[uncertainty, data management]
Any method for classifying data that allows attributes to apply to objects by membership values, so that an object may be considered a partial member of a class. Fuzzy classification may be applied to geographic objects, so that an object's boundary is treated as a gradated area rather than an exact line. In GIS, fuzzy classification has been used in the analysis of soil, vegetation, and other phenomena that tend to change gradually in their physical composition and for which attributes are often partly qualitative in nature.