GIS

Dr. Shreedevi Moharana

Department of Civil Engineering
National Institute of Technology Warangal

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 1

 Outline

 Real world to GIS models

 Vector Data Model
 Points, Lines and Polygons
 Spaghetti Data Model
 Topological Data Model
 Storing Attribute Data

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 2

 From Real World model to GIS data models
 Spatial data is numerical representation which
analyses and describes real world features
(natural and man-made) in GIS
 Spatial data depicts the real world in two basic
models such as the object- based model and the
field-based model
 GIS can organize reality through the data models
 All spatial data models fall into two basic
categories:
1. Vector data model
2. Raster data model
9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 3
 Vector Data Model
 Real world objects are represented as points, lines and areas
 Vector data model comprises discrete features
• Points identify locations
• Lines connect points
• Areas (polygons) consist of connected line segments

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 4

 The vector data model - Points
 In vector model, point is the fundamental object
 Point represents anything that can be described as a discrete x, y
location (e.g., city, hospital, temple, well, etc.)

Cities -points
9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 5
 The vector data model - lines

 Line or polyline (sequence of lines) is created by connecting

the sequence of points
 End points are usually called as nodes and the intermediate
points are termed as vertices
 If we know the start and end node coordinates of each line or
polyline, we can compute the length of line or polyline
 Lines are used to represent features that are linear in nature
e.g., river, stream, rail, road, etc.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 6

 The vector data model - Polygons

 Polygon or Areas: defined by a closed set of lines

or polylines
 A polygon can be represented by a closed
sequence of nodes
 The last node is equal to the first node
 Polygons identified as closed set of lines are used
to define features such as water body, lake, rock
type, land use, administration boundaries, etc.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 7

 The vector data model

 All elements vector are represented using

coordinate geometry
 Point — position
 Line — length
 Polygon - Area

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 8

 The vector data model

 Vector data models can be structured many different ways of storing

geometrical information
 Spaghetti model - Simpler model
 Topological model - Complex model
 Difference between them is in the level of structure and organization of the
data

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 9

 Spaghetti data model

 In a Spaghetti model:
 Point is recorded as x,y coordinate pair
 Line is a series of x,y coordinates
 Area is a series of x,y coordinates, with the first and last coordinate being
identical (e.g., "Closed-loop polygons")

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 10

 Spaghetti point model

 Points and lines would be encoded in a similar way;

 There is no relationship between points, lines and areas

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 11

 Spaghetti Line model

 Each line is considered as single strand of spaghetti that is formed into complex
shapes by the addition of more and more strands of spaghetti

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 12

 Spaghetti Polygon model
 Any polygons that lie adjacent to each other must be made up of their own lines, or stands
of spaghetti
 Each polygon must be uniquely defined by its own set of X, Y coordinate pairs (boundary
cannot be shared by adjacent polygons)
 This creates redundancy in data and reduces efficiency of model

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 13

 Spaghetti model

 Advantages:
 Simpler to understand and to store
 Standard graphic manipulation techniques can be used on closed-loop polygons

 Disadvantages:
 Spatial relationships (connectivity, contiguity) need to be determined for each analysis
 Redundancy of data
 Preferred system for low-end systems
 Lacks topological information, difficult for analysis

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 14

 Topology

 It is characterized by the inclusion of topological information (spatial relationships

between adjacent features) of the dataset
 Records x/y coordinates of spatial features and encodes spatial relationships
 Also called "arc-node" data model
 Arc = line
 Node = end-point of a line, or a point where two or more lines connect

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 15

 Topology

 Topology is a set of rules that model the relationships between neighboring points,
lines, and polygons and determines geometry sharing between them
 Topology is also concerned with preserving spatial properties when the forms are
bent, stretched, or placed under similar geometric transformations
 It allows more efficient projection and re-projection of map files
 Three basic topology principles are:
1. Connectivity
2. Area definition
3. Contiguity

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 16

 Introduction

Defined as the “the science and

mathematics of relationships used to
validate the geometry of vector entities,
and for operations such as network tracing
and tests of polygon adjacency”.

