GIS Dictionary

[navigation] The direction of a moving object, expressed as an angle from a known direction, usually north.

[data capture] Manual digitization by tracing a mouse over features displayed on a computer monitor, used as a method of vectorizing raster data.

[computing] In computer programming, a variation on the binary tree data structure in which each node’s value is greater than the value of its leaf nodes. Sorting data in a … Read more

[standards] A metric areal unit of measure equal to 10,000 square meters. One hectare is equal to 100 ares or 2.47 acres.

[Euclidean geometry] The vertical distance between two points, or above a specified datum.

A geometric transformation that scales, rotates, or translates images or coordinates between any two Euclidean spaces. It is commonly used in GIS to transform maps between coordinate systems. In a … Read more

[ESRI software] In ArcGIS 8.3 and previous versions, a branch in the ArcToolbox tree providing overview help for ArcToolbox toolsets.

1 [astronomy] Half of a celestial body, such as the earth. 2 [Euclidean geometry] Half of a sphere.

[computing] In computer science, an algorithm that incorporates a shortcut or simplification for solving a programming problem, such as searching. While a heuristic may run faster than a more rigorous … Read more

[mathematics] A number system using base 16 notation, usually comprised of the digits 09 and the letters AF or af.