TA Tutorial in Spring Semester 2015

GRID-BASED ANALYSIS IN GIS

Prof. Yuji Murayama - Instructor

Hao HOU Teaching Assistant
Division of Spatial Information Science
University of Tsukuba
 Definition of Grid in Cartography

In cartography, any network of parallel and per

pendicular lines superimposed on a map and u
sed for reference. These grids are usually referr
ed to by the map projection or coordinate syst
em they represent (Esri, 2015).
A spatial grid refers to a two-dimensional grid s
ystem that spans a feature class. It is used to q
uickly locate features in a feature class that mi
ght match the criteria of a spatial search (Esri,
(http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/04/09/shakun-not-stirred-and-definitely-not-
2015). area-weighted/)
 Definition of Grid in GIS
An data format for storing raster data as well as summering vector data that d
efines geographic space as an array of equally sized square cells arranged in r
ows and columns. Each cell stores a numeric value that represents a geograp
hic for that unit of space. Each grid cell is referenced by its x,y coordinate loc
ation (Esri, 2015).

(http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/04/09/shakun-not-stirred-and-definitely-not-area-weighted/)
 Introduction to Grid-based Analysis
Grid Mesh
Grid-based analysis is a method for arranging data into a specific unit.
The size of each grid is defined by users and normally it is determined
according to purpose, scale or the available data format.
Grid-based analysis offers a way to combine vector data with raster
data.
Grid Map
There are two types of grids: integer and floating point. Use integer
grids to represent discrete data and floating-point grids to represent
continuous data (Esri, 2015).
 Discrete Data

Discrete data, which is sometimes called thematic, categorical, or discontinuo

us data, most often represents objects in both the feature (vector) and raster d
ata storage systems. A discrete object has known and definable boundaries: it
is easy to define precisely where the object begins and where it ends.
Examples of discrete data:

Point: park, bus stop, road intersection

Line: road, river, airline
Polygon: different types of land use and land cover
 Continuous Data

A continuous surface represents phenomena in which each location on the su

rface is a measure of the concentration level or its relationship from a fixed poi
nt in space or from an emitting source.
Definition of grids value:

1. Fixed phenomena: concentration level or its

relationship from a fixed point in space or from
an emitting source.
2. Varied phenomena: type or manner in which
the phenomenon moves. (http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//009t00
 Advantage

Create standard data format for further study.

Combine vector data with raster data.
Conclude data in a big area for spatial understanding.

Grid-based Analysis
 Grid-based Analysis Cases

Case study of urban land use

(Bagan, H., & Yamagata, Y. 2012. Landsat analysis of urban growth: How Tokyo became the world's
largest megacity during the last 40 years.)

1. Integrate remote sensing, GIS, and

statistical data within the cells;
2. Quantify land-cover changes in terms of
the percentage of area affected and rates
of change and compare them with
population census data;
3. Analyze the spatial-temporal dynamics of
urban growth patterns.
(Percentage change of urban/built-up area in 1-km2 grid cells from 1972 t
 Grid-based Analysis Cases

Case study of hazard

(Su, M. D., Kang, J. L., Chang, L. F., & Chen, A. S. 2005. A grid-based GIS approach to regional flood
damage assessment.)

Work Flow Flood hazard map from computer modeling

 Grid-based Analysis Cases

Case study of environmental protection

(Richards, M., Ghanem, M., Osmond, M., Guo, Y., & Hassard, J. 2006. Grid-based analysis of air
pollution data.)
1. Deploy a sensor network over a target
region, such as a heavily industrialized
or densely populated area ;
2. Create a wealth of data allowing new
types of analyses to be conducted;
3. Analyze and visualize spatiotemporal
variation of multiple pollutants with
respect to one another, and their
correlation with third-party data. (Interpolated color pollution representation over vector map
 Grid-based Analysis of Raster Data in Ar
cGIS
Compare two raster shape files in different spatial resolutions

30m 30m land cover data 1km 1km population data

 Grid-based Analysis of Raster Data in Ar
cGIS

Step 1Resample land cover map into 10m 10m for grid-based analysis
 Grid-based Analysis of Raster Data in Ar
cGIS

Step 2Create
on data
grids(fishnet) in ArcGIS with the resolution of populati

1km
1km
 Grid-based Analysis of Raster Data in Ar
cGIS

Step 3&4 Extract each land use category by reclassify;

Use zonal statistics to get the number of cells in each grid;
 Grid-based Analysis of Raster Data in Ar
cGIS

Step 5&6 Calculate the density of each land cover category in 1km 1km grid;
Combine grid data with population data and check the relationship.
 Grid-based Analysis of Vector Data in A
rcGIS
Summarize vector data with grids for spatial visualization

Point Line Polygon

 Grid-based Analysis of Vector Data in A
rcGIS
Use standard Grids (Fishnet)
Basic Grids Point data of bus stops

+
 Grid-based Analysis of Vector Data in A
rcGIS
Summarize vector data by spatial join
 Grid-based Analysis of Vector Data in A
rcGIS
Visualize vector data
 Conclusion

1. Grid is a useful unit to summarize both discrete data and continuous

data, raster data can be regarded as data formed by grids;
2. Grid-based analysis for vector data is an efficient approach to
connect vector data with raster data, raster can be resampled to fit
the size of grid;
3. Grid-based analysis provides more detailed information than do
municipal-scale statistics, and they are suitable for time series
analysis, calculations, and comparison between mesh blocks.
 References

Bagan, H., & Yamagata, Y. 2012. Landsat analysis of urban growth: How Tokyo became the world's largest megacity during
the last 40 years.Remote Sensing of Environment,127, 210-222.
Su, M. D., Kang, J. L., Chang, L. F., & Chen, A. S. 2005. A grid-based GIS approach to regional flood damage
assessment.Journal of Marine Science and Technology,13(3), 184-192.
Richards, M., Ghanem, M., Osmond, M., Guo, Y., & Hassard, J. 2006. Grid-based analysis of air pollution data. Ecological
modelling,194(1), 274-286.
Esri, 2015. GIS dictionary: Grid. Available online: http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/GISDictionary/search (Accessed
10 June 2015)
Esri, 2015. GIS dictionary: Spatial Grid. Available online: http://
support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/GISDictionary/term/spatial%20grid (Accessed 10 June 2015)
Esri, 2015. ArcGIS Help 10.1. Discrete and continuous data. Available online: http
://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#// 009t00000007000000 (Accessed 11 June 2015)
Esri, 2015. ArcGIS Help 10.1. Esri Grid format. Available online: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//
009t0000000w000000 (Accessed 11 June 2015)