SAGE Reference - Encyclopedia of Geography

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Spatial Data Structures

In: Encyclopedia of Geography
Edited by: Barney Warf
Subject:General Geography, Earth & Environmental Science
Keywords:data structures; geometry; spatial data structures

Spatial data structures describe the rules that are used to represent geographic data in geographic information systems (GIS). Geographic data include information about the location, size, and shape of objects or phenomena on or near the surface of Earth, as well as their nonspatial characteristics.

Geographic data in GIS are represented at several different levels of abstraction, each level depending on those beneath it:

Conceptual spatial data models describe how geographic objects (e.g., rivers) or phenomena are represented in GIS.

Logical spatial data models describe how geographic data are represented in a database management system (e.g., as database tables).

Spatial data structures describe the methods and formats for physical storage and processing of geographic information in GIS.

Spatial data structures are the core of a GIS and fundamentally affect its ...

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  Warf, B. (2010). Spatial data structures. In Encyclopedia of geography (Vol. 1, pp. 2630-2631). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n1062
  
  Warf, Barney. "Spatial Data Structures." In Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Warf, Barney, 2630-31. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2010. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n1062.
  
  Warf, B. 2010. Spatial Data Structures. In: Barney Warf Editor, 2010. Encyclopedia of Geography, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 2630-2631 Available at: <https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n1062> [Accessed 16 May 2022].
  
  Warf, Barney. "Spatial Data Structures." Encyclopedia of Geography. Edited by Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2010, pp. 2630-31. SAGE Knowledge. 16 May 2022, doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939591.n1062.
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