Feature‐based cartographic modelling

Cartographic modelling operations provide powerful tools for analysing and manipulating geographic data in the raster data model. This research extends these operations to the vector data model. It first discusses how the spatial scopes of analysis can be defined for point, line, and polygon features analogous to the raster cell. Then it introduces the local, focal, and zonal operations available for vector features, followed by providing a prototype syntax that might guide the implementation of these operations. Through example applications, this research also demonstrates the usefulness of these operations by comparing them with traditional vector spatial analysis.