GIS data conversion has remained a challenge for most new companies entering into the sector of GIS. This has got a number of reasons behind it and one is the unfamiliarity with the process or the entire thing. The process of GIS data conversion involves converting the analog data into digital formats to make sure that it can be used by different geographical information systems or GIS.
Just in case you are unaware, this is important to know that most of the digitally stored GIS maps and images are either vector-based or raster-based. There is a difference between both of them and raster data is organized in columns and rows, whereas the vector data is coordinated on the basis of X and Y-Axis. A very interesting fact is that it is very convenient to convert raster-based images into vector-based images and vice versa. Moreover, you will find some GIS systems having this feature of converting raster to vector and vector to raster. Then, there would be some GIS systems that you will find, relying entirely on the type of data fed to them.
The needs of GIS Data Conversion
Companies often need GIS data conversion services because they have to share the same data with different companies and this has become really easy with the introduction of networking and sharing feature in GIS systems.
Now, this sharing of data can be done really easily and at the same time, the users will experience a reduction of cost and they can even share other common benefits among organizations.
Some of the Challenges Faced During Conversion Include –
- Different users of data
- Data used for different applications
- Data is viewed differently by different people
- Use of different hardware/software
- Single value/multiple value attribution in systems
- Incompatible data formats
According to the experts of GIS data conversion services, these problems mainly occur because of factors like non-similarity in the data models, data structures and the data media.
