Chapter 2. Geospatial Data
The most challenging aspect of geospatial analysis is the data. Geospatial data includes dozens of file formats and database structures already and continues to evolve and grow to include new types of data and standards. Additionally almost any file format can technically contain geospatial information simply by adding a location. As a geospatial analyst you may frequently encounter the following general data types:
- Spreadsheets and comma or tab-delimited files (CSV files)
- Geo-tagged photos
- Lightweight binary points, lines, and polygons
- Multigigabyte satellite or aerial images
- Elevation data such as grids, point clouds, or integer-based images
- XML files
- JSON files
- Databases (both servers and file databases)
Each format contains its own challenges for access and processing. When you perform analysis on data, usually you have to do some form of preprocessing first. You might clip a satellite image of a large area down to just your area of interest. Or you might...
