Lab #3: Data Formats & Models

1. Datat model: "a set of rules or constructs used to describe and represent aspects of the real world in a computer."

2. Topology is "the study of geometric properties that do not change when the forms are bent, streched or undergo similar geometric transformations."

3. A raster data model would be best to represent a hillside slope because the slope might not have a definite shape and a raster data model would better illustrate this.

4. In raster models each cell holds one value.

5. Four types of attribute data:
a. Nominal, groups of houses, parks, and cars.
b. Ordinal, groups of things that are hard, soft, softest.
c. Interval, the measurement of tmeperature.
d. Ratio, measurement of age in years.

6. Vector data file formats: shapefiles and coverages.

7. Raster data files: grids and images.

8. All of the following can be done with ArcCatalog except select features.

9. No, exercises in ch. 4 World.mdb does not contain a dataset, but it does contain three data classes.

10. Cities, countries, and disapp_area.

11. Shape file.

12. With both ArcCatalog and ArcMap opened, data can be draged from ArcCatalog to ArcMap. We can also create a new dataframe and on the TOC we can right-click on the layer that we want to paste on the new dataframe, select 'copy' and highlight "new data frame" and paste.

13. Number of records is 699.

14. On ArcCatalog select "disapp_area," on main screen click on "metadata" tab and click on attributes tab. The number of records should be listed there.