GIS retains spatial relationships

mathematically through the concept of
topology.

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 17

 Advantages
 Topology can be ―stored‖ as topological data model (geometric correction of the data) but you
can also use topology for analysis on non-topological data.
 Data is stored efficiently, so large datasets can be processed quickly.
 Allows the computer to rapidly determine and analyze the spatial relationships of all features.
 Ensuring geometric correctness of the data.
 Improved data quality - detecting and correcting digitizing errors.
 validates data to make them accurate and error-free at all times.
 Carrying out some types of spatial analysis (selections, network analysis)
▪ Find all light poles that are inside pasture
▪ Find all the plots adjacent to a river
▪ Network analysis
17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 18
 Advantages
 GIS queries that can be optimized by pre-computing and storing information about
topological relationships.
 Examples:
a. Network tracing (e.g., find all connected water pipes and fittings).
b. Polygon adjacency (e.g., who owns the parcels adjoining those owned by a specific
owner?).
c. Containment (e.g., which manholes lie within the pavement area of a given street?).
d. Intersection (e.g., which census tracts intersect with a set of health areas?).

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 19

 Topological/spatial relationships
Topological relationships are built from simple elements into more complex elements:
✓ Nodes define line segments
✓ Line segments connect to define lines
✓ Lines define polygons
Spatial Relationships:
 disjoint,
 meets,
 equals,
 inside,
 covered by,
 contains,
 covers, and
 overlaps
Uses: in queries on a spatial database.
17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 20
 Configuration in 2D space

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 21

 Topological spatial relationships
Topology, as it relates to spatial data, consists of three elements
a. Adjacency
b. Containment
c. Connectivity
These three topological relationships will ensure that:
✓ No node or line segment is duplicated;
✓ Line segments and nodes can be referenced to more than one polygon;
✓ All polygons have unique identifiers; and
✓ Island and hole polygons can be adequately represented

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 22

 Topological spatial relationships

17-01-2022 resources.arcgis.com Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 23

 Connectivity
 Connectivity is a geometric property used to
describe the linkages between line features, like
road network.

 Basis for many network tracing and path finding

operations.

 Follows arc-node topology, arcs connect to each

other at nodes and have both a from-node (i.e.,
starting node) and a to-node (i.e., ending node).

 Arc-node topology is supported through an arc-

node list.

 Example: identify a route to the airport,

connect streams to rivers, or follow a path from
the water treatment plant to a house.

17-01-2022 resources.arcgis.com Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 24

 Area definition/ containment
 Extension of the adjacency that
describes area features which may be
wholly contained within another area
feature.

 The arc-node structure represents

polygons as an ordered list of arcs
rather than a closed loop of (x, y)
coordinates – known as polygon-arc
topology.

 Example: an island, defines an inner

boundary (or hole) of a polygon. The
lake actually has two boundaries: one
that defines its outer edge and the
island that defines its inner edge.

17-01-2022 resources.arcgis.com Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 25

 Contiguity or adjacency
 Contiguity is the topological concept
that allows the vector data model to
determine adjacency of features share
a boundary.
 Basis for many neighbor and overlay
operations.
 The from-node and the to-node define
an arc.
 Arcs have direction and left and right
sides so the polygons on its left and
right sides can be determined.
 Example: Adjacency answers “Which
polygons are adjacent to which?” and
used in spatial analysis of areal data

17-01-2022 resources.arcgis.com Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 26

 Topological data model

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 27

 Rules of topological consistency
Topology is a set of rules that models the relationships between neighbouring points,
lines, and polygons to determine how they share geometry

✓ Rule 1: Every arc must be bounded by two ‗nodes ‘, namely it begins and end node.
✓ Rule 2: Every arc border two ‗polygons ‘, namely its ‗left ‘and ‗right ‘polygons.
✓ Rule 3: Every polygon has a closed boundary consisting of an alternating (and cyclic) sequence
of nodes and arcs.
✓ Rule 4: Around every node exists an alternating (and cyclic) sequence of arcs and polygons.
✓ Rule 5: -Arcs only intersect at their (bounding) nodes.

