Clip

Clip is a basic GIS operation, which involves the extraction of geographical features or raster cells that lie inside a specified boundary or area of interest. This allows GIS analysts to minimize the size of their dataset through retention of geographical information necessary for an analysis or particular map or project. With regards to vector data, it involves clipping of points, lines, and polygons through the use of boundary layers, and with regards to raster data, it involves extraction of cells that exist inside a certain boundary.

Clip is a common procedure in GIS, spatial analysis, remote sensing, cartography, and geospatial data processing. For instance, one can use it to clip roads within a boundary of a certain city, to extract land cover data for a certain region or satellite imagery for a certain project area. GIS software such as ArcGIS Pro and QGIS provides the ability to clip geographical data. Through clipping, the analyst minimizes the geographical extent of the data, thus increasing efficiency of the process.