Map algebra

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Map algebra is a simple and an elegant set based algebra for manipulating geographic data.

Map algebra was proposed by Dr. Dana Tomlin in early 1980s. Tomlin proposed primitive operators for processing geographic data. Depending on the spatial neighborhood, operators are categorized into four groups: local, focal, zonal, and incremental. The input and output for each operator being map, the operators can be combined into a procedure to perform complex tasks.