Metadata
GIS
What is GIS?
How To
Data Overview
- Metadata
- Glossary
- Projection
Data Dictionary
| ARC/INFO, ArcMap, ArcView |
ESRI's Geographic Information System software |
| Arc | A coverage feature class used to represent linear features (lines). |
| Attributes | Characters or numbers describing some characteristic about a spatial feature. |
| Cell | The basic element in a raster based format (grids). Grid cells are always square. |
| Clip | Extraction of features present in one coverage as defined (spatially) by bounding features of a clip coverage. |
| Coverage | A term used by ARC/INFO defining a digital map layer which stores vector information. |
| Feature Class | A term used to define coverage elements such as arcs, nodes, or polygons. |
| Georeference | To represent page coordinates on a planar map with real world coordinates. |
| GIS | Geographic Information System |
| Grid | GIS data layer in raster format (cell-based representation) |
| Image | A graphic representation of a real world object or area.Images can include aerial imagery, satellite data and photographs. |
| INFO | A tabular database manager used by ARC/INFO to store attribute and relational datasets. |
| INFO Tables | Individual files directly or indirectly related to geographic datasets (map layers) which store attribute data. |
| Metadata | Documentation explaining the characteristics of a dataset |
| Pixel | A contraction of the words picture element. The smallest unit of information in a raster based format. A grid cell. |
| Point | A feature class which represents a specific x,y coordinate. |
| Polygon | A feature which represents areal elements. Polygons are defined by bounding arcs and contain one label point which relate to the attribute table. |
| Raster | A method of storing image data which consists of cells (pixels) which make up rows and columns. Each cell represents a feature. |
| Record | A single row of thematic characteristics in an attribute table. |
| Shaded Relief | A method used to display topographic variation in a landscape using the perspective shadowing resulting from a hypothetical position of a light source. |
| Spatial Data | Geo-referenced data (represents features on the ground) |
| Tabular Data | Data that exists in a table or database format. |
| Theme | A collection of geographic objects or features used to represent common layers. |
| Topology | The spatial relationship between coverage features. For example, the topology of an arc contains its "from" and "to" nodes and its left and right polygons. |
| Vector | A coordinate based geographic data structure (in contrast to raster)often used to represent linear features. |
