1.

Raster data
Raster data is made up of pixels (or cells), each pixel having a specific associated value to it. A
digital photograph is an example of a raster dataset where each pixel value corresponds to a
particular colour.
A digital photograph is an example of a raster dataset where each pixel value corresponds to a
particular colour. In CAC, the pixel values may represent elevation above sea level, or soil
concentrations, or rainfall etc where all of this data is represented as a grid of (usually square)
cells.
The spatial resolution of the raster data set is determined by the size of the cell, these cells are
used to represent geographic data in CAC.
Some of the raster formats include;
 ECW – Enhanced Compressed Wavelet (from ERDAS
 Esri grid –ASCII raster formats used by ESRI
 ADRG – ARC Digitized Raster Graphics
 ECRG – Enhanced Compressed ARC Raster Graphics
 RPF – Raster Product Format, military
 DRG – Digital raster graphic

2. Vector data
Vector data consists of individual points, which (for 2D data) are stored as pairs of (x, y) co-
ordinates. The points may be joined in a particular order to create lines, or joined into closed
rings to create polygons, but all vector data fundamentally consists of lists of co-ordinates that
define vertices, together with rules to determine whether and how those vertices are joined.
Vectors models are used to store data, which have discrete boundaries like country borders, land
parcels and roads in Computer Aided Cartography

Characteristic of Points:
 Represented as a single ‘dot ‘on the map.
 Points are used to indicate discrete locations.
 They usually have a single X, Y coordinate.
 Used to represent a feature that is too small to be displayed as a line or area.
Characteristic of Polylines:
  Ordered sets of points that have the look of a straight line or a curved arc depending upon
the feature it describes
 They have a length but no width
 They are used to represent a geographical feature that is too narrow to have area, such as
a stream or a road.
Characteristic of a Polygon:
 Closed features whose boundary encloses a homogenous area
 Have an area that is given by the arcs/lines that make the boundary
 Are used to represent features that have area

Some of the storage formats for vector data include;

 AutoCAD DXF –AutoCAD DXF format by Autodesk
 DLG – Digital Line Graph (USGS format)
 MapInfo TAB format – MapInfo’s vector data format
 Shapefile – Vector data developed by Esri
 TIGER – Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
 (VPF) – Vector Product Format

Whereas raster data must consist of an array of regularly spaced cells, the points in a vector
dataset need not be regularly spaced.
Advantages and Disadvantages of these data formats in CAC include;
 Raster can portray continuously varying data more effectively and can analyze multiple
layers of data easily in a map.
 Raster offers a wide range of visualization and analysis.
 Raster data model record value of all the points of the area covered which required more
data storage than model represented by the vector model.
 Raster data is less expensive to create computationally compare to vector graphics.
 Raster data has issue while overlaying multiple images.
 Vector data are easily overlaid, for example overlaying roads, rivers, land use are easier
than raster data.
  Vector data are easier to scale, re-project or register.
 Vector data are more compatible with the relational database management system.
 Vector file sizes are much smaller than raster image file.
 Vector data are easier to update like adding river stream but has to be recreated for the
raster image.

1. Do you want to work with pixels or coordinates? Raster data works with pixels. Vector
data consists of coordinates.
2. What is your map scale? Vectors can scale objects up to the size of a billboard. But you
don’t get that type of flexibility with raster data
3. Do you have restrictions for file size? Raster file size can result larger in comparison
with vector data sets with the same phenomenon and area.

Q2
A computer could present information just as spoken audio and we could interact back with it by
the same way, but if we don’t get the proper visual feedback it would be pretty tough to get the
interaction to be right and efficient.
Computer graphics is the art and design of drawing pictures on a computer screen with the help
of programming. It involves computation, creation, and manipulation of the data involved for
presentation. It is essentially a rendering tool for the generation and manipulation of images.
Computer cartography deals with the diagrammatic representation of data as well as conversion
of topographic variability and other aspects to 2 dimensional plane. This can only be achieved
effectively in a visual manner.
In this way, Computer graphics is very important as it offers one of the most useful ways of
presenting the processed geographical information by a computer system. The following are
some of the ways computer graphics has contributed to the advancement of Computer Aided
Cartography (CAC).

1. Visualization
It is well known that the visual system is the sense we humans use more extensively to perceive
the world as it is, and enables us to understand it and interact with it. In this regard, a computer
includes a visual way of presenting information to us, and that’s thanks to computer graphics.
Computer Cartography uses computer graphics to display maps and communicate the map’s
message to the user effectively and in an exciting way.
2. Design
Professions such as engineering and architecture are concerned with design. Although their
applications vary, most designers face similar difficulties and use similar methodologies. One of
the principal characteristics of most design problems is the lack of a unique solution. Hence, the
designer will examine a potential design and then will modify it, possibly many times, in an
attempt to achieve a better solution. Computer graphics has become an indispensable element in
this iterative process.
3. Display of information
Graphics has always been associated with the display of information. Examples of the use of
orthographic projections to display floorplans of buildings can be found in ancient tablets and
stones. With the advancement of computer technology and graphics, software packages that
allow interactive design of charts incorporating color, multiple data sets, and alternate plotting
methods have become the norm
4. Allows Simulation
Some of the most impressive and familiar uses of computer graphics can be classified as
simulations. Video maps demonstrate both the visual appeal of computer graphics and our ability
to generate complex imagery in real time. The computer-generated images have advanced to the
point that they are almost indistinguishable from real-world images, and this is thanks to
advancement in graphics.

5. Improvement of User Interfaces

The interface between the human and the computer has been radically altered by the use of
computer graphics. Consider the automated cartography, a cartographer sits at a workstation,
rather than at a desk equipped with a manual plotter. This cartographer has a pointing device,
such as a mouse, that allows him to communicate with the workstation. The display consists of a
number of icons that represent the various operations they can perform.

Although they never write graphics programs, multitudes of computer users in the Computer
Aided Drafting field use and benefit greatly from computer graphics.