8
Chapter 1 It’s a Geospatial World Out There
property can be examined by viewing high-resolution aerial images, the topography, the terrain, and even where it sits on a floodplain. You can also
examine where a property is located in relation to schools, highways, wastewater treatment plants, and other urban features.
All of these areas and many, many more are reliant on the capabilities
of geospatial technology. No matter the field, what distinguishes geospatial
technology from other types of computer systems or technologies is that it
explicitly handles geospatial data.
What Is Geospatial Data?
Geospatial data (also often referred to as spatial data) refers to locationbased data, which is at the heart of geospatial technology applications.
This ability to assign a location to data is what makes geospatial technology different from other systems. You’re using geospatial concepts anytime
you want to know “where” something is located. For instance, emergency
dispatch systems can determine the location you’re calling from if you
make a 911 call. They also have access to information concerning where
the local fire stations, ambulance facilities, and hospitals are. This type
of information allows the closest emergency services to be routed to your
location.
When the data you’re using has a location that it can be tied to, you’re
working with geospatial data. This isn’t just limited to point locations—the
length and dimensions of a hiking trail (and the locations of comfort stations
along the trail) are examples of real-world data with a spatial dimension.
Other kinds of data, like the boundaries of housing parcels in a subdivision or
a satellite image of the extent of an area impacted by a natural disaster would
fall under this category. Geospatial technology explicitly handles these types
of location-based concepts.
However, not all of the data in the world is geospatial data. For instance, data regarding the location of a residential parcel containing a
house and the parcel’s dimensions on the ground would be spatial information. However, other data such as the names of the occupants, the assessed
value of the house, or the value of the land is not spatial information. A
benefit of using geospatial technology is that this type of non-spatial data
can be linked to a location. For instance, say you sell a lot of used books on
eBay. You could make a map showing the destinations of each of the purchasers of your online sales—this would be spatial information. You could
then link related non-spatial data (such as the name of the book that was
sold or the price it was purchased for) to those locations, creating a basic
database of sales.
Spatial information can also be gathered about other characteristics, such
as the landscape, terrain, or land use. Remote sensing provides images of the
geospatial data items
that are tied to a
specific real-world
location.
non-spatial data data
that is not directly
linked to a spatial
location (such as
tabular data).
Chapter 1 It’s a Geospatial World Out There
property can be examined by viewing high-resolution aerial images, the topography, the terrain, and even where it sits on a floodplain. You can also
examine where a property is located in relation to schools, highways, wastewater treatment plants, and other urban features.
All of these areas and many, many more are reliant on the capabilities
of geospatial technology. No matter the field, what distinguishes geospatial
technology from other types of computer systems or technologies is that it
explicitly handles geospatial data.
What Is Geospatial Data?
Geospatial data (also often referred to as spatial data) refers to locationbased data, which is at the heart of geospatial technology applications.
This ability to assign a location to data is what makes geospatial technology different from other systems. You’re using geospatial concepts anytime
you want to know “where” something is located. For instance, emergency
dispatch systems can determine the location you’re calling from if you
make a 911 call. They also have access to information concerning where
the local fire stations, ambulance facilities, and hospitals are. This type
of information allows the closest emergency services to be routed to your
location.
When the data you’re using has a location that it can be tied to, you’re
working with geospatial data. This isn’t just limited to point locations—the
length and dimensions of a hiking trail (and the locations of comfort stations
along the trail) are examples of real-world data with a spatial dimension.
Other kinds of data, like the boundaries of housing parcels in a subdivision or
a satellite image of the extent of an area impacted by a natural disaster would
fall under this category. Geospatial technology explicitly handles these types
of location-based concepts.
However, not all of the data in the world is geospatial data. For instance, data regarding the location of a residential parcel containing a
house and the parcel’s dimensions on the ground would be spatial information. However, other data such as the names of the occupants, the assessed
value of the house, or the value of the land is not spatial information. A
benefit of using geospatial technology is that this type of non-spatial data
can be linked to a location. For instance, say you sell a lot of used books on
eBay. You could make a map showing the destinations of each of the purchasers of your online sales—this would be spatial information. You could
then link related non-spatial data (such as the name of the book that was
sold or the price it was purchased for) to those locations, creating a basic
database of sales.
Spatial information can also be gathered about other characteristics, such
as the landscape, terrain, or land use. Remote sensing provides images of the
geospatial data items
that are tied to a
specific real-world
location.
non-spatial data data
that is not directly
linked to a spatial
location (such as
tabular data).