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 28

 Rules of topological consistency
Five rules of topological consistency in two-dimensional space

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 29

 Topological Errors in GIS
 Permits an automatic verification of data consistency.
 Detects such errors as incomplete closing polygons during the encoding process.
 Open or unclosed polygons , unlabelled polygons violate polygon-arc topology rules.
 Arc does not completely loop back upon itself or an area does not contain any
attribute information.
 Sliver polygons, resulting from the overlay operation of polygons with a common but
separately digitized boundary.
 The shared boundary of the two polygons does not meet exactly.
 In line features, the common error types are undershot and overshoot of lines.

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 30

 Topological Errors in GIS

Common topological errors

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 31
 Topology in a geodatabase
 Topology rules can be defined for the features within a feature class or alternatively for features
between two feature classes.
 The vector data model in ARC/INFO supports the topological concepts of connectivity, area
definition and contiguity.

 When a topology is validated, the rules are tested.

 ArcGIS topology begins with the definition of parameters to be included through a wizard in
ArcCatalog and have the following characteristics.
✓ All participating feature classes have the same spatial reference.
✓ There can be multiple topologies within a data set.
✓ Feature classes can only participate in one topology.
✓ Feature classes cannot participate in both a topology and a geometric network.
✓ A topology can contain multiple point, line, and polygon feature classes.
17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 32
 Topology in a geodatabase
• A topology helps monitor and protect the spatial relationships in a feature dataset.
• A feature class can have no rules, a single rule, or several rules.
• A topology rule can monitor spatial relationships of features in a single feature class, or
the relationships that exist between feature classes.
• Only simple feature classes in the same dataset can participate in a topology (Annotation,
dimension, and geometric network features are not simple features).
• Feature classes outside of the topology's feature dataset cannot participate in the
topology.
• A feature dataset can contain more than one topology, but feature classes cannot
participate in more than one topology at a time.
• You can add and remove topologies and rules at any time.
• Rules are not applied until a topology is validated.
17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 33
 Spatial Relationships and Rules
Spatial relationships express specifically how features share coincident geometry along
with the rules for the behavior of their spatial representations.

✓ Parcels cannot overlap. Adjacent parcels have shared boundaries.

✓ Stream lines cannot overlap and must connect to one another at their endpoints.
✓ Adjacent counties have shared edges. Counties must completely cover and nest within
states.
✓ Adjacent Census Blocks have shared edges. Census Blocks must not overlap, and Census
Blocks must completely cover and nest within Block Groups.
✓ Road centrelines must connect at their endpoints.
✓ Road centrelines and Census Blocks share coincident geometry (edges and nodes).

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 34

 ArcGIS Geodatabase
The ArcGIS Geodatabase topology can be
employed to:
1. Mange shared geometry, for example
adjacent polygons share edges
2. Define and enforce data integrity rules
(no gaps in between polygons)
3. Support topological relationships queries
4. Support sophisticated editing tools
5. Construct features from unstructured
geometries
17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 35
 Shapefile versus Coverage Views

•There no topology defined in shapefiles. •Topological connections must be

•Features are disconnected. maintained in coverages.
•Boundaries between polygons are •Boundaries are digitized only once.
represented twice.

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 36

 Topological Rules in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 37

 New Rules in ArcGIS

Polygon: Contains One Point

• Line: Must Not Intersect With
• Line: Must Not Intersect or Touch Interior With
• Line: Must Be Inside
• Point: Must Be Coincident With
• Point: Must Be Disjoint

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 38

 Topology Editing
• When you move a node in a topology, all of the edges that connect
to it are stretched to stay connected to the node.
• When you move an edge, edge segments stretch to maintain the
connection of shared endpoint nodes to their previous location.
• Using Topology Edit Tools

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 39

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 40

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 41

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 42

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 43

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 44

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 45

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 46

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 47

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 48

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 49

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 50

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 51

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 52

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 53

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 54

 Topology Editing in ArcGIS

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 55

 Validating Topology
• Once you've made edits to a feature that participates in a topology or created
a new topology, the next step is to validate the topology.

