Geographic data and information

"Geospatial" redirects here. For other uses, see Geospatial (disambiguation).

Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also called geospatial data and information, georeferenced data and information, as well as geodata and geoinformation.

Location information (known by the many names mentioned here) is stored in a geographic information system (GIS).

There are also many different types of geodata, including vector files, raster files, geographic databases, web files, and multi-temporal data.

Spatial data or spatial information is broader class of data whose geometry is relevant but it is not necessarily georeferenced, such as in computer-aided design (CAD), see geometric modeling.

Fields of study

Geographic data and information are the subject of a number of overlapping fields of study, mainly:

• Geocomputation
• Geographic information science
  • Geographic information science and technology
• Geoinformatics
• Geomatics
• Geovisualization

"Geospatial technology" may refer to any of "geomatics", "geomatics", or "geographic information technology."

The above is in addition to other related fields, such as:

• Cartography
• Geodesy
• Geography
• Geostatistics
• Photogrammetry
• Remote sensing
• Spatial data analysis
• Surveying
• Topography

See also

Main category: Geographic data and information

• Geomatics engineering
• Earth observation data
• Geographic feature
• Georeferencing
• Geospatial intelligence
• Ubiquitous geographic information

Further reading

• Roger A. Longhorn; Michael Blakemore (2007). Geographic Information: Value, Pricing, Production, and Consumption. CRC Press.

External links

• Media related to Geographic data and information at Wikimedia Commons