Level (GIS)

A level (layer) in a geographic information system is a way of grouping identical or related spatial objects . Objects that are "on one level" can be touched together, for example to show or hide them in the display or to assign them a certain color or to block them from further processing.

Historically, the level principle is derived from the way in which analog card production works . There, foils are used for the various contents of the maps (e.g. for the network of paths, bodies of water, vegetation, contour lines, hillshades) that could be superimposed in any combination. The film on top is the one on which the next work steps are carried out. In the plane model, this plane is called the "current plane".

The level principle does not have a hierarchical structure; all levels are equal. It is also quite inflexible because an object can only belong to exactly one level.

The opposite of the plane model is the object class principle