Chapter 6-

Vector Geoprocessing
Vector: (1) A quantity that has
magnitude and direction. (2) A form of
computer graphics in which objects
are represented as points, lines, and
polygons. (3) A coordinate-based
spatial data structure in which the
data are represented as vectors.
Figure 6.1
Figure 6.2
 Topology?
► Explicitly
defines spatial relationships
between connecting or adjacent features
in geographic data.

► The principle is simple: spatial

relationships are expressed as lists –
polygons defined by a list of arcs
comprising its border.
 Topology
► Advantages:
 Data is stored efficiently
 Facilitates analytical functions
►These function fall into three conceptual areas
►Connectivity
►Area Definition
►Contiguity
 Topological Analytical
Concepts
► Connectivity
 Defined in the GIS through arc-node topology
 Basis for many network tracing and
pathfinding operations.
►Street Networks
►Stream Routing
►Piping

 Arc-node topology is supported through an

arc-node list.
 Topological Analytical
Concepts
► Area Definition
 Represents polygons as an ordered list of
arcs rather than a closed loop of X,Y
coordinates.
► Contiguity
 Two geographic features that share a
boundary are called adjacent.
 Polygons are contiguous to each other if
they share a common arc.
 Nontopological GIS Analysis
Functions
► Attribute Database Query
 Select: Extracts data items in specified
rows of a table
 Project: extracts data items in specified
columns of a table
 Join: Merges two tables based on the
values in the common columns of the
tables.