ArcGIS
desktop.arcgis.com › en › arcmap › latest › manage-data › raster-and-images › what-is-raster-data.htm
What is raster data?—ArcMap | Documentation
Elevation values measured from the earth's surface are the most common application of surface maps, but other values, such as rainfall, temperature, concentration, and population density, can also define surfaces that can be spatially analyzed. The raster below displays elevation—using green to show lower elevation and red, pink, and white cells to show higher elevations. ... Rasters representing thematic data can be derived from analyzing other data. A common analysis application is classifying a satellite image by land-cover categories.
LocationIQ
locationiq.com › glossary › raster-maps
What is Raster Maps?
Raster maps, also known as bitmap or image maps, are digital maps that are made up of a grid of pixels. Each pixel contains a value that represents a specific feature or characteristic of the area it represents.
When to choose between a raster or vector format?
I'd say rasters are best for optical remote sensing data such as satellite imagery. You want to display a bunch of pixels, which rasters do efficiently. Transforming a raster into vectors blows up the file size because you are creating a box for every pixel. Once you've done some analysis like OBIA or segmentation and made products, then you would have vectors. Does this help? More on reddit.com
Is my data discrete or continuous?
Physical measurements, like reflectance from Landsat or water turbidity, are typically continuous. Discrete raster data are things like counts and representation of categorical values (like classification). The only type of direct, discrete measurement I can think of is if you're only measuring occurence of something (which is basically binary classification if you count occurences it's no longer just classification). EDIT: corrected clarification of discrete data based on comment below More on reddit.com
Is it possible to show an online (raster) map made with Leaflet?
you need to open Network menu of your website (F12 button) > copy URL of any tile More on reddit.com
which is better for making maps? Raster or Vector?
The both have advantages and disadvantages. Vector is very good for scaling but its hard to do things like political maps where you want to match two different areas boundaries with no space between them and repeat that for every entity on the map. You can do political type maps really easily with raster, but scaling becomes a problem. So what kind if map are you making and what do you intend to do with it? More on reddit.com
Videos
01:51
Spatial Data Explained: Raster vs. Vector - YouTube
01:54
What is Raster Data in GIS? | Raster vs Vector Graphics Explained ...
02:35
Vector vs Raster Data - GIS Explained - YouTube
01:10:42
Imagery and Raster Data in ArcGIS - An Introduction - Esri Videos: ...
02:25
Learn more about raster and vector map data - YouTube
04:43
Raster and vector data. - YouTube
ArcGIS Pro
pro.arcgis.com › en › pro-app › latest › help › data › imagery › introduction-to-raster-data.htm
Introduction to image and raster data | ArcGIS Pro documentation
May 4, 2026 - Elevation values measured from the earth's surface are a common application of surface maps, but other values, such as rainfall, temperature, salinity, magnetic properties, and density of materials can also define surfaces that can be spatially analyzed. The raster in the image below displays elevation—using green to show lower elevation and red, pink, and white cells to show higher elevation. ... Rasters representing thematic data can be derived from analyzing other data. A common analysis application is classifying a satellite image into land-cover categories.
IGI Global
igi-global.com › dictionary › information-technology-of-the-aerial-photo-materials-spatial-overlay-on-the-raster-maps › 24536
What is Raster Map | IGI Global Scientific Publishing
What is Raster Map? Definition of Raster Map: A dot matrix data structure that represents a generally rectangular grid of pixels (points of color), viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium and encodes geographic data in the pixel values as well as the pixel locations.
ArcGIS
desktop.arcgis.com › en › arcmap › 10.3 › manage-data › raster-and-images › what-is-raster-data.htm
What is raster data?—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop
Elevation values measured from the earth's surface are the most common application of surface maps, but other values, such as rainfall, temperature, concentration, and population density, can also define surfaces that can be spatially analyzed. The raster below displays elevation—using green to show lower elevation and red, pink, and white cells to show higher elevations. ... Rasters representing thematic data can be derived from analyzing other data. A common analysis application is classifying a satellite image by land-cover categories.
CARTO
carto.com › home › blog › raster vs vector maps: what's the difference & which are best?
Raster vs Vector Maps: What's the Difference & Which are Best? | CARTO
August 12, 2020 - Raster data is made up as a matrix of pixels, also referred to as cells, in much the same way as you might find when working within a spreadsheet. They are often square and regularly spaced but don't have to be. Think of walking over a field divided into a grid of squares with each square representing a value which can be discrete (e.g. soil type) or continuous (e.g. elevation). Check out the map below for an example - can you see how it looks slightly pixelated?
