GEOPROCESSING TUTORIAL
ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
A Spatial Overlay Analysis
Armaiki Yusmur1
I. I. INTRODUCTION
Based on the International GIS Dictionary GIS is a computer system for capturing,
managing, integrating, manipulating, and analyzing data which is spatially referenced to
the Earth. ESRI as a major vendor of GIS which is engaged in defining GIS as an organized
collection of computer hardware software, geographic data and personnel designed to
efficiently acquire, store, update, manipulate, analyze and display all information forms
that have a geographic reference. In general, based on definitions of the data, one of
important function of GIS is the ability to analyze data, especially spatial data and then
presenting it in the form of spatial information with its attribute data.
ArcGIS is a GIS software has an attractive, interactive function with excellent
analytical skills. The analysis capabilities include the ability to obtain information from the
selected object, create the buffer zone of an object such as roads or rivers, making the
operation of the polygon overlay, the use of query operators are relational databases, using
statistical functions and so forth. Some analytical ability is that sometimes requires an
additional extension must enable advance or sometimes must be installed separately
because it is separate from the standard program.
To perform the analysis functions such as overlay analysis required the
geoprocessing extension. All commands (otherwise known as tools) are maintained in
toolsets within the ArcGIS toolboxes. A toolbox can contain tools, toolsets, and scripts and
is organized according to the collection of geoprocessing commands it contains.
II. BASIC CONCEPTS SPATIAL OVERLAY
The basic concept of spatial overlay is the application of mathematical operation that we
already know and learn with, and may often have we encountered or used in everyday
activities. There are some basic concepts of spatial overlays, as follows:
2.1. Intersect
Intersection is a spatial operation to determine the area which is the intersection of
two areas / polygons. Computes the geometric intersection of two coverages. Only those
features in the area common to both coverages will be preserved in the output coverage.
• The intersect coverage must have polygon topology.
• The input coverage, intersect coverage, and output coverage must have different
names, even when in different workspaces.
• Label points are generated in each output coverage polygon when the POLY option
is used. The new polygon User-IDs are set equal to the polygon internal number
minus one.
• Annotation is copied from the input coverage and saved in the output coverage.
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BIOTROP Training and Information Centre – SEAMEO BIOTROP : Data Services Unit Manager
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GEOPROCESSING TUTORIAL
2.2. Union
Merging two or more areas / polygons into a single entity (the area) is called a
union process. Computes a geometric intersection of the Input Features. All features will be
written to the Output Feature Class with the attributes from the Input Features, which it
overlaps. The illustration below provides explanation of the process is union.
• All input feature classes and feature layers must have polygon geometry.
• The Allow Gaps parameter can be used with the ALL or ONLY_FID settings on the
Join Attribute parameter. This will allow for identification of resulting areas that
are completely enclosed by the resulting polygons. The FID attributes for these GAP
features will all be -1.
2.3. Clip
Clip is a process to create a new theme by clicking the overlay feature of the two
themes. One of the two themes that should be a polygon theme called "overlay theme." The
process uses a clip themed clip that serves as "cookie cutter" to clip an input theme, but in
the process does not change the theme attribute. Uses the outside polygon boundary of the
clip coverage to cookie-cut features and attributes from the input coverage.
• The Clip Coverage must have polygon topology.
• Boundaries of interior polygons in the Clip Coverage are not used in CLIP. Any Clip
Coverage polygon whose internal number is greater than one is considered inside the
Clipping window.
• The User-ID for each feature will be the same in output coverage as it is in input
coverage.
• When clipping polygons, new label points for polygons are only generated when
necessary. Each old polygon keeps its original label point position if the label is
within the clipping boundary.
2.4. Dissolve
Creates a new coverage by merging adjacent polygons, lines, or regions that have
the same value for a specified item. The process will incorporate a feature that is within
one theme based on the value of the attribute that has been determined.
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GEOPROCESSING TUTORIAL
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• Dissolve is used to create a simplified coverage from one that is more complex.
Although the input coverage may contain information concerning many feature
attributes, the output coverage contains information only about the dissolve item.
• The merging of polygons with Dissolve is the counterpart of intersecting polygons in
overlays. Dissolve will remove the boundaries.
2.5. Merge
Merge is a process to combines input features from multiple input sources (of the
same data type) into a single, new, output feature class. The input data sources may be
point, line, or polygon feature classes or tables.
• Use Merge when there are features from multiple input sources that need to be
combined into one feature class.
• Input data sources need not be adjacent; overlap is allowed.
• The type of input data, such as polygons or tables, must be the same for all inputs.
• If no coordinate system is specified in the Environment Settings, the output feature
class will be in the coordinate system of the first feature class in the input features
list.
• Current map layers may be used to define input features. When using layers, only
the currently selected features are used in the Merge operation.
• Merge cannot use multiple input layers of the same name. Although ArcMap allows
for the display of layers with the same name (from different directories) these may
not be used in the Merge tool.
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GEOPROCESSING TUTORIAL
2.5. Buffer
Creates buffer polygons around specified input coverage features.
• Small sliver polygons may be created by BUFFER. They can cause problems when
coded as nonbuffer areas inside buffer zones. Remove them with Eliminate.
• Features will not be buffered if their buffer distance is zero. If you do not want to
buffer a feature in the input coverage, give it a buffer distance value of zero in a
buffer item or of DIST in a buffer table.
• Negative and positive distances can be used for buffer distance with the POLY
option. It is possible to shrink some polygons and grow others in the same coverage
when the buffer item contains positive and negative numbers.
2.6. Query/Selection ; Select by attributes
Query is one way to find an area that has certain criteria. Example we need to find the
greatest lake. Basically the difference of the query with the previous operation;
intersection, union and / or a combination of both is the search by using the criteria / is
more than one keyword, while the query is a search process with single keyword.
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GEOPROCESSING TUTORIAL
2.7. Join table
Joins the item definitions and values of two tables based on a shared item. A record in the
Join Info Table is matched to each record of the Input Info Table when the Relate Item and
Start Item values are equal. The item values from the two records are copied to the output
table.
