Geographical Information

By. Tekalign ketema

Describing geographic phenomena
 Geographical information is made up of two
components.
1. Location information of geographic entities
2. Their characteristics or attributes
Geographic / spatial data
 Geographic location is expressed in a two-dimensional
frame, by two coordinate axes on a horizontal plane. They
can be X and Y. The horizontal coordinate axes are
defined along the east-west and north-south directions.

 One vertical axis (Z), together with the X and Y

coordinates will define the location in a three-dimensional
frame. The vertical axis will represent the elevation of the
point. The vertical dimension may be defined by any
other attribute as well. For example temperature and
rainfall can replace elevation as the vertical dimension.
Cont…
 The third dimension can be used to generate a three-
dimensional surface, which shows the continuous
variation of a value attached to the third dimension.
 Most geographic phenomena can be described under

the three major feature (entity) types.

They are as follows:
Points, lines, and polygons (areas)
 These are the three data primitives
Cont…
 Point, line or polygon data can be used to generate a
three-dimensional surface. When elevation is used as
the third dimension, the surface generated is called
the digital elevation model (DEM) or digital
terrain model (DEM).
Non-Geographic or Attribute data

 non-spatial or attribute data, which represents

some property of the spatial entity.
 attributes are the characteristics of the

geographical entities.
 Attribute Data Types in a Spatial Information

System fall into one of the following

categories.
Cont…
1) Nominal Attribute Data
Qualitative with discrete states but no specific order.
No numerical value.
Ex. Rock type ( granite, marble, gneiss)
Soil type ( alluvial,

2) Ordinal Attribute Data

Variables are listed as discrete classes and are ordered.
Numerical value can be assigned to each state to show the
magnitude.
The value assigned will give the relative magnitude of the attribute
but the distance between states is not defined.
Ex. Soil drainage ( poorly drained, moderately drained, well
drained)
Numerical codes can be assigned as 1,2,3
Cont…
3) Interval Attribute Data
Has a natural sequence and the distance between values has
a meaning.
Data zero is arbitrary
ex. Temperature in C or F scales. The Zero in these scales is
arbitrary.

4) Ratio Attribute Data

Same as interval but has natural zero.
Ex. Temperature in Kelvin. Here 0K means absolute zero.

5) Narrative Attribute Data descriptions

Identification by given names
ex. Place names on maps such as Colombo, Nawala etc.
Cont…
Feature (entity) -----------------Attributes
 Mountain (Point) ------------Name, height above MSL etc.
 Stream (Line)---------------- Name, length, discharge etc.
 District (Polygon) -----------Name, area, population etc