Intermediate GIS Midterm Study Guide
(05.1) What are the different types of geometric transformations used in GIS?
- Equiarea - Similarity - Affine - Projective - Topological
(02) What is the broad outline of 'Flatland'?
1. A Square introduces readers to Flatland and its politics. 2. A Square has a vision of Lineland. 3. The King of Lineland says there is no second dimension. 4. Sphere manifests in Flatland but cannot convert A Square. 5. Sphere pulls A Square into Spaceland. 6. The Circles prohibit discussion of three dimensions. 7. Sphere shows A Square a cube and encourages him to feel it. 8. A Square asks Sphere about fourth dimension, angering him. 9. A Square envisions the ignorance of Pointland. 10. A Square tries to use pure reason to share his message. 11. A Square tells his whole story and is imprisoned. 12. From prison, A Square writes Flatland.
(04) What are the different ways error can be introduced to the GPS signal?
1. Atmospheric Delay 2. Multipath Error 3. Off-setting satellite clocks 4. Introduction of ephemeris error by the Space Command control center
(03.2) What are some common thematic map types in GIS?
1. Choropleth Maps 2. Dot Density Maps 3. Proportional Symbol 4. Chart Maps
(06.1) What are the chart types for data visualizations?
1. Histograms 2. Scatterplots (with trend line) 3. Bubble Plots 4. Box Plots 5. Parallel Coordinate Plots 6. Conditional Plots
(04) What are the data conversion formats?
1. Industry Standard 2. .e00 3. Neutral Formats
(05.2) What are the different ways location error can be introduced to GIS data?
1. Initial data collection 2. Data Entry 3. Data Reproduction
(03.2) What are some classification methods used in GIS?
1. Natural breaks (Jenks) 2. Quantile. 3. Equal interval. 4. Defined interval. 5. Manual interval. 6. Geometrical interval. 7. Standard deviation.
(04) What platforms collect remotely sensed data?
1. Planes 2. Kites 3. Poles 4. UAV/ UAS
(03.2) What are the main required map elements?
1. Title 2. Neatline 3. Subtitle 4. Legend 5. North Arrow 6. Scale Bar 7. Cartographer 8. Data Source 9. Date
(03.1) List the different types of cardinality rules and if they can be joined
1. one-to-one: can be joined 2. many-to-one: can be joined 3. one-to-many: cannot be joined 4. many-to-many: cannot be joined
(01.1) What is GIS?
A system that integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced data. *Spatial Patterns*
(06.2) What is Map Algebra in GIS?
Addition wouldn't work, but multiplication would
(07) What is and the modifiable area unit problem in GIS?
Aggregating data can 'camouflage' patterns in data as we saw in the previous slides Data aggregation is often unavoidable/ necessary Even if scale is maintained and data aggregation is minimized, the way areas (enumeration units) are defined can impact results
What is a text field type?
Alphanumeric strings
(05.2) What is the ASPRS accuracy standards described in the textbook?
American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (
(04) What are Poles in Remotely Sensed Data?
Literally a camera on a pole, small aerial coverage
(02) In Raster Compression, what is considered lossless or lossy?
Lossless:. gif, .bmp, Lossy:.jpg Can be either:.tiff
(06.1) What is measures of central tendency?
Mean Center xi = individual data records or observations N = number of observations 2, 3, 6, 1, 18, 4, 8, 9, 1 Mean = 5.78 Median = 4 Mode = 1 7
(04) What are UAV/UAS in Remotely Sensed Data?
Middle cost compared to planes and kites, potentially difficult to fly Automated to some degree
(04) What are Planes in Remotely Sensed Data?
Expensive, but captures a large area quickly
(04) What are the Metadata standards?
FGDC - CSDGM ISO - ISO 19115 - ISO 19139 NAP
(04) What does FGDC within the metadata standards mean?
Federal Geographic Data Committee
(05.2) What is the FGDC accuracy standards described in the textbook?
Federal Geographic Data Committee
(03.1) What are the main differences between flat file, hierarchical, and relational databases?
Flat File: single table with no defined relationships between records Hierarchical: parent-child organized relationships Relational: multiple tables linked together by defined relationships
(04) What are the major data portals used in GIS?
Geoportals U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) U.S. Census Bureau Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) State level data County level data Metropolitan level data Private Companies
(02) What are Coverages in the ArcGIS files? Does it store topology?
Georelational data model that stores geographic features and their associated data (collection of feature classes) Can store topology
(04) What is GPS?
Global Positioning System (GPS)
(07) What is the scale problem in GIS?
Having a set scale -> aggregating at a new scale -> aggregated new means
(04) What are Kites & Blimps in Remotely Sensed Data?
