GIS Dictionary

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

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discrete raster

See Also: continuous raster

  1. [data models] A raster that typically represents phenomena that have clear boundaries with attributes that are descriptions, classes, or categories. Generally, integers are used for the cell values. In a raster of land cover, for example, the value 1 might represent forestland, the value 2 urban land, and so on. It is assumed that the phenomena that each value represents fill the entire area of the cell. Rasters representing land use, political boundaries or ownership are examples of discrete rasters.
    discrete raster Illustration