GNR402: Introduction to Geographic Information

Systems: GIS Data Model: Vector and Topology

Surya S. Durbha, PhD

 Professor
CSRE, IITB

 Outline

❖ Background
❖ Vector Data Model

Outline
 Vector Data Model

❑ Used to represent points, lines, and areas

❑ All are represented using coordinates
o One per point
o Areas as polygons
▪ Straight lines between points, connecting back to the start
▪ Point locations recorded as coordinates
o Lines as polylines
▪ Straight lines between points

Point Line Polygon

Layer Layer Layer

 POLYGON STORAGE
❖ Type 1 (Nontopological)
❖ Every polygon is stored as a sequence of coordinates
❖ Common boundaries between two nearby areas are coded
twice once for each polygon
Type 2 (Topologically structure)
▪ Every arc is stored as a sequence of coordinates
▪ Areas are built by linking arcs
▪ Shared boundary is stored only once
▪ Used in most vector based GIS packages
Vector Data Base Creation
▪ Vector data is created by digitizing points and lines or by
scanning and vectorising or directly from other digital
sources
▪ Once vector data base is created, cleaning, editing and
building topology have to be carried out
▪ Building topology calculates and encodes relationship
between points, lines and areas

 23 Original Map
63 64
10
X

23 Map expressed in
63 Cartesian Coordinates
64
X
10 (Data Model)

Data Structure
Feature Number Location

Point 10 X,Y (Single Point)

Line 23 X1 Y1,X2 Y2,…,Xn Yn (String)

63 X1 Y1,X2 Y2,…,X1 Y1 (Closed Loop)

Polygon
64 X1 Y1,X2 Y2,…,Xn Yn (Data Structure)
Digitization Errors
 Vector Model: Topological

Bernhardsen, Tor. (1999). 2nd Ed. Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction. p. 62. fig. 4.12.
Polygon Topology Model
Polygon Topology Contiguity
 Variety of Vector Models

❑ Topological model (most common

❑ Triangulated irregular network (TIN
❑ Dime files and TIGER file
❑ Network mode
❑ Digital Line Graph (DLG
❑ Shapefile (ArcView/ArcGIS; ESRI
❑ Others: HPGL, PostScript/ASCII, CAD/.dxf
l

 Vector Model: TIN

Source: Demers, Michael. N. (2000). 2nd Ed. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems. p. 117.
fig 4.19. tessellation: a mosaic, typically consisting of small square stones
Source: Demers, Michael. N. (2000). 2nd Ed. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems. p. 117.

 Vector Model: Network

Source: Heywood, Ian and Sarah Cornelius and Steve Carver.

An Introduction to Geographical Information Systems. p. 60. fig. 3.14.

 Vector Data Models

❑ GIS Vector Data models has gone

significant changes over the last 2
decades.
❑ Coverage of Arc/Info
❑ Shape file of ArcView
❑ Geodatabase with ArcMap

 Vector Data Models

❑ GIS Vector Data models has gone

significant changes over the last 2
decades.
❑ Coverage of Arc/Info
❑ Shape file of ArcView
❑ Geodatabase with ArcMap

Brief history of ESRI’s GIS software evolution

Software Data Format Year

Arc/Info Coverage 1980’s

ArcView Shapefile 1990’s

ArcGIS 8 & 9 Geodatabase 2000’s

ArcGIS 10 Geodatabase 2010

 Common File Formats for Vector Spatial Data
❑ Coverage: vector data format introduced with ArcInfo in 1981
❑ multiple physical files (12 or so) in a folder
❑ proprietary: no published specs & ArcInfo required for changes
❑ Can be “exported” to a single E00 (E-zero-zero) file for transfer
❑ Shape ‘file’: vector data format introduced with ArcView in 1993
❑ comprises several (at least 3) physical disk files (with extension of .shp, .shx,
.dbf), all of which must be present
❑ openly published specs so other vendors can create shape files
❑ Geodatabase: new format introduced with ArcGIS 8.0 in 2000
❑ Multiple layers saved in a singe .mdb (MS Access-like) file
❑ Proprietary, “next generation” spatial data file format

Coverages Shapefiles Geodatabase

GISC 6382 Applied GIS UT-Dallas Briggs

 Georelational Data Model

❑ The Georelational Data

Model stores spatial(Geo)
and attribute
data(relation) separately in
a split syste
❑ Spatial data in ‘graphic
files’
❑ Attribute data in
‘relational database files’
❑ The link between the two
‘systems’ is usually a
“Feature Label” or ID

 Vector Data Models

❑ Coverage and shape files are examples of

Georelational models
❑ Geodatabase is an example of object-
based data model.

