98:). Formally, the term is generally restricted to things which endure over a period. A feature is also discrete, meaning that it has a clear identity and location distinct from other objects, and is defined as a whole, defined more or less precisely by the boundary of its geographical extent. This differentiates features from geographic
590:(also known as class, type, or category), one or more groups to which a feature belongs, typically focused on those that are most fundamental to its existence. It thus completes the sentence "This is a _________." These are generally in the form of common nouns (tree, dog, building, county, etc.), which may be isolated or part of a
662:(also known as parent-child), which tie a feature to others that existed previously and created it (or from which it was formed by another agent), and in turn to any features it has created. For example, if a county were created by the subdivision of two existing counties, they would be considered its
313:
Some of these are easily recognizable as distinct real-world entities (e.g. an isolated lake), while others are at least partially based on human conceptualizations. Examples of the latter are a branching stream network in which one of the branches has been arbitrarily designated as the continuation
403:
in which people live. Settlements range in components from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Other landscape features such as roads, enclosures, field systems, boundary banks and ditches, ponds, parks and woods, mills, manor
552:
In GIS, maps, statistics, databases, and other information systems, a geographic feature is represented by a set of descriptors of its various characteristics. A common classification of those characteristics has emerged based on developments by
Peuquet, Mennis, and others, including the
161:
as the combination of both entity and representation objects. Although this distinction is often cited in textbooks, it has not gained lasting nor widespread usage. In the ISO 19101 Geographic
Information Reference Model and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
676:, a description of where the feature exists, often including the shape of its extent. While a feature has an inherent location, measuring it for the purpose of representation as data can be a complex process, such as requiring the invention of abstract
716:
is fundamental to the representation of a feature, although it does not have independent temporal descriptions. Instead, expressions of time are attached to other characteristics, describing how they change (thus, they are analogous to
248:, and soil organisms. Biomes are defined based on factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike
78:, and other forms of geographic discourse. Such representations of features consist of descriptions of their inherent nature, their spatial form and location, and their characteristics or properties.
562:, the fact that a feature is unique and distinct from all other features. This does not have an inherent description, but humans have created many systems for attempting to express identity, such as
578:, the fact that a feature exists in the world. At first, this may seem trivial, but complex situations are common, such as features that are proposed or planned, abstract concepts (e.g., the
727:, with the possible exception of identity. For example, the lifespan of a feature could be considered as the temporal extent of its existence. The location of a city can change over time as
751:
The descriptions of features (i.e., the measured values of each of the above characteristics) are typically collected in
Geographic databases, such as GIS datasets, based on a variety of
522:
Cartographic features are types of abstract geographical features, which appear on maps but not on the planet itself, even though they are located on the planet. For example, grid lines,
310:, and other geographical features where water moves from one place to another are not always considered bodies of water, but they are included as geographical formations featuring water.
1224:
Mark, David M.; Smith, Barry; Tversky, Barbara (1999). "Ontology and
Geographic Objects: an empirical study of cognitive categorization". In Freksa, Christian; Mark, Davis M. (eds.).
212:. An ecosystem is a community of organisms. In contrast, biomes occupy large areas of the globe and often encompass many different kinds of geographical features, including
654:
is a meronomic relation; one is not just spatially within the boundaries of the other, but is a component part of the other that in part defines the existence of both.
538:, and many types of boundary, are shown on maps of Earth, but do not physically exist. They are theoretical lines used for reference, navigation, and measurement.
646:(also known as partonomy), in which a feature may exist as a part of a larger whole, or may exist as a collection of parts. For example, the relationship between
274:
A body of water is any significant and reasonably long-lasting accumulation of water, usually covering the land. The term "body of water" most often refers to
436:. There are also more informal social features, such as city neighbourhoods and other vernacular regions. These are purely conceptual entities established by
412:
These include social constructions that are created to administer and organize the land, people, and other spatially-relevant resources. Examples are
1387:
1197:
Peuquet, Donna J. (1994). "It's about time: a conceptual framework for the representation of temporal dynamics in geographic information systems".
440:
or practice, although they may align with visible features (e.g. a river boundary), and may be subsequently manifested on the ground, such as by
873:. Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs). Vol. 142. Schloss Dagstuhl-Leibniz-Zentrum fuer Informatik. pp. 14:1–14.
981:
1182:
Montello, Daniel R. (2003). "Regions in geography: Process and content". In
Duckham, Matthew; Goodchild, Michael F.; Worboys, Michael (eds.).
1243:
1133:
1007:
322:
of a body of water (e.g. a lake or an ocean), which has no meaningful dividing line separatingt it from the rest of the lake or ocean.
