GIS Final

Cartography: The art and science of making maps, involving the design, creation, and interpretation of maps to represent geographic information.

Layers: In GIS (Geographic Information Systems), layers represent different types of spatial data. Each layer displays a particular type of information (such as roads, rivers, or political boundaries) overlaid on the same geographic area.

Feature: A spatial object or entity that represents a specific geographic phenomenon, such as a point, line, or polygon, in GIS.

Feature Class: A collection of similar features stored in a database or file system. Each feature class has a defined geometry type (point, line, or polygon) and associated attributes.

Field Calculator: A tool used in GIS to perform calculations or transformations on data stored in fields (attributes) within a feature class or table. It allows users to create or modify attribute values.

Surface: A type of raster data representing continuous geographic phenomena, such as elevation, temperature, or rainfall, that can vary across space.

Shapefile: A widely used file format for storing vector data in GIS, consisting of a set of files with extensions such as .shp (geometry), .shx (index), and .dbf (attribute data).

Vector Data: A type of spatial data that represents geographic features using points, lines, and polygons to model real-world objects like cities, roads, and lakes.

Raster Data: A type of spatial data represented by a grid of cells or pixels, each containing a value (such as elevation, land cover, or temperature).

Map Projection: A method of representing the curved surface of the Earth on a flat plane. Different projections distort certain spatial properties, such as area, distance, or shape, to varying degrees.

Hue: The color aspect of a color model, which corresponds to the wavelength of light. In GIS, hues are often used in color maps to represent data values, such as red for high values and blue for low values.

Value: In color models, value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. In GIS, it can represent the magnitude of a variable, like elevation or temperature, on a color scale.

Choropleth Map: A thematic map where areas (like countries, states, or districts) are shaded or patterned in proportion to the value of a particular variable (e.g., population density or income level).

Data Precision: The level of detail or exactness in the measurement or representation of data. Higher precision means more exact measurements, while lower precision indicates less detail.

Data Accuracy: The degree to which data represents the real-world phenomenon it is meant to describe. High accuracy means the data closely matches the true values or positions.

Geodatabase: A database used to store, manage, and query spatial data. It can contain various data types, including vector and raster data, and provides tools for data management and analysis.

Merge: A GIS operation that combines two or more datasets (feature classes or rasters) into a single dataset while maintaining their respective attributes and geometries.

Buffer: A GIS operation that creates a zone of a specified distance around a feature (such as a point, line, or polygon). Buffers are often used in proximity analysis.

Clip: A GIS operation that extracts a portion of a dataset by using the boundary of another feature (a clipping layer) to define the area of interest.

Domains: In a geodatabase, domains are sets of valid values or ranges for a field, ensuring data consistency and reducing input errors.

Geocoding: The process of converting addresses or place names into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) for mapping or spatial analysis.

Georeferencing: The process of aligning spatial data to a known coordinate system, typically used to place images or maps in the correct location within a GIS.

Join: A GIS operation that combines two datasets based on a common attribute field, allowing the user to combine information from different sources into a single dataset.

Relate: A GIS operation that creates a relationship between two tables based on a common attribute but does not physically merge the tables. It allows for querying related data without altering the original datasets.

Intersect: A GIS operation that returns the common area between two or more spatial datasets, combining their features and attributes in the overlapping region.

Mosaic(k)ing: The process of combining multiple raster datasets (such as satellite images or aerial photos) into a single, seamless raster dataset.

Zonal Statistics: A GIS analysis that calculates statistics (e.g., mean, sum, max, min) for each zone in a raster dataset, where each zone is defined by a particular value or category. This is useful for summarizing data within specific areas.