Which type of data represents physical features on the Earth in GIS?

Raster data is a type of data commonly used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to represent physical features on the Earth. It consists of a grid of cells or pixels, where each cell contains a value that corresponds to a specific attribute of the feature being represented. For example, in satellite imagery, each pixel might represent the intensity of light reflected from the Earth's surface, allowing for the visualization of various physical features such as vegetation, water bodies, or urban areas.

Raster data is particularly effective for depicting continuous surfaces and phenomena, such as elevation, temperature, or land cover. This enables users to analyze spatial patterns and relationships across large areas, making raster data invaluable in fields like environmental monitoring, urban planning, and resource management.

The other types of data mentioned do not represent physical features directly. Attribute data provides descriptive information about features but does not illustrate the features themselves. Alphanumeric data serves as identifiers or categories, while text data consists of written information. None of these directly illustrates the physical characteristics of the Earth's landscape, which is the primary function of raster data.