Page 24 - Module_4_en

Module All assessment processes ultimately depend on data, but very few have the mandate, resources and
4 capacity to collect primary data, so they rely on monitoring and data collection efforts by others.

Therefore, compiling data for assessment usually requires that you obtain data from other sources,
usually many different ones, both in terms of statistical (non-spatial) and spatial data.

9-12 December, 2013 Non-Spatial Data

Non-spatial data are collected for one particular point and result in a single number. Often, multiple data
points for the same parameter are averaged so that a single value is obtained to represent a collection
of spatial units. Because non-spatial data are tied to a single point, there is no further resolution for
those data—the information cannot be further broken down. This is unlike spatial data, which have
resolution that allows you to move from detailed to broad information using the same data. While
non-spatial data do not have spatial resolution, they can have temporal resolution if they are collected
continuously over a period of time from a specific geographical point.

You can obtain non-spatial data from statistical sources or isolated research. Statistical sources use
the same methodology for multiple data, so that they can be statistically compared and averaged.
Isolated research, while valuable, often does not provide the breadth you will need for analysis at
broader levels.

Spatial Data

Spatial data, also referred to as geospatial data or geographic information, can most simply be defined as
information that describes the distribution of phenomena and artifacts upon the surface of the earth. It

is information that identifies the location and shape of, and relationships among, geographic features and
boundaries, usually stored as coordinates and topology (i.e., the way in which geographical elements are
related and linked to each other).

Spatial data are often displayed as layers of data one on top of the other, similar to a giant sandwich,
where each layer is a related set of spatial data. Anything that has a geographic location on the Earth

can be displayed as spatial data, including country statistics. Spatial data have become a major resource
in environmental analysis and reporting, and present a very immediate and visual message regarding
environmental issues and management.

You can also link additional non-spatial data, in the form of databases of information, to these spatial

data layers by their common coordinates, and analyze and present them alongside spatial data layers.
Climate data from different provinces or states in a country for example, could be linked to a provincial
or state boundary layer, analyzed and displayed in a spatial form, and produced as maps.

22 Monitoring, Data and Indicators