Types of Geodata

Types of Geodata#

Vector data can have the following data formats:

Filename extension	Name	Description
`.shp`	Shapefile	Outdated but still widely used geodataformat. Can only contain one dataset. A shapefile must include these files: `.shp`, `.shx`, and `.dbf`. It can also contain more files such as: `.prj` , `.sbn`, `.sbx`, `.cpg`, `.qix`
`.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	Description
`.tif`/`.tiff`/`.geotiff`	Tag Image File Format	Common raster and image data format. Does not necessarily have georeferenced information. If a .tif file has georeferenced 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 multiple datasets
`.asc`	Esri ASCII Grid files	Old simple raster file format, always with georeferenced information

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

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