Basics of GIS and Data Models

1. What does the acronym GIS stand for?

a. Geographic Imaging Software

b. Global Information Systems

c. Geographic Information Systems

d. Get It Saved

2. Which of the following is the best definition of a GIS?

a. An organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographic information

b. A system designed to efficiently store and retrieve geographic photographs and satellite images for mapping purposes

c. A system that collects and stores weather data for meteorological analysis

d. A collection of hardware, software, and data designed to efficiently store and manipulate geographic information

3. How can GIS software be used as a relational database?

a. You can store spatial data in a table format where each record corresponds to a polygon on the map

b. You can join external tables to spatial data to gain more information

c. You can apply statistical models and mathematical formulas to spatial data to find patterns and trends

d. You can convert spatial data into a graphical 2D or 3D representation

4. What is a “field” in a GIS table?

a. The name for a row

b. The name for a column

c. The name for a cell

d. A blank cell, containing no information

5. What is a linking key?

a. A unique identifier code that links each polygon with a record in the attribute table

b. A field that exists in two tables with identical values, used to join two tables together

c. A geographic coordinate system that links spatial data to real locations on the earth’s surface

d. A software plugin that allows geospatial data to be integrated across different platforms

6. Why do we need to make sure a join is permanent by exporting the joined data?

a. So the computer reads the data as one entire file rather than two data files tenuously linked together

b. To convert all data formats into one universal format that is preferred by GIS software

c. To reduce the size of the dataset by removing all unjoined records

d. To delete the original datasets and ensure that they won’t be available for future use

7. A shapefile is an example of which of the following:

a. Raster data

b. Vector data

c. Geospatial metadata

d. An elevation model

8. Pick the following two statements that best describe the raster data model:

a. Based on the object conceptual model where everything on Earth is an object to be examined on a backdrop

b. Based on the field conceptual model where every location on Earth is given a value representing information

c. A data model that represents geographic features as a collection of points, lines, and polygons

d. A data model that represents geographic features as a regular grid of cells

9. You are tasked to do a geospatial analysis of soil health for the Environmental Protection Agency. Assuming you are not limited by data availability, what would be the ideal data model for your analysis?