Types of Geodata

Types of Geodata#

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Vector data can have the following data formats:

Filename extension	Name	Description
.shp	Shapefile	Old but still widely used geodataformat. Can only contain one dataset. The file has to consist of at least three different files (.shp, .shx, .dbf)
.gpkg	GeoPackage	Very versatile geodata format and the new standard for geodata. Can contain multiple datafiles (vector, raster and not spatial data like tables)
.kml	Keyhole Markup Language	Geodata format for use with Google Earth
.gpx	GPS Exchange Format	Geodata format for the exchange of coordinates. For example for waypoints of tracks.
.geojson	GeoJSON	Similar to shapefiles, but stores all information in a single file.

Raster data can have the following data formats:

Filename extension	Name	Dscription
.tif/.tiff/.geotiff	Tag Image File Format	Common raster and image data format. Does not necessarily have georeference information. If a .tif file has georeferenc information it is referred to as GeoTIFF.
.nc	netCDF	Standard data format for scientific data like speed or temperature. Can be be a raster file. Can contain multible datasets
.asc	Esri ASCII Grid files	Old simple raster file format, always with georeference informations

Filename extension	Name	Dscription
.csv	comma-separated values	Very common data format which separates data with commas or other delimiters.
.xls	EXCEL	Data format used for EXCEL. EXCEL is a widely used spreadsheet program.

The video below gives a good overview of geodata formats and gives tips on file naming and other good practices.