• Validating the topology means checking the features to identify any violations
of the rules that have been defined for the topology.

• You can validate the whole topology, validate the visible extent of your map, or
drag a box around the area to validate.

• Validating the topology also starts the cracking and clustering process.

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 56

 Validating Topology

17-01-2022 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 57

 Storing attribute data

 Attribute data are stored separately from the coordinate data

 Feature identifier points to an attribute table:
 Point attribute table
 Line or arc attribute table
 Polygon attribute table

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 58

 Storing attribute data

 Similarly we can define point or line attribute tables if the spatial features are,
for example, villages and roads

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 59

 Storing attribute data

 Good organization of the attribute data is very important In socioeconomic

 GIS applications, the attribute data component is often much larger than the
database component;
 e.x., Few provinces, but hundreds of variables

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 60

 Storing attribute data

 Storing the province and district data in

the same table is inefficient, because
province data need to be repeated for
each district

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 61

 Redundancy

 Instead we can produce a more

efficient database that does not
include as much relational
redundancy database to
separate process variables into
several files is called
normalization
 A relational database design
provides better storage
efficiency
9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 62
 Summary

 Real world to GIS models

 Vector data model
 Points, lines and polygons
 Spaghetti data model
 Topological data model — Topology and importance
 Storing attribute data
 In the next session, we shall discuss about raster data models

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 63

 Spatial data capture and preparation
 Maps
 Aerial Photos
 Tables of spatial information (coordinates)
 Tables of Non-spatial information attributes
 Engineering and Architectural plans
 Land and Geological Surveys

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 64

 How can we use pre-GIS data and non-digital data in our GIS
 Digitize existing graphical information!
 Some of the first methods to digitize graphical information
involved overlaying the map with a grid marked on a clear sheet
of Mylar. Information that was within each grid was visually
observed and entered by keyboard into the GIS.
 Attribute data from existing tables was hand entered.
 There must be a better way!

Manual Digitizing
 The majority of spatial data entered into a GIS is
from manual digitizing.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 65

 Manual Digitizing

Heads-Up or On-Screen Computer Digitizing

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 66

 Digitization Terminology

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 67

 Types of Digitizers
 The digitizing tablet and table allow information to be
traced from an existing map or graphic.
 Three different types of tables or tablets exist.
 (1) Acoustic – the digitizing pen emits a high frequency
sound that is received by microphones at the corners of
the work area, triangulation is used to calculate the x and y
coordinate of the pen.
 (2) Resistivity - uses two charged pads separated by a thin
air gap, x and y coordinates are determined when the pads
make contact. GTCO CalComp Sonic Digitizer

 (3) The most widely used in large scale digitizers is the

electronic digitizing tablet. Embedded below the surface
of the table or the tablet is a grid of wires that measure the
strength of the signal from the puck or the pen.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 68

 Qualities of a Digitizer
 Stability
 The ability of the digitizer to maintain a value as the
puck remains in one place.
 Repeatability
 Precision
 Good digitizers accurate to inch
 Linearity
 the ability to be within a specified distance of the
correct value
 Good digitizers are able to have a linearity of inch over
60 inches
 Skew
 The ability to produce coordinates in a true rectangle
9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 69
 Digitizing Procedures
 The Map is fixed to the digitizing table.
 Three or more control points are digitized.
 Easily identified points (intersections of major streets, major peaks,
points on coastline)
 These coordinates will be known or verified.
 The digitizing area is registered to the map area.
 Digitizing the map can be done in two ways.
 In point mode , the operator identifies the points captured explicitly
by pressing a button.
 In stream mode, the points are captured at regular intervals (time or
distance)
 Point mode is done subjectively by the operator (no two operators will
digitize the same).
 Stream mode generates a large number of points, many of which will be
redundant.
 Most digitizing is done in point mode.
9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 70
 Advantages of Digitizing
 Low initial capital cost
 Flexible and adapts to different types of data
 Easily mastered skill
 Digitizing devices are reliable
 Generally the quality of data is high