 GRDM: Simple Features

❑ The vector data model
uses the geometric objects
of point, line, and area to
represent simple spatial
features
❑ * Point has 0 dimension
and has the property
location. * Well,
Benchmarks, Gravel Pit
❑ * Line is one-dimensional
and has the property of
length
❑ * Area is two-dimensional
and has the properties of
area (size) and perimeter.
.

 Representation of points
❑ Point objects occupy very small area at
the scale at which the data are
represented. For example,
▪ Electric poles in a residential area
▪ Individual trees in a woodland
▪ Temples or schools in a town
▪ Capital cities in a map of the continent
▪ Junctions of roads

 GRDM: Point Coverage

❑ Typical data in a point data

structure
▪ Unique identifier
(generated by software)
▪ User assigned identifier
▪ x,y,z coordinates
▪ Feature code
▪ Polygon code (polygon
that contains this point)
▪ Identifiers of lines that
intersect at this point
Figure
❑ e.g. IIT 3.7 bus stop
Main Gate
in Powai
The data structure of
a point coverage.

Point
Unique identifier
Simple
Type of point Text
Node

Serial number
X,Y,Z coordinates
Associated display and topology information

For simple points

From P.A. Burrough and R.A
For text McDonnell’s book on GIS

For junctions of lines

User assigned identifier

Link to attribute database
Typical data structure to store point data in a GIS database
Typical data structure to store point data in a GIS database
 Data structure for points

❑ Data structure for a point should contain

at a minimum its location in 3-
dimensional space, and optionally
❑ Its feature code (symbol to be used for
display – place of religious worship,
restaurant, entertainment, bus or railway
station, …) and areal feature that
contains the point, line features that
meet at this point

 Representation of segments

❑ Segments can be viewed as chains of

points
❑ Segments are one-dimensional features
whose width is very small compared to
its length at the scale at which the data
are stored
❑ Segments are generic, can be straight or
curved lines

 Data structure for segments

❑ The data structure for segments should
store
❑ Unique identifier
❑ Chain of points on the segment
❑ Representation of the segment (color, line
style, thickness)
❑ Left and right polygons
❑ Other segments that meet this segment

 GRDM: Line Coverage

Figure 3.8
The data structure of a line
coverage.

 GRDM: Area Coverage

Figure 3.9
The data structure of a

 GRDM: Area Coverage

Figure 3.9
The data structure of a

 Non-spatial data with spatial objects

❑ Non-spatial data represents descriptive

information that pertains to the spatial
object as a whole, without referring to
any single location
❑ Examples of such attributes include
name, owner, area, perimeter, number of
beds in a hospital, number of students
enrolled in the school, etc.

 Non-spatial data for Bank facilities

S.ID U.ID X Y Z Forex Bank

01 ATM x1 y1 z1 N ICICI
02 Br. x2 y2 z2 Y SBI
03 Br. x3 y3 z3 Y Srswt
04 Br. x4 y4 z4 Y Can
05 ATM x5 y5 z5 N SBI
06 Br. x6 y6 z6 Y S.Ind

 Data structure for polygon

❑ SID : Unique id, generated by system - 32-bit unsigned
integer
❑ UID: User id, name given by user; may not be unique;
Type - string
❑ Number of segments
❑ Number of "holes"
❑ Area
❑ Perimeter
❑ Extent - minimum and maximum X,Y,Z
❑ Position for label (X,Y)
❑ Type of polygon - positive (normal polygon) or negative
(hole)
❑ SID of containing polygon (in case of hole)
❑ SID of corresponding opposite polygon (in case of hole)
❑ List of segment id's
❑ List of hole id's

 ESRI Coverage
Coverage: native GIS data structure for a vector layer in
ArcInfo
❑ fully topologica
o better suited for large data sets
o better suited for fancy spatial analyses
❑ comprises multiple physical file
▪ (12 or so) per coverage
▪ each coverage saved in a separate folder named same as the
coverage
▪ physical file set differs depending on type of coverage (point,
line, polygon).
▪ coverage folders stored in a “workspace” directory with an info
folder for tracking
▪ attribute tables stored there also
l

