes describe the
polyline.
Illustration *: A polygon,
like a polyline, is a
se$uence of vertices.
+o,ever in a polygon,
the first and last vertices
are al,ays at the same
position.
's we s&ow in Illustration 1 a %oint feature &as an 78 and o%tionally 9 value.
-&e 7 and 8 values will de%end on t&e !oordinate "eference #ystem *:;S,
being used. /e are going to go into more detail about :oordinate ;eference
Systems in a later tutorial. <or now let0s sim%ly say t&at a :;S is a way to
accurately describe w&ere a %articular %lace is on t&e eart&0s surface. One of
t&e most common reference systems is $ongitude and $atitude. (ines of
(ongitude run from t&e =ort& !ole to t&e Sout& !ole. (ines of (atitude run from
t&e East to /est. 8ou can describe %recisely w&ere you are at any %lace on t&e
eart& by giving someone your (ongitude *7, and (atitude *8,. If you ma)e a
similar measurement for a tree or a tele%&one %ole and mar)ed it on a ma%
you will &ave created a %oint feature.
Since we )now t&e eart& is not flat it is often useful to add a 9 value to a %oint
feature. -&is describes &ow &ig& above sea level you are.
olyline features in detail:
/&ere a %oint feature is a single verte" a polyline %as two or more
vertices. -&e %olyline is a continuous %at& drawn t&roug& eac& verte" as
s&own in Illustration 3 above,. /&en two vertices are joined a line is created.
/&en more t&an two are joined t&ey form a 0line of lines0 or polyline.
' %olyline is used to s&ow t&e geometry of linear features suc& as roads
rivers contours foot%at&s flig&t %at&s and so on. Sometimes we &ave s%ecial
rules for %olylines in addition to t&eir basic geometry. <or e"am%le contour lines
3
Illustration -: Landscape features as ,e ,ould represent them in a .I/. 0ivers
(blue) and roads (green) can be represented as lines, trees as points (red) and
houses as polygons (,hite).
may touc& *e.g. at a cliff face, but s&ould never cross over eac& ot&er.
Similarly %olylines used to store a road networ) s&ould be connected at
intersections. In some GIS a%%lications you can set t&ese s%ecial rules for a
feature ty%e *e.g. roads, and t&e GIS will ensure t&at t&ese %olylines always
com%ly to t&ese rules.
If a curved %olyline &as very large distances between vertices it may a%%ear
angular or jagged de%ending on t&e scale at w&ic& it is viewed *see
Illustration > below,. ?ecause of t&is it is im%ortant t&at %olylines are digitised
*ca%tured into t&e com%uter, wit& distances between vertices t&at are small
enoug& for t&e scale at w&ic& you want to use t&e data.
-&e attributes of a %olyline decribe its %ro%erties or c&aracteristics. <or
e"am%le a road %olyline may &ave attributes t&at describe w&et&er it is
surfaced wit& gravel or tar &ow many lanes it &as w&et&er it is a one way
street and so on. -&e GIS can use t&ese attributes to symbolise t&e %olyline
feature wit& a suitable colour or line style.
olygon features in detail:
!olygon features are enclosed areas li)e dams islands country boundaries
and so on. (i)e %olyline features %olygons are created from a series of vertices
t&at are connected wit& a continuous line. 6owever because a %olygon always
describes an enclosed area t&e first and last vertices s&ould always be at t&e
same %lace@ !olygons often &ave s%ared geometry A boundaries t&at are in
common wit& a neig&bouring %olygon. Bany GIS a%%lications &ave t&e
ca%ability to ensure t&at t&e boundaries of neig&bouring %olygons e"actly
coincide. /e will e"%lore t&is in t&e topology to%ic later in t&is tutorial.
's wit& %oints and %olylines %olygons &ave attributes. -&e attributes
describe eac& %olygon. <or e"am%le a dam may &ave attributes for de%t& and
water 2uality.
4
Illustration 1: 2olylines vie,ed at a smaller scale (1:23 333 to the left) may
appear smooth and curved. 4hen 5oomed in to a larger scale (1:-33 to the
right) polylines may look very angular.
Vector data in layers:
=ow t&at we &ave described w&at vector data is let0s loo) at &ow vector data
is managed and used in a GIS environment. Bost GIS a%%lications grou% vector
features into layers. <eatures in a layer &ave t&e t&e same geometry ty%e *e.g.
t&ey will all be %oints, and t&e same )inds of attributes *e.g. information about
w&at s%ecies a tree is for a trees layer,. <or e"am%le if you &ave recorded t&e
%ositions of all t&e foot%at&s in your sc&ool t&ey will usually be stored toget&er
on t&e com%uter &ard dis) and s&own in t&e GIS as a single layer. -&is is
convenient because it allows you to &ide or s&ow all of t&e features for t&at
layer in your GIS a%%lication wit& a single mouse clic).
