Modeling Our World: The Esri Guide to Geodatabase Design

Description:

Unleash the full modeling power of your geographic information system software

Geographic data models are digital frameworks that describe the location and characteristics of things in the world around us. With a geographic information system, we can use these models as lenses to see, interpret, and analyze the infinite complexity of our natural and man-made environments. With the geodatabase, a new geographic data model introduced with ArcInfo 8, you can extend significantly the level of detail and range of accuracy with which you can model geographic reality in a database environment.

Modeling Our World is the comprehensive guide and reference to GIS data modeling in general, and to the geodatabase model in particular. It shows how to make the right decisions about modeling data—decisions that will inform each aspect of a GIS project, from database design and data capture to spatial analysis and visual presentation.

You will learn to:

• Design a geographic database that fits the project
• Customize the database without writing code
• Manage work flows in complex projects
• Model diverse linear systems such as streams, freeways, or electrical grids
• Incorporate satellite images for geographic analysis and display
• Create three-dimensional GIS data models

Illustrated with hundreds of full-color maps and figures, Modeling Our World will be essential reading for a wide audience. Seasoned ArcGIS users and serious new users of the software will find that Modeling Our World is required reading on the path to GIS success.

For the GIS specialist, this provides a good introduction to the broader database world. For the database specialist, this book serves as a good answer to the question "what is so special about spatial?"

—Scott Morehouse, Director of Software Development, ESRI

 

Table of Contents:

Object modeling and geodatabases

Modeling objects with GIS

The progress of geographic data models

The geodatabase, store of geographic data

Features in an object-oriented data model

Serving geographic data

Accessing geographic data

Building data models

Guide to reading UML object diagrams

Technology trends

How maps inform

The utility of maps

How maps present information

The parts of a map

Presenting geography with layers

Drawing features with symbols

Drawing feature layers

Classifying attribute values

Displaying thematic, spectral, and picture data

Visualizing surfaces with TIN layers

GIS data representations

The fundamentals of a GIS

The diverse applications of GIS

Three representations of the world

Modeling surfaces

Modeling imaged or sampled data

Modeling discrete features

Comparing spatial data representations

The structure of geographic data

The catalog and connections to data

The geodatabase, datasets, and feature classes

ArcInfo workspaces and coverages

Shapefiles and CAD files

Maps and layers

Comparing the structure of vector datasets

Comparing feature geometry in vector datasets

Smart features

The qualities of features

Steps to making features smart

Designing the geodatabase

Storing data in tables

The shape and extent of features

Attributes: qualities of an object

Adding simple behavior with subtypes

Validating attributes

Relationships among objects

Extending object classes

The geodatabase object model

The shape of features

Geometry and features

Constructing geometry

Testing spatial relationships

Applying topological operators

Geometry object model

Managing work flow with versions

Using versions

Long transactions and the geodatabase

The fundamentals of versions

Editing versioned geodatabases

Types of work flows

Linear modeling with networks

Modeling infrastructure

The network model

How features connect

Network features

Network flow

Analysis on a network

Network object model

Cell-based modeling with rasters

Representing geography with rasters

Using raster data

Raster data model

Raster display and analysis

The spatial context of rasters

Raster formats

Raster object model

Surface modeling with TINs

Representing surfaces

Structure of a TIN

Modeling surface features

Finding locations

Using locations

Converting locations to map features

Converting x,y locations

Converting addresses

Converting place names

Converting postal zones

Converting route locations

Geodatabase design guide

Purpose and goals of design

Overview of design steps

Step 1: Model the user's view

Step 2: Define entities and relationships

Step 3: Identify representation of entities

Step 4: Match to geodatabase data model

Step 5: Organize into geographic data sets

Index