 Soil
POLYGON G T

ARC/INFO Spatial
Database Structure
(coverage)

INFO Soil

ARC AAT TIC BND ETC. PAT

These are the files we work with within ArcInfo:

--PAT: Polygon (or Point) attribute table
--AAT: Arc Attribute Table
--BND: bounding box
--TIC: tie coverage to real world location

 Vector Model: Shapefile (ArcGIS; ESRI)

This table represents examples of the shape types of
geographic features in a data set for a shapefile

•Shapefiles usually comprise 3 separate & distinct

types of files: main files, index files, and database
tables.
• main file (e.g., counties.shp) is a direct
access, variable record length file that
contains the shape as a list of vertices.
• index file (e.g., counties.shx) contains
character length & offset (spaces) information
for locating the values
• database table/dBase (e.g., counties.dbf) that
contains the attributes that describe the
shapes.
Source: Demers, Michael. N. (2000). 2nd Ed. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems. p. 114. fig
4.17.

 Shapefile Data Format

• Single feature class

• Attributes stored in dBASE table

Donut
shapefile Donut.dbf table

Shape field
accesses separate
coordinate files




 Shapefile Data Format

• Rapid display

• Non-topological

• Coincident Geometry
▪ Coincident geometry between features maintained using feature-
centric editing tools.

• Topological relationships between

features in different shapefiles assessed using ‘Select
by Theme’ and ‘Select by Location
 Problems with Shape Files

❑ The shapefile (and other file formats) have been the

standard way of storing and interacting with spatial data.



However, these “flat” files have the following disadvantages:



Files require special software to read and write. 



SQL is an abstraction for random data access and analysis. 



Without that abstraction, you will need to write all the access
and analysis code yourself.


http://workshops.opengeo.org/postgis-intro/introduction.html
 Problems with Shape Files

Concurrent users can cause corruption. 






While it’s possible to write extra code to ensure that multiple
writes to the same file do not corrupt the data, by the time
you have solved the problem and also solved the associated
performance problem, you will have written the better part of
a database system!!


http://workshops.opengeo.org/postgis-intro/introduction.html
 Computing Evolution

Internet Pervasive
Computing
Desktop

Workstation • Small Hardware

(Nano)
Mini • Wireless Internet
Source: ESRI, Inc. • Interoperable
Mainframe • Embedded

Object-Based Vector Data Model

 Differences between georelational data model
and object-based data model

❑ Object-based data model stores spatial and attribute

data of spatial features in a single system
❑ Spatial data are stored in a field using a data type
called “BLOB” (binary large object)
❑ Using a single system resolves some of the issues of
data storage and data file structure
❑ Object-based data model allows a spatial feature to be
associated with a set of properties and methods.
❑ A property describes an attribute or characteristic of
an object
❑ A method performs a specific action

Chang, Kang-tsung. 2010. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Toronto.

 Classes and Class Relationships

Object
Anything that can be seen or touched.
Objects have attributes and behaviors.
Properties
Attributes are characteristics that describe objects.
They are also called data or properties.
Text.Font = Arial
Operations (actions)
An object’s behaviors are called operations that either
the object can perform or can be performed on.
Table.AddRecord

Chang, Kang-tsung. 2010. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Toronto.

 Example
❑ Class Pointer
//Propertie
Double length
Double Width
String Color
//Constructo
Public Pointer
// Initialize with some value

// Method
Void OnClickMiddleButton
// Method detail

Void OnClickLeftButton 
// Method detail
}
}

 ❑ Pointer MSPointer=New Pointer()

MSPointer.Color="Blue"
MSPointer.Length=8.2
Class PointerNew Extends Pointer
String Texture
String Material
Void controlProjector ()
//related cod

 PointerNew ZoomCompanyPointer = New PointerNew()

}
}

 CLASSES
❑ A class is a set of objects with similar
attributes.
❑ A class defines the properties and methods of
the objects that a members of that class.
❑ For example: a class called feature can cover
point, line and polygon feature objects.
❑ The feature class defines the same properties
and same methods for all three types of
objects.
Chang, Kang-tsung. 2010. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Toronto.