&diting vector data:
-&e GIS a%%lication will allow you to create and modify t&e geometry data in a
layer A a %rocess called digitising A w&ic& we will loo) at more closely in a
later tutorial. If a layer contains %olygons *e.g. farm dams, t&e GIS a%%lication
will only allow you to create new %olygons in t&at layer. Similarly if you want to
c&ange t&e s&a%e of a feature t&e a%%lication will only allow you to do it if t&e
c&anged s&a%e is correct. <or e"am%le it won0t allow you to edit a line in suc& a
way t&at it &as only one verte" A remember in our discussion of lines above
t&at all lines must &ave at least two vertices.
:reating and editing vector data is an im%ortant function of a GIS since it is one
of t&e main ways in w&ic& you can create %ersonal data for t&ings you are
interested in. Say for e"am%le you are monitoring %ollution in a river. 8ou could
use t&e GIS to digitise all outfalls for storm water drains *as %oint features,. 8ou
could also digitise t&e river itself *as a %olyline feature,. <inally you could ta)e
readings of %6 levels along t&e course of t&e river and digitise t&e %laces w&ere
you made t&ese readings *as a %oint layer,.
's well as creating your own data t&ere is a lot of free vector data t&at you can
obtain and use. <or e"am%le you can obtain vector data t&at a%%ears on t&e
+:5C CCC ma% s&eets from t&e :&ief #irectorate : Surveys and Ba%%ing.
#cale and vector data:
Ba% scale is an im%ortant issue to consider w&en wor)ing wit& vector data in a
GIS. /&en data is ca%tured it is usually digitised from e"isting ma%s or by
ta)ing information from surveyor records and global %ositioning system
devices. Ba%s &ave different scales so if you im%ort vector data from a ma%
into a GIS environment *for e"am%le by digitising %a%er ma%s, t&e digital
vector data will &ave t&e same scale issues as t&e original ma%. -&is effect can
be seen in Illustrations D and E below. Bany issues can arise from ma)ing a
%oor c&oice of ma% scale. <or e"am%le using t&e vector data in Illustration
Illustration D below, to %lan a wetland conservation area could result in
im%ortant %arts of t&e wetland being left out of t&e reserve@ On t&e ot&er &and
if you are trying to create a regional ma% using data ca%tured at +:+CCC CCC
mig&t be just fine and will save you a lot of time and effort ca%turing t&e data.
5
#ymbology:
/&en you add vector layers to t&e ma% view in a GIS a%%lication t&ey will be
drawn wit& random colours and basic symbols. One of t&e great advantages of
using a GIS is t&at you can create %ersonalised ma%s very easily. -&e GIS
%rogram will let you c&oose colours to suite t&e feature ty%e *e.g. you can tell it
to draw a water bodies vector layer in blue,. -&e GIS will also let you adjust t&e
symbol used. So if you &ave a trees %oint layer you can s&ow eac& tree
%osition wit& a small %icture of a tree rat&er t&an t&e basic circle mar)er t&at
t&e GIS uses w&en you first load t&e layer *see Illustrations F+C G ++ below,.
>
Illustration 6: 7ector data (red lines)
that ,as digitised from a small scale
(1:1333 333) map.
Illustration 8: 7ector data (green
lines) that ,as digitised from a large
scale (1:-3 333) map.
Illustration 9: 4hen a layer (for e'ample the
trees layer above) is first loaded, a .I/
application ,ill give it a generic symbol.
Symbology is a %owerful feature ma)ing ma%s come to life and t&e data in
your GIS easier to understand. In t&e to%ic t&at follows *wor)ing wit& attribute
data, we will e"%lore more dee%ly &ow symbology can &el% t&e user to
D
Illustration 13: In the .I/, you can use a panel
(like the one above) to ad%ust ho, features in your
layer should be dra,n.
Illustration 11: After making our ad%ustments it is
much easier to see that our points represent trees.
understand vector data.
'%at can we do wit% vector data in a ()#*:
't t&e sim%lest level we can use vector data in a GIS '%%lication in muc& t&e
same way you would use a normal to%ogra%&ic ma%. -&e real %ower of GIS
starts to s&ow itself w&en you start to as) 2uestions li)e 0w&ic& &ouses are
wit&in t&e +CC year flood level of a riverH0I 0w&ere is t&e best %lace to %ut a
&os%ital so t&at it is easily accessible to as many %eo%le as %ossibleH0I 0w&ic&
learners live in a %articular suburbH0. ' GIS is a great tool for answering t&ese
ty%es of 2uestions wit& t&e &el% of vector data. Generally we refer to t&e
%rocess of answering t&ese ty%es of 2uestions as spatial analysis. In later
to%ics of t&is tutorial we will loo) at s%atial analysis in more detail.
