The spatial distribution of raster and vector data can be placed into two descriptive categories: discrete data and continuous data. While both data types can have data with either discrete or continuous properties, most often, vector data is described as discrete while raster is described as continuous.

What is continuous raster data?

Continuous data has no clearly defined boundaries. Every point on a map made with continuous GIS data will contain a value. Elevation, slope, temperature, and precipitation are examples of datasets that are continuous.

Can raster data be discrete?

Values that are assigned to the cells of a surface can be represented as either discrete or continuous data. ... Discrete data, also known as categorical or discontinuous data, mainly represents objects in both the feature and raster data storage systems. A discrete object has known and definable boundaries.