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Glossary

GLOSSARY

  1. AGO or ArcGIS Online - is a cloud-based mapping and analysis solution which is built by the company, ESRI. It is utilized by GIS Analysts throughout the BC Government. From https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/get-started/what-is-agol.htm

  2. Analytical models - mathematical models that have a closed form solution, i.e. the solution to the equations used to describe changes in a system can be expressed as a mathematical analytic function. From https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/mathstatmodels/Analytical.html

  3. API -An application programming interface is a computing interface which defines interactions between multiple software intermediaries. It defines the kinds of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats that should be used, the conventions to follow.

  4. Area of Interest or AOI -A user defined area (represented by a bounding box, circle or polygon). Often used as a filter in a query. From https://dictionary.university/area%20of%20interest

  5. Automatic server scalability -Scalability is an attribute that describes the ability of a process, network, software or organization to grow and manage increased demand. From https://www.techopedia.com/definition/9269/scalability

  6. Base map -Spatial data sets that provide the background upon which more specific thematic data is overlaid and analyzed. This is usually applied to these mapping layers: topography, soil data, geology, cadastral divisions and administrative boundaries. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/b

  7. Configuration -the application allows the user the ability to make small changes that are easy to maintain

  8. Customization -the application allows the user the ability to invest more in build and maintenance to create a unique experience

  9. Data capture -Any operation that converts GIS data into computer-readable form. Geographic data can be captured by being downloaded directly into a GIS from sources such as remote-sensing or GPS data, or it can be digitized, scanned, or keyed in manually from paper maps or photographs. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/308ca5c9-b088-457f-8bc5-a6847f38011c

  10. Definition Query -A request that examines feature or tabular attributes based on user-selected criteria and displays only those features or records that satisfy the criteria. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/bf9af075-25e2-4c37-bd67-01e1618a64eb

  11. Derived data -data created by running a geoprocessing operation on existing data. Derived data from one process can serve as input data for another process. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/df95c888-a28b-46dc-a493-4cf21a2ca256

  12. ESRI  - Esri is an international supplier of geographic information system software, web GIS and geodatabase management applications. The company is headquartered in Redlands, California. The company was founded as the Environmental Systems Research Institute in 1969 as a land-use consulting firm.

  13. Extensible -The ability for a system or components of a system to expand by assimilating new data, software or hardware components. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/e

  14. Feature -A digital representation of a real world entity or an abstraction of the real world.  From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/f

  15. Feature Collection -A special category of feature that represents a collection of features that have common metadata and formal relationships or a set of related features managed as a group. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/f

  16. Feature service -The server bundles data and streams it to the requesting client. Since more of the processing is done in the Java applet, requests are sent to a spatial server only when additional data is needed. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/e61e9efc-cc1e-4679-91e7-856e6be2e1f4

  17. Framework -a reusable software template, or skeleton, from which key enabling and supporting services can be selected, configured and integrated with application code. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/f

  18. Gazetteer -A catalogue of toponyms (place names) assigned with geographic references. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/g

  19. Geocoder -Transforms a description of a feature location, such as a place name, street address or postal code, into a description of the location, which includes a coordinate geometry. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/g

  20. Geographic coordinates -A measurement of a location on the earth’s surface expressed in degrees of latitude and longitude. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/df46d2ae-cf3c-43ca-8073-ee68617baeeb

  21. Georeferenced map images -Description of a location relative to the Earth From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/g

  22. Image data -Data produced by scanning a surface with an optical or electronic device. Common examples include scanned documents, remotely sensed data (for example, satellite images), and aerial photographs.  From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/0c0b55fd-d5c2-4a84-a675-52c4c4ab3c48

  23. Integrated client -A software application that provides a unified environment for visualizing, analyzing, and editing geospatial data from a wide variety of sources. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/i

  24. Interface -An established ordering of parameters (with specific names and data types) and instructions (with specific names and functions) that enables one software component to exchange data and instructions with another software component. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/i

  25. Javascript -A scripting language that runs within a Web browser and interacts with HTML code to enable Web developers to add functionality to their Web sites. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/9db6eaa6-8615-4d46-9e09-23049ed72d5c

  26. Layer -The visual representation of a geographic dataset in any digital map environment. Conceptually, a layer is a slice or stratum of the geographic reality in a particular area and is more or less equivalent to a legend item on a paper map. Layers within a web mapping viewer. ArcGIS REST Layer, WMS Layers, WFS Layers. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/ba1e96e7-4cae-4714-875a-a7e3488b8bb9

  27. Location-based service -Information or a physical service delivered to multiple channels, exclusively based on the determined location of a wireless device. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/ec4b4ac5-dd79-4d77-aa20-7e89b77b3f94