1397:
1322:
1076:
1047:
888:
869:
Plewe, Brandon (2019). "A Case for
Geographic Masses". In Timpf, S.; Schlieder, C.; Kattenbeck, M.; Ludwig, B.; Stewart, K. (eds.).
692:
252:, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of
233:
in which they exist, and ecosystem describes any situation where there is relationship between organisms and their environment.
145:(SDTS), one of the first public standard models of geographic information, an attempt was made to formally distinguish them: an
904:
Fegeas, Robin G.; Cascio, Janette L.; Lazar, Robert A. (1992). "An
Overview of FIPS 173, The Spatial Data Transfer Standard".
142:
122:
47:
67:
681:
1309:
984:
stance), or a hybrid of discrete natural phenomena that highly motivate, but are simplified by human concepts (a
630:
is an inherent spatial relation because the river is part of the definition of the boundary of
Maryland, but the
221:
190:
A natural feature is an object on the planet that was not created by humans, but is a part of the natural world.
87:
976:
There has been some metaphysical debate over whether such features are "real", independent of the human mind (a
677:
453:
177:
Despite these attempts at formalization, the broadly interchangeable use of these
English terms has persisted.
1227:
Spatial
Information Theory: A Theoretical Basis for GIS (COSIT '99), Lecture Notes in Computer Science #1661
230:
219:
Biotic diversity within an ecosystem is the variability among living organisms from all sources, including
598:
696:, characteristics of a feature other than location, often expressed as text or numbers; for example, the
977:
705:
558:
461:
253:
1339:
166:
Specification, international standards that form the basis for most modern geospatial technologies, a
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249:
237:
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1125:
1092:
1039:
1027:
851:
792:
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103:
708:(and further extended by others) is a common system for understanding and using attribute data.
1393:
1318:
1239:
1129:
1119:
1072:
1043:
1003:
884:
834:
Mennis, Jeremy; Peuquet, Donna J.; Qian, L. (2000). "A geographical database representation".
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497:
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unit and is largely defined by its surface form and location in the landscape, as part of the
111:
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stance), whether they are purely human conceptualizations of continuous natural phenomena (a
1280:
1231:
1206:
995:
921:
874:
843:
756:
752:
614:
547:
394:
257:
229:
are continually engaged in a set of relationships with every other element constituting the
75:
990:
Frank, Andrew U. (2003). "Ontology for Spatio-Temporal Databases". In Sellis, Timos (ed.).
688:(e.g., a city could be represented as a region or as a point, depending on scale and need).
988:
stance). It is also possible that individual features may be of any of these three types.
985:
797:
782:
760:
163:
107:
1345:
Geospatial Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide to Principles, Techniques, and Software Tools
1276:
917:
610:
if they are not crucial, but "just happen to be." These may be of at least three types:
1210:
1032:
994:. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. V.2520. Springer-Verlag. pp. 9–77.
535:
501:
467:
425:
417:
213:
99:
71:
1419:
1065:
651:
619:
618:, those that can be visualized and measured in space. For example, the fact that the
441:
337:
291:
95:
90:
and human-constructed objects. The term covers things which exist physically (e.g. a
1294:
816:
Longley, Paul A.; Goodchild, Michael F.; Maguire, David J.; Rhind, David W. (2015).
855:
586:
17:
1261:"Identity-based change: a foundation for spatio-temporal knowledge representation"
731:
expand its extent. The resident population of a country changes frequently due to
879:
1023:
999:
732:
513:
1156:
941:"ISO 19101-1:2014, Geographic Information-Reference Model-Part 1: Fundamentals"
925:
348:. Landforms are categorized by features such as elevation, slope, orientation,
736:
723:
567:
413:
345:
1235:
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1285:
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787:
685:
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55:
43:
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is defined as "an abstraction of a real-world phenomenon", essentially the
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777:
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647:
642:
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489:
485:
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331:
226:
91:
871:
14th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT 2019)
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is incidental, as each would exist unproblematically without the other.
579:
531:
481:
473:
365:
349:
341:
295:
205:
138:
1386:
Campbell, Jonathan; Shin, Michael (2011). "3.1 Data and Information".
1338:
de Smith, Michael J.; Goodchild, Michael F.; Longley, Paul A. (2018).
1343:
718:
606:
if they are crucial to the existence and identity of the feature, or
477:
433:
429:
361:
303:
245:
62:. It is an item of geographic information, and may be represented in
959:
404:
houses, moats, and churches may be considered part of a settlement.
94:) as well as those that are conceptual or social creations (e.g. a
1308:
Huisman, Otto; de By, Rolf A. (2009). "2.2.4 Geographic objects".