Inexpensive, flexible, limited spatially and byatmospheric conditions
(04) What does ISO within the metadata standards mean?
Internal Organization for Standardization
(01.2) What are reference surfaces (developable surfaces) in a coordinate system?
surface that can be made flat by cutting it along certain lines then unfolded or unrolled.
(06.2) What is raster processing in GIS?
the process of analyzing and manipulating raster data and imagery to extract useful information for decision-making
(04) What data conversions?
the process of changing data from one format to another
(07) What is the boundary problem is in GIS?
the way the data is projected on a map (if data in in one state, highlight just the state and not the whole country)
(03.2) What is a Proportional Map?
thematic map in which point data are represented by a symbol whose size varies with the data values
(07) What is a Z-Score in GIS?
z-score from spatial stats are kind of like p-values in non-spatial stats, but not equivalent, and must be greater or smaller than +/-1.96 to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level
(07) What is the difference between a p-value and a z-score?
z-scores of -1.96 and +1.96 standard deviations are outside the 0.05 p-value (therefore significant
(06.1) What is measures of standard deviation?
A measure of how far from the mean value observations fall
(03.1) What is a short field type?
integers stored as 2-byte binary numbers
(06.2) What are the vector overlay functions in GIS?
Attributes Joined: - intersect - union Attributes Not Joined: - clip - erase
(07) What is the Point Pattern statistical pattern analysis?
Average Nearest Neighbor - If R<1, the pattern is clustered - If R>1, the pattern is dispersed Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster Analysis (Ripley's K Function) Results can be affected by points near the edge of the study area - Simulate Outer Boundary Values - Reduce Analysis Area - Ripley's Edge Correction Formula
(06.2) What is raster reclassification?
Base raster (normal tessellation of cells ranging from 1-20) -> reclassification (rules for cells e.g. 1-3 = 5 & 7-8 = 1) -> Output raster (now the tessellation of cells only range from 1-5)
(07) What is the G-Statistic for high/low clustering (hot-spot) statistical pattern analysis?
Can not only find clustering, but can tell you if the clusters are high or low values - High Z scores are a cluster of high values - Low Z scores are a cluster of low values Local version, Gi(d ), called the 'hot spot' analysis
(02) What are the the different raster encoding methods used in GIS?
Cell-by-cell, run-length, & quad-tree
(02) What are Geodatabases in the ArcGIS files? Does it store topology?
Central storage and management framework for spatial and attribute data Can store topology
(04) What does CSDGM within the metadata standards mean?
Content Standard for Digital Geographic Metadata
What is a date field type?
Date/ time format for calendar dates and times
(05.2) What is the NMAS accuracy standards described in the textbook?
National Map Accuracy Standard
(04) What does NAP within the metadata standards mean?
North American Profile
(07) What are the the components of a basic statistical hypothesis in GIS?
Null hypothesis (H0): No difference between the performance of Drug1 and Drug 2 Alternative hypothesis (H1) : Drug 1 and Drug 2 will have different effects Results show that the two drugs perform differently - Null hypothesis (H0) is rejected We can only accept or reject the null hypothesis
(07) What is a Type 2 Statistical Error in GIS?
Occurs when the null hypothesis (H0) is not rejectedwhen it is in fact false
(07) What is a Type 1 Statistical Error in GIS?
Occurs when the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected when it is in fact true More serious of the two error type
(02) What are Shapefiles in the ArcGIS files? Does it store topology?
Simple, nontopological format for storing the geometric location and attribute information of geographic features. Cannot store topology
(02) What is a raster data model?
Tessellation of cells Continuous Field (no gaps between cells) Single Attribute per cell Faster calculations than vector data But file size is often quite large
(02) Which Geodatabase type is no longer supported by ArcGIS Pro?
Personal Databases
(07) What is the Moran's I for Spatial Autocorrelation statistical pattern analysis?
Point Pattern Analysis only cares about the distances between points Spatial autocorrelation considers location and attribute values simultaneously
(02) What is a vector data model?
Points - Lines - Polygons Object-based (contiguity is not required, empty space can exist between objects) Small file size Multiple attributes can be tied to a single feature Calculations often take more processing time
(03.1) What are precision and scale in relation to fields?
Precision: number of digits possible in field Scale: number of decimal places possible in field
(01.2) What is a Conic Family Projection? What uses the conic family?
Projecting a spherical surface onto a cone tangent or secant to the sphere. Uses Conic: Lambert Conformal Conic & Albers Equal Area
(01.2) What is a Cylindrical Family Projection? What uses the cylindrical family?
Projecting a spherical surface onto a cylinder tangent or secant to the earth's surface Uses Cylindrical: Mercator, Goode's Interrupted Homolosine, & Robinson
(01.2) What is a Planar Family Projection? What uses the planar family?
