Fuzzy matching
Topic: Remote Sensing, GIS and GNSS · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Spatial Information Technology"
Meaning
Fuzzy matching links datasets whose area boundaries do not match. Crop fields and soil types are a common case, because a field's edge rarely follows a soil boundary. The two layers are overlaid (placed one on top of the other). This cuts the area into new smaller pieces, one for each mix of field and soil type. Values are then worked out for every one of these pieces. It lets you study two themes together even when their boundaries differ.
Example
In a Punjab village, one layer shows wheat and rice fields and another shows soil types. Overlaying them shows which parts of each field lie on which soil. This helps judge which crop suits which soil.
Don't confuse with
- Hierarchical matching: this works only when small areas fit neatly inside larger ones. Fuzzy matching is for boundaries that cut across each other.
Related concepts
- Raster data model
- Vector data model
- Topology
- Digitisation
- Scanner
- Charge-coupled device
- Georeferencing
- Raster-vector conversion
- Exact matching
- Hierarchical matching