GIS EXAM LATEST UPDATED
Spatial data - ANSWER All of the information that can be tied to a
specific location.
Data with a geographic location, representation, or reference point that it
describes.
Visually represented as layers which allow the user to select different
sets of data to display the main viewing window in a stacking manner.
Cartography - ANSWER The science of mapmaking, including data
inclusion, layout, elements, colors, and design.
Shapefile - ANSWER A vector data storage format for storing the
location, shape, and attributes of geographic features.
An Esri proprietary data format for storing geographic data. Very cross-
GIS compatible, but limiting in many aspects. Often misused to mean
any geographic dataset as in "could you send me that shapefile?"
Layer - ANSWER A) The distinct data elements that compose a map
document, ordered one of top of the next for GIS drawing order (top
drawn is the last and seen first)
B) A single data element, saved into a GIS file format along with its
associated symbiology.
Scale - ANSWER The ratio of size of element on screen or in print on
the map to their size in the real world.
Raster - ANSWER Spatial data that stores location based upon single
origin point and a data stream of known width, height, and resolution.
Often used for continuous surfaces.
Rasters are characterized primarily by their width, height, cell size, and
origin location. Each cell in a single-band raster contains one value for
the area covered by that pixel.
A grid of pixels with a uniform value within each pixel.
, DEM - ANSWER Digital Elevation Model- a representation of the terrain
surface, created by measuring a set of equally spaced elevation values
A specific case of raster data where the pixel value represents the
elevation of areas covered by the pixel. Sometimes called a DTM (digital
terrain model) or DED (digital elevation dataset).
Vector - ANSWER Spatial data that stores location using Cartesian
coordinate locations.
Point - ANSWER A single spot in (usually) two dimensional space.
Attributes represent only that location (and sometimes are inferred to
represent nearby locations)
Line (Polyline) - ANSWER Multiple points connected to represent all
locations in between along the connection.
Polygon - ANSWER Multiple polylines connected to create a boundary.
Polygon zones are generalized representations where all location
contained within the boundaries are considered to have the same
property.
Coordinate System / Spatial Reference - ANSWER Defines the origin
point, coordinate space, and geoid for a dataset's spatial data
Datum - ANSWER A theoretically exact point, axis, or plane derived from
the true geometric counterpart of a specific datum feature.
The origin from which the location, or geometric characteristic of a part
feature, is established.
Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) - ANSWER A spherical
coordinate system of degrees of latitude and longitude that is used to
locate features on the earth's surface
Projected Coordinate System - ANSWER A system that defines
locations on a flat map based on x,y coordinates.
Resolution - ANSWER The density of data of a raster dataset or
rasterized map document.
Spatial data - ANSWER All of the information that can be tied to a
specific location.
Data with a geographic location, representation, or reference point that it
describes.
Visually represented as layers which allow the user to select different
sets of data to display the main viewing window in a stacking manner.
Cartography - ANSWER The science of mapmaking, including data
inclusion, layout, elements, colors, and design.
Shapefile - ANSWER A vector data storage format for storing the
location, shape, and attributes of geographic features.
An Esri proprietary data format for storing geographic data. Very cross-
GIS compatible, but limiting in many aspects. Often misused to mean
any geographic dataset as in "could you send me that shapefile?"
Layer - ANSWER A) The distinct data elements that compose a map
document, ordered one of top of the next for GIS drawing order (top
drawn is the last and seen first)
B) A single data element, saved into a GIS file format along with its
associated symbiology.
Scale - ANSWER The ratio of size of element on screen or in print on
the map to their size in the real world.
Raster - ANSWER Spatial data that stores location based upon single
origin point and a data stream of known width, height, and resolution.
Often used for continuous surfaces.
Rasters are characterized primarily by their width, height, cell size, and
origin location. Each cell in a single-band raster contains one value for
the area covered by that pixel.
A grid of pixels with a uniform value within each pixel.
, DEM - ANSWER Digital Elevation Model- a representation of the terrain
surface, created by measuring a set of equally spaced elevation values
A specific case of raster data where the pixel value represents the
elevation of areas covered by the pixel. Sometimes called a DTM (digital
terrain model) or DED (digital elevation dataset).
Vector - ANSWER Spatial data that stores location using Cartesian
coordinate locations.
Point - ANSWER A single spot in (usually) two dimensional space.
Attributes represent only that location (and sometimes are inferred to
represent nearby locations)
Line (Polyline) - ANSWER Multiple points connected to represent all
locations in between along the connection.
Polygon - ANSWER Multiple polylines connected to create a boundary.
Polygon zones are generalized representations where all location
contained within the boundaries are considered to have the same
property.
Coordinate System / Spatial Reference - ANSWER Defines the origin
point, coordinate space, and geoid for a dataset's spatial data
Datum - ANSWER A theoretically exact point, axis, or plane derived from
the true geometric counterpart of a specific datum feature.
The origin from which the location, or geometric characteristic of a part
feature, is established.
Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) - ANSWER A spherical
coordinate system of degrees of latitude and longitude that is used to
locate features on the earth's surface
Projected Coordinate System - ANSWER A system that defines
locations on a flat map based on x,y coordinates.
Resolution - ANSWER The density of data of a raster dataset or
rasterized map document.