  28. Map projection -A coordinate conversion from a geodetic coordinate system to a planar surface, converting geodetic latitude and longitude to plane (map) coordinates. The result is a two-dimensional coordinate system called a projected coordinate reference system. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/m

  29. Map scale -The relationship between distance on a map or print out and the corresponding distance on the earth`s surface. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/m

  30. Map template -a kind of map document that provides a quick way to create a new map. Templates can contain data, a custom interface, and a predefined layout that arranges map elements, such as north arrows, scale bars, and logos, on the virtual page. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/ad2a9b1d-d37f-4386-828c-1ea8a6e1eca2

  31. Markup text -temporary text and drawings which are placed on top of the map for printing to locate information.

  32. Metadata -is the documentation of data. It has primarily been used as information to enable the user to understand, compare and interchange the content of the described data set(s). From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/m

  33. Navigation service -An enhanced version of the Route Service, which is a network-accessible service that determines travel routes and navigation information between two or more points. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/n

  34. Open Source -The special licenses that govern use and sale of software to ensure that the software`s source code remains in the public domain (free to all), though companies can sell products that include some or all of the source code. Open source software is usually developed not by single company but by a distributed team of developers, typically an informal ad hoc group of volunteers. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/o

  35. Projected coordinate system -A reference system used to locate x, y, and z positions of point, line, and area features in two or three dimensions. A projected coordinate system is defined by a geographic coordinate system, a map projection, any parameters needed by the map projection, and a linear unit of measure. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/dad77c09-5332-4117-b35c-c616a39b08d7

  36. Query -A type of expression that evaluates to a Boolean (true or false) value, that is typically used to select those rows in a table in which the expression evaluates to true. Query expressions are generally part of a SQL statement. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/7e7f69ee-72cb-4792-835d-321910fe775c

  37. Reference system -A method for identifying positions on the globe. This is often constructed with a grid that either refers to the earth’s latitude and longitude (graticule), or a planar equivalent that divides grid lines by a fixed length from a predefined point of origin. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/ebee6d6e-9e26-4d4b-983f-25f6c0963c1b

  38. Route analysis -a type of network analysis that determines the best route from one network location to one or more other locations. It can also calculate the quickest or shortest route depending on the impedance chosen. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/b467a57d-e6e1-4b57-97df-da4d0cafab8c

  39. Software as a Service (SaaS) solution -is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes Web-based software, on-demand software and hosted software. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_service

  40. Spatial modeling -Spatial modeling is an analytical process conducted in conjunction with a geographical information system (GIS) in order to describe basic processes and properties for a given set of spatial features. From https://www.techopedia.com/definition/1940/spatial-modeling

  41. Style -Styles provide the mapping from feature types and feature properties and constraints to parameterized symbols used in drawing maps. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/s

  42. Symbol -predefined graphical parameters and predefined fixed graphic “images”. From https://www.ogc.org/ogc/glossary/s

  43. User interface -The aspects of a computer system or program with which a software user can interact, and the commands and mechanisms used to control its operation and input data. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/ad5c67f9-70d6-4703-a7e5-cb7243ee2a1b

  44. Vector -A coordinate-based data model that represents geographic features as points, lines, and polygons. Attributes are associated with each vector feature, as opposed to a raster data model, which associates attributes with grid cells. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/7cbd3f7c-e17f-4bb0-a51a-318ccf5b68f1

  45. Web Map -a web-based, interactive map that allows you to display and query the layers on the map. A web map contains one or more ArcGIS Server map services that are referenced to ArcGIS Online. From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/7e7d30b9-654f-4ac0-a391-e5bad23444e3

  46. Web Map Server specification -A set of interface specifications that provides uniform access by Web clients to maps rendered by map servers on the Internet.  From https://support.esri.com/en/other-resources/gis-dictionary/term/0e7a4d4f-fa88-426c-92f9-233a2cb5ac58

  47. WFS  - The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Feature Service (WFS) standard represents a change in the way geographic information is created, modified and exchanged on the Internet. Rather than sharing geographic information at the file level using File Transfer Protocol (FTP), for example, the WFS offers direct fine-grained access to geographic information at the feature and feature property level. This International Standard specifies discovery operations, query operations, locking operations, transaction operations and operations to manage stored, parameterized query expressions. See https://www.ogc.org/standards/wfs

  48. WMS  - The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service Interface Standard (WMS) provides a simple HTTP interface for requesting geo-registered map images from one or more distributed geospatial databases. A WMS request defines the geographic layer(s) and area of interest to be processed. The response to the request is one or more geo-registered map images (returned as JPEG, PNG, etc) that can be displayed in a browser application. The interface also supports the ability to specify whether the returned images should be transparent so that layers from multiple servers can be combined or not. See https://www.ogc.org/standards/wms