744:
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373:
369:
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154:
59:
51:
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315:
287:
283:
517:
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319:
279:
63:
86:
The term "feature" is broad and inclusive, and includes both
50:, is a discrete phenomenon that exists at a location in the
225:, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems. Living
721:
in common discourse). Any of the above characteristics is
1265:
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
836:
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
286:, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as
118:
in that they are not conceptualized as a distinct whole.
110:
that only exist in time; and from geographic masses and
27:
Discrete phenomenon that exists at a location on Earth
1099:. Convention on Biological Diversity. 2 November 2006
960:"Simple Feature Access - Part 1: Common Architecture"
236:
Biomes represent large areas of ecologically similar
992:
Spatio-Temporal Databases: The Chorochronos Approach
1064:
1031:
1199:Annals of the Association of American Geographers
1163:. Medieval Settlement Research Group. 2014-05-11
1067:Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet
582:), under construction, or that no longer exist.
504:because they are man-made geographic features.
1317:. Enschede, The Netherlands: ITC. p. 77.
906:Cartography and Geographic Information Systems
1259:Hornsby, Kathleen; Egenhofer, Max J. (2000).
1230:. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. pp. 283–298.
1184:Foundations of geographic information science
1063:Botkin, Daniel B.; Keller, Edward A. (1995).
352:, rock exposure, and soil type. They include
8:
1389:Essentials of Geographic Information Systems
1311:Principles of Geographic Information Systems
829:
827:
818:Geographic Information Systems & Science
1093:"Convention Text — Article 2. Use of Terms"
408:Administrative regions and other constructs
204:There are two different terms to describe
1284:
1186:. Taylor & Francis. pp. 173–189.
878:
399:A settlement is a permanent or temporary
344:, and as such is typically an element of
808:
472:Engineered geographic features include
1071:. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Canada.
939:International Standards Organization.
153:as a representation thereof (e.g. on
58:; that is, at or near the surface of
7:
684:, including an expedient choice of
542:Features and Geographic Information
1211:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1994.tb01869.x
680:, and the necessary employment of
634:relation between Maryland and the
314:of the primary named stream; or a
25:
432:partitions of a city, and church
380:are the highest-order landforms.
149:as the real-world phenomenon, an
602:to other features. These may be
372:, and numerous other elements.
143:Spatial Data Transfer Standard
137:are generally used as roughly
123:geographic information science
68:geographic information systems
48:geographic information science
1:
700:of a city. In geography, the
958:Open Geospatial Consortium.
880:10.4230/LIPIcs.COSIT.2019.14
568:identification numbers/codes
1365:GIS&T Body of Knowledge
1000:10.1007/978-3-540-45081-8_2
682:cartographic generalization
1442:
926:10.1559/152304092783762209
545:
511:
465:
451:
392:
329:
267:
197:
54:and scale of relevance to
678:spatial reference systems
1236:10.1007/3-540-48384-5_19
1118:Basak, Anindita (2009).
454:Construction engineering
1286:10.1080/136588100240813
1161:Medieval-Settlement.com
1157:"MSRG Policy Statement"
1034:Fundamentals of Ecology
848:10.1080/136588100415710
336:A landform comprises a
820:(4th ed.). Wiley.
659:Genealogical relations
500:, and are part of the
422:cadastral land parcels
1392:. Saylor Foundation.
1121:Environmental Studies
778:Geographical location
759:, often based on the
706:Stanley Smith Stevens
702:levels of measurement
508:Cartographic features
462:Nonbuilding structure
448:Engineered constructs
254:ecological succession
42:), in the context of
761:vector logical model
250:biogeographic realms
1277:2000IJGIS..14..207H
918:1992CGISy..19..278F
643:Meronomic relations
592:taxonomic hierarchy
384:Artificial features
157:or digital), and a
18:Feature (geography)
1126:Dorling Kindersley
793:Physical geography
773:Geographical field
636:Delmarva Peninsula
553:following :
414:governmental units
1245:978-3-540-48384-7
1135:978-81-317-2118-6
1009:978-3-540-40552-8
615:Spatial relations
258:climax vegetation
181:Types of features
16:(Redirected from
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1038:(3rd ed.).
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395:Human settlement
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208:: ecosystem and
186:Natural features
34:(also called an
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1348:(6th ed.).
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1024:Odum, Eugene P.
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798:Simple Features
783:Human geography
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512:Main articles:
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452:Main articles:
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214:mountain ranges
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164:Simple Features
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1361:"FC-08 - Time"
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1271:(3): 207–224.
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1205:(3): 441–461.
1189:
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982:constructivist
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912:(5): 278–293.
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842:(6): 501–520.
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502:anthroposphere
468:Infrastructure
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442:survey markers
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141:. In the 1992
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733:immigration
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546:See also:
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490:buildings
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200:Ecosystem
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664:parents
632:overlap
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532:Equator
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370:rivers
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300:Rivers
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151:object
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