Geo-Information Tools: Application Building Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering GIS project building, data handling, proximity analysis, DEM derivatives, and cost-distance modeling.

Light Rail Project

A hypothetical case study used in the course to find the best route for a light rail tram connecting Wageningen to Rhenen under specific constraints.

Project Phase: Concept

The early stage of a project where the general idea and goals are established before formalization.

Application

A software program or group of models that enables the performance of a range of tasks or components within a project.

Component

A practical division of an application into specific work packages that can be implemented sequentially and linked.

Step (st)

A sequential unit within a component, represented by data-action scripts or specific implementation tasks.

Component A: Data Preparation

The phase focused on pre-processing, which includes cleaning, integrating, transforming, and reducing project source data.

Component B: Suitability Corridor

The task of generating a suitability map using weight or cost factors to find a route with the least resistance.

Component C: Editing

Revision of the light rail route to ensure it follows a logical path through populated areas rather than just a calculated one.

Component D: Population Reach

Implementation of the criterion that the light rail must serve $70\%$ of the population of Wageningen within walking distance.

Component E: Calculate Costs

Computing the approximate monetary economic cost of construction based on specific requirements and structures.

Component F: Visualize

The presentation of the proposed route through conventional maps and internet presentations.

Data Pre-processing

The process of preparing project source data for the entire application by addressing errors, shape, and formats.

TOP10NL

A digital topographic data source from the Dutch Kadaster used for land use and infrastructure information.

Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

A main data source used to characterize bare-earth terrain, represented as continuous elevation values.

CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics)

The source used for neighborhood neighborhood areas and census data to assess population reach parameters.

ps_ prefix

A standardized naming convention for Project Source data.

pr_ prefix

A standardized naming convention for Project Results intended for stakeholders.

Project Geodatabase

A storage location for data that is always important during the entire project, such as project sources and results.

Component Geodatabase

A geodatabase for data that is important across several components but may become redundant after execution.

Step Geodatabase

A geodatabase for data that is specific to a single step and can be cleared once that step is finished.

Data Handling Classification

The grouping of tools into classes such as Queries, Transformations, and Alterations.

Queries

Tools that work on features or tables without modifying the entity, meaning the set of attributes stays the same.

Overlays

Tools that modify both geometry and attributes, resulting in features with a different entity than the original inputs.

Select Tool

Extracts features or records from an input feature class based on an expression and stores them in a new class.

Select By Attributes

A query that extracts features or records according to a Structured Query Language (SQL) expression.

Select By Location

A spatial query that selects features based on their relationship (e.g., intersect) to features in another dataset.

Table Select

Selects table records matching an SQL expression and writes them to an output table.

Copy Features Tool

A tool used to save selection results that currently exist only in memory to a permanent feature class.

Table View

A temporary in-memory selection of a table used to view or update records without creating a new file.

Clip Tool

An extraction tool that cuts out a piece of one dataset using another dataset as a cookie cutter, leaving attributes unchanged.

Erase Tool

A tool that overlays input features with erase features and copies only the portions falling outside the erase boundary.

Merge Tool

Combines multiple input datasets of the same type into a single new output dataset by concatenating the features.

Append Tool

Adds multiple input datasets into an existing target dataset rather than creating a new one.

Delete Identical

Modifies input data by deleting records that have identical values in specified fields or identical geometry.

Lookup Table (LUT)

A reclassification table matching repeated entries to common meanings or values, such as assigning Suitability weights to land use codes.

TDN code

The Topographic Service of the Netherlands code used to describe Dutch land use types.

Attribute Join

The enrichment of a feature class with attributes from another table based on common attribute values.

Spatial Join

The enrichment of one feature class with attributes of another based on spatial relationships like intersection or distance.

1:1 Join

A join relationship where one record in the target table corresponds to exactly one record in the join table.

M:1 Join

A join relationship where many records in the target table match a single record in the join table.

Identity (Overlay)

Computes a geometric intersection where the output keeps all input primitives and receives attributes from the identity features.

Union (Overlay)

A polygon-only operation that keeps all primitives from all input feature classes and joins their attributes.

Update (Overlay)

A polygon operation that computes the intersection and replaces the input geometry with that of the update feature class.

Symmetrical Difference

An overlay that removes primitives spatially common to both feature classes, keeping only those that are unique to one.

Proximity Analysis

GIS analysis designed to examine spatial relationships and answer what features are near others.

Buffer

A proximity tool that creates a polygon at a specified distance around input point, line, or polygon features.

Dissolve (Buffer Option)

An option that erases overlapping boundaries in buffer results to create a single multipart feature or grouped features.

Multipart Feature

A single feature in a GIS dataset that consists of multiple separate geometric parts.

Near Tool

Calculates the distance and ID of the closest feature from one feature class to another and adds them to the input table.

Generate Near Table

Calculates distances between features and writes the results to a separate table, allowing for multiple near features per record.

Expand (Raster Tool)

A tool that performs a buffer-like operation on rasters by expanding specified cells by a given number of pixels.

