GIS Dictionary >  centroid

GIS Dictionary

Definitions for GIS terms related to operations such as analysis, GIS modeling and web-based GIS, cartography, and Esri software.

Now available for purchase: A to Z GIS: An illustrated dictionary of geographic information systems.

centroid

1. [data capture] The geometric center of a feature. For line, polygon, or three-dimensional features, it is the center of mass (or center of gravity) and may fall inside the feature, as shown below for a triangle, or outside the feature, as shown below for a complex line. For multipoints, polylines, or polygons with multiple parts, it is computed using the weighted mean center of all feature parts. The weight for a point feature is 1, for a line feature is its length, and for polygon features is its area.