!ommon problems wit% vector data:
/or)ing wit& vector data does &ave some %roblems. /e already mentioned t&e
issues t&at can arise wit& vectors ca%tured at different scales. Vector data also
needs a lot of wor) and maintenance to ensure t&at it is accurate and reliable.
Inaccurate vector data can occur w&en t&e instruments used to ca%ture t&e
data are not %ro%erly set u% w&en t&e %eo%le ca%turing t&e data aren0t being
careful w&en time or money don0t allow for enoug& detail in t&e collection
%rocess and so on. If you &ave %oor 2uality vector data you can often detect
t&is w&en viewing t&e data in a GIS. <or e"am%le slivers can occur w&en t&e
edges of two %olygon areas don0t meet %ro%erly *see Illustration +1 below,.
Overs%oots can occur w&en a line feature suc& as a road does not meet
anot&er road e"actly at an intersection. +nders%oots can occur w&en a line
feature *e.g. a river, does not e"actly meet anot&er feature to w&ic& it s&ould
be connected. Illustration +3 below demonstrates w&at unders&oots and
overs&oots loo) li)e. ?ecause of t&ese ty%es of errors it is very im%ortant to
digitise data carefully and accurately. In t&e u%coming to%ic on topology we
will e"amine some of t&ese ty%es of errors in more detail.
E
Illustration 12: /livers occur ,hen the vertices of t,o polygons do not match
up on their borders. At a small scale (e.g. 1 on left) you may not be able to see
these errors. At a large scale they are visible as thin strips bet,een t,o
polygons (2 on right).
'%at %ave we learned*
(et0s wra% u% w&at we covered in t&is wor)s&eet:
Vector data is used to re%resent real world features in a GIS.
' vector feature can &ave a geometry ty%e of point line or a polygon.
Eac& vector feature &as attribute data t&at describes it.
<eature geometry is described in terms of vertices.
!oint geometries are made u% of a single vertex *78 and o%tionally 9,.
!olyline geometries are made u% of two or more vertices forming a
connected line.
!olygon geometries are made u% of at least four vertices forming an
enclosed area. -&e first and last vertices are always in t&e same %lace.
:&oosing w&ic& geometry ty%e to use de%ends on scale convenience
and w&at you want to do wit& t&e data in t&e GIS.
Bost GIS a%%lications do not allow you to mi" more t&an one geometry
ty%e in a single layer.
#igitising is t&e %rocess of creating digital vector data by drawing it in a
GIS a%%lication.
Vector data can &ave 2uality issues suc& as unders%oots overs%oots
and slivers w&ic& you need to be aware of.
Vector data can be used for spatial analysis in a GIS a%%lication for
F
Illustration 1#: :ndershoots (1) occur ,hen digitised vector lines that
should connect to each other don;t $uite touch. <vershoots (2) happen if a
line ends beyond the line it should connect to.
e"am%le to find t&e nearest &os%ital to a sc&ool.
/e &ave summarised t&e GIS Vector #ata conce%t in Illustration +4
below.
,ow you try-
6ere are some ideas for you to try wit& your learners:
Using a co%y of a to%os&eet ma% for your local area *li)e t&e one s&own
in Illustration +5 below, see if your learners can identify e"am%les of t&e
different ty%es of vector data by &ig&lig&ting t&em on t&e ma%.
-&in) of &ow you would create vector features in a GIS to re%resent real
world features on your sc&ool grounds. :reate a table of different
features in and around your sc&ool and t&en tas) your learners to decide
w&et&er t&ey would be best re%resented in t&e GIS as a %oint line or
%olygon. See -able + below for an e"am%le.
+C
Illustration 1*: "his diagram sho,s ho, .I/ applications deal ,ith vector data.
;eal world feature Suitable Geometry -y%e
-&e sc&ool flag%ole
-&e soccer field
-&e foot%at&s in and around t&e
sc&ool
!laces w&ere ta%s are located
Etc.
"able 1: =reate a table like this (leaving the geometry type column empty) and
ask your learners to decide on suitable geometry types.
#omet%ing to t%in. about:
If you don0t &ave a com%uter available you can use a to%os&eet and
trans%arency s&eets to s&ow your learners about vector data.
/urt%er reading:
-&e $GIS User Guide also &as more detailed information on wor)ing wit& vector
data in $GIS.
'%at0s next*
In t&e section t&at follows we will ta)e a closer loo) at attribute data to see
&ow it can be used to describe vector features.
++
Illustration 1-: =an you identify t,o point features, four
line features and one polygon feature on this map>