Simply stated, data editing refers to the activity of detecting and rectifying errors in data. This could also involve updating a data set to make it more contemporary. From a geographical perspective, data collected could be spatial (locational) in nature, or they could be aspatial (descriptive) data. For example, the coordinates (e.g., latitude/longitude) of groundwater monitoring wells are spatial data, while descriptive data about groundwater depth, yield, and so on would be aspatial data.

There are several ways in which geographical data collected can be in error or in need of updating. Errors may arise from a systematic shift in measurements due to calibration procedures, they may be random in nature, or they may be due to errors in data entry (coding) or updating methods. Usually, ...