Essential GIS Workflows: Working with and Visualizing GIS data

Name: Essential GIS Workflows: Working with and Visualizing GIS data
Author: Wade Wilson

Learn about vector data and raster data, as well as how to create and work with different types of data in GIS

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Wade Wilson, and in these lessons, we will learn about working with and visualizing GIS data. In this lesson, I'll show you how to work with Raster and Vector Data. On our map, I've added aerial imagery from the year 2000, 2011, and 2020 for this area that we've been looking at. So first, let's look at aerial imagery from 2000. So we previously talked about how a Raster data set is made up of cells that cover the whole area in a continuous way, and that's why it's called continuous data. So if I zoom in on our area, with this data, you can actually start to see what we call pixels. Each one of these pixels is a different color. When you zoom in this close, it's hard to tell what you're really looking at. It's only when you zoom out that you really start to see the picture. So this is what is called a lower resolution. These are actually three feet by three feet pixels that represent a three foot by three foot area on the ground. Now if I turn on 2011, these are one foot pixels, and you can see the resolution is a lot better, even at this scale, you can start to make out a car in this case. Now let's look at 2020, which is half a foot resolution, and you can see that this car is very clear. You can now see that this parking area here is now gone, and we have a building on this lot right here. So that's one example of what you can do with Raster data. It can show you what's changed over time. So as we turn 2020 off, you can see that there was an empty lot here. And if we go back to 2020, you can still see the lot here. It's just not a very good resolution at all. So that's Raster data. There's Raster data that can give you elevation that looks at it in a 3D perspective to where you can look at the slope of an area to determine what you would need to do as far as providing utilities to this building. The vector data that we've been working with is really good for doing the analysis of representing the features, storing a lot more attributes with those type of features than you could with the Raster. Raster is more of a visualization in most cases, but what can you do with it? For example, you can use it to create vector data in a lot of cases. So often we'll come in here and we'll see trees. We can create points where we see these trees. We can define water bodies, roads, buildings. All of that can be interpreted using the aerial imagery. Now when we talk about orthoimetry, orthoimetry is basically aerial imagery and we're in this case looking at orthoimetry that's been adjusted in geo-reference to overlay in the real world position that it would be. So that if we're looking at, let me turn the building layers off, if we're looking at a building outline and my mouse is hovering over this position right here, and if you look at the bottom middle of the map right here, you can get the coordinates of these pixels. And if I pick a pixel, I can get those coordinates. So that's what we mean by an orthoimetry. It's been registered and it represents the real world location for the items or the images that we're looking at, and it's really good for data capture. It's also good at just providing information to the user that may not have been captured. Another example is just showing changes over time. And in this case, you can see that our vector data, the points, lines, and polygons, and in this case, I'm specifically talking about the building footprints, is out of date. And so for the 2020 aerial imagery, it actually provides some very useful information. And if we need to go in here and update our building footprints, we can actually use this aerial image right here to update our building polygon vector data. Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for the next lesson where I will show you data display order.

Beginner Provider : Wade Wilson 5 Lessons · 33m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

What are the differences between vector and raster data? How can you create and edit geographic data within GIS software? Successfully using GIS software relies heavily on understanding the different types of data used and an individual’s ability to edit GIS data. Visualizing data is often one of the most important functions of GIS software, which is why this course will also discuss the data display order and how to symbolize GIS data. By better understanding the role data plays in GIS software, you will be able to implement it more effectively in your projects.

In this course on Essential GIS Workflows: Working with and Visualizing GIS Data, you will learn how to work with GIS data, as well as how to visualize GIS data to meet your specific needs. We will explore raster data, vector data, data display order, and data symbology. We will also cover creating and editing GIS data. By the end of this course, you will be able to effectively manage and manipulate GIS data sets.

What You'll Learn

Distinguish the roles of vector data and raster data in GIS software
Create and edit GIS data within GIS software
Symbolize both raster data and vector data
Apply data display order to control how features appear on a map
Identify sources of GIS data
Manage and manipulate GIS data sets effectively

Key Takeaways

Successfully using GIS software relies on understanding the different types of data used and the ability to edit GIS data.
Visualizing data is one of the most important functions of GIS software.
Data display order and data symbology determine how GIS data is shown on a map.
The course covers raster data, vector data, data display order, data symbology, and creating and editing GIS data.
Better understanding the role data plays in GIS software allows you to implement it more effectively in your projects.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will learn how to work with GIS data and how to visualize it, exploring raster data, vector data, data display order, and data symbology, as well as creating and editing GIS data.

What topics does this course cover?

It covers raster and vector data, data display order, data symbology, and creating and editing GIS data across five lessons.

What will I be able to do by the end of the course?

By the end of the course you will be able to effectively manage and manipulate GIS data sets.

What skills does this course help develop?

It supports skills in Data Visualization, Geoinformatics, Geographic Information Systems, Geospatial Analysis, GIS Applications, and GIS Mapping.