Projecting a spherical surface onto a plane tangent or secant to the sphere Uses Planar: Lambert Equal Area, Azimuthal equidistant, & Orthographic
(03.2) What is a nominal/ categorical data type?
Quantitative data
(03.2) What is a ratio data type?
Quantitative data (0-40 meters)
(03.2) What is an interval data type?
Quantitative data (0-6 years)
(03.2) What is an ordinal data type?
Quantitative data (good -> better -> best)
(02) What are the raster types commonly used in GIS?
Raster Data, Raster Attributes, Raster Resolution, Spatial Reference, NoData, Extract by Mask (Raster Clip), & Bitmap Files
(04) What are the GPS satellite navigation programs run by governments around the world?
Regional: - Michibiki (QZSS) -Japanese - NavIC (IRNSS) -Indian Global: - GLONASS - Russian - BeiDou-3 - Chinese - Galileo -EU
(01.1) Who is responsible for the first fully functioning computerized GIS and where did this take place?
Roger Tomlinson, Canada It was designed for the monitoring and management of natural resources in Canada
(06.2) What is Boolean in GIS?
Similar to the queries, but in this case, it applies to the values of cells in the raster
(02) Define vector topology.
The mathematics of connectivity or adjacency of points or lines that determine spatial relationships in a GIS.5
(07) What is a P-Value in GIS?
The probability that the two data sets are significantly different from one another
(07) What is a Confidence Level in GIS?
Three commonly used confidence levels: - 90% (<0.10) - 95% (<0.05) - 99% (<0.01) If a statistical test reaches one of these levels, it is considered statistically significant at that level
(05.1) What are raster pyramids?
lower-resolution versions of raster datasets that improve the display of raster data
(01.2) What are datums in a coordinate system?
reference point from which measurements (e.g., latitude, longitude, elevation) are made
(0.1.2) What shape is the earth and how is it measured?
shape: ellipsoid f = (a-b) / a a = equatorial radius b = polar radius
(01.2) What is the difference in projection of vector and raster data?
Vector data: easier, points/ lines, maintains geometric accuracy when projected Raster data: harder, pixels on a grid, can become distorted depending on the projection
(06.2) What is raster analysis in GIS?
X-Y coordinates in vector vs. stacks of cells in raster Start with Map Algebra Can use logical and Boolean operators
(06.2) What is a moving window and how does it work?
a 3x3 averaging window averages the 9 cells in the window and places the result in the target cell of the output raster (block and focal neighborhood functions employ this)
(03.1) What is a relational database?
a collection of data that's organized into tables with defined relationships between the data points (rows & columns)
(03.1) What is a flat file database?
a database that stores data in a plain text file, with each line representing a record
(03.1) What are relates?
a property of a layer that associates tables without physically joining them
(03.1) What is Cardinality?
a property that describes the relationship between data items or records in two tables
(03.1) What are field types in relation to fields?
a specification for the type of data that a field in a table can store
(05.1) What is root mean square error? How does it occur?
a statistical measure that indicates the average difference between known ground control points and the predicted locations of those points after a spatial transformation
(01.2) What are projections in a coordinate system?
a system in which locations on the curved surface of the Earth are displayed on a flat sheet or surface according to some set of rules. For a Mercator projection: x = l y = loge tan(p/4 + j/2)
(03.1) What is a hierarchical database?
a type of database that organizes data in a tree-like structure, where records are connected in a parent-child relationship, meaning each child record can only have one parent, but a parent can have multiple children
(03.1) What is an attribute join?
a way to append the fields of one table to another based on a common field
(0.1.2) What is Longitude?
angular distance east or west of origin measured from the center of Earth
(0.1.2) What is Latitude?
angular distance north or south of equator as measured from center of Earth
What is a BLOB* field type?
binary large object; any complex binary data, including images, documents, etc.
(03.2) What is a Choropleth Map?
cartographic representation using distinctive color or shading to enumeration areas planimetric (2D with map properties) representation of a 3D histogram or statistical surface
(03.2) What is a Dot Density Map?
communicates variationin spatial density of discrete geographical data
(03.1) What is a double field type?
double-precision floating-point values with 16 significant digits in the mantissa
(03.2) What is a Chart Map?
expands the number of attributes that can bedisplayed on a single map
(03.1) What is a float field type?
floating-point values with 8 significant digits in the mantissa
(05.2) What is accuracy?
how close a given set of measurements (observations or readings) are to their true value
(05.2) What is precision?
how close the measurements are to each other.
(03.1) What is a long field type?
integers stored as 10-byte binary numbers