GRASS
grass.osgeo.org › grass84 › manuals › rasterintro.html
Raster data processing in GRASS GIS - GRASS GIS Manual
A "raster map" is a data layer consisting of a gridded array of cells. It has a certain number of rows and columns, with a data point (or null value indicator) in each cell. These may exist as a 2D grid or as a 3D cube made up of many smaller cubes, i.e.
Naurt
naurt.com › blog-posts › naurt-raster-maps-vs-vector-maps
Naurt | Raster Maps vs. Vector Maps: What’s the Difference?
September 3, 2024 - Raster maps then go a step further by relating this data to physical space on Earth. A single pixel will contain the data for a fixed area of land, for example 25km², giving us a pixel height and width of 5km. This is our raster’s resolution. If we then know how many pixels are contained within the raster we know the extent of our image and can encode the corresponding latitude and longitude locations into the pixels.
Data Carpentry
datacarpentry.github.io › organization-geospatial › 01-intro-raster-data.html
Introduction to Geospatial Concepts: Introduction to Raster Data
April 14, 2026 - The two primary types of geospatial data are raster and vector data. Raster data is stored as a grid of values which are rendered on a map as pixels. Each pixel value represents an area on the Earth’s surface. Vector data structures represent specific features on the Earth’s surface, and ...
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Raster_graphics
Raster graphics - Wikipedia
April 3, 2026 - The printing and prepress industries know raster graphics as contones (from "continuous tones"). In contrast, line art is usually implemented as vector graphics in digital systems. Many raster manipulations map directly onto the mathematical formalisms of linear algebra, where mathematical ...
GIS Geography
gisgeography.com › home › data sources › vector vs raster in gis: what’s the difference?
Vector vs Raster in GIS: What's the Difference? - GIS Geography
March 10, 2024 - Raster data is made up of pixels (also referred to as grid cells). They are usually regularly spaced and square but they don’t have to be. Rasters often look pixelated because each pixel has its own value or class. ... Each pixel value in a satellite image has a red, green, and blue value. Alternatively, each value in an elevation map represents a specific height.
Caliper
caliper.com › home › maptitude mapping software › learning › glossary › raster data
What is raster data - Raster data definition
Raster data is a geographic data type where data is stored as a grid of regularly sized pixels along with attribute data. Individual pixels linked to specific coordinates, which represent a physical position in the world, make up categorical or continuous raster data at its most basic level.
Precisely
precisely.com › glossary › what-is-raster-data
Raster Data Definition - What is raster data? - Precisely
August 25, 2025 - Raster data is one of two primary types of spatial data in geographic information systems (GIS) – the other being vector data. Satellite images, photogrammetry, and scanned maps are all examples of raster-based data.
OsmAnd
osmand.net › user guide › map › raster maps (online / offline)
Raster Maps (Online / Offline) | OsmAnd
Raster maps are significant and useful additions to OsmAnd vector maps. They allow you to combine various map sources with vector maps. For example, information about hills and slopes is displayed as a raster layer. You can display an overlay of hiking trails, rain maps, real-time traffic data, and an overlay of satellite imagery on a translucent base vector map.
QGIS
docs.qgis.org › 3.44 › en › docs › gentle_gis_introduction › raster_data.html
6. Raster Data — QGIS Documentation documentation
April 14, 2026 - Many people use raster data as a backdrop to be used behind vector layers in order to provide more meaning to the vector information. The human eye is very good at interpreting images and so using an image behind vector layers, results in maps with a lot more meaning.
Maptiler
documentation.maptiler.com › hc › en-us › articles › 4411234458385-Raster-vs-Vector-Map-Tiles-What-is-the-Difference-Between-the-Two-Data-Types
Raster vs Vector Map Tiles: What is the Difference Between the Two Data Types? | Guides | General | MapTiler
September 4, 2024 - Web maps based on raster tiles technology are older but still widely used approach by many. In computer graphics, a raster graphic is a dot matrix data structure that represents a generally rectangular grid of pixels (points of color), viewable e.g. via a computer or mobile display.
MathWorks
mathworks.com › mapping toolbox › map display
Vector and Raster Map Display - MATLAB & Simulink
For example, you can represent a city by using a point, a river by using a line, and a country by using a polygon. Raster data stores gridded data, such as satellite imagery and terrain elevation grids, in matrices. Use these functions to display vector and raster data on maps.