For example, a team of firefighters could access floor building plans on site before they go in to the building. In this course, the second in the geographic information systems gis specialization, you will go indepth with common data types such as raster and vector data. Geospatial data formats nc state university libraries. Esri arcgis for desktop 10 overview and supported file types. When possible most point data sets are stored as vector datasets to make them more consumable to arcview and arcgis software packages. Individuals who are interested in spatial analysis for vector and raster data formats will find arcgis software very useful. Arcgis lets you work with a large number of data sources.
Many esri data and maps datasets are natively in sdc format. Vector data are easily overlaid, for example overlaying roads, rivers, land use are easier than raster data. Rasters often look pixelated because each pixel has its own value or class. These tutorials are intended to help you get started with arcgis 9. In the late 1970s, programs came out that were device independent. What is the difference between vector and raster data. Tile layers come in different formats based on the original source data. The ultimate list of gis formats and geospatial file extensions.
They are created mainly by government mapping agencies such as the usgs or national geospatialintelligence agency or by gis software developers. Searching for supported, raster data set file format,will give us the. The most common vector file format is the shapefile a simple, nontopological, vector file format developed by esri to store the geometric location and attribute information of geographic featuresshapefiles, developed by esri in the early 1990s for use with the dbase iii database management software package in arcview 2, are simple, nontopological files developed to store. Supported formats in arcgis desktop geographic information.
This post will describe you about the raster data file format lists in gis. Vector file sizes are much smaller than raster image file. They are reprinted from chapter 2 of the individual arcgis desktop books. A feature class is a collection of geographic features with the same geometry type such as point, line, or polygon, the same attributes, and the same spatial reference. In addition, esri and safe software have integrated the safe software fme product into arcgis as an optional extension product named the arcgis data interoperability extension for desktop. Vector data use x and y coordinates to define the locations of points, lines, and areas polygons that correspond to map features such as fire hydrants, trails, and parcels. The major use of raster data involves storing map information as digital images, in which the cell values relate to the pixel colours of the image.
Unlike the vector data model, there are many more types of raster data. Users can create and edit spatial data, manage their data with the included arccatalog software, perform many forms of spatial analysis, and create maps. They are usually regularlyspaced and square but they dont have to be. To begin, i want to show you, the kind of raster data supported in arcmap. Raster data is made up of pixels also referred to as grid cells.
However, there are many file formats you can work with that are maintained outside a geodatabase. If you want clients to access the vector features of your map and perform editing, publish a map document as a map service with the feature access capability enabled. Bmp, jpg, png, tiff, tga, and gif are referred to as image export. It also gives you the ability to define new custom data sources and to define data transformation procedures that help you perform advanced data transformations between a variety of gis and tabular data structures. Vector data is characterized by the use of sequential points or vertices to define a linear segment.
What is the difference between raster and vector data. Database storage, when properly indexed, typically allows for quicker retrieval of the raster data. With esri data and maps 2006, a standalone data distribution application was included that converts sdc data files. Xmlbased gps data file, usually coming from a gps devicegdb. Some file formats are unique to specific gis applications, others are universal. In gis, vector and raster are two different ways of representing spatial data. All spatial data models are approaches for storing the spatial location of geographic features in a database.
The file geodatase is a directory, which contains many files which can not be read on their. Arcgis data interoperability provides direct data access, transformation, and export capabilities to enable arcgis users to integrate, use, and distribute data in many formats. Australian asset design and as constructed adac nmea automatic identification system ais. The shapefile format is a popular geospatial vector data format for geographic information system gis software for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features. A gis file format is a standard of encoding geographical information into a.
The raster datasets also provide beautiful hillshade relief for your map. Smart data compression sdc is esris highly compressed format, which is directly readable by arcgis software, but not by. Shapefiles are easily moved or copied within the os. It is developed and regulated by esri as a mostly open specification for data interoperability among esri and other gis software products. Raster data is made up of pixels or cells, and each pixel has an associated value. Vector storage implies the use of vectors directional lines to represent a geographic feature. Mar 26, 2018 the shapefile format is a popular geospatial vector data format for geographic information system gis software for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features.
Simplifying slightly, a digital photograph is an example of a raster. Grass vector and postgresql support is supplied by native qgis data provider plugins. Chapter 3 gis data management intro to gis and spatial. Open the topic get help for the arcgis data interoperability extension and click fmereaderswriters. What is the difference between vector and raster data models. The shapefile format is a popular geospatial vector data format for geographic information system gis software for storing the location, shape.
Smart data compression sdc is esris highly compressed format, which is directly readable by arcgis software, but not by arcview 3. All formats supported by the data interoperability extension are uniquely identified by an uppercase alphanumeric string. In this course, the second in the geographic information systems gis specialization, you will go indepth with common data types such as raster and vector data, structures, quality and storage during four weeklong modules. In the gis world, you will encounter many different gis file formats. See here the list of data formats supported in arcgis. Within the spatial referenced data group, the gis data can be further classified into two different types. Esri arcgis for desktop is a powerful gis application.
