Learning about Geospatial Data
One of the most challenging aspects of geospatial analysis is the data. Geospatial data already includes dozens of file formats and database structures and continues to evolve and grow to include new types of data and standards. Additionally, almost any file format can technically contain geospatial information by simply adding a location.
In this chapter, we will look at the following topics:
- Overview of common data formats
- Understanding data structures
- Understanding spatial indexing
- What are overviews?
- What is metadata?
- Understanding the file structure
- Knowing about the most widely used vector data types
- Understanding raster data types
- What is point cloud data?
- More realistic geospatial models with 3D data
- What are web services?
- Understanding geospatial databases
- Sharing data with interchangeable formats
- Introducing spatiotemporal data
By the end of this chapter, you’ll be...
