Which term refers to a catalog that stores data that are spatially referenced?

• A. Database
• B. Legend
• C. Grid System
• D. Scale

Answer: (A)

A database. Data that are spatially referenced need a structured place to store both the attributes and the geometry (locations) of features, and a database provides that organized repository with the ability to query and manipulate the information. In GIS, this is often a spatial database, but the core idea is that it’s a catalog for storing structured data. The other terms don’t describe data storage: a legend explains map symbols, a grid system is the coordinate framework used to locate features, and scale is the ratio that converts map distances to real-world distances.