ABSTRACT
Within an information system, continuous phenomena are usually represented either by raster or by vector data. Both approaches have their specific characteristics and limitations. While sharing basic concepts like the relation to a spatio-temporal reference system or the scales of measure, they differ fundamentally in other aspects like coverage, flexibility, data volume and visualization. In the context of continuous phenomena, the integration of both paradigms within one system is crucial when higher level knowledge is to be derived from raw observational data. In the course of a complex monitoring scenario, there will be several transitions between both systems of representation. These transitions can be configured by several parameters like resolution or aggregation method. Depending on the aims of the monitoring and the available resources, these parameters have to be chosen appropriately. In this chapter, the general properties of raster and vector data are introduced and applied to the context of a complex monitoring scenario for continuous phenomena.
