GIS — page 4 of 6

586 terms

GIS terms

  1. map library An organized, uniformly defined collection of spatial data partitioned by layers and tiles into component parts called map sections.
  2. map limits The rectangular area on the graphics page in which geographic features are displayed.
  3. map projection A mathematical model that transforms the locations of features on the Earth's surface to locations on a two-dimensional surface.
  4. map query The process of selecting information from a GIS by asking spatial or logical questions of the geographic data.
  5. map scale The reduction needed to display a representation of the Earth's surface on a map.
  6. map section The unit of data storage in a map library. A map section is the data for one layer in one tile of a map library.
  7. map units The coordinate units in which a geographic data set (e.g., a coverage) is stored in ARC/INFO.
  8. map-to-page transformation The process of positioning and scaling a map on a graphic page. It controls how coverage coordinates are transformed into graphics on the display screen…
  9. marker symbol A symbol used to represent a point location such as an airport.
  10. mass point Irregularly distributed sample points, each with an x,y location and a z value, which are used as the basic elements to build a tin.
  11. meridian (meh-RID-ee-un) In traditional Chinese medicine, one of 20 channels that form a network through which qi (the body's vital energy) flows and that connect…
  12. mesh point One sample point in the array of sample points in a lattice. Each mesh point is located at a constant sampling interval in the x and y directions relative…
  13. metadata Metadata is information about a particular data set which may describe, for example, how, when, and by whom it was received, created, accessed, and/or…
  14. Metropolitan Area (MA) (MA) As defined by standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), metropolitan areas must have at least one city of 50,000 or have a Census…
  15. minimum bounding rectangle A rectangle, oriented to the x and y axes, which bounds a geographic feature or a geographic data set.
  16. minimum mapping units For a given map scale, the size or dimension below which a long narrow feature is represented as a line and a small area as a point.
  17. Mobile Video The product name of van-captured photographic elevations for buildings in the District of Columbia.
  18. model See Exhibit.
  19. Modeling The use of statistical analysis, computer analysis, or model organisms to predict outcomes of research.
  20. moment The moment is the time when all the tasks associated with a transaction have completed.
  21. Morphology (mor-FAH-loh-jee) The science of the form and structure of organisms (plants, animals, and other forms of life).
  22. Mosaic A web browser popular before the introduction of Netscape and Internet Explorer.
  23. mouse A hand-controlled hardware device for interacting with a computer terminal or entering data from a digitizer.
  24. Multiple Document Interface (MDI) (MDI) Developed by Microsoft, with menus, buttons, tools, and windows called documents.
  25. Multispectral scanner (MSS) (MSS) An instrument on some satellites used for imaging the earth. An MSS image will have data recorded by the scanner from three or more bands of the…
  26. National Data from all categories that cover the entire continental United States of America.
  27. National Bureau of Standards (NBS) (NBS) now known as NIST (see NIST).
  28. National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) (NIST) The agency that produces the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for all U.S.A. government agencies except the Department of Defense.
  29. National map accuracy standards (NMAS) (NMAS) specifications of accuracy standards for well-defined map points on published maps that are specified by the U.S. Geological Survey and revised by the U.S.
  30. National Transfer Format (NTF) (NTF) British Standard BS 7567. NTF is an exchange format that permits the transfer of vector data with five different levels of complexity.
  31. native mode usage A statement syntax entered in ARC/INFO in the language of an external system. Inclusion of an SQL WHERE clause in an ARC/INFO native mode SQL selection…
  32. neatline A border line commonly drawn around the extent of a map.
  33. Neighborhood Clusters There are 39 Neighborhood Clusters currently used for community planning and related purposes in the District of Columbia.
  34. Network The facilities, providers and suppliers your health insurer or plan has contracted with to provide health care services.
  35. network coverage In ARC/INFO, a line coverage on which network tools such as PATH and ALLOCATE can operate.
  36. Network Element The components of a network in ARC/INFO, including network links and network nodes, of which there are three types: stops, centers, and turns.
  37. Network File System (NFS) The Network File System (NFS) protocol allows a given computer to access a disk on another computer over a network in a transparent fashion.
  38. network link Network links are interconnected linear entities which represent the conduits for transportation (e.g.
  39. network node Network nodes are the endpoints and connecting points of network links, for example, intersections and interchanges of a road network, the confluence of…
  40. network routing An interconnected set of lines representing possible paths for the movement of resources, people, or traffic from one location to another.
  41. networking protocols A networking protocol is software that provides a communication gateway (link) allowing the exchange of data between various networking systems.
  42. node Any device connected to network. PCs, servers, and printers are all nodes on the network.
  43. Node Attribute Table / Arc Attribute Table (NAT) (NAT) A table containing attributes for node coverage features. For each node, the NAT contains a reference to one of the arcs it connects to, an internal node…
  44. node match tolerance The minimum radial distance within which two nodes will be joined (matched) to form one node.
  45. normalization A conceptual database design task that involves applying data dependency to a data model to avoid data inconsistencies by prohibiting redundancy.
  46. null value The absence of a value. If a particular column of a row in a table is null, that means there is no value stored. Null is not the same as blank or zero.
  47. Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) (OLE) Object Linking and Embedding developed by Microsoft. Allows objects from one application to be embedded within another (e.g.
