get an overview of the available data sources for Geographic Information Systems.
learn how to assess the quality and coverage of source material.
learn how information is available in digital format through many Internet web
sites
Learning Objectives
Desirable data could have been collected by an institute, organization or
individual and be available at a cost or free. These data exist as the GIS digital data
sources, paper maps, remotely sensed digital data, remotely sensed satellite images and
aerial photographs, Global Positioning System data and field data collection sheets, and
stored on different media. These different types of sources will be introduced briefly.
Moreover, you will visit several web sites that distribute Swiss National Datasets. In
addition, the web pages of data agencies which distribute national, regional and global
datasets are listed as the optional links for your visit.
A proverb, Garbage In and Garbage Out applies to GIS. It is important to assess
the data quality, before using the data in GIS. The positional accuracy and attribute
accuracy of data is critical for producing quality results from GIS data processing and
analyses. You will learn how to quantify the positional accuracy and attribute accuracy
of datasets. Moreover, you will also learn key issues of data that describe data
quality. At the end of this lesson, you should be able to find the necessary data and
justify the quality of data for your future projects.