Generalization

The method used in GIS to reduce detail in data to represent a manageable version at a smaller scale.

Aggregation

A generalization tool that combines polygons within a specified distance into new, less-detailed polygons.

Simplification

A tool that reduces the number of vertices in a line or polygon feature to speed up processing while maintaining shape.

Ramer–Douglas–Peucker Algorithm

A specific method for simplification that removes redundant vertices based on a defined tolerance distance.

Integrate Tool

An editing tool where vertices within a specified x,y tolerance of one another are assigned the same coordinate location.

Snap Tool

A tool that moves vertices or segments to exactly coincide with another vertex, segment, or endpoint.

Digital Surface Model (DSM)

A representation of height values that includes surface objects like vegetation and buildings.

Digital Terrain Model (DTM)

Also called a Digital Terrain Relief Model, it represents only the bare-earth terrain, void of surface objects.

SRTM

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; a NASA mission that obtained near-global elevation data using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar.

Copernicus DEM

A European and global elevation dataset available in GLO-30 and GLO-90 instances since 2019.

AHN

Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland; the high-resolution LiDAR-based elevation model of the Netherlands.

LiDAR

Light Detection and Ranging; a technology using laser pulses from planes to measure distances to the ground and surface objects.

First Return Pulse

In LiDAR, the pulse reflection from the top of vegetation or surface objects.

Second Return Pulse

In LiDAR, the pulse reflection that penetrates vegetation to reach the ground below.

Elevation (Derivative)

A DEM derivative used for cost damage estimates or air temperature modeling.

Slope (Derivative)

A DEM derivative measuring surface steepness, with values $> 6\%$ being avoided in the Light Rail Project.

Aspect

A DEM derivative representing the compass direction of a slope, influencing local climate and vegetation.

Sink

A raster cell with an undefined drainage direction because all surrounding cells are higher.

Fill Tool

A hydrologic tool that raises cell values to remove sinks and imperfections, creating a hydrologically corrected DEM.

Flow Direction

A tool identifying the drainage direction from each cell to its steepest downslope neighbor, coded $1$ to $128$.

Flow Accumulation

A tool that calculates accumulated flow as the total number of cells draining into each downslope cell.

Potential Wet Area

Identified in the project by using the Fill tool in combination with subtraction from the original DEM.

Con Tool

A conditional tool that performs an if/else evaluation on raster cells to select or recode values.

Region Group

A raster tool that identifies connected cells of the same type and assigns each discrete region a unique number.

Zonal Statistics

A tool that calculates a single output value (e.g., mean) for every zone defined by an input dataset.

Model Documentation

The use of parameters, labels, and metadata to explain the functionality and logic of a ModelBuilder model.

Vector to Raster Conversion

The process of transforming features into pixels, which results in the inherent loss of some spatial information.

Cell Assignment: Maximum Area

A raster conversion method where the cell value is determined by the feature that occupies the largest area of the cell.

Snap Raster

A geoprocessing environment setting that ensures the cell footprints of output rasters align exactly with a specific input raster.

Raster to Polygon

A conversion tool used to transform discrete raster zones into vector features for further analysis.

Mosaic to New Raster

A tool used to combine multiple adjacent or overlapping rasters into a single generic weight raster.

First Come First Serve

A mosaic operator where overlapping areas receive values from the first raster dataset listed in the source.

Nominal Scale

A measurement scale used for classification with no inherent order, such as land use TDN codes.

Ordinal Scale

A measurement scale where data can be ranked, such as checking if one area is more or less suitable than another.

Interval Scale

A measurement scale relative to an arbitrary zero, used for data types like dates.

Ratio Scale

A measurement scale relative to an absolute zero, used for counts, percentages, and monetary prices.

Euclidean Distance

The straight-line (air) distance from each cell to the closest source location.

Euclidean Direction

Calculates the direction in degrees from each cell to the nearest source.

Euclidean Allocation

Assigns each cell a value indicating its nearest source based on straight-line distance.

Cost Distance Tool

Determines the shortest weighted distance (accumulated travel cost) from each cell to the nearest source over a cost surface.

Cost Back Link

An output raster that identifies which neighbor is the next cell on the least-accumulative cost path back to the source.

Cost Allocation

Calculates for each cell the nearest source based on the least-accumulative cost over a cost surface.

Cost Path tool

Calculates the single least-cost travel route from a specific destination to a source using cost distance and backlink inputs.

Cost Connectivity

A tool that produces the least-cost connectivity network (paths) linking two or more input regions.

Corridor Tool

Calculates the sum of two accumulated cost rasters to identify alternative potential routes between a source and a destination.

Slice Tool

A tool used to divide a raster into zones (e.g., $100$ zones) based on Equal Interval or Equal Area methods.

Iterator

A ModelBuilder tool that automates repetitive workflows by looping through values, rows, or files.

For Iterator

An iterator that repeats a process across a range of values, such as calculating buffers at every $500\,m$ interval.

Iterate Field Value

An iterator that loops through each unique field value, such as creating a separate feature class for every unique TDN code.