 Relationships
Inheritance: defines relationship between a superclass and
a subclass.
▪ A subclass is a member of a superclass, inheriting
properties and methods of the superclass.
▪ Subclass can have additional properties and methods
separating it from other members of the superclass.
Example: a residential area is a member of ‘built-up’
superclass but is separated from other members of that
class by lot size
Instantiation – an object of a class can be created from an
object of another class.
Example – a high-density residential area object can be
created from a residential area object.
Chang, Kang-tsung. 2010. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Toronto.

 Interface Poly
// Propertie
Int sides
String color

// Method
Double Area (coordinates 

Return area

Double Perimeter()

Double Centroid ()
{

 Class Polygon implemnts Poly

// Propertie
Int sides
String color

// Method
Double Area (coordinates 

Double Perimeter()

Double Centroid ()
}
{
}

Polygon WaterBody = New Polygon()

Double wArea, wPeri
WArea=Waterbody.area(water body
coordinates)
Class ExtdPoly Extends Polygon
/Method to check polygon with a hol

}
;

 Interfaces

An interface is a set of externally visible operations of an

objec
Defines the communication boundary between two entities,
such as a piece of software, a hardware device, or a use
Properties and methods of the object may be hidden so an
‘interface’ is necessary to work with the properties and
methods – not necessarily with the object itself
t

 A Feature object implements the IFeature interface. IFeature has

access to the properties of Extent and Shape and the method of
Delete. Object-oriented technology uses symbols to represent
interface, property, and method. The symbols for the two properties
are different in this case because Extent is a read-only property
whereas Shape is a read and write property.

 A Geodataset object supports IGeodataset and

an Envelope object supports IEnvelope.

Chang, Kang-tsung. 2010. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Toronto.

 GeoDatabase: Data Structure

❑ The Geodatabase Data Model distinguishes between
“feature class” and “feature dataset”
❑ Feature class stores spatial data of the same geometry
type
❑ Feature dataset stores feature classes that share the
same coordinate system and area extent.
❑ Like a coverage, it has multiple data sets
❑ Unlike a coverage, it can contain different theme
layers (coverages only contain different parts of a
single layer)
❑ A feature class does not have to be included in a feature
dataset – a ‘stand alone’ feature class
❑ Feature classes included in a feature dataset ‘share’
topological relationships with each other

http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/geodatabase/index.html

 Geodatabase
• Stores tables, feature classes, feature datasets, and
more
• Tables
o Non-spatial referred to as object class.
o A collection of attribute rows and columns
• Feature class
o A collection of features feature
o Conceptually like a shapefile dataset

• Feature dataset feature classes

o A collection of feature classes
o Conceptually like a coverage table

• Rules, attribute subtypes and domains, relationships

http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisserver/9.3/java/index.htm#geodatabases/
topology_basics.htm
 Feature Classes
Feature Class Table

Lateral Water Lines

A row stores feature

OID Shape Type …….

583 X,Y,Z,M Domestic …….
(BLOB)
… ………… ………… …….

BLOB: Binary Large Object Block

GISC 6382 Applied GIS 59

Differences between georelational data model and object-based

data model

❑ Object-based data model stores spatial and attribute

data of spatial features in a single system
❑ Spatial data are stored in a field using a data type
called “BLOB” (binary large object)
❑ Using a single system resolves some of the issues of
data storage and data file structure
❑ Object-based data model allows a spatial feature to be
associated with a set of properties and methods.
❑ A property describes an attribute or characteristic of
an object
❑ A method performs a specific action

Chang, Kang-tsung. 2010. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Toronto.

 Opensource :GeoTools
❑ GeoTools is an open source (LGPL) Java code library
which provides standards compliant methods for the
manipulation of geospatial data, for example to
implement Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
❑ The GeoTools library implements Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC) specifications as they are
developed

http://geotools.org/

 What is the geodatabase?

• Database of geographic objects
o Objects have properties and behaviors
• Properties stored in database
o Feature geometry and attributes
o Rules, relationships, classifications, metadata
• Behaviors implemented by client
o ArcGIS software operates on properties
o Geodatabase integrity enforced by clients
 Benefits of the Geodatabase
Central Repository for
All GIS data
Continuous sets Data Integrity:
of features Domains
Subtypes
Rule-based
Topology Smart Features

Edit topologically Geodatabase Advanced Feature

integrated features Geometry

Feature-linked Disconnected
Annotation Editing*

UML/CASE Tools Scalability*

Multi-user Editing*
Geometric
(Versioning)* *Enterprise Geodatabase
Networks
(ArcSDE)

 GeoDatabase

Image Source: http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/winter0809articles/the-

geodatabase.html
 Spatial Database:What is PostGIS?

