Polygonal data is the most common type of data in natural resource applications. Examples of polygonal data include forest stands, soil classification areas, administrative boundaries, and climate zones. Most polygon data is considered to be homogeneous in nature and thus is consistent throughout. Commonly, an identifier accompanies all types of geographic features. This description or identifier is referred to as a label .
Labels distinguish geographic features of the same type, e.g. forest stands, from one another.
Forest stand numbers are examples of polygon labels. Each label is unique and provides the mechanism for linking the feature to a set of descriptive characteristics, referred to as attribute data. Accordingly, the accuracy of the feature's location is often fuzzier at a smaller scale than a larger scale. The generalization of features is an inherent characteristic of data presented at a smaller scale. Accordingly, the use of data from vastly different scales will result in many inconsistencies between the number of features and their type.