Raster and vector are two very different but common data formats used to store geospatial data. To reproduce the image the computer reads each of these cell values one by one and applies them to the pixels on the screen. Alternatively, each value in an elevation map represents a. Legacy arcgis workstation arcinfo format with reduced support in arcgis desktop lineup. For this course, we will focus on a subset of spatial data file formats. Learn gis data formats, design and quality from university of california, davis. It also gives you the ability to define new custom data. Vector models are useful for storing data that has discrete boundaries, such as country borders, land parcels, and streets. It is one of the two main types of gis data models, the other being the raster data model. Lecture 1 intro to gis and gis vector and raster data models. Supported formats with the data interoperability extension. The tutorials are available in pdf format and are located at the bottom of this page, below the descriptions. For detailed information about the fme reader and writer formats, you can access the documentation in the following two ways.
A gis file format is a standard of encoding geographical information into a computer file. About geographic data formatshelp arcgis for desktop. A shapefile is a filebased data format native to arcview 3. And in this post we are going to talk about the various raster data file formats in gis. Page coordinates are used when a map is being drafted for display in a computer mapping program or in the data display module.
Natural earth data is number 2 on the list because it best suits the needs of cartographers. The raster data model, has a simple and elegant structure. However, in the case of the elevation data that originate as very large ascii files, storage as vector point files is not efficient for display and analysis, but the point data can be accessed when necessary. Vector file format description coverage first vector file format developed by esri it was the main vector file format of, at the time, major esri software, arcinfo composite has inherent topology discontinued but can still be found in older gis.
Arcgis for desktop also provides integration with mobile platforms, which makes maps and data accessible anywhere. To see what kinds of raster data are supported in arcmap. A shapefile is a vector data format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of. You can export to several industrystandard file formats. Read data in formats such as esri binary grid, esri gridfloat, dted, geotiff, and gpx. Vector files are gis data files that represent point, line, or polygon data. Vector data are more compatible with the relational database management system. The following table gives a description of the supported raster formats raster datasets and. Vector data are easier to scale, reproject or register.
Typical storages of vector data all here presented happen to be created by esri. Most gis software applications mainly focus on the usage and manipulation of vector geodatabases with added components to work with rasterbased geodatabases. Both raster and vector tiles are designed to provide highperformance and highscalability delivery of map data for visualization purposes. Raster images are made up of pixels, while vector images are formed by mathematical curves and paths. The arcgis data interoperability extension for desktop. Aug 21, 2019 raster and vector are two very different but common data formats used to store geospatial data. File geodatabase directory esri file geodatabase can be used to store vector and raster data as well as more complex data containing topologies, and other supporting files. Coverage closed, hybrid vector data storage strategy. Technologically ahead of everything else on the market, arcgis pro supports data visualization, advanced analysis and authoritative data maintenance in both 2d and 3d.
Part of the esri geospatial cloud, arcgis pro is esris powerful, single desktop gis application. This adds support for over 70 additional data formats that can be used directly within arcgis. Dec 01, 2017 file formats are categorized as vector, raster, imagery, and legacy gis file formats. A fundamental goal of arcgis is to work with your filebased data and dbms data as well as with gis web services from arcims, arcgis server, and others such as ogc wms. Tile layersportal for arcgis documentation for arcgis. The geodatabase is the native data model in arcgis for storing geographic information, including raster datasets, mosaic datasets, and raster catalogs. This is a 3rdparty plugin from beijing antu i2m co.
Understanding coordinate management in the geodatabase j9655 june 2007 2 this document focuses on thematic layers of vector data, henceforth referred to as feature classes. The vector product format vpf is a standard data structure developed in 1996 as a u. By and large, all the key cultural and physical vector gis datasets are at a global scale conveniently for you to use. Is a xmlbased plaintext file that may contain geometry, data, or a pointer to a web service. Software is currently being developed to support spatial and. Military standard for geospatial data based on a georelational data model. Each pixel value in a satellite image has a red, green and blue value.
Many raster data sources can be used as spatial data sources within arcgis or other gis software, but only if accompanied by a world file, which provides georeferencing information. Supported data formats qgis uses the ogr library to read and write vector data formats, including esri shapefiles, mapinfo and microstation file formats, autocad dxf, postgis, spatialite, oracle spatial and mssql spatial databases, and many more. Write data in geotiff, world file, shapefile, and kml formats. Read, write, and get information about geospatial data files. The vector data model is a strategy for describing distinct features in a gis. In vector data, the additional data contains attributes of the feature. Calculator will use a lookup table to adjust output traffic and loads based on your data format selection. It supports many different data formats, provides a wide array. Understanding coordinate management in the geodatabase. Emf, eps, pdf, svg, and svgz formats are referred to as vector export formats, because they support a mixture of vector and raster data. And if you have the data interoperability extension, theres even more data formats supported, see supported formats with the data interoperability extension. In geographical information system there are only two methods which are used to store data for both kinds of mapping references i.
There are two types of formats, those that preserve and use the actual ground coordinates of the data and those that use alternative page coordinate description of the map. In addition, esri and safe software have integrated the safe software fme product into arcgis as an optional. Chapter 3 gis data management intro to gis and spatial analysis. Some formats support reading or writing exclusively, but not both. Most raster datasets have minimal attribute data structures, one.
In addition to the vector data sources named above, other data sources include raster data and tabular data. Arcgis data interoperability supported formats esri. Tile layers can be stored as prerendered raster tiles or as vector tiles. Learn about data models and formats, including a full understanding of vector data and raster concepts. A raster data type is, in essence, any type of digital image represented by reducible and enlargeable grids. However, the distinction between vector and raster data types is not unique to gis. As such, vector data tend to define centers and edges of features.