PostGIS turns PostgreSQL into a spatial

database by adding the threeIs it a key
Geodatabase?
features: spatial types, spatial indexes
and spatial functions.
PostGIS is built on PostgreSQL, it
automatically inherits important
“enterprise” features from
PostgreSQL: transaction guarantees,
reliability, crash recovery, hot backup,
replication, full SQL support  
http://revenant.ca/www/postgis/workshop/introduction.html



 Spatial Database
❑ Most users of PostGIS are setting up systems where
multiple applications will be expected to access the
data, so having a standard SQL access method
simplifies deployment and development
❑ Some users are working with large data sets; with
files, they might be segmented into multiple files,
but in a database they can be stored as a single
large table
❑ combination of support for multiple users, complex
ad hoc queries, and performance on large data sets
are what sets spatial databases apart from file-
based systems.
.

 Spatial Database: R-Tree

Image Source: http://workshops.opengeo.org/postgis-spatialdbtips/

introduction.html#introduction
 Real World Spatial Databases

There are three spatial databases you might

use with more-or-less equivalent functionality:
o Oracle RDBMS with Spatial or Locator
o SQL Server 2008 with Spatial
o PostgreSQL with PostGIS

Image Source: http://workshops.opengeo.org/postgis-spatialdbtips/

introduction.html#introduction

 Spatial Database: PostGIS

What are the schools within

5km of this house?"

SELECT the_geom, school_name FROM schools WHERE

ST_DWithin(the_geom, 'POINT(100312 102312)',5000)

ISource: http://workshops.opengeo.org/postgis-spatialdbtips/introduction.html#introduction
 Spatial Database: PostGIS

http://postgis.refractions.net/docs/ch04.html

Image Source: http://workshops.opengeo.org/postgis-spatialdbtips/introduction.html#introduction

Topology
 Typical Spatial Queries

A.WATER CONSERVATION

❑ Name the block/panchayat to which a selected watershed belongs

when a district map on display contains only the watershed boundaries.
❑ Name the watershed where a selected hydro-meteorological station
or a groundwater monitoring station is located on a display map.
❑ Name all the villages that fall in a selected watershed

 Spatial Queries – Landuse Planning

LANDUSE PLANNING
❑ Name the owner of a selected piece or land on a land ownership map
or cadastral map displayed on the monitor.
❑ Name all the villages each having at least an area of x% of the total
under wastelands and lying in a radius of y kms, from a selected point
on the display.
❑ List the name of the landowners of plots lying within a distance of x
kms, from a canal or a road or a stream.
❑ Who are landowners affected by the submergence of cultivable land
due increase in dam height or realignment of an old highway or laying
of a new one?

 Topology
Science and mathematics of geometric relationships
Simple features + topological rules
Connectivity
Adjacency
Shared nodes / edges
Topology uses
Data validation
Spatial analysis (e.g. network tracing, polygon adjacency)

 Topology

❑ Mechanism that allows features in the same or

different feature classes to share geometry
❑ Set of editing tools that works with features in an
integrated fashion
❑ Physical data models for feature data
❑ Set of validation rules for geographic features
❑ Mechanism for navigating between features
using topological relationships

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf

These relationships (called topological

properties) are invariant under a
continuous transformation, referred to as
a topological mapping.
 Topology
Representation Of Topology
❑ The key to a GIS data structure, as distinct from
cartographic databases, is the emphasis on coding
of relationships between objects
❑ Mathematically topological properties are those that
are preserved when an object is stretched or
distorted and therefore distinct from geometrical
properties
❑ Sample relationships between objects
▪ Nearest to Contained within Crosses Is
connected to
❑ Two specific relationships encoded in GIS
▪ Relationships in networks
▪ Relationships between areas

Rubber sheet transformation: The space is

transformed, yet many relationships between the
constituents remain unchanged.
Arc-Node Topology
 Arc-Node Topology
RELATIONSHIPS IN NETWORKS
Network contains:
❑ Points (nodes), and lines(arcs)
❑ Nodes - also known as junctions or intersections
❑ Arcs - also known as links, edges
❑ Data to be stored
❑ Arc coordinates (x1,y1), ..., (xn,yn)
❑ Arc attributes - to-node, from-node, length, other
attributes
❑ Node record: (x,y) coordinates, and connected
arcs - +ve if to-node, -ve if from-node (or vice
versa)

Arc-Node Topology

http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.2/published_images/
Topology%20concept%201.GIF
 Arc-Node Topology
RELATIONSHIPS IN NETWORKS
B

1 3
D
2
A
4
5
C

Arcs To From Nodes Arcs

1 B A A -1 5
2 C B B -3 -2 1
3 D B C 4 2 -5
4 C D D -4 3
5 A C

Adopt a convention – incoming arc +ve,

outgoing arc –ve or vice versa










 Queries

GIS can answer the following questions:

What is at a given location?