Problems with Digitizing

 Paper maps are unstable, they stretch or shrink, sometimes while they are on the digitizing table.
 The accuracy depends on the dedication of the operator and his training and skill.
 Accuracy also depends on the quality of the source documents.
 Paper maps weren’t prepared “digitally” correct, but to visually impart information
 Example: if railroads, highways and tunnels pass through a mountain pass the pass may be drawn
larger to accommodate the drawing.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 71

 Scanning Technology
 Converts paper maps into digital format by capturing features as cells, or pixels.
 Cells are captured using a scanner head made up of photosensitive cells.
 Advanced large format scanners have heads with 8000 photosensitive cells.
 Each sensor is able to record a pixel rated between 0 (black) to 255 (white).

Color Scanning Technology

 Color images use the same technique but the image is scanned for red, blue and green.
 Older scanners required the image being scanned to pass the scanning head in three passes.
 Vectorization often requires color scanning
 Filters allow the head to pass the image once scanning all three colors at once
 The latest technology: full width, single line, sensor array scanning uses a line of LED’s which
capture the image
 LED scanners can create images using 16.8 million colors at speeds several times faster than
previously obtained.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 72

 Different Types of Scanning

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 73

 Scanning Problems

 Higher resolutions aren’t always the answer to better data; often the additional “noise”
and resulting clean up of data can cause higher resolution to not be the best solution.
 Paper maps are not “dimensionally stable” and a great deal of variation occurs as the
maps age.
 Documents must be clean (no smudges or extra marks or lines)
 Text may accidentally be scanned as line features in automatic feature recognition.
 Specialized symbols (for example marsh or asphalt) may not be detected as such.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 74

 Scanner Vs Digitizers

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 75

 Paris 1640

Paris 2000

Notre Dame

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 76

 Scanning & Digitizing Input Errors
 Incompleteness of the spatial data; missing points, line segments, and polygons.
 Location placement errors of spatial data; careless digitizing or poor quality of the
original source.
 Distortion of spatial data; base maps that aren’t scale correct over the entire image or
from material stretch in paper maps.
 Incorrect linkage between spatial and attribute data; misplaced labels or unique
identifiers being assigned during manual key entry or during the initial setup.
 Attribute data is wrong or incomplete; missing data records or data records from
different time periods.
 Redundant information, including vertices, text, nodes, and arcs.
 Incorrect label information and placement.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 77

 Digitization Errors
 Incorrect point placement means incorrect
capture of coordinates.
 Error depends on the scale at which map is
digitization.
 E.g., At a scale 1:24000, a 1-mm shift in the
point means 24-m shift of the actual
coordinates.
 Error is greater at small.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 78

 Digitization Errors

 Errors due to unsteady hand

o Switchback: Extra node in a line
o Knots: Line crossover
o Loops: Nodes forming a loop
 Dangle nodes/lines: Two lines not
connected
 Overshoot: Node goes beyond the line
 Undershoot: Node not connected to a
line
 Slivers: Polygon overlapping dangling
 Pseudonode: Extra node on top of
another
 No node: Line crossover without node

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 79

 Digitization Errors

Snapping
Process of automatically setting nearby points
to have the same coordinates.
Snap tolerance or snap distance is the upper
limit of distance required between features
for snapping
o Node snapping: Snap node to a nearby
node
o Line snapping: Snap node to a nearby
line (also called edge snapping).

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 80

 Digitization Errors
Line Smoothing

• Adding more vertices to smooth a line

• Smooth mathematical functions can be used

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 81

 Digitization Errors
Line Thinning
• Remove vertices from a line.
• Smooth mathematical functions
can be used.

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 82

 Summary

 Vector Data Model

 Points, Lines and Polygons
 Spaghetti Data Model
 Topological Data Model
 Storing Attribute Data
 Redundancy Removal

9/11/2025 Dr. Shreedevi Moharana 83