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Spatial Data Integration

  • By: Patricia Frontiera
  • In: Encyclopedia of Geography
  • Edited by: Barney Warf
  • Subject:General Geography, Earth & Environmental Science

Spatial data integration is the process of making data from different sources compatible so that they can be used appropriately in an analysis framework. Before spatial data can be viewed, queried, combined, or analyzed, the integration process must address the many ways in which they can differ in terms of the following:

Content: The type of geographic feature or phenomenon represented and the properties used to describe it

Spatial representation: The conceptual model of space (object or field view), spatial data model (vector or raster) and spatial object type (point, line, polygon, cell), or indirect spatial reference (place name or code) used to identify location

Spatial reference: The coordinate system (datum, map projection or coordinate system, and units), geographic extent, and spatial resolution of the data or the ...

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