GIS Fundamentals, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11

Data Structures and Algorithms for Networks

As described in Chapter 9, although surfaces can be represented using both the vector and raster data models, most current GIS systems tend to use the raster model. This section will consider the example of networks, in which the reverse is true. Because the representation of networks is based on the fundamental data structures used for vector and raster data which have already been described, this chapter has a slightly different structure to the previous ones. The first section tries to indicate, in general terms, why the vector model is most often used for network applications. There are a number of important issues in the sorts of data structures which are used to represent networks, ...