Geocoding

geocoding

process of transforming description of a location into geographic coordinates that can be mapped

what are some text based descriptions of a location

• postal code

• address

• place name

what are geocoding output

features with attributes that can be saved, mapped, and analyzed

what is an advantage of geocoding 

you can quickly find locations 

how is geocoding done

by comparing the descriptive location elements in the address to those present in the reference material (locator)

geocoding can be thought of as

address matching

what are some geocodable locations

• cities based on addresses

• landmarks using coordinates

• business names

describe the 4 step geocoding process 

1. input data 

• either an address or list of locations 

2. reference data (locator)

• using a locator dataset to match input address to real world locations 

3. matching 

• geocoding engine tries to match each address/place name with a location in the reference dataset 

4. output 

• result is a new feature layer with points on the map of each geo coordinate and additional attributes 

what are some examples of locator data

• street network

• address points

• place names

what are some uses of geocoding

• data analysis

• distribution techniques

• business and customer management

how is geocoding crucial for customer data management 

you can take customer information and create a map of their locations to show where your customers are 

how can a map of your customers be used

• marketing strategies

• targeting specific clusters of customers

• producing route maps and directions

how is an address put on a street

the address must be estimated onto the line based on their value and where that falls in the range of values

describe how odd and even numbers are distributed on a street

odd on one side and even on the other

what does NOT require estimation to place and why

land parcels - they have a street number of parcel number for each parcel  

what does a single input field store

the COMPLETE address

when are multiple fields supported

if the input addresses are split into multiple fields :

• address

• city

• state

can you have a single input field AND a field that stores the country 

YES 

what is the output feature class saved in terms of spatial reference

the SAME spatial reference as the address locator

how can the spatial reference of the output feature class be changed

in the tool’s environmental settings

what does the output feature class store as a default

a copy of the input address and additional information (score, status…)

what tools allows the address to be rematched 

rematch address tool OR rematch address

when will editing address in the input address table NOT change the result in the output feature class

once the matching process finishes and the feature class is created

what is a locator

database of location in a city, county, province…

what are locators often based on

street network with address information in it

what must you do during the creation of the locator 

what format and what information is required to geocode data 

what are some common elements of addresses

• left or right number range

• street name

• prefix

• suffix

what is field mapping

process of telling the locator what information the network has in it

contrast a physically connected intersection and a non physically connected intersection 

physically connected - formed when two street segments physically cross each other

non physically connected - street intersection that are not physically connected but are separated by elevation

what is a disconnected intersection

intersection formed when one disconnected street ends within a certain distance of another but they DONT physically connect

what is the distance called in a disconnected intersection

distance tolerance

special kind of disconnected intersection

roundabout

is the roundabout ever named 

NO - streets are though 

why is a roundabout a disconnected intersection

the participating streets don’t connect directly to each other, instead connected to the roundabout, but are within the distance tolerance