  48. Object Management Group (OMG) (OMG) The Object Management Group is a computing industry collaboration to promote object-oriented interoperability among heterogeneous computing environments.
  49. OCTO GIS Refers to the central GIS staff, and not the DC GIS system.
  50. One-to-many A relate in which one record in a table is related to many records in another table.
  51. one-to-many-relate A type of relate connecting a unique value in one file to many records (that have the same value) in another file.
  52. online access Direct access to data that does not involve file transfer.
  53. Open Database Communication (ODBC) (ODBC) A standard API (application program interface) used to communicate with database management systems, developed by Microsoft, and incorporated in ArcView…
  54. Open Geodata Interoperability Specification (OGIS) (OGIS) The Open Geodata Interoperability Specification being developed by OGC to support interoperability of GIS systems in a heterogenous computing environment.
  55. Open GIS Consortium (OGC) (OGC) A group composed of software vendors, academics, government agencies, consultants and software integrators, dedicated to open systems geoprocessing.
  56. OPEN LOOK A graphical user interface (GUI) for the X Window system developed by AT&T (Open Look) and Sun Microsystems (OPEN LOOK). (See also OSF/Motif).
  57. Open Software Foundation (OSF) (OSF) The Open Software Foundation is an international consortium that promotes the standardization of the UNIX operating system.
  58. Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) (OSI) a seven-layer hierarchical reference interface and communications model sponsored by ISO, 1984, known as the OSI Reference Model: layer 7--applications…
  59. Operating System (OS) (OS) The software that the rest of the software depends on to make the computer functional. On most PCs this is Windows or the Macintosh OS.
  60. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) (OCR) The automatic recognition and interpretation of text.
  61. optical disk A digital data storage technology that uses optical media to store information.
  62. ORACLE A relational database management system to which ARC/INFO has access through the DATABASE INTEGRATOR.
  63. origin The reference location for a planar coordinate system, usually represented by the values 0,0. The place where a trip starts.
  64. originator The acronym for the agency that is the original source of the data. The source for nearly all map layers created by OCTO that are not part of the…
  65. orthophotograph Aerial photographs that have been processed to correct for scale variations and image displacement resulting from relief or terrain variations and camera…
  66. orthophotography The process of aerial photographs that have been rectified to produce an accurate image of the Earth by removing tilt and relief displacements which…
  67. OSF/MOTIF An industry-standard graphical user interface developed by the Open Software Foundation for the UNIX workstation environment.
  68. overlay See topological overlay.
  69. overshoot That portion of an arc digitized past its intersection with another arc. See also dangling arc.
  70. Owner Point A map point over a single lot, attributed with information about the owner.
  71. Owner Polygon A single polygon feature class that represents land with taxable information about the owner, taxes, land use, etc.
  72. page extent Defines a rectangular portion of the graphics page to be displayed.
  73. PAN Polyacrylonatrile [carbon fiber].
  74. Parallel Transmission of all the bits (e.g. in a character) at the same time. If the character has eight bits, there are eight wires.
  75. parcel data Data representing the geographic limits of property ownership as defined by some legal instrument.
  76. Parcel Lot Land often not residing within a square, most of which were created in 1905 by Act of Congress.
  77. path The hierarchical description of where a directory, folder, or file is located on a computer or network.
  78. pathfinding The process of finding a path between an origin and destination, which usually involves determining a least-cost path.
  79. pathname The path to a file or directory located on a disk. Pathnames are always specific to the computer operating system.
  80. Paul Revere tour A traveling salesman tour in which the start is different from the ending stop.
  81. pavement edges The line demarcating the end of an impervious ground cover and the beginning of unconsolidated materials along a traveled path.
  82. peak A point around which all slopes are negative (i.e., downward).
  83. peripheral device A hardware device not part of the central computer (e.g., digitizers, plotters, and printers).
  84. persistent lock A long-term database lock required when users wish to maintain a consistent view of their data while doing modifications over a long transaction.
  85. Petabyte A measure of data size. One petabyte is equivalent to 1,000 terabytes.
  86. photo laboratory process The chemical process of converting a latent image in an emulsion layer to a visible, stable image.
  87. Photogrammetry Techniques of obtaining precise measurements from images. This process can derive elevation from specially created stereo pairs of aerial photos.
  88. Pictometry Shows high resolution images taken at oblique angles of about 45 degrees from the four compass points and from directly above.
  89. Pit An area consisting of a number of gaming tables.
  90. pixel Picture Element.
  91. planimetric The horizontal (x,y) locations of non-topographic features, such as rivers, lakes, buildings, roads, etc.
  92. planimetric data Data about features on the Earth surface that are represented only by their correct horizontal position.
  93. Planimetric Map Contains point and line map layers of visible features from aerial photography, such as streets, sidewalks, alleys, buildings, open space, utilities, etc.
  94. Planning, Land Use, and Zoning For example, resources describing zoning maps, and information used for planning the environment.
  95. point An amount equal to one percent of the principal amount of a mortgage. Loan discount points are a one-time charge assessed at closing by the lender to…
  96. Point Attribute Table / Polygon Attribute Table (PAT) (PAT) A coverage can have either a point attribute table or a polygon attribute table, but not both.
  97. Point attribute table or polygon attribute table (PAT) (PAT) A coverage can have either a point attribute table or a polygon attribute table, but not both.
  98. point event See event.
  99. point-in-polygon A topological overlay procedure which determines the spatial coincidence of points and polygons.
  100. Police District Police jurisdictions. See also Police Service Areas (PSA).

Sources