Article created with
FME Desktop 2016.1
GIS Operations and FME
FME is primarily a tool for moving data, integrating systems, and preparing data for use in other systems. As part of its built-in data transformation tools, there is functionality that might be considered as traditional GIS, but is useful in restructuring and preparing data for other uses.
This tutorial will cover three areas of data transformation.
Measurements
Making measurements and adding the results as attributes. In particular we will look at:
- Area Measurements with the AreaCalculator transformer
- Distance Measurements with the LengthCalculator transformer
- Distance Measurements with the GeographicLengthCalculator transformer
- Volume Measurements with the VolumeCalculator transformer
- Raster Slope Measurements (angle/direction) with the RasterSlopeCalculator transformer
- Circularity Measurements with the CircularityCalculator transformer
- Reprojection and coordinate systems for measurement calculations
Spatial Joins and Relationships
The act of determining spatial relationships and transforming features on a spatial basis. In particular we will look at:
- Determining spatial relationships with the SpatialFilter and SpatialRelator transformers
- Point In Polygon operations using the PointOnAreaOverlayer transformer
- Extracting polygon intersections using the AreaOnAreaOverlayer transformer
- Merging polygon features (union) using the Dissolver transformer
- Finding feature differences (cookie cutting) using the Clipper transformer
- Finding nearest neighbours using the NeighborFinder transformer
- Testing feature proximity (within x distance) using the Bufferer transformer
Networks and Connectivity
The use of topological networks to assess connected features. In particular we will look at:
- Calculating routes (length/cost) using the ShortestPathFinder
- Creating Time/Distance Isolines using the NetworkCostCalculator
- Calculating stream order for hydrological networks with the StreamOrderCalculator transformer