Where does it occur?

What is nearby?

What trends are occurring?

What happens .if.?











 PolygonTopology

http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.2/published_images/
Topology%20concept%203.GIF
 Polygon Topology
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN AREAS
c
1 · C
6
A
2

3 ·b
5
· d
·a
B
4

POLYGON ATTRIBUTE TABLE

-----------------------------------------------------------
S.Id ATTRIB. 1 ATTRIB.2 ...
A
B
C
-----------------------------------------------------------





 Polygon Topology
ARC ATTRIBUTE TABLE
ARCS R L FROM TO
------------------------------------------------------------------
1 0 A c a
2 A C c b
3 A B b a
4 0 B a d
5 B C b d
6 0 C d c
------------------------------------------------------------------
0 IS THE OUTER AREA

ARC GEOMETRY
1 (x1,y1), (x2,y2), ... , (xn,yn)
2 (p1,q1), (p2,q2), ... , (pm,qm)
3 (r1,s1), (r2,s2), ... , (rk,sk)
...

Geodatabase Topology

http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/summer02articles/
summer02gifs/p1p2-lg.gif
 Geodatabase Topology

❑ In ArcGIS topology is not based on a single

physical model such as the coverage.
❑ Topology has been generalized to operate in
large, continuous databases, and the
implementation is not tied to a specific physical
data structure such as the coverage.
❑ Topology is basically for ensuing data quality
and aid data compilation.
❑ Enables to model integrated behavior of
different feature types ( i.e. the shared
geometry)

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf

 Geodatabase Topology
❑ Features can share geometry within topology in the
following ways:
❑ Line features can share end points (arc-node topology)
❑ Area features can share boundaries (polygon topology)
❑ Line features can share segments with other line features ( route
topology)
❑ Area features can be coincident with other area features (region
topology)
❑ Line features can share endpoint vertices with point features (node
topology)
❑ Point features can share geometry with line features.

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf

Creating Topology in ArcGIS

 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Geodatabase Topology

www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geodatabase-topology.pdf
 Opensource :GeoTools
❑ GeoTools is an open source (LGPL) Java code library
which provides standards compliant methods for the
manipulation of geospatial data, for example to
implement Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
❑ The GeoTools library implements Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC) specifications as they are
developed

http://geotools.org/

 COMPARISON OF RASTER AND

VECTOR DATA MODELS
Raster Model Vector Model

Advantages Advantages

1. It is a simple data structure 1. It provides a more compact data

structure than the raster model
2. Overlay operations are easily and 2. It provides efficient encoding of
efficiently implemented topology, and, as a result, more
efficient implementation of
operations that require topological
information, such as network
analysis
3. High spatial variability is efficiently 3. The vector model is better suited to
represented in a raster format supporting graphics that closely
approximate hand-drawn maps

4. The raster format is more or less required

for efficient manipulation and enhancement of
digital images


















RASTER MODEL
Disadvantages
1. The raster data structure is less
compact. Data compression
techniques can often overcome this
problem
2. Topological relationships are more
difficult to represent
3. The output of graphics is less
aesthetically pleasing because
boundaries tend to have a blocky
appearance rather than the smooth
lines of hand drawn maps. This can
be overcome by using a very large
number of cells, but may result in
unacceptable, large files
VECTOR MODEL
Disadvantages
1. It is more complex data structure
than a simple raster
2. Spatial operations are more
difficult to implement
3. The representation of high spatial
variability is inefficient
4. Manipulation and enhancement of
digital images cannot be effectively done
in the vector domain

 APPLICATIONS

❖ Vector Models are used in transportation, utility and

marketing applications

❖ Raster Models are used in resources management

applications
‘Much of the life of the mind consists in applying concepts to things’
(Fodor 1998:24)